Well, it's good to be back with
you, but I'm afraid it's looking at the moment only to be just
this week, but I'm minded to start a series in Psalm 119,
which of course is a very, very long psalm, very, very many sections
to it, but I've always been fascinated with it. So we live in a conflicted
world, as I think nobody can deny. There's political strife
all around. There's enormous disagreement
about the management of the COVID situation. There's huge disagreement
about the management of the environment. You know, all of the green stuff
and those that say, well, it doesn't really matter anyway.
And there's economic division. There's huge causes of despair
amongst the population of this world. And mental health, they
say, I don't know whether it's true, but they say has never
been a greater problem than it is in these days. Oh, I thought
things were all supposed to be getting so much better. And suicide
is on the rise. Because you see, In this world,
as the Word of God says in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12, it says,
there is a way, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man,
isn't there? Look at what all the governments
are doing. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death. All of man's plans
and aspirations and intentions that such and such a disaster
should never happen again. You know, how many times have
you heard them say that? It's all the time, isn't it? Always
saying that it will never happen again, and then something of
a slightly different twist happens. the ways thereof are the ends
of death, even the best aspirations. What is there for man to hope
for, other than to live a few years, and then to die? And he
died, and he died. So where should I look to learn
how that hopeless end can be avoided. The end that man's natural
thoughts bring him to, it's a hopeless end. Where should I look to learn
how that hopeless end can be avoided? Well, in this very psalm,
in the 105th verse of this psalm, we read, is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path. I can't see where to go. I can't
see what to think. I can't see what to do. Ah, the
Word of God is a light for my feet, for my path. It shows me
the way to go. God's Word, the Word of God. We say it glibly, don't we, and
lightly, but that's wisdom from heaven. That's wisdom from the
One who is Almighty, Almighty God, the One who is over all
things, the One who made all things, the One who orders all
things. God's Word is wisdom from heaven. You can't get higher wisdom than
the wisdom that comes from heaven. You can't get truer truth than
the truth that comes from heaven, from the Almighty. You can't
get more certainty than that which comes from heaven. And
in His light, in the light of God, it says in Psalm 36 and
verse 9, with thee, speaking to God, with thee is the fountain
of life. With God is the fountain of life.
He is the fountain of living waters. His accusation against
Israel was that they had forsaken the fountain of living waters,
as the world in general around us has forsaken the fountain
of living waters who gave us our life, every one. With thee
is the fountain of life. In thy light, Shall we see light? If you would see light, you must
look for it in the light that God gives. Not in the light that
this world shines, because their light is darkness. Their light
is confusion. Their light is lies and untruth. No, if you would see true light,
you must look for it in the light of God's truth and His Word. So what does God's Word teach
us about the way of blessing and the way of life? So as I
said, I've long been fascinated with this psalm, but I don't
think I've ever preached on it. So it's my intention to start
a study today. some background about it it's
the longest psalm easily by a long way more than double the length
of the next longest it's got a hundred and seventy six verses
of course we know that verses are the invention of a man among
many hundreds of years ago decided to split the books of the Bible
into chapters and verses, just to make it easier for us to find
the one place that we're referring to, and a very useful thing it
was too, and we retain it to this day in exactly the form
that that monk produced it. But this psalm of 176 verses
has 22 portions, 22 portions, 22 verses if you like, it's poetry,
22 portions, each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So you'll
see that they're headed Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth. These are the letters of the
Hebrew alphabet, A-B-C-D. It's the A-B-C-D of faith and
of the principles of God. And each of them is seven or
eight verses long, and all but one of the sections contains
one or other or some of ten words. Ten words keep reappearing. The
words are way, way, the way. You know the scripture talks
a lot about the way. It's the way of life. It's the
way to God. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is
the way, the way, the way to right thinking, the way to God,
the way to heaven, the way to intimate communion with him.
He talks about law, we'll say more about that soon. Testimonies
as well, that word occurs in the first section. Commandments,
likewise. Precepts, precepts, principles,
precepts. Statutes, judgments. Word, the Word of God. The revealed
will of God, the Word of God. Righteousness, truth. What do
they speak of? What do they all speak of? These
22 sections, what must they be speaking of? What did Jesus say? Search the Scriptures, he said
to the Pharisees. Search the Scriptures, this is
John 5, 39. For in them you rightly think that you have eternal life.
Oh yes, in the Scriptures there is the way to eternal life. He
said, they, the Scriptures, are they which testify of me. This psalm, like all others,
like all the Old Testament, like all the rest of the Scripture,
its purpose is to speak of Christ, because there is no other subject.
If it concerns being right with God and eternity and being judged
righteous in the sight of God, it's all, all, all about Jesus
Christ, all about Him. The Word of God is that which,
as Paul said to Timothy, he wrote this to Timothy, from a child,
from a child, you younger ones, you listen, from a child you
have known the holy scriptures. Why is it worth knowing the holy
scriptures? I'll tell you, because of what
he said to Timothy, the scriptures are able to make you wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. You might
get wise about a lot of things. The rest of the world spends
its time getting wise about lots of things, but very, very few
get wise about eternal life. salvation, being right with God,
being ready for death, for it's appointed to man to die once
and then the judgment, being ready for death, knowing it is
well with my soul, knowing that I go to be with Him for eternity,
where there is no sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, nor tears. What a glorious prospect. Does
it thrill your heart when we think of those things? I want
that wisdom of life. Don't you? Wise unto salvation. I want that wisdom of life. Don't
you want it too? A right relationship with God
is what I want. The God of the universe. The
one who is overall. The one who is the creator. The
one who is the judge. The one to whom I am accountable
and you are accountable. I want a right relationship with
that God. Well, like all the rest of the
scriptures, this psalm shows us that Christ is the way to
that right relationship. Look at verses 1 and 2, and that's
the way I'm going to approach this this morning. It's just
like a study of these verses. Verses 1 and 2. I'll read it
as it's written, Blessed are the undefiled in the way who
walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his
testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart. Now then,
there's the error of legalism. Most religious folk, and in this
country, in the United Kingdom, most who call themselves orthodox,
you know, the reformed Baptists, they've got the doctrine of election
correct and all that sort of thing, and they think they're
so right, but they follow a way of legalism. They follow a way
of legalism. They follow the error of legalism. And the way they interpret these
two verses is, blessed are those who live a perfect life, who
walk, who make the law of God, His commandments, their rule
of life. Blessed are they that go out of their way to keep the
testimonies of God, the commandments of God, that spend their entire
life totally committed to seeking Him and having fellowship with
Him. In other words, keep the law of Moses perfectly and you'll
be right with God, you'll grow more and more sanctified, you'll
get better and better. Just as Jesus said to the rich
young ruler, he said, what should I do that I might inherit eternal
life? And Jesus said, you know what the commandments are, what
are they? you know, love your neighbour as yourself, don't
kill, don't steal. And the young ruler said, well
all of these have I done from my youth and upwards, so what
do I still lack? Ah, go and sell what you have
and give to the poor. therein revealing that he was
a man who was covetous, like Paul, didn't know he was a lawbreaker,
he thought he was a perfect Pharisee until he read and understood
the law that told him thou shalt not covet, covetousness which
is idolatry. Now we cannot be right with God
by keeping the law, Legalism is an error. It's not just an
alternative opinion. Believe me, legalism is a damning
error. It will condemn you to hell if
you follow that route, because it's seeking the righteousness
of God by your own efforts, according to what you consider to be the
way of interpreting the law. But the law was weak, says the
Word of God. Romans 8.3, the law was weak
through the flesh. Oh, it's good. The law of God
is perfect. It's God's law. How can it be
other than perfect? But the human ability to keep
it in its fallen state is weak through the flesh. It cannot,
the law cannot make us right with God. As the Apostle Peter
said at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 verse 10, I'll paraphrase
what he said, but he said, you know this law that you're seeking
to put as a burden On these Gentile believers, you're telling them
that having believed Christ, they now have to go through all
of the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law, they have to
keep it to the letter, and he says, you know that our fathers,
nor we, could keep it. We couldn't keep it. Let's not
be hypocritical, we can't keep it. which is exactly what it
does. Those that are legalists, who
say that the law is the believer's rule of life for growing sanctification,
I'll tell you what it leads to, because I've seen it so many
times in churches which follow that way. It leads to one of
two states. It leads to hypocritical self-satisfaction,
self-righteousness. Oh, aren't I a good boy? Haven't
I done well? Isn't my sanctification getting
better and better every day? Oh look, I've gone through an
entire day and I haven't had an evil thought about any...
Come on, hypocrisy. You know what you're like in
the flesh. You know what you're like in the flesh. In me, said
Paul the apostle, in me, that is in my flesh, What did he say? I'm a pretty good guy, I'm getting
better at... No, he didn't. He said, there dwells no good
thing. He said, I'm not fit to be called
an apostle. I'm the least of all the saints.
I am the chief of sinners, is what he said. It either leads
to hypocritical self-satisfaction, or the other state you regularly
see in those places under that teaching is despair, because
they get worried that they're not as good as the others who
claim to be so good. So, we must seek the answer elsewhere
than in the law, and that answer, as we know, is in Christ alone. The answer is in Christ alone.
We need to know Him. We need to have Him revealed,
as Paul said, not to me, but in me, in me, in my very soul,
in my understanding. In the spiritual man, I need
to see Christ. He alone is the one who is undefiled. You see the R in verse 1, the
second word, is in italics. It was put there by the translators,
and I think somewhat unhelpfully, because it's really blessed the
undefiled in the way. Who is the undefiled in the way? Who is the only one who is perfect? That's what the word means, perfect.
Who is the only one who is perfect? Who is the only one who walked
in the law of the Lord? Look, they walk in the law of
the Lord. Who is the only one who walked in the law of the
Lord? Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ? He honoured the law of
God. He alone honoured it. The are
should be is. Blessed is the undefiled. It's
Christ. He is the blessed one of God,
the one who walked in the law of the Lord. He only is, as Hebrews
7 verse 26 says, He alone is holy. harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. Not one other person who has
ever lived can it be said they were harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. Oh, the Catholics will say that
Mary, the Virgin Mary, was the same because she was an immaculate
being. No, she wasn't. That's error.
That's falsehood. That's falsehood. Only Christ
was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. If the
law here, who walk in the law of the Lord, if the law here
meant the law of Moses, the Ten Commandments, then who else other
than Jesus Christ is the one who's walked in it perfectly.
He alone. You see, there's nobody else
blessed in that sense than Him. He is the only one, because He
is the way to God. Not law. Law is not the way to
God. Law-keeping is not the way to
God. Law-keeping will never get you near to God. Christ will
get you near to God, for He is the way, the truth, and the life.
And no man comes to the Father but by Him. He is, as was read
to us just before, Romans 10.4, He is the one who is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone who believeth. You
want to be right with God? You don't seek it as the Jews
did through the law. They didn't attain to righteousness
because they sought it through legal obedience, and they failed
again and again because the flesh is weak. No, the man, Christ
Jesus, is the law fulfiller. in whom the whole of his body,
what do I mean by his body? I mean his church. He is the
head, his church, the members of his church are the body of
Christ. He is the law-fulfiller, and
his body has fulfilled the law's requirements in Him, because
of Him. You know, when your head thinks
something and goes somewhere, the rest of the bits of your
body go with you, don't they? And so it is with Him. The body
of Christ has fulfilled the law's requirements in Christ, their
head. How? How has the body the members,
the church, the elect, the multitude that no man can number. How have
they fulfilled the requirements of the law? In the death of Christ. For the law demanded the soul
that sins, it shall die. And he shed his blood, he poured
out his life blood, the life is in the blood, he poured out
that blood to pay the penalty to the offended justice of God
for the sins of his people, of his body, and thereby He redeemed
us from the curse of the law, and His people, they are blessed
in Him. Blessed is the undefiled. Well,
his people are in him because they're in him. As his body can't
be separated from its head, the people of God are blessed in
him. And what marks them out? What signifies if you are numbered
with this blessed company? Look in verse 2. Blessed are
they that keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole
heart. They keep his testimonies. They seek him with the whole
heart, which means that they believe on him. They look for,
they follow, they embrace, they enjoy Him. That's what it means. Blessed are they that keep His
testimonies, that seek Him with the whole heart. They believe
in Him, they look for Him, they embrace Him, they enjoy Him.
The sure mark. of one under the blessing of
God is belief of the truth, as Paul said to the Thessalonians.
So I know that you're beloved of God from before the beginning
of time, for God has chosen you unto salvation through sanctification
of the spirit, setting apart by the spirit, and belief of
the truth. That's the mark. I preached the
true gospel and you believed it. Oh, they say don't millions
upon millions believe the gospel. Depends what you call the gospel.
If you mean the true gospel of scripture. If you mean the true
gospel that God has revealed in the scriptures, no. Little
flock. Little flock. There are hordes
and hordes on a very broad way that leads to destruction under
the banner of what they think is the gospel. But it's not God's
gospel. It's somebody else's gospel. And if it's somebody
else's gospel, as Paul said to the Galatians, it's no gospel
at all. It's a fallacy. It's falsehood. So then, he says,
blessed are they that keep his testimonies. He's one of these
ten words, testimonies. In Exodus 31 and verse 18, we
read about the tables of testimonies, clearly referring to the Ten
Commandments written on the tablets of stone, the tablets of testimony,
which was the witness of God from heaven about the rules and
laws of his righteousness and justice. And then in chapter
38 and verse 21 of Exodus, we read about the tabernacle of
testimony. The tabernacle of testimony.
Tabernacle is a tent of dwelling. Tabernacle is a place of worship,
a tent of worship. But above all, Tabernacle to
the believer is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God in Jesus Christ,
tabernacled, living in flesh among men. For in him dwells
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When he, the man, Jesus of Nazareth,
walked this earth 2,000 years ago, God, the fullness of God,
can you get your head? Of course you can't. But we believe
what it says, the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily in him. I'll say it again, I know I've
said it more often than I could ever remember, but Philip said
to Jesus in John 14, show us the Father and that will suffice
us. And Jesus said to him, Philip, Have I been so long with you,
and you have not seen Me? He who has seen Me has seen the
Father, for in Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
If you would know God, you will only find Him and know Him in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He tabernacled in flesh among
men. And what did He do? He delivered
His heavenly testimony, His heavenly witness. He said, I have come
down from above to give you my heavenly witness. In Him, in
that same chapter of Colossians chapter 2, in Him we're told,
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom
and knowledge is this wisdom and knowledge of eternal life
and truth. Where do we find them? In Christ
and Christ alone. Nowhere else. He, He, Christ
is, as Hebrews 8 verse 2 says, the true tabernacle which the
Lord pitched and not man. You know, the Israelites kept
pitching a tent according to the law of Moses and that was
quite right because that's what God told them to do. But Christ
is the true tabernacle, of which those tabernacles, and then the
temple later, were but types and patterns. But He, Christ,
in His body, is the true tabernacle. He is God dwelling with men. He is God amongst men, fellowshipping
with men. He is the true tabernacle, which
the Lord pitched. The Lord sent Him, and not man.
And He is the one where all the testimonies of God are found. All of them. Because we read
in Revelation 19 verse 10, the testimony of Jesus, the words
that he spoke, the truth that he gave witness to from heaven,
the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. This is the
truth from God. And he dwells in his people. He dwells, he tabernacles in
his people. Testimonies, the word of God,
the tabernacle of testimony. He dwells amongst his people.
1 Corinthians 6 19. Paul writing to the church says
your body, individually and corporately as the church, is the temple
of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, because
God has given him to you. Keeping and seeking is focused
in Jesus. When it says keep his testimonies
and seek him, it's not talking about obeying laws as the rule
of life, it's looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. That is what it is, to be blessed
in Him, as He is the undefiled in the way, who has walked perfectly
in the law of the Lord. Blessed is all His people who
believe in Him, who cling to Him, who follow Him, who look
to Him. This is what God reveals here.
And the goal of it all? The goal of it? Yes, here and
now in this life we look unto Jesus by faith. It's faith that
gives us that sight to look to Him, to cling to Him, to believe
in Him, to derive blessing and comfort from Him. How are you
blessed? It's well with my soul. How do
you know it's well with my soul? For Christ has answered everything
that was required of my soul. He's done it. Therefore, there
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Oh, wow! Really? Yes! Those who are in Christ
Jesus, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who
are in Him. What a blessed state! But the
goal of it is not now, the goal of it is in heaven. Where we
read this, Revelation 21 verse 3, Behold, the tabernacle of
God, there it is again, is with men. And in that tabernacle come
the testimonies of God. The tabernacle of God is with
men. In heaven, It's with men perfectly. And He will dwell with them perfectly. There'll be no times of division. And they shall be His people.
And God Himself shall be with them and be their God. That's
the objective of it all. This is the foundation and the
essence of the abundant life which Jesus promised his people.
He said in John 10 verse 10, he said, I am come. Think, this
is the one in whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
speaking words of eternal life from heaven. And he said, I am
come that they might have life. His people, his sheep might have
life. and that they might have it more
abundantly. Abundant life. Do you want abundant
life? Or do you want the paltry, poverty-stricken
life that this world thinks is filled with riches? I want the
abundant life of heaven. I want the abundant life of the
knowledge of the Son of God. I want the abundant life of knowing
the One who upholds all things by the word of His power. So
look then, at his ways and his precepts and his statutes, verses
3 to 5, they also do no iniquity. They walk in his ways. Thou hast
commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways
were directed to keep thy statutes. It must be talking about the
new man. the new man of the child of God,
the new man who is born of God's Spirit. He is the one who does
no iniquity. You say, I sin all the time.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us. But look what John says a chapter on in his first
epistle. He says, whosoever, this is 1
John 3 verse 9, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. You say, well
that's not talking about me. Ah, if you're a child of God,
you might be conscious of the flesh, which can do nothing other
than sin. For if we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But this
is talking about the other nature, which is the new man, born of
the Spirit of God. You must be born again, said
Jesus to Nicodemus. You must be born again. The wind
blows where it listeth. You hear the sound thereof. You
can't tell where it's coming from or where it's going. Thus
it is with the Spirit of God. He comes and gives light and
shines into a fallen sinner's heart to give him the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
And seeing him, That one comes and that nature cannot sin, because
he's born of God. Flesh sins always. These two
natures are in conflict. The flesh and the spirit, warring
against one another. Galatians 5 verse 18 or so, I
don't know, I can't remember exactly. We know, says John again
in 1 John 5.18, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth
not. That new nature doesn't. The
flesh does. We're to walk not after the flesh.
We're encouraged, we're exhorted to walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. by the spirits leading, believing,
looking, following, seeking to subdue the flesh and its works.
Following God's commands, look at verse 4, thou hast commanded
us to keep thy precepts diligently. What's the command that God has
given? You know, the Jews asked that of Jesus as well, didn't
they? John 6, 28 and 29. They said to him, what should
we do that we do the works of God? Tell us then, what's the
right thing that we need to do? You're this teacher, you do all
these miracles. Tell us what we need to do to
do the works of God. And you know what Jesus answered?
This is the work of God. This is the work of God. This
is it, but it's God's work. This is the work of God, that
you believe on the one whom he has sent. Who is the one whom
he has sent? He's the one who is God himself,
come in flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. That you believe on him.
That's the thing. You've commanded us to keep your
precepts. What are the precepts of God? Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is how God's precepts are
kept. This is how we're moved. to bear the fruit of the Spirit
is by looking unto Jesus. What's the thing that's most
likely to... You see, I remember once hearing
an elder in a church preach a very stern sermon about forgiveness. and he held it up as a legal
threat. God says here that if you're not forgiving, he's not
going to forgive you, so you had better be forgiving, otherwise
you're not going to be forgiven. Well, do you know something?
Yes, you can wave the big stick, and what he said wasn't false,
but this is the age. When the heart, when the soul
that is saved by grace looks at the forgiveness that Christ
has wrought for him from God who is offended above anything
that we or anybody else has ever done to us, how can we not have
a spirit of forgiveness in response? Looking to him, and so it is
with all the other things, looking to him, humility. You know, it's
not the big stick of the law that will make you humble. It's
looking unto Jesus, who was humble and lowly and meek. To be loving. Christ commends his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
So should we not be loving to others? The truth. the truth. God is truth. Everything he says
is truth. Should we not be truthful? We
know that God sees me. We know that God looks into my
heart with every interaction I have with other people. He
can see whether we're being truthful or dishonest. generosity. How can we be miserly and holding
back things when He has been so generous to us in spiritual
love and grace and mercy and peace. You see, faith in Christ
is the foundation of right obedience to His precepts. Faith in Christ,
believing Him, looking to Him. Hebrews 11 verse 6, without faith
it is impossible to please God. Oh, I'm going to keep the commandments
and I'm going to get right with God that way. I'm telling you,
without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith in what?
Faith in Christ, of course, looking unto Jesus. Look at verse 40
of this psalm. Verse 40 says this, Behold, I
have longed after thy precepts, quicken me in thy righteousness.
I have longed after, if you've longed after his precepts, you
know, the warm influence of the Spirit longing after it. It can't
be said of the strict Mosaic law and its strict power over
the flesh, you know, it's a tyrant over the flesh, isn't it, the
Mosaic law? Because the flesh is utterly incapable of keeping
it. You can't get any comfort. Your flesh cannot long to be
under that bondage of legalism, But it can, it can long for Christ. It can long for the Spirit to
come. Look in verse five, oh that my
ways were directed to keep thy statutes, your statutes. You know, we have a statute book
of law in this country. But this cannot mean the Mosaic
law. It cannot mean that because Hebrews
10 verse one, says this, for the law, and I'm missing a few
bits out but I'm not altering the meaning, for the law can
never make the comers thereunto perfect. You can never be perfect
by coming to law, as Peter read for us earlier in Romans 10.
The Israelites sought peace with God and righteousness with God
by the works of the law. And it can never be. It can't. It can never make the comers
thereto perfect. But if statutes means this, if
it means the design and will of Jehovah God in gracious salvation,
his gracious plan of salvation in Christ, then the believing
heart The believing heart, having tasted, as it says in the scriptures,
taste and see that the Lord is good. Well, I've never tasted.
Well, you won't know then, will you? You know what it's like
with the food? I don't like that. How many people do you know that
say, oh, I don't like that. And you say, well, have you ever
tasted it? Well, no, I just know I don't like it. Well, how do
you know if you haven't tasted it? Taste and see that the Lord
is good. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. Believe him. Believe him, put
him to the test. Believe his word and see that
the Lord is good. And seeing that he's good, you
long for, you desire closer conformance to that truth, to his statutes,
to his principles of grace. And then we have, to close, confidence
and eternal hope in Christ. Verses six to eight. Then shall
I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness
of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. I will
keep thy statutes, O forsake me not utterly. How should a
man be just with God? How should a man be unashamed
before the judgment seat of Christ. Look, where does it say that?
Verse 6, then shall I not be ashamed. How shall I be unashamed
before the judgment seat of Christ? All in the gospel truth, revealed
by the Spirit in the soul of God's people. Turn to Isaiah
45, just for a moment. Let me read some verses from
Isaiah 45. We could read the whole thing,
but we haven't time. But verse 17 says this, Isaiah 45 verse
17. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord. That's the Israel of God, the
true people of God, the elect of God shall be saved in the
Lord. This is in Christ. That's what
it means. In the promised Messiah, the seed of the woman that was
promised shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation,
loved with an everlasting love and saved with an everlasting
salvation. You shall not be ashamed when
it comes to the day of judgment. It's not just all day I feel
a bit ashamed. It's hearing those dreadful words depart from me.
I never knew you. you who work iniquity. You shall
not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end. You just shan't
be ashamed or confounded. Verse 19, I have not spoken in
secret in a dark place. This is God speaking of the earth.
I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain. I, the Lord,
speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
Verse 22, look unto me. and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. You say,
what must I do to be right with God, to have this experience
of God? And the answer is there. God
says to you, what should I do? What must I do to do the works
of God? God says this, just look. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, that brass serpent that was like the picture
of that which was killing the people for their disobedience
in the wilderness. And whoever, bitten by a snake
and in the process of dying, looked at the brazen serpent,
the brass serpent that Moses had made, they lived. And God
says here, look unto me, look unto me, you sinners, and be
saved from your sins. all the ends of the earth, it
doesn't matter, without distinction of race, or age, or gender, or
anything else, for I am God. He cannot lie. And there is none
else, there is no other salvation. Where was the next one? Verse
24. Surely, shall one say, in the
Lord I have righteousness. That's what the people of God
say. That's what the true people of God say. The true people of
God say, not in my obedience to the law of Moses as my rule
of life, they say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength.
Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall the seed of
all Israel, all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory. This is the Spirit of God revealing
in the soul of God's people the truth of salvation in Christ
and that walk with Christ. This is the foundation of confidence
in Christ for eternity. You want peace with God for eternity. This is the foundation of it.
It's not in law keeping, it's looking to the one who has kept
the law and in whom we are right with God by justification from
the works of the law. Confidence in Christ for eternity.
Verse seven, I will praise thee with uprightness of heart when
I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. Those judgments can't
mean Moses' law because look at verse 20. My soul breaketh
for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. The soul isn't breaking in longing
for the commandments of God written in stone, it's longing for the
gospel message of redemption from the curse of the law. It
must be the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ.
He alone is the righteous judgments that belong to his people. He
alone is what Jude verse 3 says, the faith which was once delivered
unto the saints. Our faith is a person, it is
Christ, He is that person, He is that faith. That faith which
was once delivered to the saints, not various varieties of it,
once and one only. The commitment of God's people
to keep God's statutes, as it says in verse 8, is a resolve. to keep growing, as Peter says,
grow in grace and the knowledge of our God and Saviour Jesus
Christ, to keep growing and learning of Him, that we might be more
conformed to His image as we are kept, O forsake me not utterly,
not forsaken by God. God has promised that He will
keep His people by His promise and by His Spirit. Peter says
this, 1 Peter 1 verse 5, who are kept by the power of God
through faith, and to salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. This is about all the blessings
of God for eternity, saving grace, and it's in Christ alone. Look
nowhere else. Don't look to any law-keeping
or anything you might do. Seek Him. Seek Him. Find Him. You will find Him. He's promised.
Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened.
Seek Him until you find Him, and then follow Him, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That is the key
to heavenly wisdom and knowledge and eternal life. Amen.