Verse 129 of the 119th Psalm. I need to put on my glasses for work. Psalm 119, verse 129. Thy testimonies are wonderful. Therefore doth my soul Keep them. The inference of thy words giveth
light. It giveth understanding unto
the simple. I opened my mouth and panted,
for I longed for thy commandments. Look thou upon me, and be merciful
unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name. Order my steps in thy word, and
let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the
oppression of man, so will I keep thy precepts. Make thy face to shine upon thy
servant and teach me thy statutes. Rivers of waters run down mine
eyes because they keep not thy law. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you for the testimony that comes from you
with regard to your salvation. Lord, we ask that you would enable
us to enter in to this and enable each of us to cry to you, order
my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion
over me. Meet with us for Christ's sake.
We would remember our friends that are away. We pray for your
hand upon them and traveling mercies. We pray for those who
are with. Children, the newborns, we. Pray for our families, we pray
for those who are going through trials and severe times, we pray
that you would. Make yourself near as you are
to them and let them know it. Bless us for Christ's sake. Be
with all your people wherever they meet together. In Christ's
name we pray, amen. Paul Harries became a grandfather
this week. Thy testimonies are wonderful. That which you testify of I love
Revelation 1910. The testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy. He said, I came to bear witness
to the truth. I came to, came to bear my testimony
with regard to the truth. And I love to think of the Lord
saying that when Pilate asked him, why are you here? He said, I came to bear witness
to the truth. And how he bore witness to the
truth of God's character by him being nailed to a cross. His
justice, his love, his sovereignty, every attribute of God manifested
in that. And how he bore witness to the
truth concerning my character and your character. We are so
backed that we would kill and did kill God's son. Doesn't get
any worse than that. He bore witness to the true character
of salvation. He is salvation. That's what
he accomplished. And I love that. Here's why I
love this testimony. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God who has saved us. That's his testimony. He saved
us. We didn't help. We didn't contribute. He saved us. Isn't that wonderful? Now that's
wonderful. We use that term far too loosely. How you doing? Wonderful. Full
of wonder? I've said that before, I'm sure.
How was that meal? Wonderful. Well, His name is
wonderful. And his testimony is wonderful. Aren't you thankful for this
testimony? He testified to us. He saved us. And he called us. The saving
took place before the calling. That's wonderful to me because
that reminds me that salvation has nothing to do with any of
my works. He saved us and he called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Thy testimonies are wonderful. Do you find them such? Thy testimonies
are wonderful. Therefore does my soul keep them,
that my soul watches over them. I don't want one syllable to
be changed. His testimonies are wonderful.
I love God's word because it reveals who he is. He says in verse 130, the inference
of thy words giveth light. It giveth understanding. unto
the simple. Now, we have natural light. We don't have the spiritual light
by nature he's speaking of here, but we have natural light. We
can see by the light of creation that God is. That's what the
scripture says. He's known by the invisible things
from the creation of the world are clearly seeing his eternal
power in Godhead. We see that without this spiritual
light he's talking about. And I think about the light of
men, aren't you? Aren't you thankful for the advances
that are made in medicine to keep us from suffering? Thankful
for the advances in technology? I mean, there's so many men in
vaccines. Men are impressive. It's because
God made him that way, but I mean the advances in science, in healthcare,
in education, there's so many blessings of that life. But that's
not the light he's talking about because we are by nature in utter
darkness with regard to the character of God and our own character.
We're in utter darkness with regard to how God saves sinners
by Christ. We're born in utter darkness
and blindness. And it's only the entrance of
his word. I like that word entrance, don't
you? He enters, he invades my heart with his light. And it's
only by the entrance of his word that I have any understanding
of the true character of God. I understand from the entrance
of his word that God is light and in him is no darkness at
all. How would you understand that
God is one God in three distinct persons without the word of God?
You couldn't figure that out. You couldn't even guess on it.
You and I have no light as to how sinful we really are. Nobody
does. We have some good. No, you don't.
No, you don't. The cross is proof of that. We
are in utter darkness as to how God can be just, absolutely just,
and justify someone as sinful as us. I like what Spurgeon said. Spurgeon said if the angels were
asked, how can God be just and justify those people, those men,
those fallen sinful men, he said the angels would still be scratching
their head. They wouldn't come up with an answer to that. But
oh, the entrance of his word gives light. When the Lord said,
I am the light of the world, he is saying, I am the light,
is how this woman that was guilty, caught in the act, can be not
condemned because she's not guilty. The only light we have, it's
the entrance of his word that gives us this light. regarding
his character, my sinfulness, and the glorious salvation that's
in Christ, it giveth, verse 130, it giveth understanding unto
the simple. Now, as much as I can, as much
as I can, by the grace of God, I understand that Jesus Christ
is my righteousness before God. Do you understand that? It doesn't
have anything to do with anything you've done. It has wholly to
do with the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ, him putting
away my sin, and giving me his righteousness. I've been given
some understanding, understanding of the simple. Now, he says in
verse 131, I opened my mouth and panted. Now that's strong
imagery, isn't it? I opened my mouth and as the
heart panteth after the water of brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, O God." And I understand something about what this panting
is, because if you think about it, you think of the weakness
of your desires, not the strength of them. I, that's what I think
of when I think, and I, I see this panting and I think, oh,
I want to have that. Well, I have it in this sense.
And so does every other believer. We hunger and thirst after his
righteousness. Amen. That's a part of the fourth beatitude. Blessed are they who hunger and
thirst after his righteousness. And I'm panting for that. I'm
longing for that. And that's what every believer
longs for. Now, our longing is not as strong as it ought to
be. You know that. How many times can you just be
as dead as a doornail? But that's still true that every
believer longs to be found in Christ. That's what Paul, Paul
was panting when he said, oh, that I may win Christ and be
found in him. When God comes looking for me,
there's only one place I want to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I pant after that. I opened my mouth and panted.
For I longed for thy commandments. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 71. I longed for thy commandments. Now here's what he's talking
about. Verse one, Psalm 71. In thee, O Lord, do I put my
trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness
and cause me to escape. Incline thine ear unto me and
save me. Be thou my strong habitation
when do I may continually resort. Thou has given commandment to
save me. Now I want you to think of that
statement. Thou has given commandment to
save me. I long for that. I long for him
to give commandment to my salvation. Now, when we think of the doctrine
of grace, if I believe I'm totally depraved,
if I really believe that about myself, my own sinfulness, I
pant after him to elect me. I know I won't be saved if he
doesn't. I pant after Christ to take full responsibility for
my salvation, put my sin away and give me his righteousness.
I long for God the Holy Spirit to come invincibly and irresistibly
and give me life and cause me to persevere. I pant for that. This is not just getting somebody
straightened out in their doctrine. This comes from the very depths
of your soul. If God's taught you that you're
a sinner, you long for him to give commandment to save you. Can you enter into that? Lord,
give commandment to save me. If you don't, I won't be saved.
Give your commandment. I for I longed for thy commandment. Verse 132. Look thou upon me. And that word look is the word
that generally is translated turn, turn to me. Turn to me. I feel like I'm all alone. I
feel like I'm isolated. I feel like I can't turn to you.
I feel like I'm stuck. Turn to me. Turn to me and be merciful unto
me. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness and according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgression. Turn now to me and be merciful
unto me as you used to do, as you're accustomed to do. This
is what you always do with those who love thy name. Now, I love his name. His name is
his attributes. It's not just knowing how to
audibly pronounce his name. His name is who he is. The Lord
the Lord God remember when he proclaimed the name of the Lord
to Moses in Exodus chapter 34 And he said the Lord the Lord
God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and
truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sins that will by no means clear the guilty I Love that
name He's merciful. He's gracious. He's long-suffering.
That's his name. And under no circumstance at
all will he ever clear the guilty. Now that's only understood in
light of the gospel. In Christ, I'm not guilty. I
love his name. What about his name, the Lord
our righteousness? Do you love that name? The Lord's my shepherd. Do you love that name? The Lord,
our peace. I love his name. The Lord that
provides. I love his name. The Lord, our
banner. All of his names. We love his name. You see, our
salvation is in his name. He saves, listen to this, for
his name's sake. Don't you love that? Nevertheless,
he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his
mighty power known. We love his name. Look thou, turn upon me and be
merciful unto me as thou used to do uses to do and most other
translations say you're accustomed to those that love thy name.
He does this for everybody who loves his name. And I love his
name. Do you love his name Jesus? Thou
shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from
their sins. Oh, we love his name. Now verse 133. Here is a request that is always
appropriate for me and you to be asking. Order my steps in
thy word. Now, when I make that request,
I'm saying I am so sinful and so stupid that I can't take a
step. And I'm asking you to order my
steps in your word. And this is a confession of weakness,
extreme weakness. I can't take a step except you
order my steps in your word. Lord order my steps in your word. You know the scripture says the
steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Now that good man
is every believer. Every believer. Everyone who
has the grace of God. Their steps are ordered by the
Lord. Order my steps in your word.
And look at this next request. Let not any iniquity have dominion
over me. Have lordship over me. Now you
know that you are so sinful You believe this about yourself.
I believe this about myself. I'm so sinful that any iniquity
will have dominion over me, unless he doesn't let it happen. Sins
shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under the
law, but under grace. There's the promise. Order my
steps in your word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over
me. This is always an appropriate
prayer for all of us, isn't it? Verse 134. Deliver me from the oppression
of man. Save me from the profession of
man. So will I keep thy precepts. Save me from the oppression of
man. And that word deliver is usually
actually translated ransom. Ransom me. Deliver him from going
down to the pit. I have found a ransom. My only plea for him to deliver
me is because of the ransom payment of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have
no other argument. I have no other reason to say
do that. Deliver me, for I have found a ransom. Deliver me from the oppression
of man. Now, there's a lot you can say
about that. My old man oppresses me. My sinful
man oppresses me. My sinful nature oppresses me. The impression of men, it can
take so many forms. And I'm once again saying, Save
me from that. Save me from myself. Save me
from others. Deliver me from the oppression
of man, so will I keep thy precepts. And the only way I'll keep your
precepts, guard over your precepts, look to Christ only, the only
way I'll do that is if you save me and you deliver me from the
oppression of man. And then he says in verse 135,
make thy face to shine upon by servant and
teach me by statutes. Now, this is so much more than. Well, I don't even know what
I mean by say this is so much more, this is whatever believer
desires. His face. His presence. I want his face to shine on me
in favor, looking at me in Christ. Turn with me to number six. This
is the great priestly benediction. Seems like we looked at this
a few weeks ago because this is this is said several times
in Psalm 119, this this desire for the shining, reconciled,
favorable face of God, not him looking at me in a frown. And
the thing that is, when we think of ourselves, we think of the
Lord looking at us that way, but that's because we're thinking
about ourselves. Remember that. Look at this in Numbers chapter
6, verse 22. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Speak unto Aaron and to his son, saying, On this wise
you shall bless the children of Israel. every one of them,
saying unto them, the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's the face he's speaking
of. The Lord, verse 25, make his face shine upon thee and
be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. The peace of God that passes
understanding. The peace of God that lets you
know that all he requires of you, you have in Christ. The
peace of God that makes you realize he's in control of everything
and he brings good out of evil. The Lord give thee peace and
they shall put my name upon the children of Israel and I will
bless them. Back to our text in Psalm 119. Make thy face to shine upon my
servant and teach me thy statutes. As, I don't even know whether
I ought to say it this way, but as a preacher, I'm always asking
the Lord to teach me. I don't want to be giving people
my opinion. I don't want to be giving people
my thoughts. I wanna be giving people what
God's word actually says. So in that sense, I pray Lord
be my teacher. But more than anything else,
I pray Lord be my teacher. Teach me your gospel. I'm not
talking about so I can teach others. I'm saying because I
won't know it except you teach me. It's written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. Lord,
teach me. Don't leave me to my own understanding.
Don't leave me to my own thoughts. Be my teacher. Teach me thy gospel. And then he says in verse 136, rivers of waters run down mine
eyes because they keep not thy law. Tears. Shortest verse in the Bible,
Jesus wept. And I don't even know what all
to say about that. I know that the Lord wept. And the psalmist says, rivers
of water run out of mine eyes because they keep not by law.
Now this can be the Lord speaking. This can be whoever wrote this
psalm. But the thing of it is, I don't want to become desensitized
towards sin. I want rivers of water running
out of my eyes because of my own sin. Oh, that I might truly
be one who mourns over sin. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. And I don't ever want to find
any kind of satisfaction in the sin of somebody else. They had
it coming. Look what they've done. I don't
want to have that kind of attitude. I want to have the attitude of
truly mourning over somebody else's sin, knowing that I'm
the same way. And I'm not hard-hearted toward
them. I'm not harsh toward them. I
realize what I am. I love what The Lord said through
Paul, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you which are spiritual,
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself,
lest you also be tempted. I don't want to rejoice in somebody
else's fall, thinking somehow that makes me look better. No,
may this be our attitude at all times. It was the attitude of
the Lord. Rivers of water. come out of
my eyes, because they keep not thy law. May you and I, by his grace, enter in to these
words. Amen.