Would you turn to the 119th Psalm? I want to begin reading in verse
65. Psalm 119, verse 65. Thou has dealt well with thy
servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge. For I have believed thy commandments before I was afflicted. I went
astray. But now have I kept thy word. Thou art good and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. The proud
have forged a lie against me. But I will keep thy precepts
with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease. but I delight in thy law. It is good for me that I've been
afflicted that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth is better
unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you for who you
are. How we thank you for the revelation of your person. How
we thank you for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, thy son.
How we thankful, how thankful we are for the powerful salvation
that's in him. How thankful we are for the fellowship
we have in the gospel. Lord, grant us your presence.
Bless us for Christ's sake. Forgive us of our sins for Christ's
sake. Lord, we ask that you would order
our steps in your word and let no iniquity have dominion over
us. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. Lord, those of our number that
are sick and going through trouble and trial, we pray for your blessing
upon them. In Christ's name we pray, amen. We got to see Joe McSherry this
week, and he's getting old and not long for this world, but
we were very thankful to be able to see him. But remember him
in prayer. He's not got long. And he was rejoicing in the fact
that he didn't have long. Verse 65. I hope, by the grace of God,
every one of us will be able to say this from the very depths
of our heart. Thou hast dealt well with thy
servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. Now, here's the testimony
of every believer, and it's about what God has done. Thou has dealt
well with thy servant. He's dealt well with me. Now
this speaks of all the blessings of his salvation. Now, I want
us to think about this. He loved me. Are you amazed by that? Can you
say I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder
how he could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. He loved me. He chose me. He
set his saving love on me before time began. He redeemed me. He washed away all of my sins. He justified me. He made it to
where I really don't have any sin. I stand before God as one
who has never sinned. That is the power of his blood. He called me. With irresistible, invincible
grace. He called me. He preserves me. He gave me life. He took care of my destiny. He predestinated me to be conformed
to the image of his son. And he gave me faith. He gave me repentance. He gave
me a love to himself. He revealed himself to me. He's
dealt well with me. Can you say amen to that from
the depths of your heart? He had dealt well with me according
to his word, not according to any merit in me or any goodness
in me or any righteousness in me, but he did so according to
his word. Verse 66, teach me good judgment and knowledge. For I have believed thy commandments.
Now this I know. If the Lord has taught me, I
want him to teach me. Isn't that so, dear? You don't
want me to be your teacher. You want the Lord to be your
teacher. Because when he teaches, you're
taught. I always think of people saying,
the Lord's trying to teach me something. No, he's not. The
Lord doesn't try to do anything. If he teaches you, you are taught
of God. I love that scripture, and they
shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that has
heard and learned of the father cometh to me. Now notice this
word, teach me good judgment and knowledge. Good judgment. Now that word actually has to
do with taste and relish. There's not much better in life
than food that tastes good. You all love food that tastes
good. Give me a relish for your word
to where I enjoy it more than I enjoy food that tastes good. A relish for your word. Teach me good judgment. And that
word is discernment. I want to be able to discern
when I hear, don't you? I want the Lord to be my teachers
to this extent that I know the difference. If I'm hearing error,
I know it. I discern it. If I'm hearing
truth, I know it. I discern it. I can discern the
difference between law and grace. I can discern the difference
between works and gospel, that which comes from the flesh and
that which comes from God. I need this good discernment
and I need this relish Oh, I wanna relish his word, don't you? To
where it's my necessary food. That's the relationship I'm to
have with the word of God. It's my necessary food. He says, for I have believed
thy commandments. I've relied upon, I've trusted
thy commandments. Every word, every commandment
that comes from your mouth out of this book. Truly, this is
the love of God. that we keep his commandments. Now what is meant by that? Does
that mean take the 10 commandments? I do my best to keep them. You're being dishonest if you
think that in your heart because really you haven't kept and I
haven't kept one commandment one time. Not as God requires. God's holy, his commandment is
exceeding broad. You and I have not kept one of
the Ten Commandments one time. I think it's interesting when
people want to have the Ten Commandments posted. I love God's law. And in Christ, I have kept the
10 commandments. That's why I don't have to fear
them. I've kept them because my redeemer kept them for me
and I'm in him. But when it's talking about keeping
his commandments, this is his commandment that we believe on
the name of his son and love one another as he gave us commandment. If you believe the gospel, you're
keeping his commandment. If you love his people, you're
keeping his commandment and keeping his commandments is not grievous. It's not irksome. It's not vexing. It's a blessing. Oh, what a blessing
to hear the words of his mouth, to keep his commandments. And
like I said, with regard to the law of God, I love the law of
God. I love the 10 commandments. My
redeemer has kept them for me. His righteousness is my righteousness
before God. Verse seven, 67, before I was afflicted, I went
astray. And that word afflicted means
before I was humbled. before I was made low. It doesn't simply mean I got
some kind of disease or I had some kind of accident and had
afflictions and that, no. It means I was brought low. The biggest problem that I have
and that you have, I know it's true with regard to me, is an
inflated view of myself and my own ability and my own righteousness. It's what Paul said to the Corinthians,
you're puffed up. Spiritual edema is what that
is. A puffed up view of myself and
my own ability and my own knowledge and my own experience puffed
up What a blessing it is when the Lord humbles me. Now, I love the scripture, God
resists the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humility is a just estimate of
myself. A just estimate, not an inflated
estimate. but a just estimate of myself. When you're brought low and you
have nothing to boast in before God, it's easy to trust Christ
as the only righteousness you have, isn't it? It's easy when
you have nothing. But when you have something,
Christ is no longer all, is he? Christ is all, all to God, all
God is, all in my salvation. Oh, what a blessing to be afflicted
in that sense. I don't want to be humiliated,
but I do want to humble myself before the Lord, don't you? I
want to take the lowest seat in the house. I want to be like
that publican in the temple beating on his breast. God be propitious
to me, the sinner. And I want to have Christ say
of me, I tell you that man went down to his house justified rather
than the other for everyone that exalts himself. What's the Lord
say? This is the unalterable law of
the kingdom of heaven. Everyone that exalts himself.
shall be abased. I think of what Nebuchadnezzar
said, them that walk in pride, he knoweth how to abase. And
everyone that humbles himself shall be exalted. Now can you see why the writer
said, before I was afflicted, before I was brought low, I went
astray. I, everything about my thinking
was wrong, but when you afflicted me, it was good for me. But now have I kept thy word. Verse 68. I love this verse of
scripture. Thou art good and do is good. That's true all the time. Thou art good and doest good,
teach me thy statutes. God is good. Absolutely good. Essentially
good. Immutably good. All the time. How many times Has a man said
or thought, how could a good God let that happen? The poverty in the world, the
mistreatment, the horrible things that happen to people. The tsunamis,
the hurricanes, all the things that would cause
mass destruction, people brought into positions where it's just
a difficult life, just bad things happen, abuse. How could a good God let that
happen? Now, whenever I make a statement
like that, or even think that, what I'm saying is I'm gooder
than God. I'm gooder than God. I disagree with God there. He
shouldn't act that way. And I wish that at all times
I would know that God is good. And he brings good out of evil. The greatest example of that
is the cross. What is the most evil thing to
take place? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. When men nailed Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, willfully, wickedly, maliciously to a cross, the most
evil thing that ever took place. What's the most good thing that
ever took place? The cross of Christ. He manifested who God
is. He saved his people. What good
came out of that? I think of Joseph's words to
his brothers, you meant it for evil. They didn't have any good
intentions in selling him as a slave to Egypt. You meant it
for evil, but God meant it for good. Now, with regard to the
goodness of God, I think of Moses saying, I beseech you, show me
your glory. What a request. I hope you and
I'll make that request. Show me what you say your glory
is not, not my thoughts. Show me what you say your glory
is. He said, I'll make all my goodness to pass before thee. Now, the setting of this is when
Moses had gone for 40 days. to receive the law from God on
Mount Sinai. And what did the children of
Israel do after the Lord had delivered them in such a remarkable
way? They made a golden calf, and
bowed before it, and said, these be thy gods, O Israel, that delivered
thee from Egyptian bondage. This golden calf did this. How
wicked. How evil. How unbelieving. Yet God says of these people,
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. God is good. It's his capacity
to save somebody like me. That's his goodness. Thou art
good and doest good. Whatever he does is good. And
I've said this recently. I don't understand what he's
doing, but I trust his character. I really do. I trust his character. He's the one I trust. Thou art
good. Thou doest good all the time. Teach me thy statutes. And that word statutes has with
it the idea of decrees. Everything that happens is God's
decree. He purposed it. And the reason
it takes place is because he decreed it. He who is good all
the time. And everything he does is good
because he is good. God is good. Teach me thy statutes. Teach me to rejoice in whatever
you do. Verse 69. The proud have forged a lie against me,
but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. The proud, the arrogant, the
presumptuous, all who deny salvation by grace is what that is. Who
makes you to differ from another? Is it you? You know better than
that. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now the proud, they say, no, I made myself to differ.
I did something. I made the difference in salvation.
I mean, all you got to do is believe in universal redemption.
Christ died for everybody, but some of those people he died
for in hell. And the reason I'm not is because of something I
did with his blood. I made the difference. My will, my decision,
what the proud, David says, I forged a lie against me because they
have no love for the gospel. I believe they speak evil of
the gospel. I believe they, they forged a lie against me. And
every believer has experienced that. And this was the Lord speaking
more than anybody else. The proud have forged the lie
against him. The proud affords the lie against
me, but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. Thy precepts, justification by
faith, with my whole heart, with my whole understanding, with
all my affection will I keep thy precept and believe the gospel. Now verse 70, this is David's
description of the unbeliever. Their heart is as fat as grease. That's quite a description, isn't
it? Their heart is as fat as grease. This describes the heart
of every man by nature. The heart is deceitful. Jeremiah chapter 17, verse nine.
The heart's deceitful above all things. That means your heart.
That means my heart. Your heart will tell you a lie
and get yourself to believe it. The heart is deceitful above
all things, and that word desperately wicked, incurably wicked. You can't make your heart any
better. God's testimony in Genesis chapter
6 verse 5, and God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil, non-stop. Their heart is as fat as grease,
swollen and enlarged, drowsy through the gluttonous feeding
on of self-righteousness. That's what he's talking about.
It's enlarged, swollen because of self-righteousness, satisfied
with self, numbed. That's the evil heart of unbelief. Their heart is as fat as grease. But I delight in thy law. Now I love saying this, the law
of God, I delight in it. I love every commandment. I love
every word of God. And the only way you can really
delight in the law of God is if you've kept it. I've kept
it in Christ. I've kept it completely in the
Lord Jesus Christ. So I look at the law, I love
it. I'm not afraid of it because
I stand before that law. The law is going to say with
regard to Todd Nybert, he never sinned. He's perfectly kept the
law. That's because of what Christ,
my Redeemer, did for me and I was in him. Therefore, don't you
love the law of God? I love it. He says, he repeats himself in
verse 71. It's good for me and I've been
afflicted. Can you say that? It's good for
me that the Lord has brought me low. It's good for me that
the Lord has emptied me out. It's good for me. It's not bad
for me. It's good for me that the Lord
has afflicted me. You see, every valley shall be
exalted. That's every low place. Every
low place. I'm talking about low before
God. I'm not talking about some kind
of mock humility. I'm talking about before God,
you're low. He made you that way. And it's
a good thing. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted that I might learn thy statutes. That's the only
way you learn. is if he brings you low. And when he brings you
low, oh, it's easy to trust Jesus Christ as all you have in it.
What a blessing when I can say from my heart, I'm nothing, he's
everything. And I love it that way. This is a negative, this is great. I'm nothing. He is all in my
salvation. All that God requires of me,
he looks to Jesus Christ for. I love it that way. He says in verse 72, the law
of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Everything that comes from his
mouth, I'm so thankful he speaks. I'm so thankful that he speaks
from his word. The word, from the word, that
reveals the word, the word, the gospel message from the word
of God, the holy scriptures that reveals Christ, the word. Oh,
we love the word that comes from his mouth, don't we? I love the
way, whoever wrote this, whether it was David, it's never mentioned,
I reckon it was David. He said, it's better to me than
thousands of gold or silver. Riches I heed not, nor man's
empty praise. Thou, my inheritance, now and
always, Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of heaven,
my treasure, my treasure, Thou art. He is my treasure. You know the reason a believer
can't be bought? An unbeliever can be bought.
A believer can't be bought because you don't have anything that's
worth them selling out for. They've got the word of God.
They've got the gospel. Well, what if I give you $10
billion? No way. There's nothing that can be compared
to the treasure of the gospel we have. It's worth infinitely
more than thousands in gold and silver. His word. nearer than my best friend, dearer
than life itself, sweeter than liberty, and more pleasant than
any earthly comfort. His word. Oh, the law of thy mouth is better
unto me than thousands of gold and silver. What should it profit
a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his soul? Wouldn't be a good deal, would
it? What would a man give in exchange for his soul? Thank the Lord. He's given us
this love for his word. We know it comes from him.