We'll be going back to the Psalms
this evening. Psalm 19. I've entitled this message, Three
Books. You could call it a trilogy. A lot of authors in our day are
making things in trilogies, and there's a trilogy in this psalm. And the writer of all three books
is the Father. The Heavenly Father has written
all three books, as you're going to see in this psalm. The first
one is the world book. The world book. It's a primer. When I was growing up, they used
to have a thing called a primer. I'm sure you kids will remember
that. Do you remember that first book?
See Jack run. Run, Jack, run. Remember those?
Those are primers. Just the basics, okay? That's
where you start, or that's where you should start, and that's
where this psalm starts here. And I tell you, you know, when
you get to reading books like C. Jack Run, you should be able
to understand the plot. And the fact that people don't
and don't see it indicates just how dark we are by nature. Listen
to this. The heavens declare the glory
of God. And the firmament showeth his handiwork. The heavens above
you. Declare the glory of God. Now,
you know, Spurgeon said he believed that man was made erect so that
he could see the stars. So there could be no excuse for
not understanding that testimony, the testimony that's in the heavens
above. Now, we can see the heavens and we're without excuse. You
know, that's what it says in Romans 1. Look at that for a
second. We're coming back here. I know you folks know these verses,
but it's good to remind ourselves. Romans 1, look at verse 19 and
20, "...because that which may be known of God is manifest in
them, for God hath showed it to them. For the invisible things
of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power
and Godhead." So they're without excuse. There's no excuse. The
heavens declare the glory of God. Now, the heavens themselves
are glorious. You know, you look out at the
sky at night and it's glorious, but it isn't just saying the
heavens are glorious. It's saying the heavens declare
God's glory. That's the point. They're a great
preacher of the glory of God. They shout His existence to anyone
who looks at them. They preach about his power.
You think about the planets suspended out there in space. Being held,
as it were, just by his mere volition. Just the fact that
he wills them to be there. That's power. Power beyond anything
you could ever conceive of. They speak also of his great
faithfulness. His great faithfulness. You know, I've worked with a
guy that's got what they call an atomic watch. You know, if
anybody wants to know what time it is, they talk to him because
it's right. And I'm telling you, the planets
move and they are a sign of his faithfulness. You know, you get
out in the ocean, you can take a certain gauge and aim it at
a certain star and then do some calculations and know exactly
where you are on the earth because of the placement of that star.
Get the paper out tonight and look, you'll see sunrises written
down there. Tell you exactly when the sun's
going to come up tomorrow morning, what time it's going to go down
tomorrow night. Get the farmer's almanac out and they'll tell
you the sunrise and sunset for the next five, six, seven, eight
years if you want to look into that. Can tell you when the eclipses
are going to happen. You want to know why? Because
the God who made the heavens is faithful. He is faithful. That's the point. Absolutely
faithful. His faithfulness is seen day
and night. You can set your clock by this
faithful God." Now, that's what it says. Now, that's C. Jack Rohn. Isn't that obvious? It is C. Jack Rohn. Isn't that
just obvious? What the heavens declare are
without answer. There's no argument against them.
You can't look at them and not know that there is a planning,
intelligent, presiding Creator over all that you see. And it
ought to convince everyone who ever looks at it, but it doesn't,
because we're darkened by nature. Our minds just can't conceive
of it, or we don't want to. And the firmament, showeth his
handiwork. That word handiwork means hand
craftsmanship. His craftsmanship is seen in
the firmament. You know, we take great pride,
and I've got a friend that's a carpenter. He takes great pride
in his craftsmanship, but I want you to know the firmament declares
the craftsmanship of God. You have to look at it and admit
that there was a craftsman that's made all this. They say if the
earth was tilted just one degree on its axis, it could not sustain
life. If it was, what is it, three
foot thicker in the crust, we would not have air to breathe.
This planet was designed, this universe was designed. And look
at verse 2. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth forth knowledge. You know, one
day takes up the story after the other one. That's what it's
saying. Where the other day left off, this day takes up the sermon.
It's like going to a conference and hearing one preacher after
another. That's exactly what it is. Day unto day uttereth
speech. And these preachers cannot be
slain. They can't be martyred for their
plain testimony. There's no putting them out.
There's no stopping them. They've got a plain message,
and night unto night, they show us forth knowledge. You know,
even in the original here, it says, day unto day willeth forth
speech. It's like the day is so eloquent
that it's just like a flood coming out of the mouth of daytime.
And the nighttime, it says here in the original, says, breatheth
forth knowledge. Even in the quiet of the night,
the knowledge of God is being breathed forth. It may quiet
down, but the testimony is there. He says here, there's no speech
in verse 3. There's no language where their
voice is not heard. You've heard it. Have you ever heard the voice
of the sun, the moon, the stars? Ever stood out there at the beach
in the morning and watched the sun come up? I watched it go
down and watched all the sky turn different colors. I'm telling
you, it's a plain speech. You don't need an interpreter.
You do not need an interpreter. I went to Mexico one time. I
was down there preaching. If you speak to those folks,
they look at you funny until Walter starts talking or Cody
starts talking or Milton starts talking. We need interpreters
there, but there's no interpreter needed here. No language where
they're not heard. These traveling preachers are
more fluent than any preachers you'll ever see on this earth.
And it says here in verse 4, their line has gone out through
all the earth, their word to the ends of the world. Not only are they preaching,
and they're preaching in every language, they're preaching to
everyone, everywhere, At every minute, their line has gone forth. There's no place where they do
not speak plainly. You can't, you know, you can
sit at home on a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night and not
hear a preacher. You might turn the television off and shut them
all off completely, but you can't hide from these preachers. Their
line has gone forth. And He, in them, in this universe,
this universe we're living in, in them He has set a tabernacle
for the sun, an abode for the sun, a pavilion for the sun.
What He's saying here is that in the center of all this preaching,
in the center of all this preaching, there's one obvious preacher
that stands there declaring the glory of God more obviously than
all others. He's the biggest thing you can
see. It's the sun that God's put. And that's a picture of
Christ. All preaching is centered around
Christ. He is the son of righteousness,
the scripture said, who would rise with healing in his wings.
Listen to what it says here about him. It says, which is as a bridegroom
coming out of his chamber and rejoicing as a strong man to
run his race. The sun in the sky every morning
arises like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber full of joy.
So full of joy, so full of strength and splendor, he comes forth
to run his race as a strong man. He's not fatigued. He's not weary. He never slows down. He goes
his course and gives his life. And that's just a picture. That's
a picture of our Lord. It's also a true statement about
the sun, the sun that's in the heavens above. right out there
in the midst of us, one that's central. Nothing else and no
one else glorifies God in the heavens more than that sun does
before us. And that's true also of Christ. We see the glory of God in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where we find it. And
back here in the text, look at this here. His going forth is from the end
of the heaven. and his circuit unto the ends
of it. There is nothing hid from the
heat thereof." This central one, as I said, the most obvious witness
out there in the sky, has an influence that nobody can escape.
He is talking about nature here, but there is a reference here
to Christ. There is no escaping his influence. He bears the light
Just like the sun does here in our universe, there's no place
in this universe where the sun isn't responsible for the light.
And he goes, his circuits are to the ends of the earth, to
the ends of the heaven, the ends of the heaven, and his
circuit to the ends of it. There's nothing hid from the
heat thereof. The influence of the Son is undeniable
and the influence of Christ is undeniable. What I want you to
see here in these few verses is the fact that the testimony
of the heavens cannot be ignored. And that's what the psalmist
is saying. It's a primer, just basic things. A primer for all men declaring
the glory of God. And we see this with our own
eyes. But I tell you, this book is
incomplete. Because the testimony that we
receive from nature is a testimony that speaks to our eyes. That's
right, you see these things. And it's an incomplete testimony,
it's a testimony that's been damaged by sin. This whole universe
has been. And so we have another testimony
that is a perfect testimony. And that's the book, the second
book, it's the word book. That's what he starts talking
about right here. And that's essential because faith cometh
by hearing, it isn't by saying. That's what Paul said. It comes
by hearing and hearing by the word of God over there in Romans
10. Look at verse 7. This is God's word, the word
book. The law of the Lord is perfect.
Now, when you see the word law there, you have a tendency to
think, oh, he's talking about the Old Testament commandments,
the first five. He's talking about God's Word,
that's what he's talking about. God's Word, it's pure. This brother is funny. He came
in tonight and we haven't talked and he read a verse that I was
looking for all day in Psalm 12 that says, The words of the
Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of the earth,
purified seven times." God's Word is perfect. It's perfect. We have in our hands here today,
this book, we have a perfect revelation of God. And when I
say perfect, I mean it's whole. It's complete. It has everything
that any sinner needs to know to help him. It may not answer
every question that you've got, but it has everything you need
to know. It's perfect. It's perfect. God's revealed
Word is perfect. It's complete. It gives us all
we need to know to be saved, to understand Him. Nothing is
missing in it. Nothing is missing. One old writer
said it was a crime to add anything to God's Word. I think the last
few verses of the book of Revelation say that. He said it's treason
to alter God's Word and it's a felony to take away from it.
It's God's Word. It's God's Gospel. That's what
he's talking about. God's Gospel. His Word. And I love it here when he talks
about it being a perfect Word. He's talking about the certainty
of it. You know, I've got friends who
aren't perfect. And I can't be certain about
them. But I've got a Word. that is perfect. You know, if
you ever take the time to study how we got our Bibles, you'll
find out that there were translations, the Peshitta, a Syrian translation
that was written about 150 and a book called, let me see if
I can remember the name of it. I can't remember, but it was
a, a, Oh, it'll come to me in a while.
Both of these books were written in their languages about the
year 150. And do you know they correspond
to what you and I call the King James Bible? The same books in
the Old Testament, the same books in the New Testament, 1,900 years
ago. Isn't that amazing? That's not
an accident. God's Word is pure. It's been
tried in the front seven times. Nothing's ever stopped. If you
would liken what the Word of God's been like to, if you were
to make a likeness of it, it would be like taking a man and
drowning him and then having him get back up out of the ocean.
Taking him out and hanging him. And then once you were sure he
was dead, cutting him down and watching him spring back to life,
nothing has ever held back the word of God. His whole is complete.
It's his revelation here. And it says here his his word
is perfect. And listen to it. It's a converting
word. It's perfect. Converting the
soul. It's a converting word. I'll
tell you, the truth is that the closer we stay to God's word,
the more likely we are to see true conversions take place.
I can say all kinds of stories and things tonight, but the fact
is, the Word of God is what converts men. It's the Word of God that
converts men. If you look back over your life,
you'll see that's true. Paul said to Timothy, listen
to this, 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy 3.15. You all know this
verse. Verse 14 said, Continue thou
in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured
of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a
child thou hast known the holy scripture. That's his perfect
word I'm talking about. Which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation. You know, the scripture is able
to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. Without faith in Christ Jesus,
Scripture can be an awfully dark book, but all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man and the woman and the child of God might all be
perfectly, thoroughly furnished into all good works. This is
a perfect word. It's a converting word, a converting word. It's
a powerful book, both Testaments. The Old Testament, if you understand
the Old Testament, it'll drive you to Christ. And the New Testament
will draw you to Christ. You can take both Testaments
and they have one thing in common. They're leading you to Christ.
That's the power of this book. That's what it's about. Oh my. And the testimony of the Lord
is sure. Do you see that? The testimony of the Lord is
sure. Verse 7. Making wise and simple. It's
a sure word. That's what I was talking about
a few minutes ago. In an unsure world, I've got a sure word that
makes wise even the simple. You know, the Lord said one day,
he thanked his father and said, I thank you, Lord of heaven and
earth. You've hidden this thing from
the wise and the prudence, but you've revealed it unto babes.
And I'm convinced of this, that if, and don't misunderstand me,
I'm not opposed to education. I want you to get all the education
you can. But I'm absolutely persuaded that if you only had the ability
to know one thing and to grasp one thing well, if you knew the
Word of God, you'd be one of the wisest people that ever walked
this earth. I'm just convinced of it. It makes wise the simple. It does now. It makes wise the
simple here. Look at that progression. It
converts you and then it instructs you. That's the order. It converts
you and it instructs you. What am I trying to say? I'm
saying we feel the power of truth when we're converted. It converts
us and it takes simple people, people who may not know much
of nothing, and makes them wise. And verse 8 says, the statutes
of the Lord are right. They're absolutely right. His
words, His decrees, His gospel, everything in the Lord's Word
is right or righteousness. It's the right medicine for whatever
ails anybody. It's the right thing, the right
medicine. His Word converts, it instructs, and notice here
what it says, rejoicing the heart. That's the progression. Converts
you, instructs you, and gives you joy. Isn't that true? Saves, teaches, and makes you
happy. That's what happens. You hear of His free, sovereign
grace. You read about what you are by
nature. And you find out of how just
he is, and then you find out that not only are you wicked,
but that he has made a way to atone for that wickedness. And
you find something called joy. I want to tell you about the
word of God rejoicing the heart. If you think back over the years,
Been a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ for any length of time
at all, you'll know there have been a lot of times in your life
when you've been happy. You've had great thrills with
your children and great vacations and lots of fun with your friends
and your neighbors. You've had a lot of good things
come your way. But I'm telling you, the happiest moments, the
most rejoicing moments of any child of God's life, if he thinks
about it, is when he has heard God's Word preached, has studied
God's Word, or more importantly, has believed God's Word. You think of the days, the hours
when you actually believed what God was saying to you. And I'm
telling you, that's joy. That's joy. When the other things
have all passed, that is a joy. That's rejoicing, a rejoicing.
And God's Word here, and it says he rejoices the heart and the
commandment of the Lord is pure. Oh, I mentioned that a while
ago. It's pure. There is nothing in God's Word that's superfluous.
You know, I've said a lot of things already tonight speaking
to you that I could have crossed out of my notes. There's not
one word in God's Word that's not important. It's a pure Word. And it enlightens the eyes. It
converts you. It teaches you, it gives you
joy, and it gives you discernment. That's what that's talking about.
And you look at your life as you've grown in Christ. That's
the way it goes. It gives you discernment. The Bible calls it the sincere
milk of the Word. It's unpolluted. No stain. Unadulterated milk. You know
what? I know folks will go out and buy organic milk because
they don't like the milk they can get in the regular stores.
That's alright. This is organic. This is unadulterated. This is
wine without mixture. There's no water in this. This
is God's unadulterated Word and it's a pure Word and it enlightens
the eyes. It enlightens the eyes. It makes
a man able to discern. Paul said in 1 Corinthians, he
that is spiritual judges all things. He's been given the ability
to see. Why? Because there's a golden
ointment we call God's Word. He rubs it on your eyes and you
can see. And look here, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring
forever. The cleanness of the fear of
the Lord. What's that mean? It means that God's The fear
of God, the worship of God, the belief of God in His Word has
a sanctifying effect on the hearts of men. It makes us new creatures.
That's what it's talking about. It makes us new creatures. It makes you hate what you once
were and makes you hate even what you are and makes you want
to seek holiness, purity. You know what I'm saying? Do
you hate sin? Do you just hate sin? I believe that we're taught
to do that. I believe we're taught to do that.
The fear of the Lord is clean. The grace of God in the heart
is a pure thing. It's called Christ in you, the
hope of glory. It's called an incorruptible
seed. It's a pure thing. And I tell
you, It gets mashed down just going through this earth. I know
my experience has been that it seems to get trampled down, but
it springs back up because it endures forever. That's what
it's saying. It's an enduring principle, enduring thing. Look
here at verse 9. And the judgments of the Lord
are true and righteous altogether. All his judgments now. Everything
he says, every word he says is true. Everything he declares
is true. Do I understand it? No. Do you
understand the Bible? I don't understand all this book. But I know it's true. And providence,
everything He does in providence, what we call history and things
that are yet to be, they're all true and they're all righteous
altogether. What He does is always right.
And it's always right because He does it. God is good. That's what the Scripture says.
He's good. More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold. Truth is more to be desired than
gold. We should be more desirous of
the Word of God and the truth of God than we are even of earthly
gain. You know, it's people wear themselves
out trying to make a buck. We all do. We should wear ourselves
out finding out the truth. Men will
dig for gold, but they don't want to dig for the truth. God's
Word is of such infinite value, it's to be sought for more eagerly
than anything else in our life. That's how valuable it is. It
enriches us. When he talks about it being
more to be desired than gold, then it's obvious that this is
an enriching word. It's not just a converting word,
a rejoicing word. It's an enriching word. And it's sweeter than honey and
the honeycomb. That's what I was saying a while
ago. The sweetest joys in life are to be had in connection with
God's Word. You see a child baptized. That's a great joy. What brought
that to pass? The Word of God. Look at Jeremiah
15. Jeremiah talks about this sweetness
here. Here's a guy that had a lot of bitter experiences. He explains something here. I
think if you've served the Lord any length of time, you've been
through some troubles and trials, and then you read this and he
hits it right on the head. Look at this, verse 15. Verse 16, ìThy words were found,
and I did eat them.î What a picture. ìI ate them, and thy word was unto me the
joy and rejoicing of my heart.î For I am called by thy name,
O Lord God of hosts." If you're called by His name, you know
something about that. The joy of eating the Word of God. The
sweetness of it. The sweetness of it. Back here,
too. We'll go back. I don't want to keep you too
long tonight. So you've got a converting Word,
an instructing Word, a rejoicing Word, an enlightening Word, a
desirable Word. Here you've got a warning word.
Moreover, by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping them there
is great reward. By them thy servant is warned. You know, the Word of the Lord
is a book of warnings. And we're taught who our enemies
are in this book. I read a story this week about Martin Luther. Back when he was preaching the
gospel, there were a lot of people that were his enemies. And he
had a particular Jew that hated the gospel that Martin Luther
was preaching. Well, this man decided that he
was going to poison Martin Luther. And you know, with all the crowds
that gathered around that great preacher and all the people he
met, Just having a name would not have helped him. But Luther
had a faithful friend who found out about the plot, and he drew
a portrait of the man who was out to kill him, who was going
to poison him, and sent that portrait to Luther. And Luther
kept that portrait with him until the day he saw that man. And
it stopped the plan. That faithful friend gave that
portrait of an enemy and saved Martin Luther's life there. And
we have a faithful friend who has drawn a portrait of our enemy.
We know about Satan in this Word. We know about We know about the
sin that we've received from Adam. We know about the sin that
troubles us to this day, the old nature that we have in ourselves.
We know about Satan. We know about sin, and we know
about self. We've been warned. We've got
a good picture of this. To know our duty, to know our
duty, and to be able to serve God. Flee from the danger that comes
our way in life. Now, that's what we've been warned
about here in the Word of God. Moreover, by them is thy servant
warned. And I'll tell you something else
about His Word. In keeping them, there's great reward. Now, you
notice that word there, in? That's a big word. It's not for keeping them. There
is a great reward. It's in keeping God's Word that
there's a great reward. Not for, but in. See, we don't
get a wage for obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. What we do is not
out of debt. By looking to the Lord and following
what He said in His Word, there's no wage or debt that He pays
us here. But what he seems to be saying
here is that there's a great reward in keeping them. And I'm
telling you, that's true. You know, you go through life
and most folks think that a believer comes up holding the short end
of a stick. And sometimes it's that way.
You can't use the same sort of techniques that people use around
you. You won't lie, cheat, steal. Do whatever you've got to do
to get where you've got to get. You won't mash everybody in your
way to go to the top. And it looks like you're a loser
for it. But I want you to know, godliness
with contentment is great gain. That's what the Lord said. You're
a gainer. In keeping them, there is great
reward. Great reward. Living for the
Lord, regardless of what happens in this world. Regardless of
what comes our way, for as Paul said, I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. He's saying you can't
make a comparison. You can't make a comparison. Who would trade in a Rolls Royce
to get a Ford Pinto? There's no comparison, no comparison. Who would trade in eternal life,
everlasting joy in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ? We're
talking about millions and billions and trillions of whatever you
want to call years of eternal joy and life with Christ the
Savior. Who would trade that for this
rubbish down here? No deal, no deal here. And keeping them, in keeping
them, there's great reward. This reward in this life, I'm
telling you, there's a reward in having a conscience that doesn't
beat you up every time you put your head down on a pillow. There's
a reward in that. There's a great reward. And here it seems like the subject
changes. I'm going to go on here. And this is the third book. You
know, I used to see only two books here, but I actually think
there's a third book here. Subject changes. Who can understand his errors?
What's going on here? This is the third book. This
is the book of conscience. You know, God wrote this book
too. He wrote this book too. Everybody has a conscience. The
scripture says that there's a light that lighteth every man that
cometh into this world. There's a conscience. Men have
them. They try not to look. This is a book they'd just as
soon leave closed. Every now and then you open the
cover and read a page or two and shut that book. The plot's
so intricate. It's such a dark book. But there is a conscience in
every man. Paul said over in Romans 2.15 that there is a light
given to men, that the work of the law is written in their hearts. Their conscience also bearing
witness and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing. We all have consciences. This
is another testimony of the existence of God Almighty. How did we get
those? We have the proof in nature. We have the proof in God's Word,
which is by far the most perfect proof. But even in our sinful
selves, you know, there's nature out there that testifies of it.
We've got His Word, and then there's a nature right here that
testifies of it. There's a conscience that speaks
to every man. Excusing and accusing him. That's
what Paul, you know, David here, this man after God's own heart,
looks into his own self after seeing the purity of God's Word,
which is what he's been talking about. He looks in his own heart
and he says, who can know his errors? Who can understand his
errors? You ever understand anything
about the holiness of God that's portrayed in this book? The justice
of God, the requirements of God, the rigid law He's put down in
here. A law that says, you're not only
wrong to do this, but to covet that. To covet is sin. Not to love the Lord your God
with all your heart, soul and strength. That's sin. When I
think about all the things I do and all the things I don't do,
David says, who can know his faults? Who can know his faults? I think about Paul, Paul talked
about in Philippians 3 about how before he was converted,
he thought, you know, basically under the law, he was blameless.
Remember him saying that? By the righteousness of the law,
I was blameless. Then you look over in Acts 23,
I'll read this to you. He's preaching and he makes this
statement. He says, Paul, earnestly beholding the counsel, said,
Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before
God until this day. What statement? This is the same
guy who says, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me. There's a book within you. You
know. And this man looks at himself and he says, Who can understand
his errors? I know something about your holiness and your
justice, and I know that I can't understand all there is about
me. All my sins. David said in Psalm 139, talking
about the knowledge of God concerning him, he said, My downs, when
I get up, you know. When I sit down, you know. When
I go in the door and out the door, you know. My thoughts are
known to far off. There's not a word even in my
tongue. Not even the ones I'm talking, the one I'm speaking,
there's not a word in my tongue, but you know it all together.
Such things are too high for me. What a God. What a God. Who can know His errors? Who
can know His faults? Well, thank God, I don't have to. You know, the Catholics used
to say they had a council that met and said that unless a man
confessed all his sins every year, one time to the priest,
there was no salvation. Have at it. You're a goner. You're
never going to confess all your sins. But listen here. Who can understand his errors
is the answer. Cleanse thou me from my secret
faults. I'm looking to the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ to save me here. An all-knowing God can deal with
this. A God of perfect knowledge can
take all my sins and place them on His Son because He's a perfect
God with perfect knowledge and knows me perfectly and can deal
with my sins. Cleanse me. I confess this. I know something else about me
here, David said, after reading God's Word. Verse 13, keep back
thy servant from presumptuous sins. I know that I'm not going
to be kept unless you keep me back. See, that's what you learn
by reading this book. You're not going to be kept unless
he keeps you back. Keep you back from presumptuous
sins. You have to keep me. You have
to keep me. I see this. Don't let them have
dominion over me. My freedom from the reign of
sin is a matter you've got to handle. You see that? These are
words of grace. He's saying, I don't understand
all my problems, but I pray you'll cleanse me and you'll keep me
and you'll not let these things have dominion over me. It's all
in your power. It's all in your power. It's
up to you. And I'll tell you, he's confessing that he's utterly
unable. Then shall I be upright and shall
be innocent of the great transgression. I've got to be kept. If I'm going
to be free, you've got to make me free. And if I'm ever going
to be innocent, you've got to make me innocent. I tell you, when you read that,
it's obvious that this man knows he needs a Savior. That's exactly
what I read there. He knows he needs a Savior. Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. What
a prayer. This man also knew something
else. He knew he couldn't even think a good thought unless God
let him. Not even a good thought. I read
this verse and I think, what he's praying for is that he'll
be a whole man, a true man. You know, the world's full of
people whose words don't match their hearts. And he wants to be a man who's
true at heart, and true in word, and he knows God alone can bring
that to pass. Why do you pray such things?
Because God's got to do it for you. Oh, let the words of my mouth,
meditation of my heart be acceptable in my sight. God will have to
see to this. How can it be made acceptable
in His sight? Well, there's only one way. The cleansing He mentioned
in the verse before. the blood. Oh, Lord, my strength,
my enabler. That's what strength is. Strength
is what enables you. And he's saying, Lord, you're
my enabler. If this is ever going to take
place, you've got to enable me. Oh, Lord, my strength and my
Redeemer. And my Redeemer. All three of these books, the
Book of Nature, the Word of God, and the Book of Conscience, all
three of these have been written by God. And all three of these
should lead a man right here to this last line. Oh, Lord,
my Redeemer. I like that. You know how David, David didn't
say the Redeemer. He didn't say a Redeemer. He
said, my Redeemer. My Redeemer. It's personal. He's
my Redeemer. And if my words and my thoughts
are ever going to be acceptable by him, if I'm going to be kept
and cleansed and made innocent. It's going to have to be by my
Redeemer. Now, that's the testimony of these three bullets.