But we believe the author is
King David. And the chief theme of this psalm
is the word of God. The word of God, the law of God,
the commandments of God, the statutes of God, the judgments
of God are mentioned in every single verse, with the exception
maybe of two or three. Just look above in that, starting
with verse 25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust,
quicken thou me according to thy word. Verse 26, I have declared
thy ways, thou hurtest me, teach me thy statutes. Verse 27, make
me to understand the way of thy precepts. Verse 28, the word,
the law, the judgments, the testimonies, and the commandments. The word
of God is in every single verse. And this psalm is arranged according,
it's a masterpiece. King David, we believe, wrote
it. It's a masterpiece in arrangement and subject. It's arranged according to the
22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Now look, you look at this in
divisions of 8. There are 8 verses in each division. Exactly 8 verses. And each division
begins with the Hebrew letter, 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet.
I can't pronounce them, I don't know Hebrew. But the first one
there is like R-A. The second one is I-B, it's like
B. The third one is C. And all the way through this
psalm, it's divided into sections of 8 verses each, 22 sections,
make 176 verses. It's never seven verses or nine
verses or eight verses. And each one starts with this
letter in the Hebrew alphabet, 22 letters. And each section,
each verse, I wish I could do this, I wish I knew Hebrew enough
to do it, each verse begins with that same Hebrew letter. Like
for example, if it were in our alphabet, the first section would
be A, and every verse begins with the letter A. B, every verse
begins with the letter B. All 22 of these sections begin
with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, and
each verse begins with that particular letter of the alphabet it started
with. And why? Well, several great
old men have tried to answer that question. Why David was
led of the Spirit of God to write it in this way? Nathan Hardy,
who wrote in 1650, he said this, the reason this psalm is set
out alphabetically in this way, and is so true to the Hebrew
alphabet, to suggest that when children learn their alphabets,
our children learn their ABCs. Well, the Hebrew children learn
their whatever, their alphabets. And the parents should teach
them the word of God along with learning the alphabet. As they
learn the alphabet, they learn it from this psalm, God's word. That's what he felt. John Calvin,
1580. The will and purpose of the Holy
Spirit in giving this psalm alphabetically is to assure us that the doctrine
herein contained is not just for the scholar, but for the
simple, and none should pretend any excuse for ignorance. This
is the ABCs of the word of God. Horatious Boni, with whom you
are familiar because of his hymns, he said, Our Lord took that name,
I am Alpha and Omega. That's the Greek alphabet. And
the last is Omega. I am Alpha and Omega, which is
the Greek alphabet in which every letter speaks of God's revelation
of himself in Christ. So in the Hebrew alphabet, all
knowledge and wisdom is found in him. It's like Jim said when
he walked out of the study, if you don't know Christ, you don't
know anything. Well, that's right. He's Alpha and Omega. He's the
whole ABC's and what David is saying here in this psalm is
he is the whole of the Hebrew alphabet. 22 parts, each part has 8 verses,
all of which begin with the same letter. It's the great alphabet
and the great masterpiece. It is. Well I've selected one
section of 8 verses, beginning with verse 33. through verse
40, and I want to preach from this tonight. It contains 8 petitions,
8 pleas. And it has to do with a believer.
David, a believer, prays in these 8 verses. David wrote it, all
of it, but I've selected these 8 verses. And he makes 8 pleas
and sets forth 8 petitions. We'll run through them first
and then take them individually. He said in verse 33, teach me,
O Lord, point out to me the way of thy statutes, the way of thy
word. Verse 34, and give me understanding,
explain to me so that I can understand, and I'll keep thy law and observe
it with my whole heart. Make me to go in the path of
thy law. thy commandments, thy word, for
therein do I delight. Verse 36 is the fourth plea.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. Next,
turn away my eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in
thy way, that me behold thy face. Establish thy word unto thy servant,
who is devoted. I'm your servant, I'm devoted
to your fear. Establish me in the word. Turn
away my reproach, my sins, my guilt, which I fear. Your judgments
are good. I'm going to take you to Psalm
51 there. And here's the last one. Behold,
I've longed after thy precepts. Thy word quickened me in thy
righteousness. Alright, let's look at these
briefly. First of all, In verse 33, the
first one, Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy word. This is
a childlike plea, and it's from an old experienced believer,
and he a king. And comes forth this petition
from his heart, Lord, teach me the way of thy word. He wants
God to be his teacher. Charles Spurgeon said, A sense
of great slowness to learn leads us to the feet of a great teacher.
Be my teacher, O Lord. You be my teacher. And we need
not only to learn his statutes, but notice the words carefully. Teach me, O Lord, the way of
thy statutes, the way of thy word. All that the Lord does,
all that the Lord says and does is because of who he is, his
character, dominates his word and his ways. His attributes
dominate his word and his ways. The way of Christ's righteousness
and the cross is not only the way, it's the only way that God
can be God and justify us. So what David is saying here,
I want to know your statutes, I want to know the way of your
statutes, the ways of the Lord. Let me ask you to turn to Psalm
103. And this is something that David spoke about in two other
places. Teach me the way of your word. You know, you can read
the word and memorize it and be able to quote it, and I hear
a lot of preachers just rattle off the word. But they really
don't know what it's saying. The ways of the Lord. The will
of the Lord. The purpose of the Lord. Teach
me the purpose of your word. The way of your word. the mysteries
of your way. Listen to Psalm 103 verse 7. God made known his ways unto
Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. The children of Israel
saw God's acts, judgments. He taught Moses the way of his
way. Look at Psalm 147. He says this
again in Psalm 147 verse Verse 19. He showed his words unto Jacob,
his statutes and judgments unto Israel. There's a difference.
There's a difference. Lord, teach me the way of the
word. The way of the word. The mystery
of the word. The why of the word. And then he says this in verse
33 of our text, and I'll keep it to the end. Those who are
truly taught of God never forget the lesson. God teaches them
why, how he can be just and justified. Why Christ died on the cross,
he had to die on the cross. Why he was made of a woman, made
under the law. Why he was tested in all points
of his way out. Why, why? the way of the way. Those who are taught of God never
forget the lesson. And when divine grace sets a
man in a true way, he'll continue in that way all his days. That's what, I'll keep it to
the end. You teach me, and I'll be taught. Mere, and this is true, mere
human will and wisdom usually wears thin. We get tired of it. And after a while it's gone.
But those whose beginning is in God, with God, and by God,
they die in the faith. That's what Job said over here
in Job 17. Listen to Job, Job 17. Job says in chapter 17, verse
9, the righteous shall hold on his way, if it's God's way, He'll
hold on to his way, God taught him. And he that hath clean hands
will be stronger and stronger and stronger. So that's it. Lord, be my teacher. Teach me the way of your word. This is why I don't urge people
to read so many chapters a day in the Bible. That's not the
way to read the Bible. That's the reason I don't urge
people to sit down and try to commit the word to their memory,
to try to fascinate people by how much scripture they can quote.
I'd like to learn why God's way, God's mystery, God's truth in
Christ be taught in here. Why God does what he does and
how he does what he does. That's what they teach me, the
way of your statutes, and I won't depart from it. You're my teacher. I know why. Then the second request,
he says, give me understanding. Give me understanding. Lord,
make me to see and then give me understanding of what I see. Show me the word and I read it
and I see it. And I can read and you can read.
But give me understanding. Give me discernment. That's the
word, discernment. Understanding is to discern,
and discern is to believe, and believe is to love. The outer sense has to first
hear. I know that. How can they believe
on him of whom they've not heard? You've got to hear. You've got
to see. But the mind then must understand
that we may know. This is what John is saying in
1 John 5. Turn over there and it will help
you to get a hold of what I'm saying. in 1 John 5. Lord, teach
me your word, and then give me understanding, discernment. A
believer who has discernment can hear a preacher, and that
man can preach about 5 or 10 minutes, and that believer can
discern whether he's preaching the truth. He hears with a different
ear. He doesn't hear critically, he's
not there to find fault, he's there to be blessed. But he knows! He knows God! He knows the character
of God, and the glory of God, and the truth of God, and the
gospel of God. And he has discernment. 1 John
5, listen. And we know that the Son of God
is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know
him that is true, and that we are in him that is true, even
in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and this
is eternal life. That's what Paul insisted upon
when we come to the Lord's table. I know people discipline the
Lord's table by close communion and keeping folks out that aren't
members of the church and this sort of that sort of thing. That's
not the way to hedge about the Lord's table. You hedge about
with one word, discerning. When that bread and wine is there,
Everyone is invited who can discern the Lord's body, who understands
who he is, what he did and why he did it, where he is now. I don't care if they are members
of the Church, if they are pastors of the Church, if they are deacons
in the Church, if they have no understanding and discernment
of Christ and his glory and his character and his attributes,
discern why he suffered. I know, God taught me, you know,
God taught you. And that's how you police the
table, that's how you hedge the table. It's discernment. Give me understanding. And I'll
keep it. It's hard for somebody to keep
something they don't understand. And then he says, I'll observe
it with my whole heart. You remember when Brother Jim
was reading verse 2, blessed are they that keep his testimony,
seeking with their whole heart. There is no seeking the Lord
with half a heart. Impossible. You seek me and find
me when you search for me with your whole heart. Verse 10, with
my whole heart have I sought thee, let me not wonder from
thy commandments. Verse 58, I am treated in thy
favor with my whole heart. Be merciful to me according to
thy word. So Lord, teach me the way of thy statutes. I don't
want to just hear words, words, words. I want to hear the way
of God, the character of God, the attributes of God. And I
want understanding of what I read. I want a discernment. And then
verse, the next verse, he said, and make me to go in the path
of thy commandments. Make me to go. What is that talking about? Make
me to go. Well, let's turn to Romans 7
and see if Paul can help us here a little bit. Romans 7. Romans
7. Make me to go in the path of
thy commandments. They are in our delight. Well,
if we delight in it, why don't we go in it? Why should he have
to pray, make me to go? We do delight in God's word,
we delight in his commandments, but here David is saying, make
me to go that way. But Paul says over here in Romans
7 verse 18, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. I've got a flesh to nature in
which nothing good dwells. The will is present with me.
And how to perform that which is perfect, that which is good,
I find not. The good that I would, I do not.
The evil that I would not, I do. And if I do that, I would not.
There's no more how to do it but sin that dwells in me. I
find in the law that when I would do good, perfect, holiness, evil
is present with me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man. And this is what David is asking
God. He said, make me to go. in thy way. To will is present
with me. How to perform that which is
good I find not. Now, Lord, you've made me to
love your way. Now give me the grace to walk
in it. I can't walk in it without thy grace. Lead me in paths of
righteousness. Lead me beside the still waters. Lead me in the green. You see
what I'm saying? Lord, you've made me to know
your way, now make me to go your way. You know, we need not only the
light to know God's way, we need the will to walk in God's way,
determination. We need the grace to walk in
his way. We need double assistance. You and I are believers, we need
double assistance. We need to be enlightened, we
need to be inclined. That's right, every day. need
to be enlightened, need to be inclined. I know his way. You
know his way. Now Lord give me the grace and
the will to walk in it. It says let not the sun go down
on your wrath. Give me the grace to do that.
Lord thy neighbor as I say, make me to go that way. More blessing
to give than to receive. Make me to go that way. Man says
he wants your coat, give him your coat too. Make me to go
that way. I need some inclination, don't you? That's what he said.
Make me to go in the path of thy word. Why is it called a
path? The old path, forsaken of the old path. Well, I'll tell
you why it's called a path. It's the only way through this
wilderness of sin is his way. That's the only way. It's a costly
way. Our Lord purchased it with his
blood. It's an old way. It's an old path. Believers have
walked it for 6,000 years. It's a well-marked way. We've
got scriptures. You don't need to guess. It's
well-marked. It's a private way. It's not public. No chariots,
or horses, or beasts. Just walkers. Individuals. Walking with God. It's a peaceful
way. Oh, there's difficulty along
the way, but it's peaceful. Even when there's trouble, it's
a peaceful way. It's his way. And it's straight. And it's narrow. And it sure leads home. That
path leads home. Make me. Lord, make me. Incline my feet to walk in that
path. My fleshly nature pulls, doesn't
yours? Make me to go, make me to go.
You've taught me to know, now make me to go. Then verse 36,
he said, incline my heart, incline my heart to your testimonies
and not to covetousness. Charles Spurgeon, I love Spurgeon,
he's had this to say on this, incline my heart unto our testimonies. He said, it is nothing for the
eyes to see, or the mind to grasp, or the feet to be made to go
in the way if the heart is not inclined to go. It's the heart. For it is with the heart man
believes unto righteousness. And in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul
says, I can be a lot of things, but if I have not love, it profiteth
me nothing. Godliness is the cure for covetousness. He inclined my heart unto thy
testimonies and not to covetousness. Now the inclination of my nature
is to covetousness. That's right. The inclination
of the human nature, the sinful nature, is to covetousness. And
without his restraining hand, our hearts are prone to turn
aside to the byways and the sideways of the world of materialism.
And the remedy must be for him to incline, set affection on
things above, incline my heart to thy testimonies and not to
covetousness. That's the remedy. That's the
remedy. Incline my heart, set my affection
on things above, not on things of the earth. Now covetousness
is not just a fault. It's a serious thing. Covetousness
is serious. God says that covetousness is
idolatry. Incline my heart to thy ways
and not to covetousness, because covetousness is idolatry. It
would dethrone God. Covetousness is not just a human
weakness, it's greed. And it's covetousness that made
Judas sell his Lord. for 18 pieces of silver. Covetousness
did that. Don't you remember when that
woman poured the ointment on the feet of Christ at Judas?
She said, why this waste? We could have sold that, made
some profit, and give it to the poor. Well, Christ said, here's
mine, while I'm on the poor. It was on that income. So covetousness is serious. It's
idolatry. It's greed and it's destructive. Let me give you an example. It
was covetousness on the part of Demas that made him leave
his friend Paul and all his brothers. Paul said, Demas left me. Why did he do that? He loved
this president. So David says, Lord, you be my
teacher. Teach me, give me understanding
and discernment. Make me to go. Whatever you have
to do to me, whatever you have to do to me, take away everything
I've got, but make me go in your path, the path of obedience. And Lord, make me go that because
I want to. Incline my heart. Take my heart
off the things of this world and set my affection on things
above. Isn't that a tremendous practice? Look at this next one. Turn my eyes from beholding vanity. Turn my eyes from beholding vanity. Now David had prayed about his
heart. Wasn't that enough? If his heart is inclined to God,
his eyes will be influenced by his heart. So why did he make
his eyes an object of a special prayer? He made his eyes an object of
a special prayer. Turn my eyes from beholding vanity. I'll tell you the reason. The
problem is the eyes, listen to me, are the favorite doors. for incoming allurement, desires,
lust, and covetousness. That's where it comes in, the
eyes. And if we do not look upon certain
things, our hearts don't think upon those things. If we don't
feed our eyes on beholding these things, then we won't in our
hearts so much desire these things. entered this world through the
eyes of a woman. She saw the tree was good for
food, and she ate it. She saw it first, and she ate
it. If she hadn't been there looking
on it, she wouldn't have eaten it. That's right. What she saw,
she took and gave to her husband. And so he says here, he doesn't
say, God shut my eyes. He didn't say, God shut my eyes,
but turn them away from the filth and wretchedness. You young people, in the movies
you look at, that influences you now. The TV programs you
watch, the magazines you read, the things you look at, these
eyes here are the gates through which all these things that corrupt
your heart and tempt you, it goes through your eyes. And he
doesn't pray, Lord, shut my eyes, but turn my eyes to the right
objects. We need to have our eyes open all the time, but not
gazing on folly and foolishness, but on things of God. Isn't that
good advice? Turn my eyes away from beholding
vanity. look at it all the time. We get
magazines, Southern Living. Now I was raised in the South
and that magazine ain't Southern Living. That's not the way we
lived in the South where I grew up. I look at those kitchens
and those, all those, oh my goodness, a life tucked a hundred thousand
dollars to build a kitchen like that. And you keep looking at
those things. You got them laying around and
you look at them all day and you get to coveting those things. You get
dissatisfied with your Stove, and you get dissatisfied with
your table, and you get dissatisfied with your chairs, and you get
dissatisfied with all these things. Covetousness. If you don't look
at them, you don't feed your soul through your eyes on these
things, you won't want them all the time. You'd be happy with
what you have. That's a good prayer, Lord. Turn
my eyes. Don't shut them. I want to know
what's going on, but keep me from looking at the trash. and
influence in my heart to vanity. Quicken me in thy way. Give me
so much spiritual maturity in life that dead vanity won't have
this awful influence on me. Awful influence. And then the
next desire or petition is, Lord, establish thy word unto thy servant. This is a critical, critical
request. Christ is our sole object of
faith. Christ is the object of faith.
Look into Jesus. But the sole foundation of faith
is the Word of God. The sole foundation. David and
Paul both said, I believe, therefore I speak. This is the foundation
of faith. Faith has one certain common
source, the Word of God. Abraham believed God, that what
he promised he would perform, what he said he would do. So
Lord, establish your word to me. Make me sure of your sure
word, and make your word sure to me, and make me sure of it.
That's what I want. Make me sure of your sure word,
and make your word sure to me, and make me sure of it. I believe,
therefore I speak. And that's the prayer of a servant,
devoted. I'm devoted to your service.
I'm devoted to your fear. Establish your word. I am established, but I'm too
often moved by fear, aren't you? I am devoted, and yet at times
uncertain. I am his servant, yet often discouraged. I am a believer, but I have to
cry, help my unbelief. This is what Paul said in 2 Corinthians
4. Look over here just a moment.
This man, Paul, has not been a greater apostle, has not been
a greater servant of God, ever lived. But listen to him here.
In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7, we have this gospel treasure
in an earthen vessel. That's what it's in. It's in
an earthen vessel, a clay pot. That the excellence of the power
might be of God, not of us. I'm trouble on every side. Paul's
trouble? I'm not distressed though. I'm
perplexed. I'm puzzled. I'm not in despair. I'm persecuted. I'm not forsaken. I'm cast down, but I'm not destroyed.
And so, I don't care how long you've been in the Word, the
priority is to establish me in your Word. That's going to be
my support all the way through the rest of this journey, my
support, the Word of God. That's going to be my comfort.
That's going to be the inspiration of my faith. That's going to
be my confidence. That's going to be everything.
Establish me in the Word. That's the reason that I make
so much of the Word of God to you here, constantly the Word
of God, because that's your foundation. And then the next request, turn
away my reproach. Your judgments are good. God's
judgment is good. God is just. And God will punish
sin. But I believe what David is saying
here is what he said over in Psalm 51. Take away my reproach,
my guilt, my sin. Your judgments are just. Whatever
you do is just and right. But I'm asking you to remove
my guilt and my sin, my transgression. In Psalm 51 verse 3. I acknowledge
my transgressions, my sins ever before me. Against thee, the
only, have I sinned, done this evil in thy sight, that thou
mightest be justified when thou speak'st, that thou mightest
be clear when thou judge'st." His judgments are good. As Bob
said in his prayer this morning, the judge of the earth will do
right. That's what he's saying. He'll do right. Against thee
and thee only, verse 5, behold I was shapen in iniquity, and
sin my mother conceived me. My problem is deep seated, deep
seated. And thou desirest truth in the
inward part, in the hidden part thou shalt make me no wisdom.
So you are going to have to purge me, purge me with hyssop. I'll be clean, wash me, I'll
be whiter than the snow. What is purging? Purify me. What is hyssop? The first mention
in the Bible of hyssop was when that little leaf, plant, was
dipped in the blood and sprinkled on the mercy seat, on the broken
law. David said, Lord, I acknowledge
my sin. It's against thee. Your judgments
are just and holy and right. But I'm asking you to remove
my reproach. Wash me. Purge me. Sprinkle me
with the blood. And I'll be clean. That's the
prayer. And every believer here knows
something about that prayer. And every believer here prays
it every day. Wash me and I'll be whiter than the snow. Though
your sins be as scarlet, they'll be like wool. Though they be
red like crimson, they'll be white as snow. And the last request.
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts. Quicken me in thy righteousness. I have longed after thy precepts. He's saying this, I have longed
and I do long after a greater degree of knowledge and understanding
and discernment of thy precepts. Precepts are commandments. Having
been taught, they become a part of me and I long to yield full
obedience to them. So Lord, quicken me in thy righteousness. in the righteousness of Christ,
which is unto life, which makes me holy in thy sight, which comforts
my heart, and lead me in paths of righteousness and obedience. Turn away my reproach, and awaken
me, quicken me in thy righteousness. All right, I hope that's a blessing
to you. I hope the Lord will bless it. our spiritual good
and his glory.