[0:00] We can resume our public worship of God by singing to his praise the first psalm. Psalm 1.
[0:14] First psalm. That man hath perfect blessedness, who walketh no hastily, in counsel of ungodly men, nor stands in sinners' way, nor sitteth in a stonish chair, but blesseth her's delight upon God's law, and meditates on her's law day and night.
[0:36] He shall be like a tree that grows near planted by a river, which in her season yields his fruit, and her's leaf fadeth never. And holy death shall prosper well.
[0:49] The wicked are not so, but like they are unto the chaff which wind drives to and fro. In judgment therefore shall not stand, such as ungodly are, nor in the assembly of the just shall wicked men appear.
[1:07] For why? The way of godly men unto the Lord is known, whereas the way of wicked men shall quite be overthrown. Let us sing the first psalm to God's praise, that man hath perfect blessedness, who walketh not astray.
[1:24] That man hath perfect blessedness, who walketh not astray.
[1:39] Then comes the law of ungodly men, nor stands in sinners' way, nor sitteth in the scorner's ship, but placeth his delight.
[2:09] Upon God's law and meditate on his law day and night.
[2:24] He shall be like a tree that grows, near planted by a river, which in his season yields his fruit, and his lead fadeth never.
[2:55] And all he does shall prosper well, the wicked are not so.
[3:11] But like they are unto the chap, which wind drives to one throw, in judgment therefore shall not stand, such as ungodly are.
[3:43] Nor in the assembly of the just, shall wicked men appear.
[3:58] For why the way of godly men unto the Lord is known.
[4:16] Whereas the way of wicked men shall quite be overthrown.
[4:34] Let us join together in prayer. Let's pray. O Lord our God, as we come before you, as we crave your blessing, we look to you to impart to us what God alone can bestow upon us.
[5:00] There are many things that we may be able to do ourselves, but these things in and of themselves may for the most part be devoid of true spiritual worth.
[5:22] Our doings, our response to your word, must all be encouraged by your own spirit and the resources that are placed at our disposal in order so to do, must be utilized so that when we apply the arm of our own understanding, even our endeavors, that we may be spared, being accused of applying the arm of flesh rather than spiritual resources that you are willing to endeavor us with, we pray for wisdom, to know the difference it is so easy for us to be content with what we do ourselves.
[6:29] Our prayers, our reading of Holy Writ, our meditations upon your word, all of these things can appear on the surface to be adequate and yet our inadequacies follow us whatever we choose to do and we pray forgiveness for any contentment that is devoid of true godliness forgiveness for it is that alone that brings great gain.
[7:17] We pray for your blessing upon the congregation of which we are a part here this evening, those persons with whom we have met around your word, may unity of spirit be what marks the served, may we be bound together in the bonds of peace, may all earthly distractions be kept at bay, may our thoughts and meandering heart be kept in check, may your spirit take us in hand so that as we look to your word that it may speak to our soul.
[8:09] We give thanks that you are a God of grace and a God of mercy and a sinful fallen creatures we need to have our sins expunged through the blood of Jesus Christ that they may be blotted out by your own hand.
[8:32] Do not allow us to be anything anything other than looking unto Jesus who is the one who is able to bestow upon us that saving grace that we are in need of.
[8:49] We pray your blessing upon every individual present and we ask that whatever their need may be, be it spiritual or temporal may you provide for us each one a sense of the resources that are equal to every need that we have.
[9:11] We pray for those unable to be present especially those of your people who would desire to be with us but are unable because of their own particular circumstances of the present some by reason of old age and their frailties accompanying such some who are suffering from various illnesses some confined to their home to care homes to hospital we pray for them all.
[9:46] We give thanks for the opportunities that you provided for us during the days that we have in this world for every opportunity that we made use of we give thanks to you and for every opportunity that we have passed us by we pray forgiveness.
[10:11] How many of us can reflect upon so many privileges that we enjoyed even as young people within homes where godly parents presented us with the gospel and all that applies to it.
[10:32] We pray that you would forgive us every foolish thought that was our in regard to the liberty that the gospel provided which we saw as a bondage.
[10:48] the burden that was liberating which is the burden of the cross of Christ.
[11:01] For this many of us who saw the cross of Christ as something that was a hindrance to life as we would desire to live it.
[11:14] And yet the exact opposite proved to be true. you people have so discovered and they are embarrassed by the foolishness of their thinking.
[11:26] And for that we pray forgiveness and ask Lord that you would direct us to the one for whom forgiveness is something that you are willing to bestow upon us.
[11:42] You are a God of mercy and a God of grace. We do not deserve the least of these mercies. and yet you amply supply them to us. Through the gospel present the Christ of that gospel to the minds I of all who would hear of him even anew this evening.
[12:02] Throughout the length and breadth of our island community and beyond. Those that you have enabled and emboldened to go out of the gospel in response to your own call upon their hearts and minds may they so be reminded of your own enabling and the voice from above that it may be theirs as they communicate the gospel to men and women young and old wherever their lot is cast in this world.
[12:34] we pray for a hearing ear and a receptive heart. We pray for the quickening spirit. We cannot enliven any soul here in this place this evening.
[12:48] You can do it if it is your will to so do. We cannot but bring our cares and concerns to you and ask Lord that you would execute your own grace in the lives of all who are here.
[13:07] Quickening awakening enlivening stirring up even that which has diminished into a faltering stream of of vapour from the altar of our heart and mind something that should be burning with fire inflamed and we see so little evidence of ourselves showing such zeal for the gospel or for those who are yet to succumb to the claims of Christ upon their lives.
[13:55] we pray for a day of power from on high gather together your people as one at the throne of grace that they may even in their multiplied praying that they may see Christ seeing the travel of his soul and being satisfied.
[14:22] visit us in mercy as a nation that is wayward and negligent with regard to spiritual things. Pour out your spirit on the church that bears your name.
[14:38] Remember the royal household at this present juncture. We pray for the king, we pray for a family that is fragmented for whatever reason we can see that there are so many fissures in the body that is a royal family.
[15:05] We give thanks that there is a royal family that is one king who is king over all, father, son and holy spirit, one lord, one saviour.
[15:21] we pray lord, your blessing upon the parliaments that serve the king. While the earthly king may look upon their role as being far removed from his influence, there is accountability to be given by every parliamentarian to the one who is the king who will call all to account for laws that are made that are in opposition to the law of God, for behavior that is not in keeping with the behavior that is expected of each of us.
[16:08] We pray, Lord, that you would shine your light into the darkness of our day and that we would know that you are speaking to us as no other can.
[16:21] Remember all the nations of the earth, we give thanks that you are God over all. You have created this world. Out of the dust of the ground you took man and you created him in your image.
[16:39] And you gave to that man not only the ability to commune with you but to live a life in conformity to your revealed will.
[16:55] We confess that as he fell from the estate wherein he was created we fell in him and sinned in him and we are guilty of such sin and accountable to the God who is our judge as he is judge over all.
[17:18] We pray for your blessing on the nations of the earth those who serve other gods those who are given over to idolatry those who are in the grip of all manner of vice to the exclusion of the true and the living God deliver them from that we pray minister to them through the various agencies that you have decreed by which the gospel of your grace would be disseminated amongst them uphold the witnesses to the truth that are laboring in their midst that they may be kept safe as they are found in hostile places where the open hostility to the gospel is much in evidence but we are but a short space behind we pray
[18:18] Lord for the war torn nations of the earth who remember again the places that are engaged in war against neighbors and civil war and all kind of wickedness that is carried out by man against his fellow may peace be brought to reign and may the God of peace speak peaceably to us grant healing for all our sins we pray in and through the passion of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ cleanse us from every sin in him we ask all with forgiveness at his hand amen we're going to sing from psalm 78 psalm 78 from the beginning to verse 6 attend my people to my law there to give thou an ear the words that from my mouth proceed attentively do hear my mouth shall speak a parable and sayings dark of old the same which we have heard and known and thus our fathers told we also will them not conceal from their posterity them to the generation to come declare will we the praises of the lord our god and his almighty strength the wondrous works that he hath done we will show forth at length his testimony and his law in
[19:59] Israel he did place and charged our fathers to show to their succeeding race that so the race which was to come might well them learn and know and sons unborn who should arise might to their sons them show and so on these verses of psalm 78 1 through to 6 attend my people to my law there to give thou an ear attend my people to my law there to give thou an ear the words that from my mouth proceed attentively to hear my mouth shall speak a heart above and sins dark of old the sin which we have heard and known and us our father showed we also will them not conceal from their austerity them to the generation to come declare clear will we the praises of the
[22:14] Lord of God and his almighty strength the wondrous works that he has done we will show for God lend his testimony and his law in Israel he did place and charge the fathers it to show to their succeeding praise that so the race which was to the race which their souls to come might well them learn and know and sons unborn who should arise might to their sons them show like us to turn now to the book of psalms psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 and we can read at verse 81 reading through to the end of the section verse 104 psalm 119 reading from verse 81 my soul waiteth for thy salvation but I hope in thy word mine eyes fail for thy word saying when wilt thou comfort me for I am become like a bottle in the smoke yet do I not forget thy statutes how many are the days of thy servant when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me the proud have digged pills for me which are not after thy law all thy commandments are faithful they persecute me wrongfully help thou me they had almost consumed me upon earth but I forsook not thy precepts quicken me after thy loving kindness so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth forever
[25:24] O Lord thy word is settled in heaven thy faithfulness is unto all generations thou hast established the earth and it abided they continue this day according to thine ordinances for all are thy servants unless thy law had been my delights I should then have perished in mine affliction I will never forget thy precepts for with them thou hast quickened me I am thine save me for I have solved thy precepts the wicked have waited for me to destroy me but I will consider thy testimonies I have seen an end of all perfection but thy commandment is exceeding broad O how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day though through thy commandments has made me wiser than mine enemies for they are ever with me
[26:35] I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies and my meditation I understand more than the ancients because I keep thy precepts I have refrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep thy word I have not departed from thy judgments for thou hast taught me how sweet are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter than honey to my mouth through thy precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way Amen and may the Lord that his blessing to a reading of his word and to his name be the praise we are going to sing now from Psalm 119 and at verse 9 Psalm 119 at verse 9 By what means shall a young man learn his way to purify if he according to thy word thereto would attend to be the Lord and may the Lord unfaindly thee have I sought with all my soul and heart
[27:52] O let me not from the right path of thy commands depart thy word I in my heart have hid that I offend not thee O Lord thou ever blessed art thy statutes teach thou me the judgments of thy mouth each one my lips declare it have more joy thy testimonies way than riches God me gave I will thy holy precepts make my meditation and carefully I'll have respect unto the ways thy ways each one upon thy statutes my delight shall constantly be said and by thy grace I never will thy holy word forget you can sing these verses 9 through to 16 of Psalm 119 by what means shall a young man learn his way to purify by what means shall a young man learn his way to purify if he according to thy word there to attend to be infinitely thee have I sought with all my soul and heart oh let me not not from the right path of thy comans depart thy word I in my heart have hid thy word I in my heart have hid that I offend not thee
[30:18] O Lord thou ever blessed art thy statutes he love me the judgments of thy earth each one my lips he cleared in heart my lips he cleared in heart more joy thy testimonies away than riches only gave I will thy holy holy precepts make my meditation and carefully
[31:29] I'll have respect unto thy wish each one upon thy sat use my delight shall constantly be set and by thy grace I never will thy holy word forget we can turn to the psalm that we were reading from and the psalm that we sang last of all psalm 119 and we can read again verse 97 oh how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day oh how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day this is a psalm I'm sure that many of you recognize there are a number of reasons why it is so easily recognizable it is the longest psalm in the softer verse 176 verses and it's divided into 22 sections of eight verses in each section in your Bibles and most of your Bibles will see each section with the letter in Hebrew at the beginning of each section a Hebrew character is heading the section and each and each character or what is not obvious from a reading of of this in English or any other language than the original language Hebrew the line each each one of these eight lines begins with the same Hebrew letter
[34:17] Hebrew letter and the first section of the psalm begins with the first Hebrew letter Aleph the second section of the psalm next date has the Hebrew letter Beth and so on each line each line each line in turn carrying the same letter so it's very difficult if not impossible to replicate that in translation but the reason for that is that it is meant to be a psalm that teaches it's meant to be a psalm that is because of its construction it's an acrostic and to the to the eye of the Hebrew scholar whether that scholar is a young person or somebody of mature years it impresses itself upon their memory and that was essentially I suppose the the most important part that the core teaching that is contained within the psalm that it would impress itself on the mind and on the heart of the person who was reading the poetry or saying it whenever it was to be sung there are other features which may not be as prominent but they also seem to be part of the design of the psalmist whoever the psalmist was we're not told who the psalmist was we're not told when he constructed the psalm or for whatever occasion but we understand from the layout of the psalm that there are 22 sections that the name of the Lord appears 22 times in each one of these sections the name of the Lord appears in each section whatever name is given to him and the other feature which we want to focus on probably most is the importance that is given by the psalmist to the law of God there are several words that are used to describe the law of God different words but meaning the same thing meaning the law meaning in this instance meaning the word of God and while the words may be different they are slightly nuanced for us to present to us something of significance that is applicable to the use of that word so we read in verse 97 oh how I love how love I thy law it is my meditation all the day that word law we usually understand it to mean something very specific a rule a direction a command and so on but in this instance the word law means the word of God the word that God has given to us there are eight different words used throughout the psalm there is the word law we see testimony, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgment
[38:18] meaning rule of life and the word of God and the promises of God but pre-eminently what the psalmist has in mind is the place that God's word has the place that the scripture has in the life of the believer and that's really the focus of our service this evening the centrality that God gives to us by way of the psalmist the centrality of the word of God the centrality of the scripture in the experience of the believer not only is it something by which God communicates at the very outset of the believer's experience but throughout the experience of the believer until he takes his leave of this world called in death and what we understand from the psalm is that this word is the medium by which God has chosen to communicate with his people in the world we understand from other parts of the scripture that without question God is able to avail himself of various mediums mediums of communication where we recognize him to be speaking to us we mentioned in the morning the way that God speaks to us through creation
[40:11] God can speak to us through the creature that occupies the space that is creation but first and foremost he speaks to us through the word through the scriptures in the times of the psalmist the scripture would have been limited it's not clear how limited but it hadn't been fully completed at the time but we have a complete word of God the scriptures of the old and the new testament we can trust in that word that that is where God is speaking to us and throughout the psalm we find that the word is at the heart of what the psalmist is saying and he is praying for example that the word may be heard that the word may be understood that the word may be applied that the word may be used efficaciously in his life and the life of others that it may be effective in bringing salvation that it may be effective in bringing comfort to the afflicted that may be effective in bringing all kinds of truth to bear upon the circumstances that our life is made up of one of the commentators
[42:00] Derek Thomas he makes a comparison between the psalm that we have here and the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in the new testament particularly the section where whose words are identified as the sermon on the mount and the beatitudes in particular and the word blessed is there and Derek Thomas says that in that same sense what we have in the new testament caught up in this word blessed we find it reflected in what the psalmist is saying where the psalmist is asking a very most important question for the believer how can I be blessed how some translate that word in the new testament how can I be happy that word we use it in so many different forms our happiness is something that has nothing whatsoever to do with anything spiritual but happy is that man and blessed to have this God as their God and the psalmist is effectively saying that happy is this passion over and over again over and over again he says if you live in this world if you live in God's word if you live so that God's word lives in you then you can consider yourself to be happy to be blessed and that's it so that's a background to these words so I want two very simple things just to look at these words how love I thy law what do you think the psalmist means when he says that it's quite plain I suppose at one level we can we can think somebody who says this is saying something very specific
[44:22] I love the Bible I love the scripture I love God's word the testimony what is contained within the word from Genesis to Revelation I love it now is that all that is that there is to it is that the simple statement of fact but it is certainly a declaration of love for God's word the second declaration we have is equally simple he says it is my meditation all of the day the Bible is something that I reflect on I contemplate I meditate upon all the day that is something that we can understand we can understand by way of meaning but whether we can actually say either of these things passionately with integrity with honesty with understanding understanding is a question that only you can answer well in the first instance his declaration apparently is a declaration of affection for the word of God an affection for all that the word contains
[46:00] I love it he says I love it as I said you can understand what that is saying but in actual fact what the psalmist is saying when I say this I cannot express myself sufficiently well enough so as to state the relationship that this word has to me I cannot as somebody has put it better than I can I cannot fully express the place that God's word has in my life now remember it is a believer that is saying this and it is a believer who is able to say this but can we in all honesty say that hand on our heart that this is the word that is so important to us that we cannot envisage any other any other being placed alongside it or even overtaking it by way of import
[47:27] I don't think a Christian can intellectually say that there is a more important word than it we know that is the way it should be but it is another thing to say when we approach the word of God as an entity as the word that God has given to us by which he communicates with us by which we know with certainty that his spirit has bequeathed this word to us has endowed this word with the life that makes it different to any other word any other word do we not at times relegate that word to a secondary position by looking elsewhere for making this word say what we understand it to mean we know how can I best explain that
[48:36] I remember just recently listening to to a other minister talking about and I think he was being very honest about his own experience through illness an illness that debilitated him that restricted his life considerably so that because of the nature of the illness he was confined very much to his own home and deprived of many opportunities outside of that but what he was made to understand was that most important to him at that time was God speaking to him through the word the word and he said I'm not talking about God speaking to me through somebody else somebody else's opinion as to what God was saying
[49:38] I'm not talking about whatever whatever it is that you would use as a an aid to understanding but approaching the word prayerfully and in dependence upon God himself to open out the word to me so that would understand it and I think that is important from this point of view that the psalmist is someone who understands the nature of God's word as the word of God from God himself to him that he loves it because he knows that it is God that is speaking to him let me put it another way you have seen perhaps or maybe been present in a situation where the gospel is being preached by somebody in a different tongue to your own let's say that you were on holiday in Spain or in South America and the preacher was preaching in Spanish or Portuguese and you weren't familiar with that language but providentially there was somebody else present and they translated the preacher preaching into English now however much you appreciated the translation you always felt that you would have best preferred that word coming to you directly in your own tongue that there was always a suspicion that you were losing out on something that the word contained by reason of the fact that you were depending on a third party now the psalmist is here insisting that it is God's word that he loves the word that he understands to be God's word the inspired word the word of which
[52:03] Paul speaks to Timothy that he recognizes to be God's word to him and no less than that and that he appreciates it for what it is and I think that is something that a believer has to remember at all times that when you when you reflect upon the importance of the word of God when you reflect on the privilege the privilege that you have of possessing the word in your own tongue you know when I was thinking about this I was thinking about a past generation in these islands who did not speak they did not read English or Gaelic and they depended on others to read the scripture to them and how marvelous it was for them in the providence of God that they came to be taught so that they could read the scripture and that was the most the most gracious benefit they got from learning to read that they could read the Bible in their own tongue and it was a great joy to them to have that facility when they when they didn't need to depend on others to read it to them but what made it important what made it relevant to them what made it precious to them that they understood the Bible to be God's word to them and that it was a living word that it was a relevant word that it was a word that God used to meet their situation whatever that situation was and for that reason you can echo the words of the psalmist and say I love the law
[54:18] I love the law like nothing else I love the word like no other word because I know as a believer in God that God is speaking to me through it let's move on the second part of this he says I make it my meditation all the day and many believers today have an academic understanding understanding of what the Bible is saying they have a head knowledge of the word but they are not able to put the knowledge that they have which dwells in their head into a practical application of it and there is always a danger that we are content with mere head knowledge we may understand we've read this word and you'll say to me well really you don't need to spend any time on this
[55:37] I understand what this word is saying it's not difficult any fool can read this and understand what it's saying but the thing is that what we understand with our head we must also have the ability to understand it with our heart so that it is not just head knowledge but heart knowledge there is a difference if you ask a question then I'll ask a question for you I'm not going to answer it for you do you love with your head or do you love with your heart do you love with your head or do you love with your heart or do you are both things involved is your head and your heart involved in loving well you'll have to answer for yourself it may well be that both are necessary but here we have a declaration of meditation not just a love for the word but a word that because he loves it he is not prepared simply to let it pass through his head like a sieve water would pass through a sieve he wants to meditate upon it he wants to ensure that it is something that he takes with it that he makes sense of you know I
[57:19] I understand and I heard it said often that young Christians at times were concerned about sitting listening to sermons and they were concerned because they were always feeling guilty of how little of what they heard they took with them of what they heard and it concerned them that they were not carrying with them in their heart or in their head what they had heard and the encouragement that was given to them was that if you passed if you put a fleece of wool in a stream and you lifted it out of the stream the water would come out of it and the fleece would be damp but not it wouldn't contain any of the water and the argument was that the fleece may not take much of the water with it but it was cleaner as a result of the water having passed through it and there is sense in that there is wisdom in that understanding but the Christian wants not just to be cleaned by reason of contact with the word you are not sitting here tonight just hoping that while the sermon has been preached
[58:58] I have heard it preached therefore it is done it is done and dusted but because it is God's word that you are presented with you want to take it with you and contemplate it meditate upon it so that you learn from it in order to take the next step to apply it meaningfully in your life to the next step to the next step to the next step Calvin speaks of God's word at times as a word that ravishes his heart a word that ravishes his heart wonder what happens when your heart is ravished with God's word wonder what happens well Calvin certainly knew that that God was speaking to him at that moment and I think he was filled with love for Christ when that word spoke to him like that but can it really happen without contemplation can it happen without meditation
[60:15] I know and I believe that the word of God can come to a person like a dart it can come it can come you are sitting there and out of the blue something comes to you from the word of God and it strikes home it gets right to the heart of the martyr as far as you are concerned maybe it points out your guilt maybe it points out something much more easier to deal with it identifies your love for Christ you were afraid that it wasn't there you were afraid that it wasn't genuine and all of a sudden the word comes and exposes your heart and says this is what it is what you are feeling there is from God and only God can give you that now that can come without any preparation without any form of of you know thinking about it beforehand it is something that happens because God means it to happen but for the most part for what the psalmist is saying to happen here it is my meditation all the day this word I carry with me this word which I find difficult to understand
[61:46] I don't put it to one side and forget about it I try and unravel what it is saying to me I think about it I try and do what the scripture commends to me to do I try and rightly divide the word of God I put other scripture alongside it I take other experiences in the light of that scripture and I try and understand what this word is saying to me and every one of us as we engage with God's word whether it is in public as we are tonight or whether we are sitting by the fireside reading God's word we might be doing it by reason of our obligation to read God's word and we do it hurriedly and we have done it and that is it we should never rush through it in that sense without wanting God to speak to us there and then Jim Packer in one of his statements concerning the word of God says there are three questions a Christian should be asking himself when they are dealing with God's word when God's word is dealing with him what does this word have to say to me about God what does this word say to me about God what does this word say to me about myself in my relationship to God what does this word say to me where I am now in the here and now, in the present what does this word have to say to me what does this word have to say to me remember it is a living word it is a word that God means to work in our lives and to have a relationship with him through the word that he has given to us and I suppose we have to remember always how we come to the word affects what we get out of it in a commentary on the larger catechism a man called Johannes Voss he is talking about the scriptures and he identifies I suppose what is a problem to many Christians sometimes they come to the Bible as if they are approaching the supermarket and they expect like the supermarket to see nice tidy rows every part placed on the shelf there just for them to stretch out their hands and take what they want, when they want, if they want it is a supermarket approach to the word of God where as he says in reality the Christians should understand that they are not going to the supermarket when they go to the word of God they are going to the mine and sometimes in order to get to the mother load mother load they must they must work at it they must try and discern what God is saying at that moment to them you know if you go back to verse 18 the psalmist has a prayer open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy love that's just an expression of what the psalmist is wanting to do he wants to meditate on this law he wants to contemplate it he wants to hold it up to a gaze that can discern what is in it but he realizes that he needs God's help for it how often do we come to the word of God and we open it out and say well here it is speak to me
[65:50] speak to me now and yet sometimes we need to learn that it is only on bended knee and only with pleas and cries and and a confession of emptiness that we come to God and say well I am in darkness I need your light I am blind I need my eyes to be open so that I can see what is there in your word and the amazing thing is it is always there have you not discovered that you who are Christian here tonight what happened when God opened your eyes what did you see well you saw something that was always there that was always there and yet something happened God opened your eyes so you saw what was there with eyes that God enabled to see and in many respects the same truth applies to your life as you go on as a Christian the word of God is there the same word that you are so familiar with how many of us can say that that that there are passages there that we knew back to front inside out and yet at one point God came and said you are missing the point and he brought to our attention something that was so glaringly obvious and you couldn't understand why you hadn't seen that before but I believe it is a true mark of grace that God opens our eyes to see the glories that he himself has put inside that he he allows his word to contain and it contains all the time well do you love the law and do you love the law do you love the law do you love the law because it's God's law his word is a meditation all the day would that it was and every one of us would no doubt derive the greatest benefit of it if you are not a Christian does that mean that God's word is not for you far from it if anything it should say to you is this where God speaks and if it is
[68:47] I'll delve into it heart and soul until he speaks to you to you where you are whatever that is heart and soul to the reveals to you out of that law the most marvelous of truths relevant to yourself as to no other and may you be successful in your seeking after him let us pray your word tells us that it is the entrance of your word that gives light may we be seated at your hand even on our knees what will satisfy the longings of our soul bless us and the teaching of your word cleanse us from our sins in Jesus name Amen we can conclude and sing these verses we are going to sing the whole section in conclusion
[69:50] O how love I thy law that is my study on the day it makes me wiser than my foes for it doth with me stay than all my teachers now I have more understanding far because my meditation my testimonies my testimonies are and sing this section in conclusion O how love I thy law it is my study of the day O how love I thy law it is my study of the day O how love I thy law it is my study of the day it makes me wiser it makes me wiser than my foes for it doth with me stay than all my teachers now
[70:57] I have more understanding far because my meditation thy testimonies are thy testimonies are in understanding I excel those that are in the end for I am the Lord I am the Lord I am the Lord I am the Lord I am the Lord the Lord those that are in the end for I am death have allered to keep all thy commandments my feet my feet from each other way
[72:10] I say that I may keep thy word I from thy judgment I am the Lord I am the Lord I am the Lord I am the Lord I am the Lord I am the Lord for thou hast called me Lord how sweet and dear my taste O Lord how sweet and dear my taste O Lord on all thy words O truth yea I do hide them sweeter par than honey to my mouth
[73:13] I through I through thy pieces shall love you, to all understanding yet.
[73:33] I therefore envy with us most, with all my heart to hate.
[73:54] May the grace, mercy, and peace be with God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all now and always. Amen.