[0:00] Now, as the Lord enables us, let us turn again to the book of Psalms, in Psalm 119, and particularly focusing on the section beginning at verse 57, where the psalmist says, The Lord is my portion.
[0:32] I promise to keep your words. I entreat your favor with all my heart. Be gracious to me according to your promise. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.
[0:50] I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. One or two thoughts on this section of the psalm.
[1:03] All the commentators I have looked at in relation to this psalm are of the view that David is the psalmist.
[1:19] Although there is no indication at the beginning of the psalm like at some of the other psalms that it is by David, nevertheless, commentators feel that the style is David's and the elements that he brings before us are very Davidic and indicative of David's style.
[1:43] And they also say, well, it is not evidently a psalm that he sort of sat down and composed as a result of one particular incident in his life.
[1:58] There are certainly some other psalms that are like that. For example, Psalm 51 is a psalm of confession of sin. And the incident or the situation that lies behind it is David's sin with Bathsheba.
[2:17] And there are other psalms as well that you can focus on in relation to circumstances that are specific to a particular time.
[2:28] But what they say about this psalm is that it looks like a gathering of meditations and thoughts that the psalmist had maybe over a number of years.
[2:41] And there came a time when he compiled them in this form. And he put them into these sections, each of these sections in the psalm, the whole 22 sections, headed by a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
[3:01] And the beginning of every verse has that letter of the Hebrew alphabet in the Hebrew text. And they say that this is something that the psalmist used to aid memory.
[3:17] It was easy, maybe easier to learn this in this particular way. Somebody also said that rather than being like a gold chain of golden thoughts, this is rather like a chest of gold rings, each one, as it were, individually focused on.
[3:40] Each verse says something about the word of God. It uses a number of different words to describe the word of God, the scripture, for example.
[3:51] In verse 49 it says, Remember your word to your servant. And in verse 50, Is my comfort in my affliction that your promise gives me life.
[4:03] That's another word he uses for the scriptures. The insolent utterly deride me, but I do not turn away from your law. And so on. He uses different words to highlight what the word of God is saying and it means to himself.
[4:24] But in the verses we have suggested as our text this evening, I think we see something like a character study of the psalmist himself.
[4:39] When you start at verse 57, For example, you see him making a profession of his faith in the Lord. And he says, The Lord is my portion.
[4:51] I promise to keep your words. And secondly, We see him as a man of prayer. In verse 58, I entreat your favor with all my heart.
[5:02] Be gracious to me according to your promise. And then we see him as a man of prayer. And then we see him in verse 59. A man who searches out his soul. When I think on my ways.
[5:15] And then at the second part of verse 59. I turn my feet to your testimonies. I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.
[5:25] He is a man who turns away from sin. He is a man who repents of his sin. He is a man who is intent upon following a holy and godly lifestyle.
[5:37] So under these four headings, Generally, I'd like to highlight a few thoughts this evening. First of all, Under this first heading, That the man here says, That the Lord is his portion.
[5:53] He makes that profession. Like many of us make a profession of faith in Christ. The psalmist here is professing that the Lord is his portion.
[6:09] Now, if indeed this was David, and I believe it was, He had access to much of this world's comforts.
[6:20] Much of this world's luxuries. Much of this world's finances in his day. He was also a man of great power and influence.
[6:32] But he says, The Lord is my portion. I don't lean upon these things that I have ready to hand.
[6:43] They aren't really the main thing in my life. The main thing in his life is the Lord himself. And he says, The Lord is my portion, Saith my soul.
[6:58] Because he wasn't the only one ever to say that. When you see in Psalm 73, The psalmist there was Asaph. And he says at verse 26, Whom have I in the heavens high?
[7:13] But thee, O Lord, alone. And in the earth whom I desire, Besides thee there is none. And he says, Even if his heart and his flesh faint and fail, The Lord will fail them never.
[7:27] For God is the strength of his heart And portion forever. We see also Jeremiah, I believe, In Lamentations chapter 3, At verse 24.
[7:42] And the historical situation there is That Jerusalem has been destroyed. The temple has been destroyed by the Chaldeans. And we see Jeremiah there in the Lamentations says, The Lord is my portion, Saith my soul.
[8:01] Therefore will I hope in him. And what lies behind that wonderful profession? That wonderful statement, The Lord is my portion.
[8:16] Well, I believe this lies behind it particularly. That the Lord has made himself known to them In a gracious way. The Lord made himself known to David In a gracious way.
[8:30] And he was able to say, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He leads me. He guides me. And at last he will bring me into His nearer presence in heaven.
[8:44] And you go through the whole of the scriptures. And those men of God and women of God Who professed faith like this, That the Lord was their portion. It was as a result of the fact That the Lord had made himself known to them.
[8:59] And he had revealed his glory to them. And he had shown his grace. And his love to them. In the Song of Solomon. You find in chapter 5, I think it is.
[9:12] The daughters of Jerusalem asking the church. What is your beloved? More than another beloved. O thou fairest among women. And then she starts a long description Of the beauties of her beloved.
[9:28] Christ the Redeemer. She says, He is white and ruddy. The chiefest among ten thousand. And she goes all the way through Aspects of his person.
[9:41] And at last she says, His mouth is most sweet. Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my saviour. This is my friend.
[9:53] This is my beloved. O ye daughters of Jerusalem. It is because he revealed himself To her. And he gave her to know The drawings of his love Upon her heart.
[10:07] And she wanted to follow him. And she wanted him above all else. At that point. Tell him, she says, How I am sick of love.
[10:19] I am sick in love with him. And sin, of course, came in. And she backslid at some point. Nevertheless, He was her beloved.
[10:30] And he drew her to himself. And this is still true. In the experience of the people of God. They are drawn by the Lord's Spirit.
[10:44] When they read the Word of God. It is more than just a letter Printed on a page to them. There is a message there. There are words there From the Lord to their soul.
[10:57] And they feel the power of it. And they feel the fragrance of it. And they delight to see glimpses Of his glory and his beauty. They delight to know something Of his voice speaking into their circumstances.
[11:13] And they know that they have a friend in him. A friend in Jesus. And they cannot but give themselves to him. Whom have I in the heavens high?
[11:26] But you, O Lord, alone. Maybe you are sitting In a service of worship. And all of a sudden A word spoken A word sung Or a word read Made contact with your soul.
[11:47] And you realised That heaven Was speaking into your situation. And it's as if you had A personal connection. You are awakened As it were To realise Who it was Who was speaking to you.
[12:03] The Lord himself And the Holy Spirit Revealing to you Something of the beauty And the glory Of Jesus Christ. And you couldn't But then say The Lord is my portion.
[12:17] Because these Are words of faith. These are words Of grace Spoken by the psalmist. And as a result Of his profession here He says I promise to keep Your words.
[12:31] Your word has become So precious to me. It has revealed to me The glory Of the Saviour. And I promise to keep The words Of the scripture.
[12:44] That is my desire To walk In the ways of the Lord. Well that's the first thing I wanted to highlight. This man He is a man Who makes a profession.
[12:57] Secondly We see that He is a man Of prayer. I entreat Your favour With all my heart. Be gracious to me According To your promise.
[13:12] I believe When the Holy Spirit Comes Into the experience Of the people Of God In a saving way They begin To pray.
[13:30] Do you remember What I've said Of Saul of Tartus When the Lord Spoke Concerning him Behold He prayeth Well Only after The Damascus Road Experience Was that Really true Of him.
[13:45] He had certainly As a Pharisee Been able To use many words But it wasn't A real prayer At all. The prayer Is taught Of God And this man Here says I entreat Your favour With all My heart.
[14:03] The Lord Has touched His heart. And now He realises His need Before God He realises That he has Needs Other than Physical needs Or mental needs He has Great spiritual Needs And he has Access to God in heaven And he calls Upon the Lord That the Lord Might come And deal With his situation And what's he Looking for here?
[14:31] Well it says here Be gracious To me According To your promise Show me Grace Show me Salvation Speak into My situation With a word Of life With a word Of strengthening With a word Of assurance We spoke This morning Shortly here About the text We have In Isaiah Chapter 6 When Isaiah Saw the Lord High and lifted up And the effect That marvelous Revelation Of the glory Of God Had upon Isaiah He says Woe is me For I am Undone I am a man Of unclean lips And I dwell Among a people Of unclean lips Mine eyes Have seen the King The Lord Of hosts The same Thing happens I believe In the experience Of all of God's children
[15:31] When the Lord Comes With his saving Power They see Themselves For what they are Lost sinners Impure Imperfect Wayward In need Of salvation And they Pray to the Lord They ask For his Grace The Bible Reminds us That two men Went up to the Temple to pray One was a Pharisee And the other A publican The Pharisee Spoke With a lot Of words But the Publican Or the Tax collector He touched His breast And said This is where Sin is This is the Problem And he said God be Merciful to me The sinner He entreated The Lord He asked the Lord to Forgive him To cleanse him From all of His sins
[16:31] He was assured That the Lord Was able to Do that And only the Lord was able To do that When the Prophet Isaiah Writes in Chapter 1 Verse 18 The Lord Speaks Through him And says Come now Let us Reason together Says the Lord Though your Sins be as Scarlet They shall be As white As snow Though they Be red Like crimson They shall Be as wool And we Have this Assurance In ourselves That the Word of God Is true His promise Is true And we Claim his Promise In this Respect And we Ask him Lord apply To me That cleansing Power That will Cleanse my Sin That will Correct the Ills and Wrongs of my Heart and Life And this Man is a Man of Prayer In treating The favour Of God With all Of his Heart
[17:31] With all Of his Heart And he Says be Gracious to Me According to Your promise But thirdly We see Something else And we See that he Is a man Who thinks About his Ways The word Here when I think On my Ways To a Very Interesting Word In that It speaks About a Very Intense Thinking And one Of the Expositors Says it's Like some Ladies Who do Fine Embroidery And they Have to Be so Precise And accurate As to Where the Needle Goes Through So that The pattern Is properly Represented When they Finish their Embroidery They have To be Accurate Pinpoint
[18:32] Accuracy In working Their Embroidery And they Say that Is what's Behind this Particular Word here When I Think on My Ways Think on The ways That I Have Been The ways That I Have Come Well When you Think of The ways That you've Come On a Day such As this A day That's Traditionally Set apart For fasting And confession Of sin It's Appropriate That each Of us Think on Our ways Minutely Think of The ways You have Had Of thinking About God Who he Is His Greatness How his
[19:32] Eye Sees you Everywhere You are He knows Your thoughts Before you Utter them What are you Thinking about Him Just now Well this Man He's Thinking Minutely About his Thoughts And the Ways he Has come How do you Think about Sin Is it of No consequence That you Sin Have you Been thinking Like that Have I Been living Like that As if Sin was Of no Consequence As if it Was a Secondary Issue As it Were In my Life Because the Lord says Be ye Holy For I Am holy And it Should be A discomfort For us Every time We discover That we Have sinful Thoughts And words And action This man Says I think
[20:32] On my Ways What about Your priorities When you Think back To the Priorities You have Given To the Things of This world Or the Things of God The priority You have Given To a Life of Prayer A life Of worshipping God In private Or in Public The Bible Says to us Pray without Ceasing When I look Back on my Life Is that True of Me When I Think of My public Worship The Catechism Says to Us That we Ought to Attend The public Worship With Diligence And Preparation And Prayer How diligent Am I How diligent Are you Before you Come here Before we Come together In the Public Forum Like this Well this Man says I think On my Ways
[21:33] And as He Thinks On his Ways He Realizes That many Of his Ways Are not As straight As they Ought to Be Because it Says here When I Think on My ways I turn My feet To your Testimonies It's as if He is Saying I acknowledge Immediately That I've Gone wrong There I've gone Wrong here I've gone Wrong Everywhere As it Were And without The Lord's Keeping And the Lord's Guiding It is Wrong I Will go Every step Of the Way And what's Appropriate To this Man Who's Discovered How wrong He has Been Well it Says that He turns His feet To the Lord's Testimonies As mentioned Already the Book of Lamentations And Jeremiah
[22:33] Verse 40 In chapter 3 Says Let us Search out And examine Our ways And turn Back To the Lord Search out Examine Our ways And turn Back To the Lord Hosea Chapter 14 Encourages The People To go Back To the Lord And says Take Words With You And return To the Lord And say To him Take away All iniquity Receive Us Graciously Or we Will offer The sacrifices Of our Lips I turn My feet To your Testimonies To the Word of God The Word of God Is Plain Before us That this Is the Way we Have to Walk These Are the Old Paths That the
[23:34] Saints of Old Have Throodden And these Are the Ways That we All must Thread Also I turn My feet To your Testimonies Do you Remember the Prodigal son In Luke Chapter 15 It says In the Far country He came To a Point When he Came To himself And he Said I will Arise And go To my Father And he Arose And went To his Father And his Father was Looking for Him And at a Great way Off he Saw him Coming And he Ran to Him Evidently Something that Was not Socially Acceptable For an Old person To run Like he Ran But the Scripture Makes clear To us That this Is a Picture of The Lord Himself So ready To receive
[24:34] The penitent Into his Arms And he Kissed him Repeatedly And he Provided for Him The best Robe Was brought Forth And put On him A ring On his Hand And shoes On his Feet What an Amazing Reception That young Lad Got A ring On his Hand To show That he Was one Of the Family In the Bonds Of family Shoes On his Feet The servants Didn't have Shoes On their Feet Evidently In that Society But he Had said That he Would want To be Called a Servant But the Father Insisted You are A son And you Are received As such And the Fatted Calf Was slain And they Ate And were Merry Such is The reception That the Lord So graciously Bestows Upon those Who truly Come To him
[25:35] In Psalm 32 At Verse 5 We have This Then I Laid bare My sin To you In other Words I Confessed My sin The guilt That lay Within I said Oh Lord I have Transgressed And you Forgave When I Confessed You Pardoned All my Sin What an Amazing Statement That is And that's What we Find this Man doing Having thought Upon his Ways Discovered How wayward He had Been Now he Turns his Feet To his Testimonies And it Says in Verse 60 I hasten And do Not delay To keep Your commandments And he Goes on To say Though the Cords of The wicked Ensnare Me I do Not forget Your law It's as if
[26:36] He puts This before Us When we Are of a Mind to Turn from Our sin And there Are powers And forces Seeking to Draw us Back Into sin Though the Cords of The wicked Ensnare Me The wicked The evil One with All his Arguments And all His wiles Will try And trip You up Repeatedly But ask The Lord To give You grace To hasten And not Delay to Keep the Commandments Of the Lord At midnight He says I rise To praise You Because of Your righteous Rules I am a Companion Of all Who fear You Of those Who keep Your precepts The earth O Lord Is full Of your Steadfast Love Teach me Your statutes Are we Able to Identify With this Man of God In his
[27:37] Profession That the Lord is His Portion Are we Able to Identify With him As a Man of Prayer Entreating The Lord That he Would show Favor And give Him to Know his Blessing We are All I Think In relation To the Communion Services Prayerful Seeking that The Lord Would remember Us Remember the Minister Remember every Individual Each of us Has particular And personal Needs And that the Lord through The preaching It would Satisfy the Needs of Our soul That he Would speak A word In season Into her Experience That we Might have A token For good For ourselves We think We think On our Ways We are Ready to Confess Are we Not Acknowledging That we
[28:37] Are sinners By nature And practice If we Confess Our sin And the Word used There for Confess Is Like the Word we Use Homologate When you Sign a Document At the Lawyer You agree With what It says That's Exactly What it Says When we Confess Our sins You agree With the Picture that The scripture Draws of You That you Are wayward In mind And wayward In action And wayward In thought And in Word That's the Way we Are Lord I Confess That that's The way I am And I Come to You That you Might Correct me I Come to You That you Might Cleanse Me And forgive Me All of My sins All of My Iniquities And I Turn my Feet To your Testimonies And I Hasten And do Not delay To keep Your Commandments This Evening Maybe Somebody
[29:37] Is here Desiring To show Forth That the Lord is Their Portion And that They are Able to Follow To some Extent What the Psalmist Here gives As a Description Of himself That they Are a People of Prayer That they Are people Who acknowledge Their sin And turn To the Lord Jesus Christ Who is Able to Save Them He is Able to Save To the Uttermost All who Come Unto God By him I was Reading Recently A story About the Welsh preacher Of long Ago Christmas Evans And that He was One day Preaching From this Particular Not this Text but a Text I'm Going to Quote At the Beginning Of the Apostolic Preaching That the Lord Jesus Told them
[30:38] To go Into all The world Preaching The gospel Beginning At Jerusalem And Evans As he Always did Preached So pictorially And he Says There are People there And they'll Say Surely you Don't mean Jerusalem There are The people Who crucified The Lord Or you Tell them If they Come He will Receive Them But what About the People who Put the Crown of Thorns On his Head You tell Them there Is salvation For them If they Believe in Jesus What about The people Who put The nails Through his Hands And through His feet Surely You cannot Preach the Gospel to Them He says Tell them That there Is salvation For them Also If they Come to Jesus By faith And so Days still We discover How marvelous
[31:39] He is How gracious He is How long Suffering He is How wonderful A friend He is A friend Lovers at All times And he Loves his People He loves His people When they're In darkness When they Have to Walk As it Were Against The wind And they Have to Fight Day by Day The fight Of faith He provides Grace and Strength For them And he Will continue To do So Because he Has promised Never to Leave them Or forsake Them He has Actually gone To heaven To prepare A place For them And if I go And prepare A place For you He says I will Come again And receive You unto Myself That where I am There you May be Also And somebody Said When he Says I will Come Again
[32:40] That he Is determined To come Nothing In the world Will keep Him from Coming To take His people To be With himself At last Father I Will That they Also whom You have Given me Be with Me where I am That they May behold My glory Which you Have given Me Well may The Lord Bless these Few thoughts To us Let us Pray Help us O Lord To be Thankful For the Word of God Opened Before us We Confess Our Need of Your own Spirit At all Times And we Confess That Without you We can Do nothing At all We thank You Lord That you Are able To use Even one Word To encourage And strengthen And direct Your people May that be So this Evening And we May pray Again now For the
[33:40] Services Anticipated Over the Next number Of days Bless the Ministers Except Expected We pray And bless Every aspect Of the Services Of the Congregation We pray For your Blessing to Be upon All who Gather And may The Lord Be in The midst Of his People To bless Them Go before Us now We pray And cleanse Every sin In Jesus Precious name We ask It Amen Let us Conclude our Worship now Singing From sing Psalms And Psalm 51 Psalm 51 And verses 10 To the End of The Psalm Psalm 51
[34:45] And verse 10 Lord Create a Pure heart In me And a Steadfast mind Renew Do not Take your Spirit from Me Cast me Not away From you Give me Back the Joy I Had Keep my Willing Spirit Glad Then I'll Teach your Ways to Sinners Rebels Will turn Back to You Free me From blood Guilt My Savior God Most Merciful And true Then I'll Praise your Righteousness Teach my Lips Your name To bless Sacrifice Does not Delight You Else My Tribute I Would Bring Nor Do You Take Any Pleasure In A Whole Burnt Offering Contrite Heart As Sacrifice You O God Will Not Despise Let Your Blessing Rest On Zion Build Jerusalem's Walls Again Sacrifices Then will Please You Bulls Upon Your Altars Slain Offerings Made For Your Delight Truly Righteous In Your Sight Psalm 51 Sing
[35:45] Psalms From Verse 10 To The End Lord Create A Pure Heart In Me Lord Create A Pure Heart In Me And A Step Past Mine Reve You Do All In Your Spirit From Me Cast Me Of Away From You Give me Life That Joy I Have Keep My Willing Spirit Love Then I'll Teach Your Way To Sinners Rebels
[36:45] Will Turn Back To You Free Me From Blood Kill My Savior God Most Merciful And Roof Then I'll Pray To Righteousness Teach My Lifts To Lest Sacrifice Life Does Not Delight You Else My Tribute I Would Ring Nor Do You Take Any Pleasure In A Wholeç®±
[37:51] A You, O God, will not despise.
[38:01] Let your blessing rest on Zion, till Jerusalem's walls have came.
[38:16] Sacrifices then will be you, who's upon your own earth slain.
[38:28] Offering me for you, ye light, truly righteous in your sight.