My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine. For Thee, of the follies of sin I resign. My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou. If ever I love Thee, my Jesus is now. I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me. and purchased my pardon on Calvary Street. I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow, if ever I love Thee, my Jesus is now. I love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death. and praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath. And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow, If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, tis now. In mansions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright. I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow. If ever I love Thee, my Jesus is now. If ever I love thee, my Jesus is now. Amen. All right. Praise God. Thank you, Matt, for singing it. We'll dismiss the audience to go with Mrs. Short and their class. And the rest of us, please open up our Bibles again to 2 Samuel, chapter 22. How many of you saw this past week that a new book came out about the Queen? My second question was going to be who ordered it, but you didn't know. So anyway, well now you know, maybe somebody will order it this week. There's a new book that's coming out by the Queen's dressmaker. Her name is Angela Kelly, and it's entitled The Other Side of the Coin. the queen, the dresser, and the wardrobe. And I imagine it's a play on C.S. Lewis' Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I guess. But the queen, the dresser, and the wardrobe. And we've often wondered, and I'm sure this has caused you sleepless nights, if somebody actually does work in the queen's shoes. And the answer is yes, and that person is Angela Kelly, and that comes out. Sorry if it's a spoiler. It's not in all the news, so if you read an article about it. But that comes out. You may also wonder if the queen enjoys a good joke. And Angela Kelly shares a time where they were in Australia, and the queen wanted to see a kookaburra bird. She really had her heart set on seeing that. And so Angela, I guess, bought a fake kookaburra and stuck it out the queen's window and said, oh look, there's a kookaburra. And then she said, oh, no, it's dead, picked it up, and went running from the room to scare the queen. It was April Fool's. And the queen, I guess, got a laugh out of that, which is kind of just a little bit enjoyable, isn't it, to think about the monarch having a sense of humor and enjoying, I guess, what seems like at least a good relationship with her staff and a special relationship with Angela Kelly, even giving her permission to write this book and to publish this book, and that it's out there for us Enjoy, if that's something that you would enjoy. Our text this morning is about a king, an earthly monarch, that had a special relationship with a heavenly monarch. And like that relationship between the queen and Angela Kelly, I'm sure Angela Kelly would understand that who she is in comparison to who the queen is, is very insignificant. And so David also in her text this morning would understand that. And yet he says in verse 20, he brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me. because he delighted in me. And we read about a man that had a very special relationship with God, and he speaks about it with those four words, he delighted in me. Verse 21, the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands. hath he recompensed me. And as we come to this text this morning, 2 Samuel 22 is also recorded in the book of Psalms. It's a song written by David. It's in Psalm 18, right? That's maybe a familiar song to you. 2 Samuel 22 is the same exact text as that song. It's recorded twice in the Word of God. But in the first verse, you'll notice as you look back, that it's written by King David. on the day that he got delivered from King Saul. And so it says in verse 1, And David spake unto the Lord the words of this psalm in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of King Saul. And as he spoke about his deliverance, he used that term, he delighted in me. And yet, who is David? And again, David would understand that he's nothing to God. Psalm 34, verse 6, he says it this way, this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. 4, he says, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? And Psalm 144, verse 3, Lord, what is man that thou takest knowledge of him, or the son of man that thou makest account of him? So David, again, understood his position with God that he was nothing, and yet he also had this assurance in his heart that he had a very special relationship with God, that God did indeed delight in him. And because God delighted in David, in our text it speaks about God delivering David because he delighted in him. Verse 20, he brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me because he delighted in me. He speaks about God rewarding him because of his delight in him. Verse 21, the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. according to the cleanness of my hands, hath he recompensed me. And David's writing this song, again, at the height of his experience of the mercy of God, and working with God, and understanding his undeservedness with God, and yet recording for us that comprehension in his heart that God delights in me. So he delivered me, and he rewarded me. And yet as we study this passage this morning, We see that David knew that God delighted in him because David was living in a way that delighted God. David was living in a way that pleased God and that God accepted. So I've entitled my message this morning, He Delighted In Me. What a statement, isn't it? I mean, we can understand this morning if I said, I delighted in God. We can understand that with that statement. delighted in me." To be able to say today, you know what? God delights in me. What a statement that is to consider this morning. Again, it was because he was living in that way. And so I want to preach a message this morning. Live so that God delights in you. Live so that God delights in you. Does God delight in you today? Is there joy in the heart of God as to your life in some specific ways, as David speaks about here, because you're living in a way that is right in the sight of God this morning? So let's pray and ask the Spirit of God to just open up this passage to us as we consider this special relationship that God's given to us and how to protect it. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the Word of God. And Father, I thank you for King David and his love for God. I'm so thankful, Father, that you gave us a sweet psalmist of Israel that we can study Psalms and understand that God is a personal God, God is a relational God, God is a God that cares about me, not just in a way that's generic as he does for all his creation, but in a way that's specific because of our relationship and righteousness that we have through Christ. And Father, I pray, would you draw these precious truths from your word this morning in the context of what David is speaking about as he speaks about your delight in him, he speaks about why. And Father, I pray that the Spirit of God would give us grace to see these truths this morning. And Father, to put them into our life if they're not there, to sharpen them if they are. Father, it might be that somebody isn't saved this morning. And Father, if they were to die today, they'd spend eternity away from the God that loves them so much that his Son died for them. And Father, we pray for their salvation, that the Spirit of God just use the message this morning to open their heart to the special relationship they could have with God. But for us that are saved, Father, give us grace to really desire that close walk with God that comes through the context of what we're going to look at today. Father, I can't speak without your name in it. I pray that the Holy Spirit would guide my lips. I pray that he'd guide my mind. I pray that he'd guide my heart. Father, I pray that there be a special awareness of the presence of God in this service. And Father, you speak to each heart. And Father, would you be pleased to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ in our time together now. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Live so that God delights in you. Each point, we're going to have six this morning that we're going to look at from this text and going to take the truths that David presented in the middle part of this passage. Live so that God delights in you. First of all, get on God's road. Get on God's road. David said in verse 22, he says, Friar kept the ways of the Lord. David's life, at some point in his life, we don't know his youth, at what point David came to faith in God. We don't know at what point God imputed righteousness to David. But at some point, David's life intersected God's path and got on God's way. And he was on God's road. We talked recently about the siege of Jerusalem, and remember that land purchase that Jeremiah made by faith during that siege. But also during that siege, as God was trying to get a hold of the hearts of the children of Israel and get them back into his way, God used an illustration about a father that did so very well in getting his children to follow his path and get on his way. The man's name was Jonadab. And Jonah's dad raised his family to follow a vow that he had made with God. And it was a vow that they wouldn't drink strong drink or wine, and that they would be a nomadic people, that they wouldn't own land, that they wouldn't till that land. And those children, just because their dad said, hey, get on this way, they followed their father's way. And God takes them as an example to Israel and says, Israel, why can't you do that? And so Jeremiah chapter 35 verse 12, They came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Go and tell the men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my word, saith the Lord? The words of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed. From to this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment. Notwithstanding, I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, but ye hearken not unto me. I said also unto you, all my servants, the prophets, rising early, and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings. Go not after other gods to serve them. And ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearken unto me. And so the preachers came, and the preachers said, Get on God's way. Obey God's way. And God said, I wanted you to repent of your evil way. I wanted you to hearken unto me and get in my paths, but you didn't want to. And I'd ask us this morning, are you on God's way? Has your life come to that point of intersection with God, understanding that your life was off the path and away from God, and that you needed to get on that path that the Bible speaks about? And so get on God's road. God's road is the way of righteousness. Proverbs 8 verse 20 says, I lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of judgment. Speaking about wisdom, we've studied this proverb as we've studied our way up to Proverbs chapter 13 right now, but it's wisdom speaking, we're talking about wisdom as a personification of Christ, you know, and that Jesus is that wisdom, and Jesus is that truth, even saying, as it says here, I lead in the way of righteousness. If you want to follow God, it's in that path of righteousness. Proverbs 12, verse 28, we just studied last Sunday night. It says, in the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death. And we talked about that, sounds like something out of the New Testament, but it's not. It's back there in the Old Testament, just saying that that righteous path is the path of life. And we understand that and know that today, that Jesus Christ is that righteous path that men need to take. Some of you may have seen this past week that the fires are again raging in California, and it's been very dry as it is there, and they're into a dangerous time as they get these high winds that are coming in. Now I watched a video on my weather app, and the video was of people escaping a motorway through a chain link fence in their vehicles, some people ran through, but most in their vehicles as they apparently ripped this fence open to allow people to get on the verge, go over a little berm, down through a gully, and back up onto a safe path with a fireless map, or safe road. It's a great picture, isn't it, of the fact that back there on that path, that was a path of death, that was a path of destruction, that was a path of danger, but in exiting they came to a position of safety. And it's the same, isn't it, for those that are unsaved. They're on a path and they may not realize it. They may not understand today that they stand in jeopardy of the fires of hell. Those fires of hell are certainly on that path. But there's no escape except to go through that one way of safety. I witnessed this past Monday to a theology student, as I sometimes read at New College Library in Edinburgh on Monday mornings. You might find me down there sometime. But I'm there. I'm reading. I leave there. It's still where they study theology. And so my ex said, it's happened twice, and this same thing has happened twice, where I give a track to a person sitting on a bench right outside that school, and they say to me, I'm a student in theology, and I say, do you believe in God? And they say, no. That part has happened twice. And it used to surprise me, it doesn't surprise me anymore. Because what they're studying is not biblical theology. What they're studying is basically religion. And I said to this girl, I said, look, it's vain. And she said, what do you mean it's wasted? It's not wasted. I said, it is wasted. I said, here's why. It's like studying about Prime Minister Boris Johnson while reading a book about Tony Blair. You know, it's like you go to the Bible to find out about God. And she wouldn't maybe understand, as I spoke with her, that she's on a dangerous path. And I looked at her and said, look, I care about you. I want to encourage you to find God. Why? Because I know if she dies without Christ, she'll spend eternity in hell. I went down a different way than I normally go. I normally go to Princess Street Gardens. Instead, I walked back towards the meadows and handing out flyers as I went. And I get back down to the meadows. And it was a cold day, but there were actually some people sitting on a bench. The sun was out. And one of the guys that I next had a good opportunity to speak to, he was an evolutionary scientist, 25 years old. Thankfully, we had a good conversation, and we were able to engage and talk about God, and talk about creation science, and why I believe there is a God, and who Jesus Christ is. Interestingly, this man, last Sunday, walked into a church because the door was open, and he went in and sat in the service. And I wonder if that's just to express my views of my day. I wonder if that's not why God had me go a different way than I went, because we had a really good conversation. But you know, again, he wouldn't necessarily understand it. He's on a dangerous path. The next guy I talked to, he's from Hong Kong, and he's an artificial intelligence student at the University of Edinburgh, and he made a statement, a strong statement, about AI is totally opposite of understanding of God, but it is atheistic, because we're teaching our stuff to evolve, and that kind of thing. Yet I said to him, but you programmed it, all right? You programmed it. You put that information in. But as I spoke with him again, he didn't want the flyer, but he did take it in the end after 10 minutes of speaking to him. He wouldn't understand that he's on a path that's away from God. The Bible says in Proverbs 14 verse 12, There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end are but a waste of death. And you could be here this morning, and you could think, well, I'm OK. I'm on my path through life. And OK, it's not God's path. But listen, God's path is a path of righteousness. And if you don't have the righteousness that's through Christ and His death on the cross and your sins forgiven by faith in Him and His resurrection, then you're not on the path that God is on. And you don't have that special relationship that we're speaking about today where God delights in you. God's world is a way of righteousness. God's road is the way of truth. Psalm 119 verse 30 says, I have chosen the way of truth. Thy judgments have I laid before me. David was on that path that was one of absolute truth because it was God's path. Jesus himself said in John 14 verse 6, Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jesus Christ created all things in six days. The Bible says about Jesus in Colossians 1 verse 16, For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him. I spoke yesterday for 40 minutes to an atheist at his door and it spoke to him about, yes, I believe in creation. I believe in a six-day creation. He said, he kind of laughs and he goes, how old is this earth then? I take my jacket off. How old is this earth? And I said, you know, biblically it's like 6,700 years old. And we talked about that. And by the way, there's some great things to say, just logically about that. But I expressed this to him about Jesus Christ. We started speaking about Jesus. And I said to him, Jesus is God in the Bible. And I spoke about why we believe that. Well, He's the Creator. I just referred to that verse about His creation. I shared with Ken John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. In the beginning, who created? God. Who's the Creator? Jesus. You know, He's the Judge. We know that God is the Judge. The Father committed all judgment unto the Son. He's the forgiver of men's sins as He healed the man. And before He healed him, He says, Thy sins be forgiven thee. And the Pharisees got upset. Why? Because He made Himself like God. Why? Because He is God. They bowed down when He healed them and worshipped Him. And we've talked about it before, the many times in Scripture that Jesus Christ is worshipped without ever saying, get up, I'm just a man. Because He's not just a man. He's the God man. And so we know this morning Jesus is God. We know that Jesus died as a sinless sacrifice for our sin. Isaiah 53 says, He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. It says in Luke 23, 33, And when they would come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him in the malefactors. One on the right hand, the other on the left. And Jesus Christ was crucified in that place. We've talked about it before. There's a lot of false religions that say Jesus Christ didn't go to the cross. He didn't die on the cross. He wasn't killed on a cross. They attack the truth of the Word of God. Yet the Word of God is very clear that Jesus Christ did die, that He did suffer for our sin. And then Jesus rose again from the dead. Acts 2, 32, says, this Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. And Peter, standing at that preaching platform at Pentecost, says, we have seen him. The guy you crucified, we have seen. He is not dead. He is alive. And that's the testimony of the Word of God. And it's true. But we've got some great adversaries against that, don't we? We've got false science, I've already mentioned. We've got false religion. We've got false belief, atheism, humanism. Why? Because they don't want people to go down the path of truth. Why? Because that's the path that God's on. Satan is keen to keep people away from that path. In fact, 2 Peter 2 verse 1 says, For there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that brought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow the pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. Yeah, today, is the way of truth evil spoken of? I mentioned already. Speaking about, I believe, creation. And I believe in the absolute truth of this book. And the world mocks that. They laugh at that. And yet, the way that God is walking in the path of God is the path of truth. God wrote it as a way of truth, it's a way of righteousness, and it's a way of peace. John the Baptist, as he came, as the preacher, the forerunner that would go in front of the Messiah coming and say, get right with God, get right with God, because the Messiah is coming, right? As he did that, he was preaching to them about a way that's called the way of peace. Luke 1.79 says, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Why is it the way of peace? Because it's the way of the Prince of Peace. It's the way of Him who could cleanse our heart and forgive our sin and make us right in the sight of God. Do you have peace this morning? You know for sure as I, and one of the precious things that we have as a believer is our testimony. And even with that man that his story yesterday, and I appreciate him very much, and I hope to see him in church sometime. But as I spoke to him, I said, look I can't help you to experience this, but I want to tell you something. And I looked him in the eye and said, I know for sure that if I die, I go to heaven. And I know for sure that Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. And it's because I have tasted of the goodness of God. And part of that is peace. And I spoke to him actually about praying in chapel. A lot of you know my stories. I don't get new ones unless I go out and I create them. So my old stories about the peace that God gave me as I had to pray in chapel, I told him about that. I told him about Logan, Logan was with me, having major surgery at six months old, and how he had tears before and tears after, but on the day out, perfect peace. And I was able to express that to him. Why? Because I know he doesn't have it. He can't have it. The Bible says this, there is no peace, save my God, to the wicked. And the wicked, if you think that's a harsh term, it's anybody outside of Christ. They're not in the way of righteousness. They're not somebody that has been forgiven by God. They have no peace. Romans 3 verse 12 speaks about it. It says, they're all gone out of the way. They're together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good. No, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongue they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, their ways. And the way of peace, have they not known? No, they don't have it. You know, suicide among 14 to 16 year olds in Scotland doubled this past year? They don't have peace. They're taught there is no God. They're taught there is no hope. There's nothing to life. It's all about what you can get out of it and the buzz ends quickly, doesn't it? There's no peace. And so this morning, are you on God's way? Do you have the righteousness that's in Christ? Do you have the truth in your heart? Are you on that path of peace? Listen, that's where it's at. If you want God to delight in you, He'll delight in you if you get on that path. Wouldn't He? Wouldn't the Son of God rejoice today to see somebody look at their life and look at the way they're on and say, you know what? God's not in that. That's not where God is. I want to get where God is, so I want to get on the path that God is on. That's where David was. and it pleased God and God delighted in David. Live so God delights in you, get in God's way. Secondly, live so that God delights in you, stick close to God. Stick close to God. Notice what David says, he says, and have not wickedly departed from God. So he got on God's way, and he stayed on God's way. He stayed close to God. He was a faithful companion of God. You know, I love the verses in the Bible when you go in Genesis, and you get to Genesis chapter 5, and it says, "...and Enoch walked with God." Isn't that a precious way of describing a man's relationship with his creator? Enoch walked with God. What a statement. Genesis chapter 6, it says about a righteous man living in an unrighteous state, Noah, that Noah walked with God. What a companion. And I just asked you this morning, are you a faithful companion of God's? Somebody that is walking with God. My wife and I, when we first got married, we were dating, I asked her, what do you think about getting a dog? And she said, you can have a dog if somebody gives it to you. And so I filed that away. And we were at ASDA in Georgia on extension, on the weekends we were married, on the weekends we'd go to Georgia, drive two hours, be at a church, help out in that church, come back Sunday night. And Sunday afternoon we decided to go to ASDA. We go to Asda, and out in front of Asda, there was somebody with a trolley with puppies in it, and they're giving them away. And I said, do you remember saying that if somebody gave me a dog, I could have a dog? And so that was Annie. That's how we got Annie. And I've told you again before, but Annie's besetting sin. And she did have one. Purpose settings 10 was departing from me. She was not a faithful companion at that time. If you had Annie awfully out in the garden, Annie would give you this look. And as soon as you saw the look, you knew what she was thinking. You'd be like, no, no. And you could see her. She'd look the other way. She'd look at you. And look the other way, look at you. And then she'd look away. And she would run as fast as she could away. I'll tell you this. I would have delighted in her war as her master if she had been a faithful companion. Duchess has more liberty. Everyone here knows Duchess isn't a perfect duck. But Duchess has more liberty than Annie because Duchess is a more faithful companion than Annie. I could trust her a little bit more to be off weed and whatnot because she is close to me. How careful are you not to depart from God? How careful, how guarded are you in that relationship with God? We talked about this verse this morning, 1 Corinthians 4, 2. I think we talked about this idea. Moreover, it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful. What is faithfulness? Walking with God. That I'm a companion of God. Be a faithful companion. Be careful not to get off the path, because God's on the path. And notice what he says here. Stick close to God, because he says, I have not wickedly departed from my God. Let me say this, any departure from God is a wicked departure. Right? Anytime somebody goes away from God, it's a wicked departure from God. And just to go back to my stories about Annie, you know, and that look that she gave. A lot of times I think it was this, and this is just dog psychology, alright? But I think it was her nose. She had, I think, a sensitive nose, and she'd smell something. And you know, that's the way beagles are. That's one of the reasons we need to get a beagle. But they smell something, and they get that scent, and it's just such a strong desire that it pulls them away. And a lot of times, it's junk, right? Anybody that's had a dog knows, and Annie was one of those dogs, sadly, that she'd find a smell that she likes, and she liked it so much that she'd roll in it. And it wasn't a smell her master liked. And so before she could have fellowship with me and walk in the path with me, I had to take her and I had to clean her up and get her as a suitable companion for me because she departed from my path, she went down a path of defilement. And I had to get her back from that. And see, a departure from God is a wicked departure. Satan is good at luring people down a path that is an ungodly path. He pulls them to things that God can't stand and God despises, rightly so. But they're things that our sinful human flesh, like a dog, desires that wickedness or that defilement of that smell. There is in us, in our human heart, a lust for things that are contrary to God. And Satan knows that, and he seeks to draw us away by those wicked desires. James 1.14 says, But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived it, bring forth sin, and sin which is finished, bring forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. And James warns him and says, look, don't go down the path of defilement. Stay away from that path of defilement. Do not err. Why? Because there's wrong desires that can be aroused by Satan. And if you give in to those wicked desires, it'll take you away from the companionship with God. It'll be a departure into wickedness. And so Proverbs 4. Speaks it out like this. How can we guard ourselves from this? And Proverbs 4 verse 25 says, let thine eyes look right on. Let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet. Let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand, nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil. If you want to walk with God, what it is today is a carefulness. I'm not going to go down that path of wicked entertainment. We've got tons of wicked entertainment in our day. We've got to make a decision. First of all, should I get a TV license? What is there to watch? If I have a TV, how is it guarded? Because commercials come on very quickly, and that allurement comes on very quickly, and that channel change could get me into something that is absolutely perverse and would trouble my soul and would trouble the soul of my children. And so, I want to walk with God. I'm not going to depart from that path. So what's that mean? It means this today. This is a very biblical statement that somebody that wants to walk with God has to be very careful about what they do in the town. and have close controls over the tally. Somebody that walks with God has to be careful about internet and browsing and all the filth that is available at the click of a button, at the tap of a button on a phone, a mobile. We have, in the old days, it used to be if somebody wanted to have a perversion, they had to go somewhere to file it to get it. In our day, it could be had in the privacy of our home. And so if we want to walk with God, we've got to determine by the grace of God, I'm not going to go down that path of defilement into wickedness. We've got music today, and sometimes I'm jealous of previous generations. I want to say it's a privilege to live where we live, but we have more access to junk than any other generation has. And so we've got music. And wicked music, and it's pop music, rock music, rap music, and all that junk of the world, and the immodesty, and the indecency, and the ungodliness of it. But it's popular. There's a lot of Christians that might have music that they listen to. Nobody knows about it. But God knows about it. But there are things that defile. Listen, you can't have a close walk with God if you're listening to that. You can't have a close walk with God if you're watching that. You can't have a close walk with God if you're going there, if you're wearing that, if you're participating in that. Why? Because you've stepped off of the path that God is on. God is not in that defilement. And so what? For us to walk with God, we've got to say, you know what? I'm going to be a faithful companion. I'm going to stick close to God. I'm not going to wickedly depart from God. Live so God delights in you. Be his faithful companion. Stick close to God. Get on God's road. And then live so that God delights in you. Set his word before you. Verse 23. says, for all his judgments were before me. David said, I got it all right here. I know what God says. I keep it in front of me. By the way, David is the one that authored, as a human, Psalm 119. We understand God gifted David with the ability to write psalms, but he also inspired David to write scripture. And so our book of psalms is a Jewish psalm book, and Psalm 119 is about what? Somebody tell me. It's about the? Word of God. Okay, we studied it as a church, we went through it verse by verse. 176 verses, taking each stanza, a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and starting each verse in that stanza with that Hebrew alphabet letter. But every single verse references the Word of God. And in there, David says in verse 11, thy word hath I hid in my heart, that I may not sin against thee. Verse 30, I've chosen the way of truth, thy judgments have I laid before me. Psalm 119, 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. David understood the word of God. He knew what God said about sin. He knew what God said about a relationship with him. He knew it because he kept it right there in front of him. I mentioned that Kaylee is learning to drive, and so I'm reminiscing a bit as I teach her to drive about us coming, and we had to take the test here as well. We had a year to drive on our US license, and then we had to take the UK test. But for three, five, six months, we didn't study the book about driving here. Maybe not that smart, but that's what we did. And so some of the signs you look at, you go, what does that mean? You just don't have a clue, because it's a different sign. The back to the national speed limit sign to my brain looked like a do not sign. And I'm thinking, do not what? I keep going out of town, and it says do not. And after we studied, Us, when the signs started to speak, and you can understand this, we were safer driving. Why? Because the danger signs were speaking to us and saying, look, that is dangerous. You know what? God's word is here for us to speak to us and say, you know what, that's dangerous. The better you know this book, the better protected you are to walk in the path with God. That's the benefit of this book. And let me just challenge us this morning in this way. His judgments were before me. I could speak about church and the importance of being here because this is a place where we share forth God's judgments and God's truth. That's important. But let me take it to a private standpoint this morning just with these two points. Set God's word before you by daily meditation. Because our church is not the answer to the doctrinal strength of your home. It's not. Say God's word before you by daily spending time in this book. Psalm 1 is written by King David. It's the first song in that book of songs. And it says, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of this horrible. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. The blessed man is the man that is in this book. And the Bible says, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that breatheth forth his fruit in the season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. And I'm going to end with this verse this morning. It says, the ungodly are not so. What's that mean? Somebody that's not in God's path, they're not in this book. Somebody that is in this book is on that path. because they're daily taking God's word, and they're getting in this book. Let me just give you some encouragement. My roommate gave me when I was in college. We had chapel every day at our school, and I would walk through chapel, and I'd be there sitting in chapel, and the Lord would speak to my heart, and I'd sit there, and I'd listen, and I'd walk away, and I couldn't remember what he preached. And it discouraged me. And I said to my roommate, he was older than I, and he was a ministry major, I said, I just can't remember, and then he said, if I gave you a wicker basket, and this is not his own illustration, but if I gave you a wicker basket, and I said, go fill it up, when you brought it back, how much would be in it? And I said, nothing. He said, you have it to be cleaned. And that's true. See, part of the process of the Word of God in our daily meditation, it's not how much can I remember because I read my Bible today, it's that I need that time to renew my mind and renew my heart and expose things in my life maybe that aren't right with God and get them right with God so that I'm consistently walking with God. Listen, if you leave it to church, God help us from having a church where people come on Sunday and that's the only time that they've been in the Word of God that week. Why? Because that is a very anemic Christian that hasn't fed upon the Word of God. They have no strength. They're not walking with God. And it's questionable that they'll get right at that service and get right with God. If they do, they'll get in God's Word the next day. Because they'll be spending time with God if they're right with God. So set His Word before you by meditation. Secondly, set His Word before your family by instruction. Set it in front of your family by instruction. You know the term family altar. It's a family devotional time. My grandparents, I praise God, they had a family altar. And my dad grew up in a home where grandma and grandpa would sit down with the kids, Bible open, and say, we're going to read the word of God. My family, by God's grace, I rejoice, my family had family devotions. I remember many a time in our home, even though we were at church, every time the doors were open, we were in a ministry family. But we spend time daily as a family in God's Word. You might think, well, that's a high thing. Well, you know, it's kind of actually a biblical thing that God's given us to do in Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 6. Moses said, These words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest them, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. God gave to the family the responsibility of biblical instruction. Listen, our families would be so strong as a church, and I don't know, by the way, who practices family devotions and who does not, but our church would be so strong if our parents went every day to say, this is where we're going to be. By the way, it's too late when you get your kids growing up. It's too late to go back. Well, I wish I would have established that. You have no idea what God can do from just faithful, consistent, daily readings in the Word of God and spending time in prayer together as a family and challenging your family as a godly family with God's Word. Can you say this morning, I'm living so that God delights in me. I have set his Word in front of me. It's there in daily devotion. and family instruction. And that would certainly delight the heart of God. Today, maybe that's a decision that you can't do. You thought, you know what? I need to establish that in my personal walk with God or in my family. Live so that God delights in you. Set his word before you. Stick close to God. Get on God's road. Live so that God delights in you. Submit to his law. It says, ask for his statutes. I did not depart from them. Okay? Ask for his statutes. I did not depart from them. David didn't just know God's law in his head. David followed God's law with his heart. So it wasn't just that David had a great Bible knowledge, it's that David had a great Bible practice. Again, with teaching Kaylee to drive and us taking her tests and that. You know, passing my test, my driver's ed test, did not make me a good driver. Just because I could somehow comprehend the information that was there and I could pass that test and I could get through that examination, that didn't make me a good driver. What makes me a good driver is me practicing good driving and good driving responsibility. There's a difference between knowing the law and submitting to it. And I didn't refer to this first when I talked about daily meditation. It was in my notes, but I skipped it. But Joshua 1.8, God told Joshua, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Okay, and so here we have the leader of the children of Israel. I mean, he's the one that loved God, and he wouldn't get out of that place of worship when Moses left the tabernacle. There's a verse that speaks about Joshua staying there, and he had that close relationship with God. But when God challenges Joshua to be the leader, he says, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt first meditate therein day and night. Now notice what it says next, that thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, then thou shalt have good success. And see, this morning, it's not enough for you to think, well, I'm walking with God because I have a great knowledge of the Bible and I'm doctrinally correct. It's not enough. We've got to be practically correct. And so this morning, Are you what James speaks about? Be doers of the word and not hearers only. So God would have us apply the word of God. God would have us take on board something and say that is a change in my life. I want to do that because I see that in the word of God. We sing at invitation time often, we'll sing hymns of submission. Hymns of submission. Hymns like I Surrender All. All to Jesus, I surrender. What's that mean? It means God said it in his word, I yield to it with my heart, I obey it with my life. We'll sing hymns like, have thine own way, Lord. Not my way, Lord, have thine own way, right? We'll sing hymns like, as you're all on the altar, you have longed for sweet peace and for faith to increase, and have earnestly, fervently prayed. But you cannot have rest or be perfectly blessed until all on the altar is slain. What is that? Submission. It's action based on the fact that I see in the Word of God, I understand that, and so I'm going to submit to it. This morning, let me just ask you, has the Word of God changed your life? Is it a process that's ongoing, or have you hit a point where, you know, you're stuck because of lack of submission to God's Word and a departure from the Word? See, there's to be an understanding of God's Word and a keeping in God's Word, but also a submission to God's Word. And so live so that God delights in you. Submit to his law. Set his word before you. Stay close to God. Get on God's road. And then fifth this morning, stand up to God's examination. Live so that God delights in you. Stand up to God's examination. Verse 24, David said, I was also upright before him. And he says, and it's in the last verse, In verse 25, according to my cleanness in his eyesight. What a statement that David had that tender heart with God. He wasn't like the rich young ruler that was a religious person that came to God and said, all these things that I kept for my youth, ah, what lack I yet. And Jesus said, go sell everything that you have and give to the poor. He seemed like he was open to examination, but in reality, there were a lot of things that the Lord would look at and go, you got a problem there, you got a problem. David could just say to God what he says elsewhere in Psalm 139.23, Search me, O God, know my heart, try me, know my thoughts, see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. He said, God, just have that search, because my heart is right with you. At Bob Jones, we had annual inspections of our room. They're called white glove inspections and they actually come with their white gloves on and check for the dust and things. But we had a list of their expectations. And we take that list, and I actually like life love because it meant a fresh room, a clean room. And so I like to think that the inspector, when he came, had a little bit of delight as he walked into our room. And it was clean, right. Now, there are other guys that I think, they're probably a little scared, a little concerned about, am I going to pass or not? Not as excited. about having that inspection because they weren't somebody that disciplined themselves to keep a clean room or had cleaned it according to the expectations that were required of them. And see, it could be that way this morning in our hearts. We could be somebody that is open and excited about, if God expects, as far as I know, there's nothing between my soul and the Savior, there's not any departure from God, that I have obeyed God, I'm living a life that's pleasing to God, that I can have that, or I could be somebody that's kind of scared, and maybe rightly so, because I know there's things in my life that do not please God, and are not things that God would approve of. So stay away from... I've got to find my man, my man. Listen, I've got a license. Are we staying away from sin? I flipped my pages just a second ago. Here we are. I think we are. All right, I'm sorry. I skipped down. That's why it's confusing. Stand up to God's inanimation. Be ready today to have the scrutiny of the Lord. OK? And let me just say this. God does scrutinize. The Bible says, the eyes of the Lord run true and thorough throughout the whole earth to show himself faithful on behalf of him whose heart is Perfect words there. That God is observant of that. It says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighted in his way. Doesn't that go along with our text this morning? That God delights to see somebody whose life is right? Let's have an example of that. Job. Have you considered my servant Job a righteous man? One that fears God and is Jeweth evil. You know, today, could you just open up to God and say, God, examine me. And by the way, in saying that, we understand God's scrutiny is pretty good. And God, if there's something there, like David said, show it to me. I want to deal with it. I want to deal with it. I want to be right with God. And so God would be pleased with that today if we're ready to stand up to God's examination. And then lastly, here's the point that I skip down to. Live so that God delights in you. Stay away from sin. Stay away from sin. And it says, and have kept myself from my iniquity. Iniquity is evil perversity. It is mischief. And notice David's terminology. It's a possessive pronoun. He says, my iniquity. David owned his sin, as he did in Psalm 51, as he said in verse two, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Again, David owned his sin. He understood that he was a transgressor of God's law, but in our text here, he says, I have kept myself from my iniquity. In other words, I'm not going to go down that path of disobedience to God. I'm going to keep that away from me. Have you ever broken God's law? You know, I praise God sometimes for witnessing, and you witness to somebody that knows they're a sinner. That happened yesterday. I mean, the guy kind of laughed and said, I understand I'm a sinner. Praise God for somebody that's honest like that. We understand today, even though we want to please God, we want to honor God, we understand, yet in our flesh, as Paul said, dwelleth no good thing. And that sin does come into our lives at times, as the Bible speaks about in Hebrews 12, verse one, it says, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about, with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us. and let us run with patience the ways that are set before us. And so it's this this morning, sin easily besets us. It talks about, in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, there is no temptation taken in you but such as is common to man. And that if somebody wants to be righteous today, that there's going to be a battle to stay righteous. And so that battle. is going to be us saying, by the grace of God, I want to set aside sin. I don't want sin in my life. I want to burn bridges that lead back to sin. I don't want to be setting sin. I don't want something that constantly, you know, every week, every day, I get up and I fail and I fail and I fail and I fail by the grace of God. I'm going to repent of my sin. I'm going to get right with God. I'm going to keep myself from my iniquity, even as it says In those verses that we just considered, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which does so easily beset us. And the rest of the verse, in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, talking about there's no temptation taking you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted. Above that you are able, but with the temptation. Also, make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it. And the thing is this today, if you desire victory over sin, you can have victory over sin. Some of you may know this, that Katie asked me out on her first date, alright? And my sister talked to me ahead of time. My wife, just to tell you a story quickly, she needed somebody to go on a dating outing with her. And just as a friend, she didn't want to ask somebody that would think anything. And so my sister asked me, said, you know, Katie just needs somebody just to go with her on this dating outing. Will you do that? And I said, I'll be that man. And she asked me out. I went out with her because I wanted to. And I hesitate, I should say, to use a positive illustration for a negative truth. But some people are caught in sin today because they want to get caught. It's a choice not to avoid it. It's a choice not to stay away from it. It's a choice to put yourself in a place of temptation. The Bible says to not put yourself in a place of temptation. So, for me to say to God, God, I've kept myself from my iniquity, that means I am actively pushing that stuff away that I know defiles my life and I want to be in a place of obedience to God. David did that at this point in his life. And so David says in verse 25, therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his eyesight. And David credited that because God delighted in him. And I want us to think, well Pastor, you've set a high standard today. We look at the life of David, look what he says. And yet, with the grace of God and the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's a path that, as a believer, we ought to expect to be walking on. Because it got on God's way. That's the way of righteousness, truth, peace. We got on that when we got saved. Anybody here that has been forgiven of their sin, you stepped onto that path when you got saved of beginning to the life of the Lord. Praise God. Okay? If you're not saved, you need to get on that path. But secondly, the next thing, just stay close to God. Be a faithful companion. I'm just going to stay close to you. That means that I've got to be careful to stay by you. Part of the simple reality of that is I'm just going to keep your word before me. I'm going to be in the word of God. I'm going to be having family devotions as we talked about. That can help us just keep the word of God in front of us. Submitting to God's law. How hard is that today if the Spirit of God spoke to your heart about something even through this message? How hard is it to say, okay, God, I submit. If it's salvation, baptism, surrender, purity, sanctification, whatever it is, God, I surrender. That's not something that is high and unachievable, I ask this morning. Does your life stand up to God's examination? Are you willing to say to God, God, just look, if there's something there that's wrong, I'll change it. You know, that's David saying, I'm just walking in a way that pleases God. I let God have his way in my life. And then, with that, it's just keeping yourself from your iniquity. Now, I want to end with this, and I know I've gone long this morning. David, at this point, is young. He's seeing God's work in his life. He's living the life that brings glory to God. But you know what? We know the story, don't we? And there's going to be a drastic departure of David from the way that we talked about this morning. He's going to get into sin with adultery and Bathsheba. He's going to murder Uriah the Hittite. He's going to number God's people and get the curse upon God's people because of that. And so we find other songs in the Word of God, other songs, and they're songs of remorse, where David has to say, What's he saying? I want to get back into that place where God delights in me. And you know what? God did. And that's the same for us this morning. You might look at your life and say, Pastor, I'm burdened about that, what you're sharing. I understand my life isn't right with God and God isn't pleased with me. And I can't say today, God delights in me because I know for a fact there's things that are disobedient to God and God does not agree with me. So what do I do? God, will you forgive me? And get right with God, and praise God for the invitation time. And I just pray this morning, if the Spirit of God's speaking to your heart about something like that, just say to God, tonight we've got the Lord's table, and one of the blessed things about the Lord's table, it's like this message this morning. It makes us examine our life and say, you know what, I'm gonna really make sure that my life is right with God, because I want to delight God. And so may God do that good work in our hearts this morning, let's pray. Father, we thank you for the Word of God this morning. And Father, I just pray that whatever there might be in our hearts that displeases God, Father, give us grace to examine. And Father, why would we choose that instead of you? Why would we say, I'm going to stay in this path of disobedience when we could walk in a place that delights God? And Father, I just pray in the quietness of our heart right now, if there's something that we need to change, I would change it. I'm just going to ask that heads be bowed and eyes closed. And I want to ask you this, and this is kind of a generic question, but is there anything specific that God's put in your heart that needs to change? It could be that you need to get baptized and the Spirit of God is speaking in your heart about that. It could be salvation. that God's speaking about. It could be surrender. It could be sin. It could be something that needs to change. Family devotions, personal devotions, or anything like that. If there's something like that, the Spirit of God's put on your heart this morning, and by God's grace, with God's help, you desire to change that, let me just ask you to put up your hand if there's something specific like that. Praise God. Praise God, I see those hands. Amen. I praise God. And that's what it's about, isn't it? It's about submitting to God and saying to God, that needs to change. I want to do that. And so I want to pray for you just now. Let's pray. Father, pray for these, especially, that acknowledge that there's something specific that they need to do. There might be others that the Spirit of God is speaking to, and they're going to follow through on decisions they're going to make as well. But especially for these, Lord, whatever it is, I ask in Jesus' name that they find victory. And Father, that you help them to please you. Now, I know this too, Father, and I didn't emphasize this enough, that it is possible to please God. When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies be at peace with him. And so I just pray, Father, for that sweetness of knowing, man, my life's right with God, and I'm not good, and I'm not trusting my goodness, but I'm trusting the blood of Christ and the cleansing of God. And as best I know, there's nothing in my life that displeases God. And that's a great way to be. That's where we need to be. And so, Father, I pray that the Spirit of God work that in our hearts and lives this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing, please. 389 is your, all of the altar, 389. 389. And stand with me please as you find that and sing 389 as you're all on the altar.