Open your Bible to Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verses 25 to 32. Psalm 119, verse 25 to verse 32 will be our text this evening under the heading, Dalut. That is the fourth letter in the Hebrew alphabet, following the acrostic we have laid out for us in Psalm 119. So let's read Psalm 119, beginning at verse 25, and down to the end of verse 32 together, and we will begin. Dear friends, the word of God says, My soul clings to the dust. Give me life according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me. Teach me your statutes. Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me. according to your word. Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law. I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord. Let me not be put to shame. I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart. Dear ones, this is the word of God. Thanks be to God. Let us pray. Dear Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, we know that we know you by your word, that you have condescended, oh Lord, that you have spoken to us in terms that we can understand. Father, how we rejoice that you have not left us in the dark, but you have given to us your word as a light, as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Lord, how you have directed us by your word that we might know the relationship you created us to enjoy with you and the relationship that is broken because of sin and yet in Christ is restored and made whole. Father we do ask that you would open our eyes to see Christ as the fulfillment of your promise and as the one who is the perfect law keeper where we are Lawbreakers. Lord Jesus, we pray, lead us tonight to treasure the law so that we might, through the law, see you in your glory. And, O Spirit, we pray that we would rest in the finished work of Christ and see how the law continues to guide us in our sanctification. How, Spirit, you take these truths and direct us by the truth of the law unto obedience unto Christ. Father, thank you for your word. Bless this time, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. The word of God, the law of God, dear ones, the word of God is how we know God. It's been said that God wrote two books, the book of nature and the book of the scriptures. The Bible actually tells us that there is a certain content to nature and creation that Psalm 119 says, the heavens declare the glory of God. and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no place nor are there words whose voice is not heard. There is such a thing as general revelation. There is such a thing as God revealing his eternal power and divine nature in the things that exist. That's what Paul says in Romans 1. Creation bears witness to the Creator. Just like if I went into your home and I looked at the things in your house, even if I didn't see you by the very house that you built and furnished, I would know something about you. Just like if you came to my house, you would see pictures and maps and all kinds of things around and you would know things about me, from the house that I had built." So, too, creation bears witness to the glory of the Creator, but the scope of general revelation is limited. See, creation bears witness to man that God exists, that God is holy, that God is loving and good, that man was created by God to worship God. Creation even reveals that there will be a judgment to come. and that God will hold men accountable for their sin. But general revelation cannot bring men to see Christ the Savior. So general revelation, this universal, indelible knowledge of God that God has revealed Himself to man, this is sufficient to condemn, but it is insufficient to commend. Man is Condemned by that knowledge because he ought to give God the glory, yet he refuses in his sin. But this general revelation does not communicate to man Jesus Christ, of his cross. of His death, His resurrection, and the promise of God of salvation for sinners in His name. So, dear friends, natural revelation can communicate a lot, and really it is preparatory for us to understand special revelation, to understand the Bible. But it is only when we come to the Bible that we begin to see The character of God, the promises of God coalesce together in Christ. And so Psalm 119 really holds up for us the jewel of special revelation, the great privilege it is to know God by his word. And that is the common theme. And you can kind of see it, every stanza is like a brick piling up and we see the culminating effect of all of these stanzas meditating on the treasure the sufficiency, the supremacy of the word of God. And so the psalmist, musing on this theme, begins in verse 25, my soul clings to the dust, give me life according to your word. He begins this stanza by speaking of his own depression, of his own sorrow, of his own grief. My soul clings to the dust. The psalmist is cast down. He feels as though he is scraping at the dust because his heart is heavy, his strength is gone, he is utterly spent. And in his weakness, he pleads for life. He asked God, he asked the Lord, his Redeemer, to grant life, to sustain, to uphold him according to your word. Friends, the word of God reveals the character of God and reveals to us the promises of God for life. Now again, God gives life, he gives all things, right? He is the source of biological life, but he is also the one who gives spiritual life. He is the one who sustains us, not only in body and, but in spirit. So the word of God reveals the glory of God, that he is the one who gives life, the one who sustains life. Verse 26, when I told of my ways, you answered me, teach me your statutes. The psalmist is reminded that when he confessed his ways, when he spoke of what he was doing and what was going on, that God heard and God answered. And therefore in response, the psalmist leads the people of God to ask this request of God, teach me your statutes. You see, friends, in the Word of God, we begin to see not only what God is like, but how God relates to us. And as we've seen in these verses 25 to 26, that God relates to his people as a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God, a God who answers our requests according to His sovereign will and according to His mercy. When I told of my ways, you answered me. God hears the prayers of His people and God responds according to His sovereign mercy. And thus we want God to teach me your statutes. Dear friends, we want our prayers to align with the character of God and with the will of God. You know, friends, the will of God in one sense is mysterious, right? There is the secret counsel of God that we see in Ephesians, right? Those hidden things where God decrees from all eternity whatsoever comes to pass. God is, there are certain things that God does not choose to reveal to us, but there is a lot that God has revealed to us. In fact, the most important things about God's will, he has already revealed to us, and they're quite simple, right? This is the will of God, even your sanctification. Right? God wills for us. God wants for us. God is setting us on a course to be holy as Christ is holy. God is willing. God is desiring. God is working that we should be conformed into the likeness of Christ. In the book of Romans, we see that Paul, as he is applying the gospel, how ought we to live as Christians? He says, do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might discern what is the will of God, what is good, excellent, and perfect. So the revealed will of God, what God likes, what God desires, what pleases Him. This we know from the Word of God. You and I can know how to please God because God has said, this is pleasing to me. And it is the word of God, the law of God, that reveals the character of God, that he loves righteousness, and he hates wickedness, that he loves justice, but his anger burns against injustice. He is a God who loves mercy. He is a God who is slow to anger, but a God who will not. turn a blind eye to sin. And so when we see these things, when we see the character of God, when we see the promises of God, when we see what God likes and dislikes, the response is just like the psalmist here in verse 26. We plead that God would teach us. Oh Lord, teach me your statutes because when I look at your statutes, oh God, I'm seeing your character. Dear friends, do you know that the Decalogue in one respect is just exposition or a preaching, a proclamation of the character of God. God is holy, therefore, he says, you shall not murder, and you shall not steal, and you shall not commit adultery. Why? Because God honors life. God gives personal property, that is to be respected. God created marriage, and it ought to be honored. See, the holy character of God is being expounded. is being unpacked as he gives his statutes, his rules, and his judgments. So do you think like that, dear ones? When you read the law of God, are you seeking to say, oh, what does this tell me about who God is? What does this statute reveal about what God approves or what God condemns? What does this reveal about God's goodness and his grace? What does this reveal about his justice? The law of God, the statutes of God, reveal the character of God. But just like a mirror, remember, the law of God also reveals our sin, right? So just like the mirror reveals the face of man, so too the law of God reveals our blemishes, our sin, and is meant to condemn in order to send us to God for mercy, to look to Christ as the one who fulfills the law for us. and in whom the judgment against our sin is satisfied. But we know God by His word. Teach me your statutes. The saint pleads for understanding. This continues, verse 27, make me understand the way of your precepts and I will meditate on your wondrous works. Dear friends, the saint is eagerly petitioning, requesting, begging God to show how the people of your precepts. Dear ones, have you ever thought how all of these little bits come together? We believe that the Bible is one coherent message because we know that God is coherent. God is not a God of confusion. God speaks truth. And so we want to see how all of these precepts fit together and form one cohesive road, one cohesive message of God's grace to sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. Make me understand the way of your precepts. Guys, this is something we can plead with God to do. Oh Lord Jesus, just like you opened the minds and taught the disciples on the road to Emmaus, as you sat and expounded to them the law of Moses and the prophets, Lord Jesus, help me to see how these statutes and precepts come together to show who You are and what You have done for us. Make me understand Your precepts and I will meditate on Your wondrous works." Continue, that meditate again means to chew, to soak, to draw out. We are drawing out of these wondrous works of God, knowing God and His glory. I will meditate on Your wondrous works. Dear friends, remember the law of God, It reveals the holy character of God. It reveals our sin and estrangement from God. Therefore, the law sends us to Christ. Remember, the law cannot save. Its ministry is that of condemnation, but it sends us to Christ, who keeps the law. Right, so Christ keeps the law for us. So, the question might be asked, does the law have any bearing on the Christian now? The answer is yes. because we receive the law from the hands of Christ who fulfills it. So friends, now in our sanctification, God is continuing to bring the law to bear upon our souls so that we may see how he is conforming our character, our way of life, our way of thinking, of speaking, of acting into the likeness of Jesus. The law continues to send us back to Christ to confess our sin, to rest in His finished work, and to see how the Father is training us to be like His faithful Son. And therefore, we meditate on God's wondrous works. We fill our minds with all that God has done for us. And again, friends, we meditate on the gospel of Christ. So fill your minds with these wondrous works. Meditate on the significance of the Passover, but meditate more on the significance of Christ and his cross, which is the culminating perfect work of redemption to which Passover pointed. Verse 28, my soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me according to your word. Again, friends, how ought this believer, the saint to respond in days of sorrow? By pleading, asking God to strengthen him. But how do we make our petitions? What informs the way we speak to God? Well, it is the word of God. Oh Lord, you have promised and you will do. Lord, you say that you are my rock and my refuge. You are my strong fortress in the day of distress. Father, you say that you are the one who will plead my cause and be my vindicator. Lord, strengthen me to persevere in hope according to your word. Dear friends, do you see how the more we know God by his word, The deeper those prayers become, the more intimate a relationship we have with God because now we are asking for things according to what He has promised, what He has said. And when we see those promises fulfilled, that strengthens our faith because we once again see that God is a gracious promise maker and a faithful promise keeper. Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law. The psalmist leads the people of God to plead that God in his mercy would put away falsehood. Dear friends, the law of God, the word of God reveals that God is a God of truth, that he hates falsehood, he hates deceit. He's a God who speaks the truth and nothing but the truth. Our Lord Jesus himself is the very embodiment of truth. He says, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. What Jesus is saying is, is if you've seen me, you know what truth looks like. Because he himself speaks nothing but the truth. But put false ways far from me. So the saint recognizes his God loves truth, but by nature he is one who dabbles in falsehood. Dear friends, how often are we those who bend the truth a little bit to fit this agenda or to fit this need? How easy is it for us, friends, sometimes to not speak the whole truth, but merely a half truth. But the law of God, the word of God reveals, no, my God loves the truth. He's commanded me to walk in the truth, therefore I will confess my deceit, I will confess my falsehood, I will cling to Christ, and I will plead, oh Father, put false ways far from me. Train my character, oh Spirit, to be like Jesus, that I would desire and speak only the truth. Put false ways far from me. Lord, take away not only my guilt, but transform my character my thinking so that what I want to do is to speak the truth. And in order to do this, graciously teach me from your law, your covenant instructions. Dear friends, you know our relationship with God and Christ, this relationship with the Lord Jesus is all-encompassing. It encompasses every... aspect of who we are. And so, friends, the word of God is sufficient to teach us how to love Christ and to serve him in every circumstance. You see, dear friends, you know, it's like a father training his son. He trains his son in a particular profession. And so the son follows his father as he works, as he labors, and the father is teaching his son to be exactly like him. The father trains us as his dear children by his word, through his spirit, to conform us into the likeness of Christ. And that law continues to be the means by which he is sanctifying us, because again, It's the perfect mirror of God's holy character. And every time we come to the law, what ought we to say? God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And yet, rather than driving us to despair, it should drive us to Christ, in whom are all the resources for us now to begin to do what God has commanded us to do, not in order to gain favor with the Father, but because we love the Father and He loves us and He has brought us into this wonderful union and communion with Him in Christ. Out of delight, out of joy, we want to know how to love and serve Him. We know God according to His word. Verse 30, I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I set your rules before me. Verse 30, this is the attitude of the saint. Every true believer has a holy resolve within his soul to be obedient to God. I have chosen the way of faithfulness. Dear friends, we talk about choice, we talk about will. Dear ones, the Bible does say that we are moral agents. We were made in the image of God and therefore we were made for a relationship with God. And that relationship is one of, you know, where we make choices for which we are accountable to God. This choosing, Dear friends, remember, our choices, they don't arrive out of thin air, right? Choices that we make don't arrive like Athena out of the head of Zeus, where they just pop out. There are always motivations, there are always desires, there are always underlying things within our mind and within our heart that are the catalyst for our choices. Right, and that's why Jonathan Edwards could say things like this, that we always choose according to what we want, according to the strongest desire we have at the moment of choice, okay? So you and I do have a real freedom to choose what we want. That is, that's part of what it means to be a thinking, rational, moral agent and being made for a relationship with God. But what Jonathan Edwards was getting at and what the Bible teaches is that those desires, those attitudes, those ambitions, all of those things that are behind our choice are only for sin continually. And therefore we have lost the moral ability to choose what is good. Man, the sinner has lost the moral ability to delight in God and in his law. Natural man has lost the moral ability to choose the way of faithfulness because he doesn't want the way of faithfulness. He wants the way of unfaithfulness. He doesn't want to walk in obedience to God, but he wants to walk according to his own appetites and desires and therefore, Christ will say, unless a man is born again, he cannot enter, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That will must be liberated. It must be set free from its bondage to these corrupt, wicked, and evil desires in order that we might see and desire and want Christ and want to choose the way of faithfulness. So this is the attitude of the regenerate man. This is the attitude of the true saint. I have chosen the way of faithfulness. Lord, I am resolved to do what you have commanded because now it is what I want. Dear friends, if a man's heart ever becomes inclined to do and delight and to follow Christ, in truth, the Bible says that We will, if we come to Christ, he will receive us. But that very coming to Christ is because God has done a work in the heart of a man. He has inclined his heart to choose the way of faithfulness. I have set your rules before me. Again, dear ones, the saint, according to this new heart, according to the new birth, according to being in union and communion with Christ, He sets the rules, he sets the law of God before him. Lord, I want to hear your word and heed your word and hallow your name according to your word. So, dear friends, do you have such holy desires in your heart? Do you find yourself resolving, Lord, I want to choose the way of faithfulness, I want to set your rules before me, I want to know you, I want... to serve you. Friends, such desires are in the heart of every saint. I cling to your testimonies, oh Lord, let me not be put to shame. I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart. Verse 31, notice that the saint, the psalmist, he is putting his hope that God is faithful to his word and pleading that in the final analysis, he won't be put to shame. Dear friends, if God's word is true, and we put our trust in God, if we put our hope in Christ, then we won't be put to shame. We won't be put to shame. God will keep his word and his promise and so we cling to that. Dear friends, you know, we need to know, we need to hope that our God is faithful so when folks mock and scorn and deride us, when persecution arises, we know in the final analysis our God is faithful and he will do for us what he has promised. We look to Christ and the resurrection and know that God's promise keeping is good. Verse 32, I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart. I want you to see here in this final verse, in these moments we have left, the connection. A psalmist is resolved to act. He is resolving, he is choosing to run in the way of God's commandments. He wants to live his life in a way that is wholly pleasing and acceptable to God, but he cannot do that unless God enlarges his heart unless it is God who by his grace comes and enables the psalmist, enables the saint to run. The psalmist says, I cannot, I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart. What does that mean to enlarge the heart? Well, it means to deepen the love for God, deepen that desire to know him and love him and serve him. Guys, the posture of the saint is one of utter dependence upon the mercy of God, utter dependence upon Christ. We have nothing, no power, no ability in ourselves to live the holy lives that God has called us to. All of that ability is in Christ. All of that power is in his spirit. And so we pray that God would enable us to do what he commands us. And we spoke to the men yesterday about Augustine's prayer, Lord, command what thou wills, give what thou dost command. And they go hand in hand. We plead that God would command us however he would, but we desire, we need that God would grant us the power to do so. Thanks be to God that in the Lord Jesus Christ, not only has he secured for us the forgiveness of sins, not only as we come by faith to Christ is our guilt removed and righteousness counted to us, but in Christ we are now empowered through His Spirit for godly living. The Spirit of God has come and He is enlarging that heart. He is deepening that love. And how does He deepen that love? He does it by the commandments, by the word of God. The spirit takes the word of God and he molds us, trains us, leads us, and empowers us for ministry and mission. So in closing, dear ones, are you dependent upon God? Are you resting in his spirit to lead you? Dear friends, we know that this call to holiness is is something that we cannot do in and of ourselves. And in fact, this call to holiness will never be complete this side of eternity. In the Christian life, there will be progress, there will be growth, there will be fruit, because God is faithful to continue and to bring to completion this good work that he's begun in us. But dear ones, it will not be until eternity, until Christ returns or calls us home, that we will ever love God perfectly and hate sin so thoroughly that we will always love, obey, and worship Him. So there is progress in the Christian life. There is always the killing of sin and the living unto righteousness, and it is the law of God that always brings us back to Christ. It is the law of God that always shows us our need for Jesus. It is the law of God that reveals to us what God is like. So we can truly say that we love the law of God, that we love the word of God, because it's by the word of God that we know Him as He is. So let us seek to know God as He truly is. By his word, we see Christ as the culmination of all this self-disclosure. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for Jesus, and we thank you for your word. Lord, we do pray that your word would continue to stand before us, that you would continue to train our thinking by your word, that you would train our desires, that you would fuel us, O Lord, for worship, for service, Father, we do thank you that through the new birth you have granted us liberty, that in Christ there is a royal liberty, Lord, now to desire what is good, now to love righteousness, now to eagerly seek you, O Lord. And O God, how we thank you that you do empower us in your Son and by your Spirit. to live holy lives for your glory. Father, have mercy upon us because we know we can't do nothing apart from you. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name.