An Honest Confession I - Part 2 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, The worries of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

This is L'say Bradley Jr. welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. There is a place of quiet rest, Near to the heart of God, A place where sin cannot coalesce, Near to the heart of God. Oh, Jesus, blessed Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God, Hold us to wait before thee, Near to the heart of God. There is a place of comfort sweet, Near to the heart of God, A place where we our Savior meet, Near to the heart of God. Oh, Jesus, blessed Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God, Hold us to wait before thee, Near to the heart of God. There is a place of full release, Near to the heart of God, A place where all is joy and peace, Near to the heart of God. Oh, Jesus, blessed Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God, Hold us to wait before thee, Near to the heart of God. As we continue our study in Psalm 119, we're in the section we refer to as an honest confession. It's interesting to see what a variety of subjects are covered in this, the longest Psalm, and I pray that the practical application of them will be a blessing to us all. We definitely need the help of our listeners during this time of the summer slump.

If you can help us, we'll be so thankful for it. Our mailing address is Baptist Bible, our Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine, For thee, all the follies of sin I resign, My gracious Redeemer, my Savior 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. In mansions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright.

I'll sing with the glittering frown of my brow, If ever I love thee, my Jesus is now. After Jeremiah had described these deep troubles in Lamentations 3, going so far as to say that my hope has perished from the Lord, he finally said, this I recall to mind, verse 21, Therefore have I hope it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because thy compassions fail not, yea, they are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, and to the soul that seeketh Him. Here's then a man who is learning in the midst of the heaviness that he feels, to find his strength in the Lord. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. There's a tremendously important lesson.

Have you sometimes found that to be a difficult one to learn? Lord, I need thy salvation, I need thy deliverance, I need thy blessing, and I would like to have it right now. And God doesn't always respond that way. He has a reason for the night to be long, the valley to be deep, and the burden to be heavy.

It's good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Young people can go through dark times as well as those of mature years. Young people can have their heartaches and troubles and feel this heaviness. He said, actually it's good for you. If you go through your trials when you're young, it's good that a man bear the yoke in his youth.

Why? He says he puts our mouth in the dust not to destroy us, but that there might be hope. That we might not trust in ourselves, but in the living God.

That heaviness of heart may be a direct result of chastisement for a particular sin, or it may just be part of the training process as God disciplines us as His children to make something out of us. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 10 says, For they verily for a few days, speaking of our earthly fathers, chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. That's why He chastens us.

That's why He corrects us. That He might make something out of us. That we might be a partaker of His holiness. And then the Psalmist says, Though I must acknowledge that my soul melteth for heaviness, I need strength, and He prays, Strengthen me according unto Thy word. Oh, the Lord does strengthen us. He strengthens us through the many promises of His word. You ever have one of those times when you've been struggling and you've been trying to figure things out, and there have been a lot of distractions, and you say, I need to slip away here in a little bit and spend some time in prayer, I need to get to the word of God, and there have been things that have kept you from it, and finally you reach the point and say, I can't go on. I've got to have that time with my God. I've got to go to His word.

I've got to hear what He says. And the Lord strengthens us according to His word. Deuteronomy chapter 33 verse 25, Thy shoe shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

What strength is provided in such a promise? As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Young people think in terms of there being many days out before them.

It's not always the case. But whatever the days are, so shall thy strength be. Older people realize that the days in front of them are a lot fewer than the ones behind them. But they say, I'm afraid my strength's going to run out before my days do. But here's the promise. As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Just to read such a promise that God has made. To know that God cannot lie, and God would not deceive us. And since He has said He will provide the strength, we can rely on it.

We admit we don't have it ourself, but He has a great supply, and He will provide it. Psalm 138 verse 3, In the day when I cried unto thee, answer'st me, and strengthenest me with strength in my soul. When I cried unto the Lord, He strengthened me in my soul.

I needed help, and He gave it to me. And when we're thinking about strength, we think about the apostle's expression in Philippians 4-12, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. And somebody might say, well I read those verses and I know they're right, but I still feel weak. But you see, it's not a matter that just as soon as you read that text, you're going to feel invigorated, and you're going to feel like you've got new physical strength, and new determination to press on.

But it's a matter of faith. Now that I've read this, though I still feel weak, and though my circumstances have not changed, I'm encouraged because I know I'm not left alone. God has said He'll give me the strength. As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Whatever the task, whatever this thing that's haunting me that I need to get done, I can't get it done, I know it's right, I know it's godly, but I feel frustrated with it.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. This tells you that you're involved. You're not standing aside and asking God to take care of it for you. You're involved, you're fighting the battle, you're running the race, but the strength with which you do it is the strength that He provides. He strengthens us through His Word. That's one reason it's important to hear the preaching of the gospel on a regular basis, because you're strengthened by it. Isaiah chapter 61 verse 3, this is a prophetic reference concerning the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ into the world.

It said that He would come to proclaim the acceptable day of the Lord, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that He might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He might be glorified. Here then is the good news of the gospel. He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, to bring good tidings to the meek, to give joy, to give strength, to give courage. And so the gospel word cheers our hearts and lifts our sight above the present challenges of the moment to look unto our Savior Jesus Christ.

He speaks then of a heaviness, but calls upon God to be His strength. Then verses 29 and 30, remove from me the way of lying and grant me thy law graciously. I have chosen the way of truth. Thy judgments have I laid before me.

Here's a needed prayer. Lord, remove from me the way of lying. Now Satan is described as being the father of lies. He is our great adversary. We need to be aware of his techniques, the wiles of the devil.

That's why we're told in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to successfully stand against his attacks. Jesus spoke these words as recorded in the gospel of John chapter 8 verse 44, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Jesus Christ himself identifies Satan as being a liar and the father of lies. So when the Psalmist is praying to be delivered from that which is a lie, he's praying to be delivered from Satan's lies because they're out there in abundance. Oh, so much of the thinking of our day, so many of the philosophies that are espoused, so much false doctrine that is proclaimed is obviously from a satanic source. Anything that is diametrically opposed to the truth of God comes from Satan who is the father of lies. Paul says in the book of second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world, who is this but Satan, the God of this world, hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Satan then is the father of lies, and Paul says that he has blinded the minds of these that believe not. So the Psalmist is rightfully praying to be delivered, remove from me the way of lying. I don't want to be influenced by lies.

I don't want to be pulled in the wrong direction. I don't want to believe something that's contrary to the word of God, the word being so repeatedly extolled and its value emphasized in this epistle. We want to be delivered from false doctrine. The book of first John chapter 2 verse 22, Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is antichrist that denieth the father and the son. Now some of this language we've been reading is rather direct and blunt, is it not?

Somebody would say that seems a little out of place in our day. Remember the first passage we read in that regard was from the gospel of John, the words of Jesus. You can rest assured that anything Jesus said was appropriate in order, exactly what needed to be said, and if we become so sensitive that we have difficulty tolerating it, the problem is not with what Jesus said but with us. So he said to these who rejected him, you of your father the devil, and said that the devil is the father of lies. Now when John writes, he doesn't say that one who denies that Jesus is the Christ just holds a differing point of view and we all need to kind of go along on the same path. He said he is antichrist that denieth the father and the son. Whosoever denieth the son, the same hath not the father, but he that acknowledges the son hath the father also. To deny that Jesus Christ, Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the messiah, he says is the doctrine of antichrist. Not just another point of view, but the doctrine of antichrist. In second John, verse seven, he says for many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Such a concept, such a message is deceptive because somebody may say, oh I believe in Jesus and you think you're on the same page. And then they say, but while he was a great man, a good example, a marvelous teacher, he was not God. Jesus said I am, which the Jews well understood to mean this was his way of declaring I and the great I am, I am God. I and my father are one, not just in purpose, but they are one.

God the father, the son of the Holy Spirit being the three persons of the triune Godhead. Deliver me deliver me from false teaching. Deliver me from false humility. How easy it is to fall into the snare of what sounds good and some concept that's been reasonably devised by someone that draws us in, but there's something basically wrong with it because it's not biblical. Colossians chapter 2 verse 23 says, which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship and humility and neglecting of the body not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. Here's a professed humility.

What is it? Well they're saying touch not, taste not, handle not. In other words, the religion is a self-righteous pharisaical approach.

Don't touch this, don't taste that. It was all rules and regulations just as the Pharisees who were very concerned about whether or not Jesus' disciples had washed their hands, but Jesus said on the outside you're all cleaned up. You're like white encepters, but inside you're full of dead men's bones. Here's somebody that has this self-righteous touch not attitude, but it is a vain humility. It's not a genuine humility before God.

They may use language that sounds humble, but all the while they feel themselves to be superior to others. Deliver me, the psalmist is praying, from falsehood. Not only from false doctrine and false humility, but from false counsel. Oh there's an abundance of that available in our world today.

Large numbers of people will admit that they need help and they're willing to pay a substantial fee to get it. And yet so much of that which is designated professional help brings counsel that not only is not from the word of God, but in contrast to it. Isaiah chapter 30 verse 1 says, Woe to the rebellious children, sayeth the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me, and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin. They take counsel, but not of me.

That ought to be a deep concern, particularly to parents as you're training your children and bringing them up in the nursery and admonition of the Lord to emphasize to them how vital it is that the counsel you look to is not that which is popularly received around you, but is the counsel that comes from God in his word. A lot of humanistic thinking sounds reasonable on the service. This sounds fair.

I think this might work for me. This is how I feel about it. But what does God say? The counsel of God will always focus on the fact that whatever we do or say is to be to his glory.

The counsel of God will always be in harmony with us doing what's right before him no matter what anybody else says or does. Human nature says, look what this person has done to me. Can I not retaliate? Look how I've been treated.

Is this not unfair? I want to do what I think is right. Here's what God's word says. Oh, how desperately the counsel of God's word is needed in this day. The psalmist is praying, remove me from the way of lying.

I want to be removed from it. And I think that while he speaks of being removed from that which is untrue from the way of lying as far as the information that might be presented to him and could lead him down the wrong path, he's thinking about it too as far as his own personal status is concerned. He knows that if he's going to have the right kind of communion and fellowship with God, it's got to be on the basis of honesty. He said in Psalm 51 verse 6, The whole thou desire's truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Thou desire's truth in the inward parts. That means that we're going to be true before God. When we're coming to him in prayer, we can't deceive him anyway.

Why is it we would try? We have to do exactly what the psalmist had previously done here, laying out our soul before him. I have declared my ways. I have admitted to God.

I've confessed where I am, what my circumstances are, what my struggles are. The Lord desires honesty and I want to be truthful as I stand before him and truthful with others. Deliver me is his prayer from the way of lying. Grant me thy law graciously. In other words, the ultimate test of where I'm going to be, where I'm going to stand, what I'm going to embrace is not what is popularly received and how I might feel about something at the moment.

It's going to be his testimonies. As he said back in verse 24, thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. Remove me from the way of lying and grant me thy law graciously, graciously.

It's wonderful to see how many practical lessons are found in the psalms that were written so long ago, so vital to Christian living on a day-to-day basis today. May we pray, Lord, quicken me and liven me. I don't want to give way since my inclination is to be in the dust. I don't want to give way to it.

I don't want to have my vision impaired by the dust of this world. I pray, Lord, as you admonished Zion long ago, shake thyself of the dust. Help me to shake myself of it and to walk in thy precepts to the glory of thy name. Well, I'm glad you've been with us today. I hope you can join us for our broadcast on the weekend. If you'd like to help with the support, you can go to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. Until we greet you next time, this is LaSara Bradley Jr. beating you goodbye and may God bless you.