Holy Desires From a Humble Heart - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bratley Jr., pastor of the Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise, The praise of my God and King, the triumph of his grace. This is LeSaire Bratley Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee, without the prayer I take, unbendingly. This is my earnest plea, more love, O Christ, to Thee, more love to Thee, more love to Thee. Once earthly joy I pray, song, peace, and rest, Now Thee alone I sing in what is best. This all my prayers shall be, more love, O Christ, to Thee, more love to Thee, more love to Thee. Then shall my latest prayer whisper Thy praise.

My heart shall wake, this till this prayer shall be, more love, O Christ, to Thee, more love to Thee, more love to Thee. I'm glad that you have joined us for the broadcast today. If the message proves to be a blessing to you, tell others about the program where they can listen to a message from God's Word at this same time each week. And if you'd like a schedule of our daily broadcast, you can get that by going to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. Of course, we'd appreciate it if you'd take time to write us.

If you can help with the support of the program to keep us on the air, we'll be very grateful for that. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. We continue today with the message Holy Desires from a Humble Heart. The text is Psalm 119, verse 131. I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for Thy commandments. As we observe the strong desire expressed by the psalmist for obeying the commandments of God and having fellowship with Him, may we learn and apply the blessed truth in our lives. There was a Canaanite woman approached Jesus when He was here on earth and said, Have mercy on me.

My daughter is vexed with a devil. Have mercy on me. And Jesus said in Matthew 15, 26, He answered and said, It is not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. This woman was not a Jew and Jesus made it plain that He had come first to minister to the Jews. And He said, It's not right for me to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table.

Isn't that an amazing exchange? You'd think this woman would be deeply offended. And Jesus said, I can't take that which belongs to the children and give it to the dogs. And she might have said if she had been like one of these self-righteous individuals, Are you calling me a dog?

Are you suggesting that I'm of such a low status that you speak to me in that tone? But she wasn't offended because she knew she needed mercy. She knew she was a sinner.

She didn't deserve anything. And so she responds by saying, The dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And Jesus answered and said unto her, acknowledging this was an amazing response and said, O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee as thou wilt.

And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. My, what an attitude. What a humble spirit. Lord, the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And if we can approach the Lord like that, Lord, I can't make any demands. You're not obligated to me.

I don't deserve anything. But the dogs get the crumbs and I come asking for mercy. It's mercy if we are forgiven. What a remarkable blessing, the forgiveness of sin.

To think that God, who is holy and hates every evil way, the angelic host sang it three times, holy, holy, holy. And God being holy in his entire person, it forgives sin. He doesn't do it by just ignoring sin, by pretending that sin is not all that great, by doing like so many in our culture are doing today to try to defend it and justify it. But he forgives it.

How is it? He forgives it on the basis of the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ went to the cross, the sins of all of those that ultimately believe on him were put upon him. He suffered in their stead and therefore we have that blessed promise that if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What mercy. Have you ever had anybody say to you when you ask for forgiveness, well, I'm sorry, I can't forgive you. Or they might have used this little trait statement, well, I'll forgive you but I won't forget. Well, that's a poor brand of forgiveness, you needn't try to tout that one, that's not worth anything. When the Lord forgives you, he casts your sins into the depths of the sea.

There are sins and iniquities, well, I remember no more. Mercy is what we need. If we claim one of his promises, we talked recently about the fact that his promises are yay and amen.

They're reliable, we can count on them. But when we go to his word, we read his promise, we say, I treasure that, I love that. Lord, grant that I can receive the benefit of it.

We go there on the basis of needing mercy. Lord, I need mercy. Now, the psalmist loved to speak a lot about mercy. Verse 41, let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. Let thy mercies come to me, even thy salvation.

Certainly the salvation we have is on the basis of mercy, not on the basis of merit, not on the basis of good works, not on the basis of religious exercise, it's on the basis of mercy, the mercy that God has on us because of the price paid by his son, Jesus Christ. Verse 58, I entreated thy favor with my whole heart. Be merciful unto me according to thy word. Be merciful in harmony with your word, with what you have declared, in harmony with your character. Be merciful unto me. Verse 76, let I pray thee thy merciful kindness be for my comfort. Isn't that beautiful language?

Isn't it wonderful? The one that suggested I pray thee thy merciful kindness. Oh, how we desperately need the kindness of our Heavenly Father. And the psalmist describes it as merciful kindness and it's for my comfort. God describes himself as the God of all comfort.

He comforts us in our difficult dark places that we might be able to comfort others, comforts us when we are cast down. I pray thee thy merciful kindness for my comfort according to thy word unto thy servant. Verse 77, let thy tender mercies.

Oh, the language goes on in such a beautiful form. Not only does he describe mercy but thy tender mercies. He looks down upon us with compassion. Let thy tender mercies come unto me that I may live for thy law is my delight. I'm not objecting to it.

I'm not complaining about it. It is my delight what thou has set forth in thy word is that which I want to obey. Psalm 136 verse 1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever.

That's wonderful to know, isn't it? He's not merciful one day and then change his mind the next. His mercy endures forever and that's repeated in all 26 verses of that Psalm.

26 times. It says, oh, give thanks unto the Lord. And then he begins to enumerate some of those wonderful mercies that were enjoyed by his people in their travels in the wilderness and in other times when he was gracious and merciful to them. Give thanks. Do we give thanks to the Lord?

Because he's good. He's good to us. He is merciful and his mercy endures forever. And not only do we find these references abundantly in the Psalms, we find that other places as well. Micah chapter 7 verse 18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by transgression the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever because, get this, he delighteth in mercy.

Isn't that wonderful to know? You don't have to go to the Lord and talk him into it as though God is reluctant. He doesn't want to be merciful. He is merciful.

That's part of who he is. He delights in mercy. So we come to him looking for mercy, asking for mercy, and we're sure that he delights in it.

He will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities and thou will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Maybe in times if you thought I wish I could personally cast all my sins into the depths of the sea, get rid of them where they didn't trouble me anymore. But this is something God says he'll do. He's going to be merciful to you. He delights to be merciful.

He's going to put your sin away so that it's not charged to your account anymore. And then coming to the New Testament, I'm sure you've caught on that this is one of my favorite passages. Hebrews 4.15, For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, therefore, referring to what he just said, because we have a high priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

So we're being invited based on the fact that we have an intercessor. We have our high priest. Let us therefore come boldly onto the throne of grace, not the bar of justice, but the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. So if you know you need mercy, here is encouragement to come to the throne of grace that you may obtain it.

Obtain mercy and secondly, find grace to help in time of need. Oh, those times of need come in great abundance. It's a matter of needing him on a daily basis. We sing the song, I need thee every hour. There's another song that says moment by moment.

So when you're talking about hourly or every moment or every minute of every day, we need help. And he tells us that when we come to the throne of grace, that we can obtain the mercy we need and therefore find grace to help. Now the fourth thing in this portion, verse 132, he said, look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou used to do unto those that love thy name. Be merciful unto me as you have dealt with your people in time past. I'm not asking for any more than that.

I'm not asking for any less than that. I'm just praying, Lord, be merciful to me as you used to do. Well, without declaring it directly, he includes himself with those that love God's name. Because he's saying, Lord, bless me, look upon me, have mercy upon me as you have done to those that love your name. So if he wants to be treated as those that love God's name, he's implying I'm one of those.

I'm one of those that loves God's name. Oh, how many times we have to admit that our love for the Lord is not what it ought to be. The hymn writer said, dear Lord, and shall we ever live at this poor dying rate, our love so faint, so cold to thee and thine to us so great. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove, with all thy quickening powers, come shed abroad a Savior's love and that shall quicken ours.

Oh, how we must confess that. Our love for him, so faint, so cold, but his love for us so great. Surely, though, we can say that we have to acknowledge our love does not have the fervor it ought to have, the intensity it ought to have, the depth it ought to have, that we surely love God. We love him. God's children love God's name.

It's more than just his name, his name represents who he is, represents his character, his attributes, what he's revealed about himself in his word. Do you love the God who is the creator of heaven and earth? Oh, there are many that prefer another kind of God. People will say, I would like a more gentle God. I'm not comfortable with that God of the Old Testament who sends a flood and drowns all the inhabitants of the earth, save eight souls in an ark. I'm not comfortable with that God that sends down fire and burns up a city.

I would like a more gentle God. Obviously, the person that's trying to define God according to their own preferences doesn't love the true and living God. We're not to add to his word, we're not to take away from it. We're not to try to adjust what God said about himself as though we're somewhat embarrassed about some of the things that are revealed in scripture concerning God's anger, his wrath, the punishment that he will meet out upon the wicked.

We love him. We love him as he represents himself to be in his word. So David asked to be dealt with as the saints have always been dealt with, those that love God. Lord, look upon me and deal with me as you used to deal with your people of times past. Well, one of the things the way God dealt with his people, has dealt with them through the years is that he is very patient. Psalm 102 verse 8, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. Verse 10, he hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust.

When you get to that place where you're feeling particularly weak, how encouraging to know that your heavenly father pitied you as a father pitied his children. And he remembers our frame, he knows that we are but dust. He understands that, and therefore we can have hope and courage by trusting in him. And then, he says, I want you to deal with me as you used to deal with your people. Well, he promised to be with them, and he was. We've looked at a number of those promises in our studies in the book of Joshua, where God promised to be with his people. He promised to be with them in their wanderings in the wilderness, promised to be with them when they came into the land of Canaan, promised to be with them in fighting their enemies, and he was with them. So David is saying, be with me, look upon me as you have dealt with your people in times past. Isaiah chapter 63 verse 9 says, In all their affliction he was afflicted.

That's an amazing statement, isn't it? When all the afflictions endured by God's people, God was with them in the affliction. And the angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity. He redeemed them, and he bare them and carried them all the days of old. Yes, he said, When thou passest in the waters, they shall not overflow thee. When thou standest in the fire, they shall not be burned.

God kept that promise. The three Hebrews cast into the fire, they were not burned. Well, certainly there have been those who died martyrs' death in the fire, but God was with them nevertheless, giving them peace and courage.

Read one the other day that was tied up with a total of three men being burned at the stake because of their testimony for the gospel back in olden times in England. And one of them decided, I can't take this anymore. And he started working his way to try to get out of how he was bound. And the other two were praying for him, and a little bit they saw he was back. He says, I couldn't turn my back on the testimony of my Lord.

He is with me. And the three of them died in the fire, singing praises to God. And so when God promised to give his people victory, he did it. He promised to teach them.

Now this is interesting. Verse 33 of this 119th Psalm, he says, Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy testimonies, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law, yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Now as much focus is put on mercy, you might begin to think maybe the standard is not being held up. The psalmist is only thinking about mercy and forgiveness and not so concerned about his conduct, but that's not the case. He's praying, Lord, teach me.

I need to be taught. Teach me the way of thy testimonies, not according to popular opinion or my personal preferences, but according to thy testimonies. And I shall keep it unto them. Give me understanding.

I don't have it of myself. Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law. I will observe it with my whole heart. And then one way in which God has dealt with his people and is praying, I'm not asking for anything any less. Lord, deal with me as you have done in dealing with your people in years gone by. Well, one of the things God does for his people is to chastise them. Hebrews 12, 6 says, For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now that's not something you want to pray for necessarily, but it's something that is for our benefit. If the Lord loves us, he will chasten us. He will deal with us, to correct us, because his purpose is not to inflict pain, but to change us.

His purpose is to bring us to the place that we see and acknowledge our sin and turn from our sins. Now, David did not expect answers without prayer. So when he's saying, Lord, look on me, he's certainly acknowledging I need God. I need his help. I need his blessing. And we have to realize that you don't get an answer to prayer unless you pray.

You don't get harvest without labor. You don't get the victory without the battle. David won a great victory over Goliath, but he had to have the courage as a young man to go out there against this formidable enemy and draw the sword and be willing to march toward him ultimately to cut his head off. He did not expect to go through life without difficulties. Verse 71, it says, it is good for me that I have been afflicted. If we get the idea that serving God and God hearing us and blessing us means we're going to be exempt from troubles and trials, we're mistaken. The hymn writer said, Shall I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of these while others fought to win the prize and sail through bloody seas. David said it was good for me that I've been afflicted. I know that I will have troubles.

He's acknowledging that. But he says, Oh, Lord, here's my desire. Holy desires from a humble heart. I opened my mouth and panted for I longed for thy commandments. Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou used to do unto those that love thy name. Heavenly Father, we would pray with the psalmist. Look thou upon us. Look upon us to see our great need. Look upon us to see how desperately we need thy mercy. Look upon us to forgive us and cleanse us through the merits of our savior, Jesus Christ. Grant these things for thy name's sake, we pray.

Amen. As thirst the heart for water grows, so thirst my soul, O God, for thee. It seeks for all that never moves, and longs the living God to see, and longs the living God to see. What vivid language. I opened my mouth and panted. I longed for thy commandments. I was diligent. I was sincere. I was feeling an urgency about it.

I panted. I longed for thy commandments. Let us pray that that will be the case with each of us as we endeavor to serve God from day to day. Hope you will write us, and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all.

Let us offer strength. With grief I think of days gone by, when on thy side the hallowed play, to Zion praising God on high, with thrones to kept the holy day, with thrones to kept the holy day. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr., pastor of the Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. Address all mail to the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217.

That's the Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. O why art thou cast down my soul, and my soul's troubles shouldst thou be? O thou in God, and him extolled, who gives this saving help to me? Who gives this saving help to me?