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Pastor David Mitchell
Well before we start in Looking at this little part in 2nd Samuel chapter 22. Let me read to you from the Psalms. We're speaking this morning on the enlargement of the Saint. How God enlarges us? Why we need this.
And last time we started out we talked about Jabez and His name is the son of sorrow. Wouldn't it be something if your mom named you that? You kind of get the impression. She was tired of having babies, wouldn't you?
Son of my sorrows. And He prayed a famous Prayer, it was not much about him in the Bible, but his prayer has become a famous prayer. And he prayed that the Lord might enlarge his coasts. We talked about that last time and then we talked about Hannah who has an interesting name as well.
Her name is sorrowful or stoopy in the Hebrew. Now, I Hope it sounds better in the Hebrew than it does in the English because I wouldn't want to be Outside playing and my mom hollers out stoopy suppers ready but that's what she had to go through and She later prayed a prayer and said Lord you have made My mouth to be enlarged over my enemies and.
So we talked a little bit about last time about how it is that when God enlarges his children part of what happens is that there's victory over the enemy and the enemy is forced to look at it and to observe the Strength of the Lord and the victory that is in the Lord Jesus Christ and that's what we talked about last time.
Today, we're going to focus on the enlargement of David. So let's let me read to you from Psalm 4 1 and then we'll go into this passage. You've already turned to but just listen to this one a psalm of David.
Hear me when I call Oh God of my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. What we'll find is most of our enlarging times do in fact come at a time when we're in great distress. David says this thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress.
Have mercy upon me and hear my prayer. Oh you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after leasing say lie? But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself.
The Lord will hear when I call unto him. It's interesting that in Sunday school this morning We talked about the fact that God does everything for himself. And how that's odd to the ear to our ear because we hear it through.
Ears of Fallen men who have been saved we have been born again, but we still Think strangely of someone who would do everything for himself to us. That would be selfishness and it could never really work right in us at least not perfectly yet.
Until we're with the Lord, but for God it is right. It is right for him to do all things for himself because he is the God of love. He is the God of mercy. He is the God of justice and if he does, please himself, it's going to be better for us.
And look at this has a bit of this in it. It says but know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. You know most of the preaching today in this country has to do with trying to teach Americans that God is there for us.
That God is there to make us successful. That God is there to make us holy if we're going to be holy. So that's for the sake of ourselves being able to say we're holy. Perhaps who knows why they teach these things, but they're not true.
It all happens because he is setting us apart for himself. You want to talk about separation being separated from the world unto God. That's not for us. That's for him. That's for his glory. And David recognized this so many years ago and now into the passage in 2nd Samuel chapter 22 the first thing that it talks about we spoke of this last time is That David's steps were enlarged now today predominantly we're going to talk about his heart.
But I want to review the steps just for a moment. So start in verse 33. 2nd Samuel chapter 22 verse 33. God is my strength and power and he maketh my way perfect and he noticed all the he's. Look at the he's here.
We're looking at God. We're looking at the sovereignty of God. We're looking at the power of God. We're looking at God's hand placed on God's people. He maketh my feet like Heinz feet and Said it's me.
He said it's me upon high places. He teacheth my hands to war. Now look at this so that the bow of steel is broken in mine arms. What are what is the bow used for? It is used against the enemy. Thou hast also given me the shield of salvation and thy gentleness hath made me great.
Now look at this thou hast enlarged my steps under me. David says so that my feet did not slip. So we see that the first thing in the order of things here is that God must enlarge our feet lest we backslide.
Lest we slip away from God into the things of the world the flesh or the devil and God Enlarges our steps under us so that our feet will not slip. I have pursued mine enemies. David says now at this point starting in verse 37 I want to remind you to look at the times you see the word I.
Now this is David doing some things you would never want to start with verse 37 and just go through 39 and pluck that out of context because if you did you'd Be an Arminian. But if you read it in the Bible, it has the balance that God gives everything and look what he says I have pursued mine enemies and destroyed them.
That's victory over sin folks. That's victory over the one that brings sin, but it's also victory over specific Sins in our lives. Temptations and sins. They don't have to hold us. He says he destroyed them and turned not again.
Until I had consumed them. He did not turn back to these this did not happen again. He had victory and complete victory and I have consumed them and wounded them the enemies. That they could not arise.
Do you realize that you can have such victory that you never have this particular enemy arise again? They are fallen under my feet. Now we go back into verse 40 all of a sudden we'd see that he and it's turned it into thou and David is pointing out why he has been able to get into the I part of it.
It is only because of the power of God in his life for thou has girded me. Why is it that he can say I pursued my enemies? Why is it that he says I consume them? Why is it that he can say they are fallen under my feet never to arise again?
Only because thou hast girded me with strength to battle. Them that rose up against me has thou subdued under me. That's the power of God in the life of the believer that is the enlarging of God. We find ourselves in a time of distress.
When the enemy is attacking. If we're not careful we Go. Oh woe is me and we just look at that enemy and we look at that attack and we think that's all there is in life at that moment. And we don't remember the verses where the Lord reminded us in Sunday school this morning that this suffering is just for a season.
And it's for a purpose to equip us and to enlarge us and it shall pass. But we shall go through it on the way. Thou has subdued the enemy under me he says and he is in the in the work of subduing the enemy under Our feet.
Isn't it interesting that he uses our feet. Isn't it interesting that he has to enlarge our steps first and then he Subdues the enemy under our feet. Thou has also given me the necks of mine enemies that I might destroy them.
That hate me so we saw last time that as God enlarges the Saint one of the great things that happens Happens to the enemy. He is forced to be down on the ground with the foot of God on his neck. Looking up at the victory that God has given to his Saints in this life not just the one to come but here for him to view here and now for all of the the angelic realms including the fallen angelic realms to view here and now in time a Victory, they're not all victories for us.
Are they we don't always win the little fights. The war is won and we know that. But you know what? He wants us to win sometimes and he wants the enemy to see very clearly his strength and power in our life.
God subduing the enemy Through us or with us along with us. So you have the vow and you have the eye, but you wouldn't want to have the eye without the vow. You couldn't have it. Now let's go deeper. Let's go into Psalm 119 verse 31 and Let's go deeper into this.
I Have stuck unto thy testimonies. Oh Lord Put me not to shame. David says we're talking about the same person. We're talking about a different part of his anatomy. Not the feet anymore. We're talking about his heart.
I will run the way of thy commandments when When When thou shalt enlarge my heart. Do you realize that we cannot run without this enlargement? Do you realize that we can't even walk without it, but let alone can we run for the Lord.
Picture picture a warrior. Running to battle in the times when they fought with swords hand-to-hand combat or at least perhaps on a horse, but you have a sword and When it's the moment of battle all the things are in place.
The two armies have positioned themselves the two armies have rattled their sabers for long enough and It comes to the point where the leader says charge. And picture yourself running. Picture yourself in the prime of your life.
Picture yourself 22 23 years old. No table muscles. It's all real muscle. And you've got the sword of the Lord in your hand and you're running towards the enemy. You're not standing there just for him to come get you and you try to defend the place you are running toward him with the sword.
Resisting what he would do to your family in your country. Which pictures your family your life your church the spiritual well-being of your children your wife? You're running Towards him, you know, you can't do that.
If your heart had not already been a lot enlarged In the physical realm it has to in be enlarged by charismatic leader of the army. Who can get you to want to follow him into battle in the spiritual realm?
It is the same way our captain is the Lord Jesus Christ and He says follow me stay with me into battle stay next to my side, but run. But long before he asks you to run he begins this work of enlarging The heart.
Let's look at some of the things that Happens and throughout this passage starting with verse 33 psalm 119 verse 33. I want you to notice this sovereignty of God and The responsibility of man working alongside one another notice the vow and the I again and again thou and I.
The I part is us doing what we're supposed to do not just sitting back waiting to see what God will do. That's that is a perversion of the whole Bible just as much as people who think they just do it all in the flesh.
The Armenians are perverse. They think that they do everything and it God responds. That's ridiculous. But the hyper Calvinist is perverse too because he thinks that he just sits there and watches what God will do.
It's never worked that way. God works in the life of the Saints. He works in and through us. He accomplishes work in this physical realm with our bodies because they are his bodies. We're bought with a price and our bodies are a sacrifice a living sacrifice to him.
What does it mean? It means he's simply doing work in this realm in this physical world. It's also a spiritual world it's both and He works together with us because he chooses to and for himself. So look at him working and look at us working throughout this passage look what David says in verse 33.
He says teach me O Lord the way. Now it's as if David is putting proper conditions on all these. Because if you look at the second half of almost every pairing in this little passage. You have pairings all the way down through it.
You see the part that David's supposed to do. The part that he is supposed to do and that we are supposed to do you see at the end of verse 33? I will keep it. What is the it? The statutes of the Lord the Word of God.
He says I I will do something. I will keep it, but he didn't start the sentence with I did he. He started the sentence with this condition. Lord if if You will teach me the way I Will keep it. It's interesting because this word teach in the Hebrew is y 'all raw, which means to flow as water.
Lord if you will cause The truth to flow as water into my life. I Will be able to keep the truth if you will flow the water of truth and life into me. I Will be able to keep the way the word the way is direct, which means the road the course of life.
But what's more amazing than anything in this verse to me is the word test statutes. The way of thy statutes these things that I'm supposed to be keeping. That I can only keep if God flows them as water into my life.
This word statutes is Kook in the Hebrew, which means an enhancement an appointment in time. Do you realize that God is in fact sovereign? It's all already happened and is happening is in a state of continual present tense.
He's seen the end already. He's seen the end of each life in this room already. But do you know that there is an appointment for each of you each little boy in this room. Each little girl in this room and the rest of us little boys and girls in this room.
There is an appointed thing in our life. There's an appointed time where you will have the sword in your hand and you'll be running Towards the enemy with the light at the side. The captain well David says Lord if you'll flow the truth the way of my appointment Into my life.
I will keep it to the end. What better match of the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man could be found in that which David found in his life? That's a good sermon. Let's go to another one.
Man that's good preaching. That's not good preaching obviously, but that sure is good truth, isn't it? Verse 34. Give me notice the pairing give me understanding and I shall keep thy law. You see the pairing what's the part we're supposed to do?
We're supposed to keep God's law. The word keep not Tsar means to guard. We're supposed to guard God's law in our lives. Doesn't mean just in the sense of going and doing it like we think keep in English.
I mean, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep the commandments. I'm gonna go do the stuff. No, it means I'm going to guard it. I'm going to keep it in the sense that I'm gonna keep it safe in my life. I'm gonna guard it.
I'm gonna keep my mind where it's on these things. It's safely in my mind. It's safely in the front in the forefront of my heart and mind. I will keep. I will guard Thy law. He also says I shall observe it observe it.
The word observe is shalmar which means to hedge about as with thorns. To hedge about and guard God's law and our life is very very important. What did Jesus teach about that the different soils? Remember the one one that comes to mind this morning to me is the thorny soil.
Jesus said the thorny soil is like a person who is good ground and the good seed comes into his life and lands there. And grows has roots. So it's a saved person. It has the Lord Jesus Christ, but the cares of this world the deceitfulness of riches.
Other things coming in and the pleasures of this life. Those four things are listed as that which will choke the word from your life. And if you study that passage in the four Gospels What you'll find or the I should say three it's only in the three.
But if you study it in the parallel passages, you'll find that those things will choke the word from your life. But there's one of the passages where it says those things will make the word come unfruitful.
Now the other other two say it'll make you be unfruitful, but the third one says it'll make the word Unfruitful in your life. That's a horrible thought. How would you like to be sitting in your home reading the word you get nothing from it?
Do you think that's possible for a believer? Absolutely it is. Everybody in here is looking at me saying I've done that before you know what? Part of what's happening there is that we did not guard. We did not put a hedge about God's Word in our life and heart and we let other things creep in and take more preeminence in our thought life and all of a sudden his word Speaks with a much quieter voice than it ought to until we get our hearts, right?
But this is what David says. I'll keep it. I'll guard it. I will observe it. The word observe is the word it means I'll hedge about The word in my life and he says I'll do it with my whole heart, but you know what?
There's an if there. If you're sitting in the Church of Christ this morning or some maybe Methodist Church or some of these Armenian churches. They'd be emphasizing the I part of this, but we can't do that.
Can we we have to go to the first part of the verse? Where he says if if You give me understanding then I will do those things. If you give me understanding being which means to separate mentally to be able to distinguish right from wrong to be able to distinguish that which God wants you to do versus what your Flesh wants to do to be able to distinguish.
Whose hand whose? Person God's hand is on in your life. Who should you listen to those that those that have God's hand on their life? That's who you listen to you. Don't listen to all the other voices.
How can you distinguish all these things? Only if God gives you that he calls it understanding here. But it what it means is the ability to separate mentally, but it is a gift from God. You can't do this and David considered as it a considers it a condition Upon which he can do the part he's supposed to do.
He can only do it if God gives him this separating mental ability. Then he'll be able to guard and hedge the Word of God in his heart where it comes out when it's needed which is always. But especially in those times.
If God will teach me his way as water flowing into my heart if God will give me. Understanding this discernment this ability to separate right from wrong truth from error white from black good from evil bad people who are in the flesh from Bad people who got saved and now they're good people because they're in the spirit.
Let's slip over in that other area. Don't listen. Even if you were listening to him yesterday. This discernment must come and David says only if you give it to me, can I guard the word in my heart? Third let's look at verse 35.
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments or therein do I delight. Do you want to have this delight in your heart? When you sing praises to the Lord and you hear this music and the spiritual songs.
Do you want to be able to clap your hands for real? I? Know some of you'll never do it but inwardly you are. Some of the rest of you can do it outwardly ease more easily but inwardly. You want to be able to have that delight?
And by the way, don't clap your hands if it's not coming from the delight that's inside. Please at least not here. You can do that at the ballgame. But here if it's coming from an inner absolute delight with God in his word then It's okay, but you know what he says here.
David doesn't say I'm just gonna go around the light for him. I'm gonna go around the light at all the time. I'm just gonna be happy and a happy Christian shouting and laughing and All of this all the time.
In fact, he says I can't do that. Unless and if Look at the first part of the verse if God makes me To go in the path of his commandments. Then I'll have that delight only if God does this in my life.
David knew David knew in his flesh. He could do nothing as surely as Paul knew it. David knew it probably as well as any other man. After what happened to him with Bathsheba and the blood that he had on his hands with Uriah.
He knew it more than any other man. Perhaps ever knew it. Maybe that's why he was so close to God's heart because once he got back into that place He didn't want to leave it again. That place of closeness to the Lord he says Lord If you make Me to go in the path of thy commandments Then I can delight.
This word go is phenomenal folks a little word go in verse 35. You realize in the Hebrew? It is da rock, which does not mean go it means to draw. Pulling back of the bow. Do you know what David is saying?
He's saying God let me be cocked all the time. God pull me if I'm the instrument in your hand pull me back and have the resistance already there. So all you have to do is let go. Now spring into action like the arrow as it's sent on this proper path towards the enemy.
David said let me be that way make me to go. Make me to be the arrow that is poised in the bow and the bow is already drawn in the Lord's hands. David said he had the strength to break the steel bow. Imagine how strongly God can pull the bow back he says You father you make me to be a drawn bow.
With pertinence to the path that I'm supposed to be following path of thy commandments. Then I will be delighted. David didn't like he didn't want to be a bench warmer. Did he he wanted to be in the game?
He didn't want to be back in the place where there's supplying supplies and preparing the food for the soldiers and Sewing the garments and maybe sewing up the wounds and That's not where he wanted to be.
He wanted to be right in the front next to the captain charging the enemy. Make me to go on the path of thy commandments then he says I'll be delighted.
Well as we look at verse 36.
He goes deeper and deeper into what it means to have an enlarged heart. Incline my heart. And to thy testimonies. And not to covetousness. A lot of this has to do with the enemy. David wanted to follow the captain.
And what did the captain do. Colossians chapter 2. Why is it that we're supposed to be with him. Well because we're buried with him in baptism. Wherein also we are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God.
You see God's hand in it all. None of it happens without God's hand. Who hath raised Christ from the dead. And the same power that raised him from the grave is the power that's in us to do the work of God.
It is the drawn bow and You being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh. Hath he quickened together with him. Only in Christ are we quicken. But at the same time He was quicken. We were quicken.
When he came out of that grave, however, he did it. We didn't see him come out the grave. Rock the stone. The huge stone was pushed aside already when they arrived. They didn't see him walk out of the grave.
They don't know if he walked out if he just passed through the rock. They don't know if the angels moved the rock and he walked out. We just know he's out. But when he came out you came out hallelujah.
Quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances. Now watch the enemy as he attacks here. I mean as he is attacked. Watch the enemy as he has to watch the victory.
Watch the enemy in the realm of this world in a physical. Spiritual realm not just a spiritual realm a physical world. Where the enemy has to look and see the stone pushed back. He has to look and see the empty.
Tomb and.
He has to recognize that when the Savior came out you came out with him the elect. Those who have been with the Lord's heart from the before the beginning of time. From before the beginning of anything even before any kind of sequence that was in heaven you Were in Christ at that moment.
And so look what the effect upon the enemy is blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. Which was contrary to us and took it out of the way. Nailing it to the cross and having spoiled Principalities and powers he made a show of them openly.
That's what this enlargement is all about. Triumphing over them in it. Why is it David wants to be right next to that captain? Because you do too. You want to be next to that captain because he's already won.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to go into battle knowing? You're not going to be slain and destroyed. You have already won it and you know it going into it. You think you might charge a little faster?
You think you might run and try to outrun all your brothers and sisters. And get there first with your sword if you already knew you couldn't be destroyed. You could not be defeated and if your leader Is the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords?
Don't make you run in the battle the Psalm 119 36 says I'll do another thing. I will stay away from covetousness, which is the very thing Jesus taught in the soils of the thorny soil. Covetousness the desire for all these things that are in the world Is one of the four things you mentioned that could choke the word David says I'll stay away from covetousness.
I Will not covet he says now. Could you just pull that out of context and say that's what we're supposed to do. Let's just say okay. I won't covet. I'm gonna walk out of here today soon as that door opens.
I'm walking out of here. I will never covet anything. I'll just only covet God in my heart. No, we'd have a real problem with that. But you know what David says at the first of that verse verse 36 he says but if you God Would incline my heart to that testimonies I wouldn't cut it.
Incline Means to stretch and spread out and bend. David says God if you will stretch out My own selfish will if you will bend me to your will. If you will spread out your will before me that I can see it clearly and desire it he says then My heart will go to your testimonies because you have stretched me out.
You have spread them out before me you have bent my will to your will. You've caused me to come to the place where I am inclined to your testimonies. I Find my heart. That's the Hebrew word for the feelings.
The will and the intellect not just the intellect. Not just the will but the feelings heart of your emotions. God incline me make me want to do these things. Don't make me just do it out of service and duty.
Yes, I will do it out of service and duty. But make me want to do it make my heart yearn Towards your testimonies because when that yearning is placed there by God. You don't covet anymore. You don't covet the things of this world.
Why would you covet an old piece of plastic food you could eat when God gives you a steak? When he gives you the meat from God if you had the meat you wouldn't covet the junk food. That's kind of sermons I get at home all the time for my wife.
Good preaching miss Charlotte. The next one look at verse 37. Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity. Quicken thou me in the way notice he reversed the couplet here all the rest of them has God's part.
Well, actually this one is surrounded on both sides. We have God's doing the turning away and then we have God doing the quickening at the end and right in the middle. We have David able to perform finally.
But David says the thing I'm going to do here is I'm going to not let my eyes behold vanity. Vanity here means Devastation that which would devastate the life young people. Think about things like pornography.
Think about the things the world offers even let it on the Internet. Parents you need to watch that a little bit. Don't let your children be tempted. The Internet can find anything. David says these things are that which will devastate my life.
I can think of nothing in a young man's life. It would be more devastating than to get involved in pornography of any kind. You just don't flee from. Things that devastate. Things that let leave your heart desolate.
Things that destroy. Evil things ruinous things. Idolatry. Things that are useless. This is what the word vanity means and David says I will turn my eyes away from all of that. Don't let those things come before your eyes.
Young men in this room and older men in this room. Never it's not to be with the children of God and David knows it but look who he relies upon. Does he rely upon his flesh? Can you reply rely on your flesh to make your flesh keep your eyes from looking at such things?
You're not that strong. So don't do it. Go to the Lord and say Lord if you turn me away. It's interesting the word turn away is one word in Hebrew. It's a bar which means to cover if you will cover my eyes.
They won't see these things. Isn't that beautiful if you will cover my eyes with your hand Lord. I Won't let them be on things and behold vanity. David says I won't let it happen if you'll cover my heart.
You know, that's pretty cool Davidson, I'm strong. I can break a bow with my arms and Lord I will not let my eyes see any unclean things long as you cover. Long as you cover. That's the truth, isn't it?
That's the way it is. David was smart enough to pray and ask God to cover his eyes, wasn't he? You know what else that showed though? He had a desire in his heart not to see the vanity. He really didn't want to see it in the times when his flesh caused him do it.
He didn't like it. You're that way. If you're saved today, you're that way your flesh to your flesh may get you to do something, but you won't like it. You is the new man. You won't like it. And so you'll say Lord.
I won't do that again as long as you're covering me. Please cover me. Turn my eyes away from beholding vanity quickened down me in the way. We'll come back to that idea in another verse here in a minute in verse 39 He says turn away my reproach which I fear for thy judgments are good.
He fears the reproach that comes with sin. You know why? Because David knows that there is a way that this whole thing can be turned around. And all of a sudden the enemy can watch us be defeated. That's reproach.
That's not what this is all about. He said that that's not what I want my life. Lord cover my eyes with unclean things. Don't let anything come into my heart mind. It would cause excuse me cause me to do anything that would bring reproach on me or the name of my captain in front of the enemy.
David's whole concern is how does the enemy view this? He was interested in the enemy. He wanted to know how they saw things. He wanted them to see themselves in defeat and the children of God and God in victory.
Not the other way around and that was his great motivation to avoid sin. Perhaps he realized somehow that every sin that he would do in the future would be laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ. So I don't want to do anymore.
He has enough burden as it is. He has enough of my sin on him already on the cross as God goes into that outside of time place. Where Jesus can be on the cross at the same time. We're sitting on this pew today.
You go out from this place today and you do a sin in your heart. Then that's placed on him while he's still on the cross another burden and another you don't want that. David didn't want that either. That is causing reproach to come upon the Lord Jesus Christ and is causing the enemy to think he's having victory when he's not.
David didn't like it one bit and David says therefore turn my eyes away from beholding any kind of vanity that would cause me to sin. And turn me away. Anything that would from anything that would cause reproach to come upon me or upon you because I'm your child.
Turn away to cover. It's interesting the word of reproach in Hebrew is the word naked or don't let me stand naked before the enemy because they'll laugh at me. He'll ridicule me and that nakedness picture sin.
When you sin you become naked before God but also before the end. Isn't it interesting that in human history as Great armies have gone in and conquered that most of the time they would strip their Enemies naked and chain them and make a march back to their own country and march down the main street and the victory parade.
The enemy would be brought along and chains naked the women and the men and the children. That interesting that the enemy does that? The victor does that that's exactly what Satan does when he defeats you.
He stands you up naked in front of everybody and your your reproach. Cannot be taken away for some time and David says boy. I've been there. I do not want to go there again. He has released me from those chains.
He took me out of that slave hall and now the Lord. The same one that is my captain is my master and my Lord and I don't have to ever experience that again. And he says don't let that happen to me turn away my reproach which I fear.
David feared sin 38 verse 38. Look at this. Establish thy word unto thy servant who is devoted to thy fear. David didn't say I'm gonna read through the Bible every year. Did he he said God, please you if you Establish the word in my heart.
Then I'll be in the word. Establish is an interesting word too because in the Hebrew it means to perform. So do you know what David's really saying in verse 38? He's praying a prayer and saying God perform your word in my life.
Think of it. He's not saying teach me your word. He's not saying preach to me your word. He's not saying say to me your word that I might know it. He's saying Lord Take the truth in your word and perform those in my life.
So that my life is all about your word being worked out and then in verse 40 You see a seventh thing that David's looking at in his life. It says behold. I have longed after thy precepts. Quickened me and thy righteousness.
There's our familiar couplet. You see the it is reversed from some of the earlier ones you see David's part. In the first of this one where he says I long after your law. I long after your word. We should all be in that state where our hearts just wants to wants to run and get into the word of God and find something new shouldn't we.
And you know what we get disappointed in ourselves when we're not feeling that way, don't we? But you know what David recognized he said that'll only happen if God does his part first. So i'm going to ask him to God quicken me in thy righteousness.
Bring me alive quicken me make me be alive to your righteousness. Then Then I will Long for your precepts quicken thou me in the way Make me alive in thy righteousness. He says. And then lastly verses 41 and 42 Let thy mercies come also unto me.
Oh lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. Now we have here His interest in the enemy. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that's the enemy. Answer him that reproaches me for I trust in thy word.
So david says god if You will flow your truth into me like water flowing into my life I will keep and guard And hedge it in my life. And he says lord if You will give me understanding and the ability to separate things correctly in my mind then I Will hedge it about in my life.
David says if You will make me to go. If you will make me to be the arrow in a bow that's already been drawn by the strong arm of god. Then I will be delighted I will live in delight. David says if you will Spread out my heart and incline it to your testimonies.
I will not be covetous. And david says if you will cover my eyes Then I won't let them look at unclean things. And david says if You will establish your word in my heart I'll be devoted to your fear. And david says if you will quicken me in the very righteousness of jesus christ.
Then I will long after your precepts. And david says you'll make me alive Unto righteousness. If You will do all these things in my life And show your mercy and your salvation in my life I Will be able to answer the enemy.
That's what he wants for our lives folks. Because that pleases the lord the lord's the lord's not a loser He's a victor. The lord will not have satan In victory viewing the defeat of himself ever. It's already been nailed to the cross already been put to open shame.
And there are times in our lives when he wants that to be shown off to the enemy in us having victory. That's why he enlarges our steps And enlarges our hearts. Let's stand and pray together That the lord might accomplish the similar work in our lives that he did in david's.
Dear father, we thank you so much for this man. The history of this man. This one who was the apple of your eye. This one upon whose throne the lord jesus christ will sit someday In the millennial kingdom the throne of david.
This man who could do absolutely nothing Without you doing it in his life first and he recognized it. Help us to recognize it. Help us to fall upon you. Help us to yearn for you to do these very things in our hearts And with our steps So that the enemy might be shown defeat.
And father we ask that you work in our lives protect our young people our children. Make them strong In the power of god's might because they're strong in the word of god. Lord cause steps of our feet to be pleasing in your sight And give us this delight That david had may we be as a drawn bow ready and waiting for the enemy for the attack.
May we be visualize ourselves as being in your hand And ready to storm the enemy at your side. Lord, we thank you so much for the captain of our salvation the lord jesus christ. And we look forward to the moment when we'll see him for the first time with our eyes.
For you said that moment will be like him. But we shall see him as he is until that time. Father may we still Pray every day that your power would be in our lives that the enemy might be shown defeat in us.
Lord bless our time together our time of fellowship. Bless our meal we're about to have and we ask these things in jesus name. Amen.