PSALM 119:169-176 TAU

We are coming to the end of this long psalm, - the longest chapter in the
whole of the Bible. Each section has been meticulously constructed
beginning with the appropriate Hebrew letter in each of its eight verses. It
is truly a work of poetic art but it is more than that it is the testimony
of a man wholly dependent, - in every circumstance, - upon God and His
Word.

Look again at how real his faith is: 169 Let my cry come near before thee, O
Lord 170 deliver me according to thy word 173 Let thine hand help me
176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant.

It is almost as if, - knowing he is approaching the end of the psalm, -
there is a greater urgency in approaching the Lord. He seems to be placing
all his efforts to breaking through and into the inner circle of Divine
fellowship. What a joy it must have been being one of the twelve
disciples of J esus, yet, what an added privilege to have been like Peter,
J ames and J ohn who were His inner circle and who accompanied Him
places the other nine didnt.

Do you strive to be a part of Gods inner circle? Have you had something
so much on your heart that you have strived - as it were - to enter into
Gods very heart?

PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER
Do you persevere in prayer? Have you been praying about something
for years and God has not yet answered your prayer but you continue to
persevere before the Throne?
After a certain time, it is so easy to give up. Here, the psalmist is
imploring God Lord, Im begging You! I have nowhere else to turn.
Lord, Im trusting in You, and in You alone.
At the very end of this psalm, the psalmist is depending as much on
God, - maybe even more so (!), - than when he began!
The more you trust God, the more trusting you become of Him. Yes,
He tries your faith for the purpose of teaching you to trust Him more.
You have seen how He has answered your petitions in the past, and you are
confident He answers the prayers of His people.
And here the psalmist is confident, nevertheless he is labouring in
prayer to the point of exhaustion and agony. Prayer is no mere walk in the
park he is trembling here as he seeks Gods face.
2
Remember when J esus prayed in Gethsemane and wept
Remember when J ob prayed for his family and rose up early on their
behalf. Remember Abraham praying over Sodom and Gomorrah.
They all, - as it were, - trembled in the presence of Almighty God!
God alone could meet their need, and they persevered in prayer.
There are times when we simply do not feel like praying and that is
when we must pray the most! The Holy Spirit energizes us to pray in spite
of the way we feel.
And then another question to ask is How do you pray? Why is it
you pray in the first place? Do you pray for God to answer your desires
without casting a thought on how it would impact upon His glory? What
you pray who benefits more you or Him?
Who is the focus in your prayers? God or you? Here is the
secret: pray for Gods glory and you are sure to reap the benefits!
Pray for that which is pleasing unto God and His purposes, - you will
find what they are in His Word, - and you will not go wanting.
Put God first in your prayers and God will listen as a Father.
True prayer is directed to the Father (Mt. 6:9 After this manner therefore
pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name), through the
Son (J n. 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will
do it), and in the power of the Holy Spirit (Jude 20 But ye, beloved, building
up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost).
Put yourself first and your prayer will never make it to the throne of
grace and why should it?! You belong to God and all the privileges you
deserve from Him are in accordance to His purposes. Pray for that
which pleases God and you will find your prayers being answered
maybe not always just right now, but in His time and in His way.
Persevere in prayer dont give up keep on bringing the burdens
of your heart before God that you know are pleasing to Him.
J ust look again at how the psalmist words his prayer, he calls his prayer
my cry, - surely you cannot get more personal or more heartfelt than that.
You can see him on his knees, the tears streaming from his eyes and
the earnestness on his face and also my supplication, supplication
comes from the heart of one who is humble like the beggar Lazarus,
lying at the gate of the town, full of sores and desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich mans table (Lk. 16:21).
3
The psalmist recognises his unworthiness, and how undeserving he is
and yet, because of grace, God has made him fit and privileged to gain
access before the throne.
Today, says I Jn. 2:1, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another, one who is
skilled and knows how to handle the complexities of the appeal system
Each child of God has an Advocate, and the Advocate is none other than
our Lord J esus Christ.
He died to save me. He died for Gods glory to be demonstrated at
Calvary. He died for lost sinners so that Gods will for their salvation
would be achieved. He appeared and He appealed before the throne on my
behalf even whilst I was dead in sin. The only reason I am saved today
is because J esus Christ is my Advocate!
He is like Esther in the Old Testament, (5:1) she put on her royal apparel,
and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's house: and
the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the
house. 2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court,
that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden
sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the
sceptre. 3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is
thy request? She mediated on behalf of her people that is what an
Advocate does. That is what J esus is doing today.
If Haman would have succeeded in his evil plan he would have
destroyed completely the people of God and they were saved only
because Esther came as the advocate before the court of the king.
O LORD, the psalmist prayed every part of him was in this prayer,
give me understanding according to thy word not according to what I would
have, but according to thy word.
What we might ask for from God might not always be for our long-
term good and God knows what our long-term needs are as the
psalmist proclaimed in 139:14 marvellous are thy works; and that my soul
knoweth right well. Lord, I dont always understand Your will for me, but
You have a reason for everything You allow to come my way because You
are in control of it all, so I plead with You, give me understanding according
to thy word. And what does that mean?
It means the Word of God has to be precious to you. In the Word of
God you find the ways of God and the wisdom of God. It is your guide
you have got to know and love the Word! You cannot be much of a
Christian without knowing Gods Word, in the same way that you will
never know where you are going if you dont know how to get there.
4
You simply cannot go far in the Christian life unless the Holy Spirit
finds you reading the Word and He guides you through it.
How many times before did the psalmist ask the same question, give me
understanding? vv.34,73,125,144 and now again in v.169. This is an
intensely profound prayer one with which he holds on to God for he is
trusting in Gods understanding and not mans understanding.
Dont give up when you come before God with your burden. You are
His child, He loves you, access His Son Who will plead for you His
Son Who said, Mt. 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
He is the Bridegroom of the Beloved; she lies on her bed at night with
her thoughts all on Him, Songs 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice
of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my love.
Perseverance in prayer and also

PRESERVATION IN PRAYER The Bible promises that those who
persevere by faith will be preserved; the psalmist wrote, 37:28 the LORD
forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: ... 29 The righteous shall
inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. J ude wrote v.1 to them that
are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.
Paul told Timothy, II Tim. 1:12 I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded
that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day
4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me
unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Why does He preserve us? Why indeed? What does Heaven gain by
God having loved me and sent His Son to die for me? Surely all the
benefits are mine, Ps. 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with
benefits, even the God of our salvation 116:12 What shall I render unto the
LORD for all his benefits toward me?
What can I do for myself? Remember, before Christ found me I was
dead, helpless and hopeless, and He drew me with those cords of
lovingkindness, - not deserving any good thing from the hands of God, and
yet now I can face any problem with the same words the psalmist
approached the Lord, Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts.
When Peter was sinking in the Sea of Galilee he didnt call out to his
fellow fishermen to thrown him a lifeline, instead Mt. 14:30 he cried, saying,
Lord, save me. He could have kept his mouth shut and tried to swim
hopelessly in the boisterous waves, but he chose instead to call upon the
One whose voice could calm the storms, and Who alone could preserve
him.
5
Despite all the tears and all the antics and cruelness of his
opposers the psalmist had chosen the precepts of God, the Lord was
his salvation and the law (the Word) was his delight.
Never think you keep your own salvation it is God Who gave
it to you, and it is God Who, - by His Sovereign grace, - keeps you.
You would not be here today but for God. You might think you
are here in church because that was how you were brought up but
then just you cast a thought to others who were brought up - as you
were - to come to church and today they never enter through its
doors. You are here because God has brought you here.
And the psalmist tells us in his prayer that he is preserved for it is
thy salvation, - Gods salvation! It is His to give, and it is His to
withhold, Rom. 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Perfect peace with God is a Sovereign gift from God and so
the psalmist can say, 175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee, fill it full
of life, preserve it from wandering, and the more my soul shall live,
the more I shall praise Thee.
When you look at it, you must come to the conclusion that the
true essence of being a believer is prayer and praise, - that is what it
is all about! It is the treasure in Heaven Jesus speaks about.
The psalmist said, 175 Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy
judgments help me, in other words, I have seen what you have done for
others and I know You can do it for me also.
And then comes the finale, - the final verse of this longest of
psalms that contains the heart of the psalmist open before his God.
To my own despair, 176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep, I have lost my
way, I am apt to wander Lord, restore me.
He felt himself to be like a lost sheep he couldnt find the way
home, he kept going further and further away.
Do you notice that throughout this psalm the psalmist constantly
defended his innocence against the plans and trickery of his enemies
but here though, he is in the presence of God and there he feels
his inadequacies like a lost sheep who has broken out of the
pastures.
6
But yet, as he perseveres he knows the One Who preserves,
and he calls out knowing the Lord will hear his cry, 176 I have gone
astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant. He is like Peter again in the water
when he cried out, Jesus was just an arms-length away.
The psalmist knew God was there because God never leaves
His own. You might sometimes feel He is far away but He is not
He is still there with you.
A sheep is innocent, prone to wander, attractive to the wild
animals to hunt and yet, believer, you are a sheep under the care
of the Good Shepherd. His eye is always upon you, He never leaves
you alone.
It is the grace of God that saved you; it is the grace of God that
keeps you; and it is the grace of God upon which all the promises of
God towards you stand.
The psalmists last words are indeed focussed upon the Word of
God, - I do not forget thy commandments. Preserved hitherto, and still
being preserved!

CONCLUSION 176 verses ago the psalmist began, Blessed are the
undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Throughout his walk with God he has faced many obstacles, enemies
and pitfalls but he is still going on! Persevering and Preserved!
He has a home sickness for God, - he couldnt imagine life without
God, - he pined after God and the ways of God.
Elsewhere, the Bible speaks about a special highway, Is. 35:8 it shall be
called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; ... 9 No lion shall be
there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but
the redeemed shall walk there: 10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return,
and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. It is the path
God walks, - it is the Kings Highway.
Take comfort in His Word today; dont lose sight of what He is able to
do for you. Place all your confidence in Him Who will continue in His
wonderful mercy and favour to uphold you by His grace, and one day Jude
24 to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25
To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and for ever. Amen.