Well this morning we have finally arrived at the end of our long journey through Psalm 119. What began a little over a year ago today comes to a conclusion as we look at the last of the 22 stanzas of this great psalm. Now I realize that a study of this length, this magnitude, has had its challenges, both for me as your teacher and for you as a congregation. The major challenge for me has been to try to keep this fresh and interesting and you don't grow weary. Because the psalmist has repeated himself, he's said many of the same truths and concepts over and over and over again, and the challenge for you has been to bear with all these repetitive truths. I understand that, and to receive them and apply them, and then to trust God that there's a reason he's repeated himself so much in this psalm. God has repeated these truths for your benefit. because he wants you to take these lessons to heart and not forget them. That's the point of repetition. Now, it's in light of how often this inspired psalmist has repeated himself in Psalm 119, that makes this last stanza so intriguing. And I say that because he says something in the last verse of this psalm that he hasn't said anywhere else. In the other 175 verses, it's a thought that is completely new, a thought that is completely original. You won't find it anywhere else in this psalm. So notice what he says in the last verse, verse 176, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. He's telling the Lord that like a lost sheep, he's gone astray from him, he's wandered from him, therefore, He requests of God that like a caring shepherd, he should go after him and seek him and bring him back to the fold. And he says the Lord should do this because he hasn't forgotten his commandments. This man hasn't forsaken or forgotten his commandments, so God should go after him. Now, what's unique about this verse isn't the words, for I do not forget your commandments. Many times throughout the psalm, this man has said those words or words to that effect. But what we haven't seen anywhere else in this psalm, until right here in the last verse, are the words, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Now, it is true that earlier in the psalm he admitted that there had been a time in the past when he had wandered from the Lord. He said that in verse 67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. He says that after God afflicted him with some type of disciplinary action, probably a physical illness, he says he repented, and now he's back on track spiritually. His wandering days, he says, have ended. In fact, in verse 71, he even acknowledges that his affliction, meaning God's discipline of him, was a good thing. It was a good thing because it brought him back to the Lord, and it brought him to a renewed interest in the Word of God. Notice what he says in verse 71, it's good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. He's back to where he should be so that he's learning the statutes of Scripture. But in this closing verse, the psalmist isn't writing about any past wanderings from the Lord. No, he's saying that at the moment he penned this last verse in Psalm 119, he was like a lost sheep. wandering, straying from the Lord. Now, if you're puzzled by this, you're not alone. Many very competent students of the Bible have been baffled by the statement by the psalmist, and understandably so, because for the last 175 verses we've been reading about his loyalty to Scripture, His love for Scripture, His devotion to Scripture, His unwavering resolve to never forsake Scripture, regardless of His circumstances. So, in light of all of these positive affirmations of His commitment to the Lord and His Word, how can He possibly now say, I've gone astray like a lost sheep? It just doesn't seem right. It sounds out of place. It sounds contrary to everything this man has told us about himself. In fact, one Bible teacher, probably expressing what many people think when they read this last verse, he said this, he said, this last verse takes us somewhat by surprise. One would have thought that after 175 verses devoted to the Word of God, this singer would have become a super saint. But he doesn't say he's a super saint. Instead, he makes this very surprising statement that he's gone astray like sheep wandering from the Lord. So, how are we then to understand these words in light of everything that we know about this man, everything else he's written in the psalm up to this point? Listen closely. What we have here by the psalmist is not a contradiction. of anything that he has said previously about his walk with the Lord and about his love for Scripture. It is not a contradiction. As he closes Psalm 119, he is still very much committed to the Word of God. He's not about to abandon his faith. In fact, if you look at this last verse, he tells us in the last few words of the Psalm, for I do not forget your commandments. So he's not saying that he has forgotten the Word. And as you'll recall, in the previous stanza, he's told us about all the spiritual benefits, the blessings that have come to him, because of his persecution for the Word of God. And they all, and we looked at this last week, they all have produced in him a deep affection for the Word. So, in saying that he's gone astray like a lost sheep, he's certainly not renouncing everything he has said about his faith, about his relationship with the Lord. But what he is saying, note this, is that the more he knows God's Word, and the more he follows God's Word, the more he realizes how imperfect His obedience is to God's Word. So that in terms of how godly he should be at this point in his life, he feels like a lost and straying sheep. See, what this man is doing is he's humbly admitting his own inconsistencies in his walk with the Lord. The more he knows about Scripture, the more he knows how far short he comes in obeying Scripture. You see, although this man has previously made numerous statements about his commitment to the Word of God, which at first glance may sound arrogant and a bit self-righteous, there is nothing self-righteous or arrogant about him. For all of his knowledge of God's Word, he recognizes that in his heart he has not perfectly obeyed God. For all of his affirmations of how much he loves Scripture, he knows that he doesn't love Scripture as he should love Scripture. For all of his statements about his faithfulness to the Word of God, he knows how often he has been unfaithful, disloyal to Scripture. See, this man is so conscious of his failings and his failures to live up to his understanding of the Bible that he says that he feels as if he's just a lost sheep straying from his shepherd. Now folks, what the psalmist is doing is illustrating the great paradox that every true believer understands, every dedicated Christian understands, which is this, the closer you get to the Lord in terms of your spiritual growth and maturity, the more you see your own sin and your failures. That is to say, the more godly and Christ-like you are, the more you recognize how ungodly and non-Christ-like you are. In other words, the more you grow in the Lord, the more aware you are of your sin. And it feels to you like you haven't grown much, that you're not spiritual, that you're not like Christ at all. And like the psalmist, you're so conscious of your sin that far from feeling close to the Lord, you feel as if you're far from Him, as if you're wandering, as if you're a lost sheep going astray. It's quite normal to feel this way, because being sinners, the natural bent of our fallen hearts is to wander from the Lord. It is the truth so beautifully expressed in that great hymn, Come Thou Fount, where we sing these words, Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. prone to leave the God I love. All of us are like that. No matter how long we've known the Lord, no matter how much Bible knowledge we've accumulated, No matter how much we've been used to the Lord, we all feel, at least to some degree, like we have gone astray, like a lost sheep that's wandered from its shepherd. And we want the Lord to go after us, to bring us back. We want Him to go after us to bring us back so we can walk closely with Him, as close as possible. Now, that is the sentiment. that the psalmist is expressing in this last verse of Psalm 119. He's just being very honest. He's honestly admitting that in light of all of his Bible knowledge and all of his resolve to not forsake the Lord, he still falls so far short of what he should be spiritually. So then, in light of this man's humble admission, what we need to discover then is, what is this last stanza really about? Okay, we've nailed down the last verse, but what is the stanza about? What is its message? What's its theme? What's the point of these verses? What is the psalmist intending to convey and teach us. See, every stanza, as you know in the psalm, has a unique theme and a unique message that's related to the Word of God, but emphasizes something distinct about the Word of God and believers' relationship to it. So the question we face then is, what is the primary truth that the psalmist wants to leave us with as he closes this mighty psalm? Well, the way to discern his message is to look at all the verses in this stanza that's leading up to this closing statement, that he's gone astray like a lost sheep, and then determine, what is their relationship to each other? How are they connected? Because it's their relationship, it's their connection that tells us what the psalmist's message really is. You see, almost every verse in this stanza is presented as a prayer request, and that's significant. A prayer request. This is very different from the previous stanza, which had no prayer request, no petitions at all of God. But here the psalmist finishes his psalm, Psalm 119, with a flurry of petitions to God, and there's a reason for this. See, what the psalmist is doing with all these prayer requests is telling us he's needy. He has needs. He's telling us that in light of how weak and sinful he is, in light of his proneness to wander, he has some real needs, some real spiritual needs in his life that only the Lord can meet. And that's why these last verses are filled with prayer requests, his requests, because what the psalmist is telling us is that every true believer has these same spiritual needs, and therefore every true believer should be looking to the Lord to meet those needs, should be praying about those needs, because only God who loves and cares for his children as a shepherd, loves and cares for his sheep, only God can be counted on to meet those needs. He's the only one we are to be looking to, to meet those needs. See, what we have here in this paragraph, it's sort of a reversal of Psalm 23. It's sort of a reversal because in Psalm 23, David says that because the Lord is his shepherd, he didn't lack anything, he needed. He said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. But here, in this final stanza of Psalm 119, the psalmist is telling us what he does lack, and what he does need spiritually, but what he is confident that the Lord will provide for him. Folks, that's why these verses, these closing verses, that's why they're so important for us. Because they tell us what our greatest needs are spiritually. This is not about physical needs. This is about spiritual needs. They reveal to us what we should be asking the Lord to do for us in our lives, if we want to be sheep that stay near to Him, that stay close to Him. In other words, these verses reveal what we need in our lives to walk closely in fellowship with our Lord. That's why this last stanza is also a great encouragement to us, because it conveys to us the truth that no matter how unspiritual you may feel you are, No matter how much you have strayed from the Lord, there is hope. There is great hope because God is pleased to give you everything you need to be close to Him. He's a good shepherd. He's a wonderful shepherd. He's a perfect shepherd. And therefore, He makes sure that He does provide everything you need to walk in fellowship and in obedience with Him. However, understand this. He doesn't automatically meet those spiritual needs. He wants us to seek Him. He wants us to pray and ask for them. He wants us to be disciplined to pursue them. And thus the reason the psalmist presents these truths in the form of many prayer requests. So, if you want to be close to the Lord, if you want the Lord to meet your greatest spiritual needs, here are the things that you need to be asking Him to do for you. And He will. And that's the point. He will. As we follow the psalmist's prayer request, we find him petitioning the Lord to meet four spiritual needs in his life, with the first one being this, the need for biblical understanding. He wants biblical understanding. Notice verse 169. Let my cry come before you, O Lord. Give me understanding according to your Word." Now, as the psalmist begins this final stanza, he starts off by humbly praying that his cry, his cry to God for an understanding of God's Word, will be granted to him. In other words, he's asking God to give him insight into the Word of God, The Holy Scriptures. Now, the question is this, why would this man ask for such a thing? After all, based on everything we know about him from this psalm, he's been a student of the Bible essentially, basically all of his life. And throughout this psalm, he has continuously asked the Lord to teach him his word. He began in verse 12 saying, teach me your statutes, and he repeated that phrase or words close to that in verse 26, verse 33, verse 64, verse 108, verse 124, verse 135, and then in verse 171, he affirms that God does teach him His Word. So, this man already knows a great deal about the Bible. He pursues the Word of God. Its truths are a light. for his daily path. He lives by the Word. He refuses the errors of false religion. So, why now? Why now? If he already is so well informed about the Bible, why then is he asking the Lord for an understanding of His Word? Well, for one thing, it's certainly true that those who know the most about God's Word recognize how little they really do know about the Word. You see, the more you grow in your knowledge of Scripture, the more you realize how much there is to know, and how much you really don't know. Anyone who thinks that his knowledge of the Bible is sufficient, that they've arrived at a complete understanding of Scripture, and there's nothing more to learn, so they'll just move on, not only are they wrong, but they're foolish. Absolutely foolish. But there's more to what the psalmist is saying than that he wants to increase his knowledge of the Bible. I want you to look once again at this verse, and I want you to notice exactly what this man is asking of God. Notice that he isn't asking the Lord to give him simply knowledge of the Bible, but to give him understanding of His Word. See, understanding is far more than knowledge. Understanding involves spiritual insight, it involves discernment, whereas knowledge is often just an accumulation of information, facts, figures, stories. Now, it's obviously important that we increase in our knowledge of the Bible because that's what the Bible says we are to do. Peter tells us in his second letter to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But you know what? Anyone can acquire knowledge of the Bible. Anyone can do that. All you have to do is be disciplined to read and study and do it a lot. And you can increase your knowledge of the Bible. Anyone can do that. Even a non-Christian can do that. But understanding is a far different matter. See, to understand scripture is to understand, note this, the mind of God. It's to begin to recognize His heart, His desires, what His will really is. And those who seek to understand God's Word, seek an understanding of it, note this, in order to draw close to Him, to obey Him, to enjoy Him, to fellowship with Him. They aren't interested in increasing their knowledge of the Bible for the sake of knowledge. In fact, the Apostle Paul said, knowledge alone can puff an individual up. Those who want to understand the Lord and His Word, they're interested in growing in their knowledge of the Bible so that they can grow in their relationship with the Lord. It isn't increasing knowledge for knowledge's sake. It's certainly not increasing your knowledge of the Bible so you can impress people with your knowledge. I think one of the best examples of the difference between knowledge about God and an understanding of Him is found in a statement made about the children of Israel and Moses concerning the time of the Exodus. Psalm 103 verse 7 says this, He made known His ways to Moses, His acts, to the sons of Israel." Now, that's fascinating. Notice that God makes a distinction between what Moses knew about him and what the sons or the children of Israel knew of him. The nation of Israel, we're told, knew about God's acts, meaning his actions, what they saw him do, his activities in delivering them from Egypt. What did the sons of Israel see at that time? Well, some of the things they saw They saw God inflict a number of plagues upon the Egyptians. They saw that. They saw Him part the Red Sea. They saw Him provide manna and water for them in the wilderness. They saw the cloud that guided them by day and the pillar of fire that guided them at night. And there were many other things in all those years of wanderings. God let Israel see His actions, His activities. But that wasn't the case with Moses. Now certainly he saw his activities, but the point is that Moses saw far more than God's actions. God let Moses understand his ways, meaning that he gave Moses insight into the various ways that he deals with mankind based on his character, based on his attributes. And the reason that Moses was granted this insight into God's ways is because he asked God for it. Just like the psalmist is doing. He asked God for insight. In Exodus 33, verse 13, we read this. Moses speaking says, Now therefore I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight. Moses is asking of God that he might know Him in a better way, fuller way. That he might know His ways. And God answered this prayer request of Moses to understand his ways. How did he do that? He revealed to him some of his wonderful attributes. Not all, but some. Enough. In Exodus 34, 6 and 7, we read this, Then the Lord passed by in front of him, in front of Moses, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness and truth, who keeps loving-kindnesses for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin, yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." And what was the reaction, the response of Moses to this understanding of God's character? In the very next verse, verse 8 says, Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. See, Moses worshipped the Lord because that was his driving motivation. He was intent on knowing God's heart in a relational way. Not simply knowing about what he does, his actions, and then just leaving it at that. He wanted to know Him. He wants her to know his character. He wants her to understand how he works in the lives of people. Now folks, that's exactly the heart cry of the psalmist of Psalm 119. This man feels like a wandering sheep. And he wants the shepherd, his shepherd, the Lord, to seek him so that he can be close to him. And so, he asks for understanding so that, watch this, through the Word of God he can understand the God of the Word. See, he's not bypassing knowledge of the Word. He's just asking, as he studies and knows the Word, may he know, not just Bible stories, but may he know the God of the Word. Listen, if you ever hope to walk closely with the Lord, And you need to be asking God to give you a heart of understanding. You need to ask Him to enable you to see His character as you read His Word, not simply the stories, the incidents, the events of Scripture. For example, when you read in the New Testament that Jesus healed a leper or Jesus fed the multitudes, you shouldn't simply see these miracles as facts. Oh, that's what He did. You should see also Christ's heart of love, His heart of compassion behind the miracles. How incredibly compassionate of our Lord to heal a leper who probably had not been physically touched by anyone for years, and yet Jesus touched him and healed him. This is a man who had been isolated from the Jewish community, This is a man who, wherever he went, had to yell out, unclean, unclean. Our Lord touched and healed him. That's not just a demonstration of Christ's power. That's not just a demonstration of His deity. It is all that, but you also should see His compassion, His loving heart. When He fed the multitudes, yes, it was to show His deity that He has creative powers, But also, don't lose sight of the fact that Jesus didn't want these people to leave and be hungry. He said they had a long journey to go home, and how thoughtful and kind and loving to feed them. And I'll bet it was great food. Or when you read that after His resurrection, Jesus made breakfast for the disciples on the beach of the Sea of Galilee, you don't want to miss how considerate that was, how thoughtful that was. He made breakfast for them. So if you want this kind of biblical understanding of the Lord and His ways, then you have to ask Him to give it to you. That's what the psalmist is doing. And you have to read the Bible then with a discerning eye. Not only taking in the facts, but also looking for principles that give you understanding of God's heart, God's character, God's ways. So the first spiritual need for which the psalmist sought the Lord was a need for biblical understanding. That's how you draw close to him. He feels like a sheep going astray. He wants to be closer. He prays for biblical understanding. But as this man continues the psalm, his last stanza, he tells us about a second spiritual need that he had, which was the need for deliverance from his enemies. He says in verse 170, Let my supplication come before you, deliver me according to your word." Now once again, as the psalmist has done many times throughout Psalm 119, he prays for God to deliver him. And like all the other times, the deliverance that he's referring to is being saved, delivered from those wicked men who were persecuting him. In other words, he wants God to protect him. He wants God to rescue him from his enemies, those pagan princes who were persecuting him. And his basis for praying for his deliverance, he says, is the Word of God. Notice once again what he actually asked for. He says, deliver me according to your Word. See, the reason he's praying like this is because God, in his Word, has promised many times to bless and help his people. Throughout the Old Testament, and that's the Bible of this man, he didn't know the New Testament. When he speaks of the Word of God, he means the Old Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, God gave assurance to the Jewish people that He would bless them, that He would be with them, that He would protect them from their enemies if they walked before Him in obedience. And now the psalmist, who although he very clearly sees how sinful he is, also recognizes that his desire and his heart of hearts is to walk before the Lord in obedience. And so he's simply asking God to protect him from his enemies like he said he would in his word. He's just calling upon the Lord to be true to his word, which he is. Now, obviously being delivered from his enemies at that time in his life, folks, that was obviously the most pressing need in this man's life. In fact, his suffering from persecution forms the entire background of this psalm. Persecution is what he lived with night and day. And so, of course, he would ask God to deliver him. That makes sense. But there is a greater biblical principle being taught here than just God's work of physical deliverance from some pagan princes. What the psalmist is doing is recognizing that he is absolutely helpless to deliver himself. And therefore he is looking to the Lord as the only one who can deliver him. The only one who can save him. His hope is in the Lord and the Lord alone. That's why this is such an important truth for us to understand. See, if you see yourself as a weak sheep, and you should, then you also see your absolute inability to save yourself from any of your enemies. And who might your enemies be? Well, according to the Bible, every Christian has certain identifiable enemies. First of all, Satan is our most fierce enemy. And he is your enemy. If you're a Christian, he is your enemy. Peter says that the devil walks about seeking whom he might devour. He's talking about which believer he will devour. He attacks with temptations. The world, meaning sinful society, is also our enemy, and it's always trying to conform us to its sinful ways. John said, love not the world, neither the things of the world. Paul said, be not conformed to this world. That's because that's where our battles are. The world always wants us to love it and be like it. Our own flesh is also our enemy in that it wages war against our souls as we battle with our sinful desires as opposed to our desires to please and honor the Lord. It's a constant battle. And those who hate Christ, those who are hostile towards Christ and the gospel, they're also our enemies. Therefore, they persecute us in a variety of ways. So, in light of all these enemies, we certainly are in great need, aren't we, for the Lord to deliver us. And so, like the psalmist, our prayer should be for Him to rescue us, to come to our aid, because He is the only one who can defeat these enemies of ours. The only one. And if you don't believe that, if you think that you can handle your enemies on your own, your own thinking, your own ingenuity, your own strength, your own wisdom, then you're being very foolish, as well as wrong. For example, consider how God delivers us from the devil. How does He deliver us from the devil? Well, Ephesians chapter 6, starting at verse 10, is devoted to telling us about the armor of God, the resources that God has given us, that He's revealed in His Word, that we are to put on. And in putting those resources on, we're protected. It doesn't mean the devil won't attack you, it just means you're protected. Paul wrote, finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you'll be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. That's how the devil is defeated. Not because we engage him in conversation. Not because we can argue him down. We can't. You'll lose every time. You take on the armor of God. The Lord also delivers us from the world. How does He do that? He gives us a renewed mind. He transforms our thinking by the Word of God. So that we don't think the way we used to think. So that we don't look at the world the way we used to look at the world. Romans 12 says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. The Lord also delivers us from our own fleshly desires by enabling us to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? It means to be dominated by the Word of God, which is the Spirit's voice. Be under His control. as you take in the Word of God. It's Galatians 5. He also delivers us from those who persecute us, not by always saving us physically from persecution, that wouldn't be true because a lot of believers, in fact all believers at some point are persecuted, but the way he delivers us in our persecutions is by the assurance from His Word that He is sovereign and loving, and that He's with us, He'll never leave us, He'll never forsake us, and that all things work together for good to those who know and love Him, and that His grace is always sufficient. That's how He delivers us. And so, like the psalmist, we're in great need of the Lord's protection and His deliverance, and we ought to be looking to Him constantly. This is why Jesus has told us, and we are to pray this way, do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And the thought there is not just evil, it's the evil one. So pray for God's deliverances, because you're just too weak to protect and deliver yourself. Scripture says, let him who thinks he stands Meaning, if you think you're sufficient to handle all of this, take heed, lest he fall. It's the person who thinks that he can do this on his own who's going to fall and be defeated. And many times, Scripture says words to this effect, pride goes before a fall. So don't be proud. Don't fight your enemies on your own strength. But like a weak and needy sheep, lean on the Lord. Trust in Him. Ask your Divine Shepherd to deliver you and He will. If you want to be close to the Lord, then don't live in constant defeat by these enemies that we've mentioned. You don't have to. Look to the Lord for victory and appropriate the means by which He tells us in His Word He delivers His people. Now the psalmist has told us then, two of his greatest spiritual needs. He needs biblical understanding so that he understands God's heart and His ways. And he needs deliverance from his enemies because he knows that he's very vulnerable to attack. But now he moves on to tell us about a third need that he has, which is the need for a heart of praise. He sees that in his own life. Notice verses 171 and 172. Let my lips utter praise for you teach me your statutes. Let my tongue sing of your word, for all your commandments are righteous." Now what he's asking the Lord to do for him in these verses is to enable him to praise God for his word, which would include singing his praises in songs. And in the past we have observed and addressed the importance of praising God in fact, It was only last Sunday, just last Sunday, that we looked at verse 164, where this man says that he praises God seven times a day because his word is so righteous. And if you'll recall what we said, the point of that is not that he praises God just seven times and then stops, but that he frequently, throughout the day, praises God. So the question is this, why, if that's true of his life, is he asking the Lord to enable him? to praise in words and songs. What does this have to do with meeting his spiritual needs as a weak sheep? Well, it has everything to do with it. Because, note this, the natural tendency, the natural inclination of our hearts is not to praise God. Not at all. We aren't naturally thankful people. In fact, we often take God's blessings in our lives for granted. We may go hours without even speaking to Him, without even being conscious of His presence, let alone praising Him. So one of the effects of the fall of man is that we are not inclined naturally to praise God, because we're not inclined to credit Him for being so great and glorious like He is. Paul makes this very clear in Romans 1 when he says of ancient man that although they knew about God, and they knew about God because they observed certain attributes of God through creation and nature. They knew about Him. He made that evident. But they didn't worship Him. They didn't honor Him. They didn't give Him thanks. They simply ignored God and pursued the worship of other objects that they invented. Modern man continues to do the same thing by giving God the cold shoulder and ignoring Him. And even believers in Christ, we need to be reminded time and again to acknowledge the Lord by giving Him thanks and praise. Have you ever wondered or seen in Scripture how often we are commanded to thank the Lord? There's a reason we're often commanded to do this because we would tend, and we do tend, to forget to do this. 1 Thessalonians 5.18, in everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. So are you doing that? Are you giving thanks even in the difficulties of life? Well, that's what Paul is teaching. In everything give thanks. The good things, the neutral things, even the bad things. This is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. In case you're wondering, what is the will of God for my life? This is it. Give thanks. Ephesians 5.20, always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. We are to give thanks for all things. Colossians 3.17, whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Listen, thankfulness is so important. And that's why thanklessness and failing to praise God, it's a sin. It's not a neutral issue, it's a sin. Those who recognize how weak they are and how incapable they are of defeating their enemies so that their hope is in God who does deliver them, we are people like that and we therefore should be the most thankful people. We should be praising God throughout the day frequently. You know, our Lord, made this very clear by an incident in which only one person out of ten remembered to thank Him for what He did. We read in Luke 17, starting at verse 11, while Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing between Samaria and Galilee. As He entered a village, ten leprous men, who stood at a distance, met Him. There's a reason, I told you, they would have to cry out, unclean, unclean, they would stand at a distance. They raised their voices saying, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. When he saw them, he said to them, go and show yourselves to the priests. By the way, the reason he did that is because when someone would be healed from leprosy, according to the law of Moses, they had to first go show themselves to the priests who would declare them clean. That's why he told them to do this. And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now, one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back. glorifying God with a loud voice. And he fell on his face at his feet, giving thanks to Him, and he was a Samaritan." He wasn't even Jewish. Then Jesus answered and said, were there not ten cleansed? But the nine, where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? Listen, we aren't only commanded to praise God, But the Bible teaches us that we were saved to praise Him. Saved to proclaim His greatness. 1 Peter 2.9, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. We have been saved to proclaim His excellencies. And that includes praising Him for His excellencies as well. And listen, the writer to the Hebrews tells those Jewish believers in the first century who were being persecuted, that even in bearing the reproach of Christ, they were not to forget to praise God with their lips. The whole book is about persecution of these people, and yet they needed to press on. Some needed to come to Christ as their Savior. Others needed to endure and just Persevere, and he says in Hebrews 13, 15, through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of our lips that give thanks to his name. This is just after he has spoken about bearing the reproach of Christ, going outside the camp, being identified with the despised Messiah. So, what the psalmist then is telling us, is that praising God, that was a great need in his life, because he was so very grateful for what the Lord had done for him, and what he would do for him in the future. And he needed God to keep reminding him, not to focus on himself, not to focus on his sin, but to focus on God. When, like the psalmist, you do sense how sinful you are, like a wandering lost sheep, the best thing to do is to praise God, to sing praises to Him, to sing to Him for being so good, so righteous, so loving, so faithful, so holy. Otherwise, you'll find yourself focusing too much on your sinfulness and not enough on the Lord's greatness. You'll have a woe-is-me attitude. And you shouldn't. So make it a habit, it is a habit, it's a discipline of praising God even when you don't feel like it. Now thus far, this man then has told us about three of his greatest needs. He needs biblical understanding, he needs deliverance from his enemies, he needs a heart of praise. But in the next few verses he tells us about still another of his most pressing needs. He tells us that he needs God's power to persevere in godliness. He can't do it on his own. Verses 173 through 175. Let your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let my soul live that it may praise you, and let your ordinances help me." Now notice, two times in these verses, the psalmist petitions God for his help. He specifically says, help me. First, he asks for God's hand to help him, and by hand, He certainly does not mean a physical hand. God does not have a physical, literal hand. The Bible says that God is spirit. When the Bible uses the term God's hand, sometimes his right hand, it means his power. His power. That's what he means here. So he's asking for God's power to help him. And the basis for asking this of the Lord, he says, is that he has chosen his precepts, meaning this man has chosen In other words, he's telling the Lord he's a child of God, and the proof that he's a child of God is he's chosen his precepts. He loves the Word. The fact that he's a believer is evidenced by his obedience to God's Word, and therefore he knows he can legitimately ask God to help him because God has promised to help his own. In other words, he's saying, Lord, I'm one of yours, and the fact that I follow your Word Proves that. And then in verse 175, for the second time, he asks that God would use his word to help him. So two times he asks for help. Because he's in need of his help. But the question then facing us is, for what is he asking the Lord's help? In other words, what kind of help does he need from the Lord? Well, notice his line of reasoning as these verses unfold. In verse 174, he says that he longs for God's salvation. Once again, meaning his deliverance from his enemies. And then right after that, he prays in verse 175, let my soul live that it may praise you and let your ordinances help me. And by living, I want you to know he's not simply talking about physically continuing his life, but rather that his soul would be revived. This word for live can be used to mean revived. And I take it that's the sense in which he's using it here. He's saying, let my soul be revived, let it be strengthened, let it be encouraged. Now, in putting these verses together, we see that what this man is asking of the Lord is that he would deliver him from his enemies. He knows that's coming, but while he waits for God to do this, as he's waiting, he wants his soul to be strengthened, so that he would continue to praise God. In other words, he is in need of God's help, for grace to carry on a life of obedience and godliness. He recognizes how weak he is. He needs God's help just to carry on. He doesn't want his bad circumstances to turn him into a bitter, resentful man who complains and gripes about his circumstances. Instead, he wants to continuously praise God and be joyful, and for that he needs God's help. He needs God's strength. He needs God's enabling grace. Folks, you and I desperately need this as well. See, just like this man, we know what it's like to experience suffering and pain. And left to ourselves, we would turn into sour, crabby individuals who just whine and complain about life's difficulties. But we don't have to do that. We shouldn't do that. Because God offers to help us. And He helps us how? He helps us by teaching us the truth about Himself in His Word. He lifts us from thinking about our bad circumstances to Him, that He is good, that He is sovereign, that He is wise, that He is loving, and that He uses all things to work for our good. And we praise Him for that. Listen, if you're in the midst right now of great suffering, know that the Lord is there to help you by giving you His strength, His enabling strength to endure, no matter how bad things might be. And there is no one else who can help you like that. So don't lean on anything else or anyone else. It's the Lord. This is why Paul said in Philippians 4, I can do all things through Christ. who strengthens me. Not I can do all things, but I can only do all things and amend, handle any circumstance in life through Jesus Christ, because only Jesus Christ strengthens me to handle all things. So let Christ strengthen you. Let Him help you by His Word as you read it, as you believe it, and as you apply it to your life. So the psalmist has told us of his greatest needs. He needs biblical understanding. He wants insight into God's character. He needs deliverance from his enemies. He needs a heart of praise because life is tough and he needs to remember his Lord. And he needs God's help to persevere in godliness even while his circumstances are bad. And he is so needy because he recognizes how sinful How sinful he is, and that's why, as we said earlier, he concludes his psalm the way he does, verse 176, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servants, for I do not forget your commandments. As we said earlier, these words, they reflect how far short he feels he is in obeying the Lord. In reality, we know this, he's actually a very godly man. But being acutely aware of his sin, he feels like a wandering sheep. All of us at times feel, we know what it's like to feel very much like this. We see so much sin in our lives, sometimes it may even leave us wondering if we're really saved. If we're even one of Christ's sheep, there's so much there. So much sin. So if you've ever felt this way, let me encourage you. Let me encourage you by pointing out that the fact that you even care about your sin, that you pray about it, and that you desire God to go after you so that he doesn't let you wander any further, the fact that that's even a part of your life proves that you really are one of Christ's sheep. Because non-sheep don't care. Spurgeon, and I think it's good that our last quote is from our friend Charles Spurgeon, put it this way. Concerning the psalmist as a wandering sheep, Spurgeon said, had he been only a lost sheep, meaning an unsaved sheep, he would not have prayed to be sought, but being also a servant, he had the power to pray. He cries, seek thy servant, and he hopes to not only be sought, but forgiven, accepted, and taken into work again by his gracious master. The psalmist was a man, folks, who was very much aware of his sin, and therefore he knew how needy he was. The question is, do you see how needy you are? Do you see your sinfulness? Are you aware then of your needs, your true needs, your spiritual needs? Do you see how much you need to understand about the Lord's character? Do you see how much you need to trust Him to deliver you from your enemies? Do you see how much you need to praise Him for who He is. Do you see how much you need Him for His power to enable you to live a godly life, no matter how bad things might be with you? Jesus said, without Me, you can do nothing. These are your needs. If you know Christ, then start seeking Him to meet these needs, and you'll be drawn close to Him. Now, if you're not a true Christian, then your greatest need is Jesus Christ Himself as your Savior. It's your greatest need. You need Him, not for a deliverance now, but you need Him to save you from hell, to save you from God's wrath, to save you from being plunged into an eternal destiny in hell when you die. And you can be saved if you'll turn to Christ for salvation. Jesus said, come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden, meaning weary and heavy laden with their sin, and I'll give you rest. Christ died to save sinners, not good people. He died to save sinners like you. like me, from the wrath of God, and he invites you to come to him to be saved, repent of your sin, turn to him, cry out for his mercy, and trust his death as the only basis for your salvation. Let's pray. Father, we thank you because you've given us a great honor, great privilege as a church family to study this massive psalm, and we thank you for all that you've taught us. We thank you for all the repetition, Lord, because we need these truths, and we need them reinforced in our lives, and we need them to be absorbed in our being. We thank you that you have allowed us to not only get to know the words of the psalm, But the man behind these words, I look forward to meeting him in heaven, talking to him. He's been like a friend that I've spent so much time with, Lord. But we thank you above all that through the study of this psalm we've been able to get to know you better. And we pray that as we conclude that You'll help us to establish godly habits in our lives of praying for these matters that we've studied today, that we might see how weak we are, how much we need you. And I pray for those who are still unsaved. They really are lost sheep. We pray that you'll go after them. and that you'll draw them, bring them back to yourself that they may see that you are the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Lord, we pray that long after we finish this psalm that these truths will still linger in our minds and hearts and continue to impact us for your glory. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.