Psalm 119. Today we move to the sixth stanza and it is VAU, V-A-U. I've entitled this one, The Militant David. We've been talking about the emotional David here for some time, but today we're going to look at the militant David. All right, so we begin now in verse 41. Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me, for I trust in thy word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in thy judgments. So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate in thy statutes." May the Lord bless the reading of His Word once again this morning. Continue now with the six stanzas of David's grand thoughts here in Psalm 119. We see that his emotions have run from euphoric to exasperation, from embarrassment to exhaustion, to expectancy, which then led him to a state of earnestness. As he learned that a young man couldn't cleanse his way, verse nine, by taking heed thereunto according to the Lord's word, that earnestness led him to believe that there was no time to waste if he wanted the continual blessings of verses one through three. And by the way, you should want the blessings of one through three. Those blessings of the undefiled in the way is what he wanted that he might walk in the law of the Lord, verse 1, if you'll look there. And he also wanted to keep the Lord's testimonies by seeking the Lord with his whole heart, verse 2, which would render membership with those that also do no iniquity, verse 3, with those that walk in the Lord's ways. He wanted to do that too. More than anything, David wanted to keep the Lord's precepts diligently. Verse four. Now listen very carefully. To do that, to do that, David knew that he had to get to know the Lord up close and personal. It was with this knowledge that he would have the blessing of close communion with the Lord to see Him, here we go, more clearly, follow Him more nearly, and love Him more dearly. I know you get tired of hearing me say that, but that's what we all want to do. Because listen, listen to me, if you can see Him more clearly, follow Him more nearly and love Him more dearly, you're going to not offend the Lord. You'll be worshiping Him, serving Him with your whole heart. And if you're in it like you ought to be, you're not going to offend Him as often you do with your petty sins and this and that the devil will try to put upon you. So precious had the Lord become to David. He wanted this friendship. He wanted this relationship on a deeper level. David then had to know more and do more. He wanted to be as good a friend to this friend as that friend was to him. And as I told you last Sunday, he never wanted to be a fair-weather friend. And friend, if you would be honest with me this morning, you know that on lots of occasions you've been a fair-weather friend to the Lord. You've let your worship slip. You've let your service slip. You've let your Bible reading slip. You've let your prayer time slip. You've done your own thing when God said no about a thing. You didn't consult God on matters that you should. You got with people that you shouldn't be around. You condoned things that were going on around you that you shouldn't have condoned. You should have took a high stand and said, well, I can't do that. God ain't gonna be happy with me if I condone this behavior or that behavior. I don't care what's going on. David wanted this, and as a matter of fact, he wanted it so bad. Back there in verse 11, he cries out, thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Thus we found the urgent David. And so urgent is he, we find him in the dust, verse 25. That is on his face, begging the Lord for help. He does not want to offend the Lord anymore with his sin. Thus he cries in verse 33, teach me, Lord, the way of your statutes, so I shall keep it in the end. He wants understanding, verse 34, that he might keep the Lord's law and observe it with his whole heart. And if you remember last Sunday, man, I had such a good time with this part. I'm still thinking about it, about that word teach in Hebrew. You remember what I said about that? Teach defined in Hebrew means to throw, to cast, to shoot, to point out, to direct, to throw water or rain upon an individual that they may know a thing. Submersible. I like that. And now I know what my teachers were trying to do to me. I do. So reconstructing verse 33, as I told you last Sunday, here's David pleading, oh Lord, throw into me the way of thy statuettes. Don't hold back, shoot into me the way of thy statuettes, cast into me the way of thy statuettes, pour into me the way of thy statuettes, throw in the water of your word into me. Let me drink it, rain on me, flood me with the water of your word. We have in a real sense, David pleading in verse 33, Oh Lord, drown me in the way of your statuettes. He really wanted to be submersed in the facts of the Lord. And David promises the Lord that he would keep the Lord's word until the end. That means the rest of his life, if you would. David even says, David even says that the Lord had given him to understand, verse 34, he would deserve it with his whole heart. Keep the Lord's law. Everything in David's life would be saturated with the Word, performed by the Word, lived outwardly from the inwardly of his being to honor the Lord. T.S. Sinclair once said, there are many books that inform, some books that try to reform, but only one book that can transform. And that's the one that David wants. And then after we saw the urgent David, I'm just giving you a recap here real quick. We found the submissive David. If you'll look at verse 35 through 39, David throws himself on the altar of God and pleads for God to make him go, to incline his heart, to turn away his eyes, to quicken to him, verse 37, to establish this word, verse 38, verse 39, turn away my reproach which I fear. In other words, David is pleading with the Lord. Boy, I wish we all had that same type of desire. We'd plead that way with the Word. And then we had the persistent David at the end of that sermon last week. David keeps pleading with urgency, telling the Lord, verse 40, Behold, I have longed after thy precepts. In other words, I've been wanting them for a long, long time. Quicken me in thy righteousness, please, David. David wants this so badly that he just stays with the Lord. David had ran with the world on several occasions, before, but he doesn't want to ANYMORE! And I'm asking you the same. Do you want to run with the world? Or do you want to run with God? Horatio Bonar once wrote, If you are Christians, be consistent. Be Christians out and out. Be Christians every hour and every part. Beware of half-hearted discipleship, of compromise with evil, of conformity to the world, of trying to serve two masters, of trying to walk in two ways, the narrow and the broad, at once. Half-hearted Christianity will dishonor God and leave you miserable. No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money or any idol." Matthew 6 24 unquote. So David pleaded with the Lord to drag him out of that grave of death. The word quickens says that. and he comes to the Lord in urgency, submissiveness, and persistence. And so when we get to the sixth stanza, we find that David has jacked up his prayer time, and now he's going to get militant with the Lord to get an answer for what he wants. By the way, do you know what that word militant means? It means to be aggressive. Extremely active in the defense or support of a cause. Often to the point of extremism. David here is getting aggressive with the Lord in the defense of His cause. Look at verse 41. Let by mercy come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word. Are you looking up here? It says David is praying and pointing his finger at God. even thy salvation according to thy word. Let thy mercies come also unto me according to thy word. David is aggressive here, albeit he's respectful, but he reminds the Lord of his own words. Boy, that's some tough stuff right there. You better pay attention this morning. This might help you a whole bunch before you get out of here. According to thy words, says David. David is hearkening back actually to the time of his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, which David tried to hide. David had sinned grievously against the Lord. God sent the prophet Nathan to him to remind David that God knew all about David's sin anyway, and also told Nathan to tell David the consequences of that sin. Boy, the consequences ain't very good. Nathan gave a full report as to what was going to happen to David as a result of his sin. You can read the narrative in 2 Samuel if you want to, chapter 12. So broken, And in terror by Nathan's words was David, that David said to Nathan in 2 Samuel 12 verse 13, I have sinned against the Lord. I have sinned against the Lord. He knows that death is imminent, that God is going to kill him. But Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die. Boy, isn't that gracious to the Lord? The Lord forgave David's sins and restored him back into the joy of the Lord's salvation. Now you would think, after that event, that David would keep a low profile with God and stay out of sight and out of mind. I mean, especially after such a grievous sin that he had committed. And especially since God had been so gracious to him. My, my, I'd be walking on eggshells, wouldn't you? I mean, he'd been so gracious to me. But David is a friend to God, and he knows his friend as being undeniably merciful all the time. So David imposes, if you will, David imposes upon the Lord's mercy. Believing the Lord's mercies are not a one-time thing, but an all-time thing for his people. Thus here is David reminding the Lord how generous and gracious the Lord had been to grant David mercy before, even though David's sin was incredibly gross. Hey, Lord, You forgave me of that big sin. Lord, You forgave me of that. Surely You can grant me mercy to know Your Word. Are you with me this morning? I'm beginning to think y'all getting tired of me. You're a new preacher up here, one tall, good looking. Listen to me. This is incredible. This is Him getting with God, reminding God of how He showed such mercy for such gross sin. Surely now, this isn't a sin, this is Him asking for help to know His Word. Some of you struggle to read your Bible, but what you ought to do is get with God. You know, He never says no to those who come to Him. And David is certainly super aggressive here. God does not have to respond with mercy at all. Say, Amen. You know that. that he does is truly the good pleasure of his will, and nothing more. All men are wicked, hellions, and rebellious against God all the time. They don't deserve mercy, and David didn't deserve mercy. But God, who is rich in mercy, had shown mercy to David, and David here is reminded of the Lord that he had, and had for such a great sin. Surely, for what David is asking for now, which is to help to know and keep the Lord's word. Should be, could be, should be worthy of the Lord's mercy. Now, let me just say this as a little attachment to this. Listen, I don't care what it is that's going on in your life. Take it to Him. And hey, go into scripture and see the places where He forgave others, He helped others and remind them Be a little militant with your prayers. It's just a little bit trite. But sometimes you can't take no for an answer. But God never uses the word no, so you don't have to worry about that part, do you? Pray. Be aggressive. Lord, you healed others. You can heal me. I know you can. David is not wrong here in how he aggressively pleads. Look, go to New Testament to Hebrews. Way over in New Testament in the book of Hebrews. Paul takes a page out of David's playbook here in chapter four of Hebrews. I'm coming back to Psalm 119. Don't lose your finger place there. Look at chapter four down to verse 16. Here's what Paul says. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Boldly means aggressively. It's without a doubt how we prove to the Lord that we really mean business when we come boldly. You know, the Lord sees that and believes you mean business, that you're sincere, that you're serious about getting the Lord to do a thing. Of course, you must come respectfully and correctly. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 now. Flip forward a few pages, you'll be there. Verse 19, Paul says to the Hebrew children of this day and to us, having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, and that's where the throne of grace is, by the blood of Jesus, meaning only believers that have the blood covering Jesus on them, that is, they are saved, they're the only ones who can come in, And then in verse 20, he says... Verse 21, we have a high priest over the house of God, which is Christ Jesus, who is our intercessor with and before God. Then in verse 22, Paul says, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from the evil conscious, in other words, repenting of your sins, and our bodies washed with pure water, meaning obedience to the Word of God and to God Himself, And verse 23, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised. So you can come aggressively asking the Lord to help you in whatever situation it is to do something. But listen, you better not come insincerely. You better ask the Lord to forgive your sins and then get on your face and say, Lord, here I am. This is what David's doing here, but David's already prayed, been urgent, submissive, persistent to the Lord in the last stanza. Now he's aggressive. Both David and Paul, by the way, got this idea from their father, Abraham. Did you know that? Them boys, neither one of them boys could say, this is what I thought of. They got it from Abraham. Go back to Genesis chapter 18. Genesis 18, now if you know anything about Genesis 18, that's the time that three men, which I believe were the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or the Lord Jesus at least, and two angels, visited Abraham and Sarah on the plains of Mamre to announce the upcoming birth of a son in their old age. He's 100, she's 90, and God's gonna give them Isaac. Can you say amen? So after this spellbinding yet wonderful news in verse 16, Now here's why I believe this was the Father's Son, the Holy Ghost. Verse 17, and the Lord said, y'all see that? I believe the Lord has showed up in person there in the form of a man to Abraham's house. And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? See that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, for I know him. that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is, Come unto me, And if not, I will know." He knew. He knew that's why He's there. And the men turned their faces from thence and went towards Sodom. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord." In other words, he gets between the Lord and Sodom and Gomorrah. Are you with me? Can you imagine how bold that is? He gets in front of the Lord. And Abraham gets with Him and respectfully, boldly, and humbly, says to him, wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Verse 23. My, that's bold. Verse 24, per adventure, per chance, there'd be 50 righteous men within the city. And the reason he's asking, cause his nephew and his family's down there. They're gonna get destroyed with Zon-Gamal if the Lord does this thing. So he's talking to the Lord. He says, if there's 50 down there, wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for 50 righteous that are therein? that be far from thee to do it in this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, Lord, and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee, Lord, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Notice that judge is capital J. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? My goodness, that's aggressive. Don't you think so? And the Lord said, if I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. However, Abraham is not going to be denied. His nephew and his family is down there in that perverse hell hole, and God is going to destroy it, and he's got to get them out some way. And Abraham answered in verse 27 and said, Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes. Notice how respectful he is. Lord, I'm nothing but dust and ashes, and I shouldn't be talking to you this way. Peradventure, Lord, peradventure. There shall lack five of the 50 righteous. Suppose there's 45 down there, Lord. Esau and Gomorrah, will you still destroy them? And God said, if I find there 40 and five, I will not destroy it. Okay, said Abraham and turned and went home. No, he didn't. He stayed there, he wouldn't quit. Verse 29, and he's speaking to God yet again and said, per adventure there shall be 40 found there. And God said, I will not do it for the sake. Okay, now Abraham goes home. No, wrong again. Verse 30, and Abraham said unto God, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Peradventure there shall be 30 be found there. And God said, I will not do it if I find 30 there. Abraham, okay, now we're finished. No, no, hang on. And Abraham said, behold now, I have taken it upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure there shall be 20 found there. And God said, I will not destroy it for 20's sake. There it is, we're done. No, one more time. And Abraham said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry. And I will speak yet, but this once per venture, ten shall be found there. And he says, I will not destroy it for ten's sake. Now God had had enough. And he's going to spare Lot, Abraham's nephew. And the Lord went his way, verse 33. And as soon as he had left communion with Abraham, Abraham returned to his place, and the Lord went on down there, and the angel saved Lot and his wife and two daughters. The rest of them wouldn't come. And the wife loved the place so much she turned around. What happened to her? Turned into a pillar of salt. Now that's what David's doing here. He's reminding the Lord of his past mercy toward David. Just like Abraham and Paul, David continues to be bold, aggressive, militant, if you will. because the people of Israel knew of David's failings. They knew about his adultery. They knew about David's failings. And certainly his enemies, both foreign and domestic, knew about his failings. David tells the Lord he needs the Lord's help to know the Lord's statutes, precepts, and his command that he might be able to, look at verse 42, answer those folks that reproach me, says David. What's he gonna answer them? That the Lord shows mercy. that the Lord forgives. And to add emphasis to this reminder, David adds a rejoinder, a retort, a response, which in most cases is said to affect the move of how you say things. Like in a courtroom, you know, sometimes a lawyer will make his case and then at the end of his case he'll say, Oh, and I want to add this rejoinder, this retort. David adds this little retort back at God, for I trust in thy word. Here's a reason you should answer my pleading says David. I'm on your side. I trust you. I know you can do it. I believe in you. It's like David is giving the Lord a pet talk. But the Lord doesn't need a cheerleader, does He? He knows exactly what He's doing. But David believes that his aggressiveness must be tempered with some action. And David's only action is to tell the Lord that he trusts Him and no other. You ever do that in your prayer? Lord, I can't trust the bank. I can't trust this one. I can't trust them, but I can trust you. You will deliver, Lord. I know you will. I know you will. You ever got down and prayed that way? Man, me and this lady right here have on many occasion. We've not always been as wealthy and live in a mansion like we are now. The Lord wants to hear that kind of honor from the lips of His children. And certainly David knew that the Lord will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. You can read that from Psalm 115, 13. And then secondly, David asks the Lord to, verse 43 there, Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in thy judgments. Now you and I both know the Lord wouldn't do such a thing. He wouldn't ever take His truth out of David's mouth. But here is David using this to say that the only way David wouldn't keep the Lord's commandments is that the Lord would take them out of David's mouth. That's the only way I'm going to not keep them is you drag them out of my mouth. Man, that's bold. You're going to have to stop me. He aggressively puts the ball into the Lord's court like Abraham did. That's what he's doing. He put the ball right in his court and says, I trust in all of you. And see, if that's the case, Lord, you gotta do something. Man, that's audacity. Then in verse 44, so shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever. And then verse 45, only then I will walk at liberty, or be at liberty to speak thy precepts. He said, I'm only gonna get liberty to speak about your precepts if you do this thing for me. If you don't teach me, if you don't throw it in me, if you don't submerge me in it, I won't be able to teach anybody else. Boy, that's pretty much my prayer when he called me to preach. Did I tell you about that? Let me tell you about that real quick. I was called to preach in a service down in Alabama. there at Antioch Baptist Church. We were down there singing at a big singing convention on Friday and Saturday night. And then on Sunday we attended Raymond Cook's church who the guys I sang with knew. I didn't know him. But he preached that morning and the Holy Ghost fell upon me right there in the room. in that church, and I surrendered to preach that very morning. Well, that night, we come back to our home church, and I told the preacher, I said, you know, I believe the Lord's called me to preach. He turned around and pointed at the pulpit and says, all right, there it is. Let's just see. Let's just see. And man, I said, I ain't got... He said, if He called you to preach, He'll put a sermon in your mouth. And I went there and preached, and that started it all, 1974. June of 1974, if I believe it right. And here I am today. The only liberty I have up here to preach to you is what the Lord gives me. But just so that David keeps the Lord's attention, he snaps in another rejoinder, another retort. For I seek thy precepts. And David keeps on going. He's not through yet. Verse 46, I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings. It will not be a shame. Don't worry about me. I'll keep doing it no matter what it takes. Now here, David is saying if God will put His Word in David, then he will have the facts, the information, the ability to answer anyone that asks about the Lord, travels with the Lord, besmirches ever the Lord, He will stand up and correct them, teach them, instruct them. By the way, you know that's what you're supposed to be doing, don't you? You're supposed to be telling others about this Jesus who saved you. How wonderful it was, over all the commotion in the kitchen Thursday, that preacher stayed with that pink haired boy until that boy asked the Lord to save him. I don't believe he coerced him, that's a grace guy in there, I know the preacher. But he was saved right here. He told him right away. He's a preacher. Listen, if you can't tell anybody about your own salvation experience, was your experience worth much? You know, that's all Paul ever told was his salvation experience. I was on the road to Damascus. I was getting ready to kill a bunch of Christians, take them back, get them to trial. And then a bright light hit me. And it says, Saul, Saul. Changed my name to Paul, Paul, and here I am. But here's the real kicker of David's aggressiveness. Look at verse 47. I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. There's the reason, Lord, that you ought to do what I'm asking you to do. I love your Word. Help me to understand it. I love the Bible. Help me to know it. My, how many times have I prayed that prayer? How many times have I said to the Lord, Lord, this don't make sense to me. And I got to stand in the pulpit and preach it. You pointed it out. You said, do this. Here I am, do something. And he's never failed me yet. And there's been some times I've gotten the pulpit and he says, nah, we're not doing that one. Do this one. But David's not leaving anything undone. He's covering all bases as verified by verse 48. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate in thy statuettes, I promise you. This is David metaphorically with his left hand on the Bible and his right hand in the air, swearing, promising to tell the truth, nothing but the truth. So help me God, I will. Keep Your Word. Now, this is not the end of David's pleading in this psalm, but it is as pertaining to the blessings of verses 1, 2, 3. And you should be thankful that we're going to move on. But this is what the undefiled do. The undefiled, listen, write it down, the undefiled can go direct to God through Jesus. You don't have to show up on Friday night at the Catholic church and get in a little box and confess your sins to the high priest who can't do nothing for you. You don't have to handle snakes, thank the Lord. You don't have to eat vegetables only. No. The Lord. David here is taking a break in his prayer. But when we get to stanza seven, you're going to see that the whole thing in a sense is David's prayer. His grand thoughts toward the Lord. Because he wants to serve and worship the Lord right. How many people want to do that? I want to do that. You know, we're told in John 4 that we're to worship the Lord in spirit and truth, but I just wonder how many times we've come here with the mindset to do that. Spirit and truth. I wonder how many of y'all, before you leave the house, or on the way here in the car, you pray. You say, Lord, forgive my sins, I'm going into your house now. Help me to worship you in spirit and truth correctly, that you might be glorified in this church. Sometimes God doesn't bless churches because the fact they don't worship Him as they should. And it's not only in the house, but outside the house. Now take a lesson from David on this militant prayer. I want to tell you the militant prayer is an aggressive prayer. But sometimes you've got to do that. But respectfully, What you're showing God is that you mean what you're saying, that you're going to stay with God until He does something. Nothing wrong with that. However, the mechanics of that militant prayer must show humble respect bolstered by confidence. If you point out to God what He's done in His Word, You've got to have confidence in it yourself and tell Him respectfully that, Lord, here's what you've done in the past. I still believe you do it. I still believe God's healing people, don't you? I still believe God's doing miracles. This is a miracle. This building's a miracle. Everything about it. Hey, the fact that we're sitting up right on these pews is a miracle, for crying out loud. And then you've got to have the right mindset. There's a mindset behind praying this method. And it's born out of one's previous experience with the Lord and the graciousness of the Lord's mercy in the past for you. If the Lord has answered your other prayers and you know it, then your mindset ought to be, He can do it again. He can do it again. Our problem is that many times after the Lord answers a prayer, we go on our merry way. Thank you. See you. Shame on you. This is believing the Lord will do a thing based on actual personal experience. And there's not a single person here in this room that God hasn't answered your prayers. But you've got to get aggressive. Got a lost loved one in your family? Get aggressive. Say, Lord, You've saved others. Why not Him? We don't know who's elect and who ain't, do we? Don't have a clue. So we preach to all men indiscriminately, all women, children. We tell them all, listen, Jesus saves. You're going to go to hell if you're not saved. and all we're gonna get to heaven is believe in his son, that's it. First and foremost. When's the last time you actually got down and played?