STEPS ORDERED BY THE LORD

STEPS ORDERED BY THE LORD

PSALMS 119:

132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,

as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

134 Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.

135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Charles Spurgeon used a wonderful outline on this text.

He saw the following four things here:

1. Complete Subservience

2. Careful Watchfulness

3. Comprehensive Obedience

4. Cautious Apprehensiveness

I will use a little different outline,

but we will speak of the same truths.

Our outline will be:

1. The Right Relationship

2. The Right Response

3. The Right Respect

4. The Right Result

I. THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP

Ps 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,

as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

In essence,

Lord, just treat me the same

as you treat the rest of your family,

and I’ll be happy.

Perhaps when you first came,

you would have been happy

to be treated as one of the hired servants,

like the prodigal son in the Bible,

but you soon learned that you are family,

and you sit at the family table.

I want to be treated as the rest of the family.

If they are reproached, I will share the reproach.

If they are blessed, I am blessed with them.

Why would anyone want to hurt their own family?

This prayer is a beautiful prayer.

Ps 119:132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me,

as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

Is this a prayer you could pray? Do you love His name?

Strange that some today will boast

that they never professed to be a believer,

as though there were some merit in that.

“Well, I never professed to love His name.”

Nothing to brag about.

Would you think well of one who said,

“Well, I never professed to love my family.”

Imagine telling a judge in a court of law,

“Well, I never professed

to have any respect for you or your laws.”

Then, think of standing

before the Judge of all the Earth.

If you haven’t professed your faith ... your love ...

You should, today.

II. THE RIGHT RESPONSE

Psalm 119:133

“Order my steps in thy word:

and let not any iniquity

have dominion over me.”

“Order my steps.”

Just tell me what you want me to do,

and I will do it.

He knew that his orders were written orders.

Psalm 119:133

"Order my steps in thy word: "

We don’t need a new revelation.

We need to obey the one we have.

If He says, be baptized ...

If He says, be faithful in church

etc.

The Psalmist had a predisposition to obedience.

Paul saw this spirit in Philemon and wrote,

Philemon 1:21 Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.

Are you one who will “do more?”

Some want to know how little

they can get by with (or away with).

III. THE RIGHT RESPECT

PSA. 119:133 ... let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

When you think about it, sin is about disrespect.

Disrespect for the God who told us not to ...

Disrespect for those we sin against.

Disrespect for our own selves as we sin.

Enticement and invitation to iniquity

(better known as temptation)

is to be spurned by the children of God.

Someone says,

“Well, we all have our besetting sins.”

And that is true according to

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

The point is that it “besets” us too “easily.”

It needs to be laid aside,

no longer in close proximity,

no longer easily accessible.

Sin is not only besetting,

it is upsetting to the child of God.

I read an illustration something

similar to the following:

If I place myself in a certain place,

and am there “beset” upon by robbers and brigands,

and thus discover my weakness and vulnerability

in that situation,

you might have compassion and understanding

that I was overtaken at the time,

but if I return there again the next night,

and the next night, and the next night,

Well, I think you get the idea.

If the last time you came to my door,

you beat me up (and my family),

and I found the visit most unpleasant,

wouldn’t it make sense

that I would not open the door

and invite you in

the next time you come around?

If I find my “besetting” sin “upsetting” enough,

surely I would wish to avoid it (lay it aside).

This is what is expressed in this verse.

PSA. 119:133 ... let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

It has to do with the Right Respect.

IV. THE RIGHT RESULT

Psa. 119:135 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

As you take the steps ordered in the word,

even baby steps, you make progress,

you move toward victory and blessing.

When you are saved,

people should be able to see a difference

in the things you do,

and in the things you don’t do.

A preacher of yesteryear (Rowland Hill)

said something to this effect,

“that a man was not truly converted

if his cat and his dog were not

the better off for it.”

It is wonderful to have His smile of approval,

and His blessed presence in your life.

He only wants what is best for us.

Psa 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”

This very day, He wishes to give you

His mercy and His grace.

Psa 84:11 ... the LORD will give grace and glory:

Never see the latter until you have received the former.

=============================================

The preceding is a sermon written by Ben Shepherd.

Permission is freely granted to those who minister

to use in public proclamation without stating attribution.

All other rights reserved.

Written and edited after reading & rereading from

the sermon(s) or writings cited below by C.H. Spurgeon.

Some of the thoughts and ideas were inspired

by Spurgeon's sermons, which are in the public domain.

ORDERED STEPS.

Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 42, No . 2487

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD’S DAY,

OCTOBER 18TH, 1896, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON,

ON LORD’S DAY EVENING, AUGUST 29TH, 1886.

==================================================

Click Here to Return to Christisourlife.com