Latest / Reformed Thinking / Wholehearted Prayer and Steadfast Hope in God’s Word (Psalm 119:145–152) | Charles Spurgeon

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Wholehearted Prayer and Steadfast Hope in God’s Word (Psalm 119:145–152) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Picture a bitter, freezing night in 16th century Scotland.
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The wind is howling across this dark, snow covered landscape.
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Oh wow. Yeah, And a man slips out of his
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warm bed, leaving his wife asleep, and walks out into the
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frozen garden, dressed only in his thin night clothes.
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He just falls to his knees in the frost, weeping openly in the
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dark. And he cries out to the empty
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sky. Oh Lord, wilt thou not give me
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Scotland? That is just an incredibly
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jarring image. It really is.
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That man was John Welch, a Scottish minister, and his
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agonizing vocal prayers in the freezing dark were a regular
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occurrence. He felt the spiritual weight of
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his nation so heavily that physical comfort became entirely
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irrelevant to him. Right, which sounds almost alien
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to a modern year. Spot on.
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We live in an era of casual, polite religion.
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We send quick, multitasking prayers up to heaven while
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driving to work. Or, you know, waiting in line
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for coffee. Yeah, we try to fit God into the
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convenient margins of our busy schedules.
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We do, But Welch's Frozen Garden presents a radically different
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reality. It is a reality of visceral,
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desperate communion with the Creator.
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So welcome to reformed thinking. Today we are initiating a deep
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dive into an extraordinary piece of theological literature that
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captures the very essence of that midnight desperation.
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And it is a text that carries immense gravity.
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It really does. Our mission today is to
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thoroughly examine Charles Spurgeon's masterpiece, The
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Treasury of David. We are bringing an intense
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magnifying focus to his analysis of song 118 specifically versus
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145 through 152. And we want to address you, the
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listener, directly here. If you have ever felt completely
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distracted when you attempt to pray, this text is for you.
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Yeah, or if you have ever felt overwhelmed by the rapid,
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unstoppable passing of time, or if you feel threatened by the
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crushing circumstances of your life right now, this text
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provides a historical and theological anchor for you.
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Because it addresses the very real friction of living as a
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frail human being in a hostile world, all while fighting to
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maintain a clear line of communication with the sovereign
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God. So to set our framework clearly
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from the very beginning, let's talk about the lens we are
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using. Right.
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We will be analyzing this text through a distinctly reformed
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theological lens. We are strictly adhering to the
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doctrines outlined in the Westminster Confession.
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Which means we are dealing with very specific realities about
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who God is. Precisely when we read the
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psalmist's desperate pleas today, we are looking at a God
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who is entirely sovereign over all aspects of salvation.
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We are looking at a God whose decrees are fixed from eternity
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past. So this is not a deity who waits
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nervously to see what humans will decide to do.
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Not at all. This is not a reactive God who
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adjusts his plans based on the shifting cultural tides of human
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history. Instead, we see a God who
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mercifully grants the very grace required for the believer to cry
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out to him in the first place. Yeah, the theological backbone
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of our entire conversation today is the reality of our condition.
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Left to our own natural devices, we do not seek God.
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Right. Our wills are in bondage.
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God must initiate the relationship, God must sustain
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the relationship, and God must secure the final salvation of
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the individual. So as we walk through these 8
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verses, we are going to look at the anatomy of a sincere
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undivided prayer. We will also examine the
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rigorous, almost painful discipline of morning devotion,
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where the believer literally fights against the clock.
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And we will look at the absolute necessity of pleading for
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unmerited grace rather than waving our own personal
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achievements in God's face. From there, we will analyze the
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terrifying geometry of spiritual conflict as enemies close in on
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every side. And finally, we will arrive at
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the unshakeable bedrock of God's eternal decrees.
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The progression of those themes is fascinating, and it all
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begins with the raw mechanics of how a human being communicates
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with the Almighty. Let us jump right into the text
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of verses 1:45 and 1:46. Right, the passage reads, I
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cried with my whole heart. Hear me, O Lord, I will keep thy
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statutes. I cried unto thee.
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Save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.
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What stands out immediately there is the complete lack of
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polished religious jargon. Yeah, Charles Spurgeon in his
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commentary, refuses to romanticize this moment.
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He looks at verse 145 and describes this cry as a
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plaintive, painful, natural utterance.
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He likens it to a creature in pain.
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Which is such a raw image? Think about an animal caught in
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a trap. It does not carefully compose a
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speech, it simply wails out of an instinctual need for
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survival. That is the baseline of the
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prayer we are examining. It is an undivided, desperate
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cry. And the Puritans had a brilliant
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way of analyzing the mechanics of this kind of prayer, didn't
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they? They did.
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Thomas Brooks, an English Puritan preacher from the 17th
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century, wrote quite a bit on this specific passage.
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He noted that God looks at the sincerity of the heart above all
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other factors. Right.
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Brooks argues that God does not look at the geometry of your
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prayers. I love that phrase.
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By geometry he means the physical length and breadth of
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the words you use. So you do not gain a better
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hearing before the throne of heaven simply because your
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prayer lasted for three hours instead of 3 minutes.
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Exactly. Or, well, I should say that is
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spot on. Furthermore, Brooks says, God
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does not evaluate the music of your prayers.
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Meaning the sound of your voice. Yeah, he does not care about the
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sweetness, the cadence, or the poetic eloquence of your voice.
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You could have the most beautifully resonant speaking
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voice in the world, stringing together gorgeous theological
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metaphors, and it means absolutely nothing if the heart
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is not engaged. Wow.
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And then there's a third element Brooks mentions.
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Right. Brooks argues that God does not
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grade the logic of your prayers either.
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So he is not analyzing how intellectually robust your
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arguments are or how perfectly you have structured your
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rhetorical points. No, God looks entirely
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exclusively at the undivided nature of the heart.
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To illustrate this, Brooks brings in a striking historical
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detail regarding ancient heathen sacrifices.
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Yeah, this part is fascinating. Among Pagan priests, when an
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animal was slaughtered and cut open for a ritual sacrifice, the
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very first thing the priest examined was the heart.
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If the animal's heart was flawed, diseased, or discolored,
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the priest rejected the entire sacrifice immediately.
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The rest of the animal could be flawless, but a defective heart
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ruined the offering. And in a parallel, I'll be it
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infinitely holier way. God loathes a divided heart.
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He really does. Having our attention, giving God
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a tiny corner of our affections on a Sunday morning, while the
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vast majority of our mind belongs to the ambitions and
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anxieties of the secular world, renders the petition completely
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hollow. That imagery of the heathen
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sacrifice is incredibly vivid. It shows how universal the
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concept of an unblemished offering is, even entirely
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outside of the biblical narrative.
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It does, and when we think about what an undivided heart looks
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like in practice, the historical accounts provided in our sources
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give us flesh and blood examples that are quite intimidating.
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We already mentioned John Welch freezing in the snow, but
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consider Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521.
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Oh man, Luther was facing the most terrifying earthly assembly
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imaginable. He really was.
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He was standing before the combined hostile might of the
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Holy Roman Empire and the papal authorities.
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This was an assembly that had the legal and political
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authority to end his life in a horrific manner.
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Yeah, likely by burning him at the stake as a heretic.
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The historical texts note that Luther spent the long, agonizing
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night preceding his trial in loud, sustained prayer.
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He did not offer a polite, casual petition for a good
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outcome. He was a man wrestling with the
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Almighty in the dark. He was crying out so loudly that
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his friends in the neighboring rooms could hear him pleading
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for God to sustain his courage. There's a raw, unpolished
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intensity there. There is, yeah, but I want to
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push back on this concept, or at least draw a modern analogy to
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test the reality of what is being demanded here.
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OK, let's hear it. Our modern approach to prayer
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often resembles sending a quick text message to a friend while
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we are multitasking. Very true.
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We might be driving on the highway.
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Listen to an audiobook thinking about our upcoming budget
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meeting and we shoot a quick silent thought up to heaven
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asking for a good day. Right, it is very fragmented.
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The undivided, vocal, physically exhausting cries of men like
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Luther and Welch seems so extreme by comparison.
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So it raises a very practical question for you, the listener.
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Does God require literal physical yelling?
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That is a fair question. Is the sheer volume of the
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prayer the validating factor of its sincerity?
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Because if vocal agonizing is the standard, most modern
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believers are failing miserably. That is a crucial distinction to
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make, and we must handle it carefully.
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While vocal loud cries certainly happen under intense duress, as
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we saw with Luther terrified for his life, the physical volume
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itself is not the requirement. OK, so there are other examples.
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Yes, the sources bring in the example of Alexander Peden,
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another Scottish Covenanter who faced immense life threatening
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persecution during the 17th century.
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Peden was a man constantly on the run from authorities, right
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hiding in caves and preaching in secret.
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He was. Yet his contemporaries noted
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that Peden was known for praying in calm, quiet whispers.
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It was as if he were having a gentle, intimate conversation
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with a friend sitting right next to him on a rock.
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Wow, so the decibel level of Peden's prayer was incredibly
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low, but the intensity of his focus was identical to Luther's.
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Spot on. The volume matters far less than
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the undivided attention of the soul.
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The whole heart is the key factor.
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The entirety of the person's will and affection is focused
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like a laser beam on God. And this ties directly into the
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Reformed doctrine of total depravity as articulated in
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Chapter 9 of the Westminster Confession.
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Because according to this doctrine, humanity is completely
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fallen and our wills are entirely in bondage to sin.
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We are spiritually dead. A dead person cannot by their
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own natural volition, generate this whole heart to seek a holy
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God. Love to ourselves.
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We will always offer God a divided heart because our
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natural inclination is to love ourselves and the world.
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Therefore, for a believer to offer an undivided cry, the Holy
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Spirit must first regenerate the heart.
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The Spirit has to grant both the desire and the spiritual ability
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to seek Him so singularly. So the very fact that a person
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is agonizing over their relationship with God is proof
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that the Holy Spirit is already actively working within them.
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Yes, that is a great comfort. Is also critical to notice the
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stated goal of David's cry in verse 146.
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Right. He asks to be saved so that he
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shall keep God's testimonies. He is not seeking deliverance as
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a get out of jail free card so he can return to a life of
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comfortable sin. He is seeking deliverance
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specifically to enable a life of rigorous obedience.
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That is a massive paradigm shift.
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The cry is for freedom to obey, not freedom to indulge.
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We are asking God to fix the engine of our lives so we can
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drive on the correct Rd., not so we can comfortably sit in the
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ditch. This transition into a life of
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discipline, obedience leads us directly into the setting of
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these prayers. We are moving into verses 100
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and 47148, which detail the brutal discipline of the dawn.
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The text reads, I prevented the dawning of the morning and
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cried. I hoped in thy word.
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Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate
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in thy word. The phrasing here is archaic.
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The word prevented in this context means to proceed or to
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get ahead of. He is saying he was awake before
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the sun even began to light the horizon.
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William Calper, the 18th century English poet and hymn writer,
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provides a brilliant psychological observation on
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this specific text. He really does.
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He says that David lived in a constant strife with time.
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David was acutely aware that time posts away rapidly.
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It is the one resource we can never ever replenish.
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Copper notes that if we are not extraordinarily careful, time
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will overrun us. It will trample us and weary us
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to dust before we have accomplished anything of eternal
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value. Copper observes that David was
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determined to get in front of time to wrestle the day into
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submission. He wanted to commune with God
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before the sun spurred the day away from them.
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This is an active, aggressive battle against the clock, and to
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fully grasp what David is saying, we also need to
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understand the historical context of the night watches.
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Right. The military aspect of this is
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fascinating. It is the ancient Jewish and
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Roman military structures divided the night into distinct
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guard shifts, known in Latin as the vigiliae.
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Typically, these were shifts lasting roughly 3 hours each
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from sunset to 10:00 PM, then midnight, 3:00 AM, and finally
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6:00 AM. Sentinels would stand on the
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high walls of a city in the freezing cold, remaining hyper
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vigilant against enemy attacks were sieges.
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And falling asleep on the night watch was often a capital
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offense in the military. It was punishable by death
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because the safety of the entire city depended on those guards.
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So David is saying that he was waking up before these highly
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trained Sentinels even changed their shifts.
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While the soldiers watched the horizon for earthly enemies,
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David was awake in the pitch black to commune with God.
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And the material he was meditating on during those
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quiet, solitary night watches is fascinating to consider.
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Henry Melville, a 19th century preacher, points out that the
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Bible was a much smaller volume during David's lifetime.
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David did not have the vast library of scripture that we
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possess today. No, he only had the Torah, the
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first five books of Moses, perhaps Joshua, Judges, and a
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few early historical records. He did not have the sweeping
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visions of the prophets. He did not have the four gospels
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detailing the life of Christ, and He certainly did not have
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the dense theological epistles of Paul.
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Yet year after year, decade after decade, David willingly
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lost sleep to study this relatively small collection of
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texts, and he never exhausted its contents.
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It speaks to the infinite nature of the scripture he possessed.
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It truly does. Melville's point highlights the
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reality that reading the Scripture is not like reading a
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standard mystery novel. With a secular book, once you
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know the plot, once you know who committed the crime, you close
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the book, put it on a shelf and you are finished with it.
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There is nothing left to extract.
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But the biblical text possesses a living, dynamic quality that
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rewards endless repetitive meditation.
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The Holy Spirit uses the exact same verse to convict, comfort,
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or guide a believer differently at age 20 than at age 50.
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So David's discipline was not about acquiring new trivia facts
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to pass a theology exam. It was about internalizing
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eternal truth until it reshaped his very affections.
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He was chewing on the law of God in the dark until it became a
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part of his spiritual bloodstream.
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I want to look at a secular analogy here because modern
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people actually understand this concept perfectly when it
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applies to their own earthly kingdoms.
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Oh, absolutely, beauty. In the modern world, we wake up
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early for the things we truly value.
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People will set their alarms for 3.30 in the morning, happily
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pack their bags and rush to the airport to catch an early flight
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for a tropical vacation. Yeah, or high level financial
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traders will wake up long before dawn staring at glowing screens
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to catch the opening bell of foreign markets because there is
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serious money to be made. We completely understand the
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painful discipline of the dawn when it comes to acquiring
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wealth or chasing pleasure, but when it comes to spiritual
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devotion, we balk. We complain that we need our
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full 8 hours or we say we are just too exhausted to read a
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single chapter. So I have to ask a blunt
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question. Is this mandate for early rising
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simply a personality trait? That is something a lot of
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people wonder. Are these verses just a
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historical nod to the fact that David, biologically speaking,
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happened to be a morning person? Or is there a specific binding
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theological principle at play here that applies even to those
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of us who violently struggle to drag ourselves out of bed?
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George Swinnick, a highly regarded English Puritan,
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addresses this exact friction in his writings, and he makes it
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clear that this is far more than a biological personality trait.
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So what is the theological principle?
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The theological principle at play here is the offering of
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firstfruits. If we look back at the Levitical
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law in the Old Testament, the 1st and best of the agricultural
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harvest always belonged to God. The Israelites were not allowed
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to harvest their fields, fill their own barns, and then give
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God whatever bruised leftover grain remained at the bottom of
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the pile. Right.
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God demanded the very first sheaves of the harvest.
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By giving God the first moments of the waking day, the believer
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is practicing that exact same principle with their time.
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They are prioritizing the Creator before the heat of the
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wilderness, as Swinnick calls it, takes over.
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Swinnick talks about the absolute necessity of opening
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the heart to God before opening the eyes to the world.
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It is a deliberate, intentional act of prioritizing the
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spiritual over the temporal. Because when you wake up and
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immediately grab your phone to check emails, the news, or
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social media, you are letting the chaos of the world dictate
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your emotional state for the rest of the day.
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You are letting the world have the first fruits of your mind.
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By bathing the mind in eternal truth during the quietness of
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the night watches, the believer anchors their soul.
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It prevents it from drifting when the inevitable chaotic
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storms of the day arrive. The silence of the night
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provides an uninterrupted, distraction free space to make a
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very specific, calculated plea to God.
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And the nature of that specific plea brings us to verse 149.
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This is where we see David pleading for grace rather than
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boasting in his own merit. The verse states, Hear my voice
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according unto thy loving kindness.
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O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgement.
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What stands out immediately, especially after everything we
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just discussed, is what David does not say.
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Yeah, he has just described this incredibly rigorous, painful
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discipline. He is waking up before the
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military guards. He is crying out with an
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undivided heart. He is fighting the biological
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urge to sleep so he can meditate on the word.
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He has an incredible spiritual resume.
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Yet when he opens his mouth to make his request to God, he
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completely ignores his own achievements.
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He does not hold up his early rising as a bargaining chip.
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He does not appeal to his strict obedience to demand a favor.
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He bases his entire plea on God's love and kindness.
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This is where we must connect the text explicitly to the
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Westminster Confessions doctrines of justification and
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sanctification, specifically chapters 11 and 13.
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The confession is unambiguous on this point.
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Human beings bring absolutely zero merit to the throne of
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grace. Even our most disciplined
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prayers, even our most rigorous, painstaking early morning
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devotions are tainted by our fallen nature.
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They are mixed with pride, distraction and selfish motives.
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If God were to evaluate us and answer us strictly according to
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the merit of our own actions, even our best religious actions,
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we would receive nothing but swift condemnation.
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David, as a man after God's own heart, profoundly understand
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this reality. He knows that his early rising
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does not purchase God's favor. It is not a transaction where he
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deposits an hour of lost sleep and withdraws a blessing.
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Therefore he appeals entirely to the unchanging character of God,
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His loving kindness, or His covenantal mercy.
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When God hears a prayer according to His loving
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kindness, he chooses to overlook the glaring imperfections of the
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offerer. He looks at the imputed
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righteousness of Christ covering the believer, and he responds
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with unmerited grace. Furthermore, we need to look at
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the specific action David requests.
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He asks to be quickened. In theological terms, quickening
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means to be made alive or to be revived from a state of death.
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He is feeling the encroaching numbness of spiritual apathy,
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the deadening weight of his trials, and he is asking for a
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fresh infusion of spiritual life.
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He needs this so that he can escape total spiritual collapse.
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He needs the strength to carry the heavy burdens placed upon
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him, and he knows this strength cannot be drawn from his own
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internal reserves. The second-half of that verse is
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equally fascinating and honestly a bit confusing at first glance.
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He says Quicken me according to thy judgement.
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This. Is a striking choice of words.
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Why would a believer use the word judgement here instead of
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mercy or compassion? Usually when we are in deep
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trouble, the absolute last thing we want from an authority figure
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is judgement. We want leniency, we want them
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to look the other way, right? So what does judgement mean in
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this context? In this specific context,
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judgement does not refer to God's wrath or his penal
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condemnation of sin. Rather, it refers to God's
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infinite wisdom, His prudence, and His perfect management of
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the universe. The believer is asking God to
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answer the prayer wisely, in a manner consistent with divine
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judgement, rather than simply handing over whatever the
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believer thinks they want in that panicked moment.
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It is an acknowledgement that God's methods of communicating
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grace and dispensing strength are far superior to our own
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limited earthly understanding. We might ask for an immediate,
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miraculous escape from a painful trial.
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But God, in his perfect, all knowing judgement, might know
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that remaining in the trial for another six months is the exact
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mechanism required to produce necessary sanctification in our
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character. Asking to be quickened according
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to God's judgement is an act of total, terrifying surrender to
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His sovereign wisdom. I think of it like going to a
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world class master physician. Oh, that is a great way to put
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it. You walk into the clinic and you
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are terrified. You explain your symptoms in
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exhaustive detail. The sharp pain in your chest,
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the recurring fever, the absolute exhaustion.
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But unless you are a complete fool, you do not pull out a
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marker, draw a line on your chest, and dictate the surgical
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procedure to the doctor. You trust their years of
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training and expertise to accurately diagnose the root
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cause of the pain and apply the correct life saving treatment.
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There is a massive amount of human friction here though.
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We absolutely love to tell God how to deliver us.
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We really do. We draft the entire blueprint
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for our own rescue, complete with timelines and specific
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personnel, and we present it to God, just asking for His
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signature at the bottom. Relinquishing the method of our
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deliverance to God's judgement requires immense, painful
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submission. It means accepting the reality
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that the cure might hurt far worse than the disease
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initially, or that the timeline for healing might be years
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longer than our patients desires.
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That medical analogy perfectly captures the dynamic.
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We all desperately want to be the lead surgeon on our own
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lives. We want to hold the scalpel.
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But giving up the scalpel to God, trusting his judgement over
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our own panicked instincts, is the very essence of biblical
22:27
faith. And this radical submission is
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tested most severely when external pressures begin to
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mount, which is exactly what David experiences in the very
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next breath. The transition from the quiet
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internal surrender of the morning watch to the violent
22:40
noise of approaching enemies is sudden, jarring and terrifying.
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It really is. Which brings us to the
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terrifying reality outlined in verses 150 and 151.
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We see a stark, terrifying contrast in the geometry of
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spiritual conflict. Verse 150 says they draw an eye
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that follow after mischief. They are far from thy law.
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But then verse 151 immediately pivots, creating a mental
23:02
whiplash. Thou art Nero Lord, and all thy
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commandments are truth. The physical proximity of the
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danger in verse 150 is the stuff of nightmares.
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Charles Spurgeon describes these enemies as riding a steeplechase
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over hedge and ditch just to bring harm to the believer.
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And for those unfamiliar with the term, a steeplechase is an
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incredibly dangerous, fast-paced horse race where the riders jump
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over massive fences, open ditches and stone walls.
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They bypass all normal roads and obstacles.
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They are entirely obsessively focused on hunting down their
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target. That is how David views the
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people trying to destroy him. The psychological terror of
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hearing the footfalls of your enemies getting closer, knowing
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they will stop at nothing to ruin you, cannot be overstated.
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Thomas Manton, another Puritan giant, provides a brilliant,
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counterintuitive insight into this dynamic of approaching
23:54
danger. Manton notes that a danger kept
23:56
at a safe distance actually allows the believer to fall into
23:59
a false sense of security. When the threat is far away, we
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tend to rely on our own senses, our bank accounts, our social
24:05
standing and our perceived safety.
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We fall asleep spiritually on what Manton calls a carnal
24:09
pillow of ease. We stop praying with our whole
24:12
heart because we don't feel we need to.
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God, in His sovereign Providence, will often allow the
24:17
danger to breach our defenses and draw uncomfortably near,
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specifically to wake us up. He allows the enemy to pull that
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carnal pillow out from under our heads, forcing us to abandon our
24:29
self-reliance and testing the actual reality of our faith.
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Furthermore, verse 150 points out a critical, defining
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spiritual reality. These enemies follow after
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mischief. They hunt the believer down
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specifically because they are far from thy law.
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The people who hate the believer do so fundamentally because they
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hate the God the believer represents.
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Their animosity is not just personal, it is theological.
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Therefore, the enemies of the believer are at their core, the
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enemies of God. I visualize this geometry like
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concentric circles, or perhaps a medieval siege of a massive
25:01
stone fortress. Oh, paint that picture for us.
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You have the Believer huddled in the center of the fortress in
25:06
the inner keep. The enemy forces breach the
25:08
outer walls. You can hear the massive wooden
25:11
battering Rams splintering the gates, the shouts of the
25:14
soldiers, the clanking of armor as they flood the courtyard,
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drawing closer and closer to your position.
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The sensory overload of fear is deafening, but right at the
25:25
moment of ultimate panic, David realizes that God is not sending
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help from a distant Kingdom. God is already inside the
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innermost room of the fortress. With him the enemy is near, but
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God is nearer. The commentator James Harrington
25:38
Evans notes that God manifests this nearness in several
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distinct ways. He notes that God is near in
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creation. His presence is felt in the
25:46
warmth of the sun, the cycles of the moon, the life of the birds.
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He is omnipresent. Evans also notes that God is
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near in Providence, that overarching sovereign wisdom
25:55
that guides empires, that kills and that makes a life.
25:58
But most specifically and most comfortingly, Heavens points out
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that God is near as a sin forgiving Father through the
26:04
covenant of grace. This is fulfilled in the cross
26:07
of Christ. Here's my question though, and
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it's a very practical one for the listener.
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When the footsteps of those mischief makers are loud in our
26:14
ears, When the medical diagnosis is bad, When the bank account is
26:18
empty. When the siege is happening in
26:19
real time, how does a Christian practically tune their hearing
26:24
to the silent nearness of God? Because panic is incredibly loud
26:28
and demanding, peace is often very quiet and still.
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Exactly how do you hear a whisper over a battering ram?
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That is the most pressing practical question of the entire
26:39
text. How do you hear the silent God
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over the screaming enemy? The answer points us directly
26:44
back to the brutal discipline we discussed earlier.
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This is precisely why the believer must prevent the dawn
26:49
and meditate on the Word during the night watches.
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If you wait until the enemy is actively breaking down the door
26:55
of your life to try and tune your ear to God's voice, the
26:57
sheer volume of the panic will overwhelm you.
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You will not be able to find the frequency, the discipline of the
27:02
early morning hours, the repeated daily monotonous
27:06
immersion in the truth of God's Word when nothing is going wrong
27:09
trains the ear in advance. It builds the vital spiritual
27:13
muscle memory required to recognize God's presence even
27:17
when the physical senses are screaming in terror.
27:19
You learn the cadence of God's voice in the quiet so you can
27:23
recognize it in the chaos. The quiet hours of meditation
27:26
prepare the soul for the loud hours of conflict.
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It is the ultimate preparation for war during times of peace.
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You do not learn how to shoot a rifle while the enemy is
27:36
charging your trench. You learn it on a quiet range
27:39
months beforehand, Which. Leads us to the final,
27:43
unshakable foundation that David relies on when the enemy is at
27:46
the door. We look at the bedrock of
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eternity in verse 152. This verse concludes the section
27:52
with a sweeping statement concerning my testimonies.
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I have known of old that thou has founded them forever.
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The phrase known of old carries massive theological weight.
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Thomas Manton unpacks this phrase by giving it 3 distinct
28:05
historical meanings, expanding the scope of David's confidence.
28:08
First, Manton says, it can mean knowing for one's tender youth.
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Like Timothy in the New Testament, who was taught the
28:14
Scriptures by his mother and grandmother, David knew the
28:17
truth of God's Word from the time he was a young child
28:20
watching sheep. It was ingrained in his earliest
28:23
memories. Second, it can mean knowing from
28:26
the first moment of serious adult conversion.
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The specific time when the Holy Spirit regenerated his heart and
28:32
he began to take God's Word seriously as the ruling
28:35
authority of his life. 3rd and most expansively, Manton
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suggests it means knowing from the historical experience of all
28:42
foregoing ages. David is not just looking at his
28:45
own short lifespan, he is looking back centuries.
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He is looking at the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
28:53
He is looking at Moses parting the Red Sea.
28:55
He recognizes that God's Word proved entirely true for them
28:58
and their most desperate moments, just as it will prove
29:00
true for him now. Charles Bridges, a 19th century
29:03
Anglican minister with strong Reformed leanings, adds
29:06
incredible weight to this. He notes that the entire plan of
29:09
redemption, the very testimonies David is clinging to, was fixed
29:13
before the physical world even began.
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There is absolutely no mutability, no contingency, no
29:19
Plan B in God's governance of His church.
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This is the crucial moment to bring the Westminster
29:25
Confessions teaching on God's eternal decrees fully into the
29:28
light, specifically chapter 3. For the listener who might be
29:31
unfamiliar with the depth of this doctrine, it asserts that
29:34
God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel
29:39
of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever
29:43
comes to pass. This doctrine insists that God
29:45
does not react to human history. He's not sitting in heaven
29:48
watching the Evening News, wringing his hands and adjusting
29:51
his strategy to mitigate the damage caused by human
29:54
rebellion. He foreordains the end from the
29:56
beginning. Every trial, every enemy, every
29:59
moment of nearness was written into the decree before time
30:02
existed. Yes, the reforms, an
30:04
understanding of the eternal decrees, completely eliminates
30:07
any weak theology that suggests God is ever caught off guard.
30:10
It destroys the notion that God is altering his plans to
30:13
accommodate modern sensibilities or unforeseen historical
30:16
disasters. David says God's testimonies
30:19
were founded forever. The Hebrew concept here implies
30:23
a foundation stone laid deep in the earth, bearing the weight of
30:26
an entire structure. They were laid as a bedrock
30:29
foundation before time began. Therefore, his decrees do not
30:33
need to be updated. They do not need to be revised
30:36
by modern scholars, and they do not need to be modernized to fit
30:39
the cultural palette of the 21st century.
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God is completely immutable. He does not change, and
30:46
therefore the promises he makes to his elect do not change.
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Let me contrast this immutability with a modern
30:52
architectural analogy to show why this matters so much.
30:55
Today. Sure, go ahead.
30:56
Building your life, your ethics and your hope on modern, ever
31:00
changing cultural norms is like building a multi $1,000,000
31:03
mansion on a shifting active fault line.
31:06
The soil might look completely solid today, the landscaping
31:09
might be beautiful, but the tectonic plates of public
31:12
opinion and cultural morality are always moving violently
31:15
beneath the surface. Eventually, an earthquake of
31:17
cultural shift will occur. The ground will split and it
31:20
will pair the foundation of that house apart.
31:22
What was considered morally good 10 years ago is now considered
31:25
evil and vice versa. Conversely, building your life
31:28
on these ancient fixed testimonies is like drilling
31:31
massive steel pylons straight into a solid, immovable granite
31:36
Cliff. The storms will still hit the
31:37
house, the wind will howl, but the foundation is entirely
31:41
immovable. But I want to ask you about the
31:43
intense cultural friction here. We live in a fast-paced, hyper
31:46
technological society that idolizes the new.
31:49
We update our phones every year, we update our software
31:52
constantly, we change our fashion, and we constantly
31:54
revise our political ideologies. The old is almost universally
31:58
viewed by our culture as obsolete, regressive or
32:01
ignorant. And that's specific context.
32:04
Why is it practically comforting for a listener to know that
32:06
these testimonies are ancient? Why should they take comfort in
32:09
something that is thousands of years old?
32:12
Because a constantly changing friend offers no actual
32:15
stability in a crisis. Charles Spurgeon uses a
32:17
wonderful, vivid phrase here when discussing this verse.
32:21
He says that bubbles please boys.
32:23
What he means is that children are easily entertained by
32:25
fragile, temporary things that float beautifully for a few
32:28
seconds, pop and vanish entirely.
32:31
But mature believers, people who are facing the brutal realities
32:36
of suffering, sin and death, require solid reality that can
32:40
bear the weight of the ages. If God's testimonies were
32:43
constantly adapting to the culture, if His definition of
32:46
sin or salvation shifted every century, you could never trust
32:50
Him with your eternal soul. What is true today might be
32:54
false tomorrow. The comfort of the ancient is
32:57
the comfort of absolute security.
32:59
Because the foundation is eternal and unbending, the
33:02
believers current salvation is totally secure.
33:05
The sovereign God who ordained your salvation, who elected you
33:08
before the foundation of the world, is not going to wake up
33:11
tomorrow and change his mind about you.
33:13
To quickly recap the progression we have traced today for the
33:16
listener so you can see the entire arc of these 8 verses.
33:19
We started with the absolute necessity of an undivided,
33:22
wholehearted cry for help, recognizing our total inability
33:25
to generate generate that cry without the Holy Spirit
33:27
regenerating our dead hearts. We looked at the intense,
33:30
exhausting discipline of guarding our time, actively
33:33
fighting the clock to give God the first fruits of the dawn
33:37
before the world gets its hooks into us.
33:40
We saw the critical, humbling necessity of relying entirely on
33:44
His covenantal loving kindness and infinite judgement, bringing
33:48
0 merit of our own to the negotiating table.
33:50
We examine the terrifying, loud reality of enemies drawing near
33:54
contrasted with the the immense quiet comfort of God's
33:57
immediate, intimate presence within the fortress.
34:00
And finally, we rested on the unshakable, immovable bedrock of
34:04
his eternal decrees. The progression Spurgeon
34:06
highlights here is a complete, beautiful picture of the
34:09
Christian experience. It moves from the desperate,
34:12
crying weakness of the human condition to the absolute,
34:15
unshakable eternal security provided by a sovereign God.
34:19
I want. To leave you with a final
34:20
thought to Mull over as you go about the rest of your day.
34:22
Consider the literal night watches of your own life.
34:25
We all have them. Those moments of unexpected,
34:27
frustrating insomnia at 3:00 AM. The quiet, lonely isolation of
34:31
an early morning before the sun comes up.
34:33
Or the heavy silence of a house after everyone else has gone to
34:37
sleep and you are left alone with your thoughts.
34:39
Typically, we view that quiet time as a frustrating void.
34:42
We toss and turn, wishing we could sleep through it.
34:45
Or worse, we grab our glowing phones to scroll endlessly
34:48
through the noise of the Internet, desperate to fill the
34:51
silence with trivial distractions.
34:53
But what if tonight, when you wake up in the dark, you viewed
34:57
that wakefulness differently? What if you viewed that quiet,
35:01
isolating void not as a biological annoyance, but as an
35:04
open, deliberate invitation from the Creator of the universe?
35:08
An invitation to commune in the dark with a God whose decrees to
35:11
love and save you were permanently, irrevocably settled
35:15
before the stars were even placed in the sky.