[0:00] Well, if we could, with the Lord's help and the Lord's enabling this morning, if we could turn back to that portion of Scripture that we read in the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 15.
[0:19] Exodus 15, and we'll read again in verse 22. Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur.
[0:32] They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah, because it was bitter. Therefore it was named Marah.
[0:45] And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? The people grumbled against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
[1:01] Are we there yet? How long? Are we there yet? You know, it's one of the questions that every parent or youth leader dreads to hear, especially after only ten minutes into the journey.
[1:16] I remember when our boys were younger, we would have just come off the ferry in Ullapool, and we were on our way to Inverness, and they'd ask, Are we there yet? And if the answer was not yet, there would be a bit of a grumble and then a groan.
[1:32] But if the answer was, Well, we're nearly there, there would be this sigh of relief and a wee smile on the face. And that would probably last about ten minutes until the whole saga would begin again.
[1:43] And they'd ask once more, Are we there yet? And, you know, it didn't matter how long or short the journey was. There was always a comment or a complaint. There was always sometimes fidgeting and fighting, as boys do.
[1:54] And there's sometimes murmuring and moaning. And, you know, when we look at what's happening here and the behavior of children and then the children of Israel, we see that the children of Israel are just like children.
[2:07] That's why we often refer to them as the children of Israel. Because the children of Israel, as they had to learn, they had to stop their tantrums and start trusting the Lord.
[2:18] They had to stop wanting their own way and start waiting upon the Lord. They had to stop pushing ahead and start being patient with the Lord. But, you know, you look at children, you look at the children of Israel, and the truth is, my friend, we are so like them.
[2:36] We look at our Christian experience and we think, we are so like them. And that's why we can learn lessons from their experience, from the experience of the children of Israel. And I'd just like us to consider this short passage this morning, only five verses.
[2:50] But I want us to consider it under three headings. Three headings. A bitter place, a beautiful proclamation, and a bountiful provision.
[3:01] A bitter place, a beautiful proclamation, and a bountiful provision. So first of all, we look at a bitter place. A bitter place.
[3:13] Look at verse 22. Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah, because it was bitter.
[3:29] Therefore, it was named Marah. Now, as we see here, the children of Israel, they're grumbling. But this isn't the first time that the Israelites have murmured and moaned against their leader, Moses.
[3:43] This isn't the first time that the Israelites have commented or even complained about what the Lord is doing in their life. Because you'll remember that when the Israelites first made their exodus from Egypt, they experienced and they enjoyed this freedom from Pharaoh and salvation from slavery.
[4:02] But they also had the Lord's promised presence with them every step of the way. Because the Lord promised them that from the first step out of Egypt until their last step into the promised land, the Lord would go before them every step of the way as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
[4:20] And that pillar was the symbol of the Lord's promised presence amongst His people. It was a continual and constant reminder and a reassurance to them that the Lord was with His people every step of the way.
[4:35] And as you know, that's the Christian's great hope. That from your first step of faith, when you commit your life to Jesus Christ, from your first step of faith until your last step in this world, when you close your eyes on the scene of time, the Lord promises you.
[4:54] He promises you His presence will go with you every step of the way. And so when the Passover took place and there was this plague of death in Egypt, the Israelites, they left the land of Goshen.
[5:07] They left from what is on the map, if you have your little map with you this morning. It was the city of Ramesses, which is in the northern part of Egypt. And they traveled night and day to a place called Succoth.
[5:21] And as we said, Succoth, it wasn't really a town or a city. It was a place where the Israelites first set up camp. And their first night as sojourners had such an impact and an influence upon them that they named their first campsite, they named it Succoth, which means tent.
[5:40] And so Succoth was the place where the Israelites first pitched all their tents, their Succoth. They pitched all their tents. Then the next day, the second day of their journey, having a slight detour, the Israelites traveled down the western side of this large lake called the Bitter Lake.
[6:00] And they traveled all the way to a place called Pi-ha-heroth. But the Israelites, they became aware that Pharaoh was pursuing them. Pharaoh wanted to punish them.
[6:13] And the first thing the Israelites do, they're only on their second day out of Egypt, or out of where they were in slavery. And the first thing they do on their second day is murmur and moan against Moses.
[6:29] They complain and they comment against the Lord. And they say to Moses, is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to die? Would it not have been better for us to serve the Egyptians as slaves than to die in the wilderness?
[6:45] And in a moment, the Israelites, we saw that they were disabled with doubt. They were paralyzed with panic. They were filled with fear.
[6:56] And they were weakened with worry about what Pharaoh was about to do to them. They had forgotten the promise by day two. They had forgotten the promise by day two.
[7:08] Because the Lord had promised the people that his presence would go with them every step of the way. And so, on the banks of the Red Sea, with the face of Pharaoh's army, the Lord promised his people again.
[7:25] He said, fear not, stand firm, see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. And as we know, the Lord was faithful to his promise.
[7:39] Because in the Red Sea, the Egyptians drowned and the Israelites were delivered. But then, after singing that upbeat and uplifting song of victory at the banks of the Red Sea, that's what we saw last Lord's Day in the first half of chapter 15, we see then that Moses leads the Israelites southeast.
[8:00] He leads them along the coast of the Red Sea through the wilderness of Shur, which was also known as the wilderness of Etham. And they traveled, we're told, for three days without any water.
[8:17] Now, as you know, the human body, the human body can survive three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, and three weeks without food.
[8:29] And so, by day three in the wilderness, the Israelites were becoming weak and weary without water. They were now about, you could say, a fortnight into their journey.
[8:41] So, their journey is now a fortnight in, and they're still heading towards the promised land. And after a fortnight, their resources of refreshment were in short supply.
[8:52] And, you know, one day in the wilderness, one day in this wilderness of Shur, that would have been difficult. Two days would have been demanding. Three days would have been devastating, especially for all the animals and the young children.
[9:09] And by the third day without water, the Israelites were told that they are wilting, they're weak, they're weary, and they're worn out. That was until they came to Marah.
[9:22] Verse 23. But when they came to Marah, their beaming delight quickly changed to bitter disappointment, because Marah, we're told, was a bitter place.
[9:34] Marah was a bitter place, because, as we read, the water at Marah was bitter. That's why it was called Marah, because the Hebrew word for Marah is bitter.
[9:47] But as we see with some of the stops along this journey, when we were following the Israelites, we're following their path, and as we'll see as they make their wilderness journey, these places that they stop at, they become places of testing.
[10:02] The places that they stop at become places of testing. And you know what, my friend, that's because the Christian life, as you will know from your own experience as a Christian, the Christian life isn't all about singing the songs of salvation and dancing at the banks of the Red Sea.
[10:24] Yes, there are moments of blessedness when the Lord brings us up to the mountaintop of triumph. But sometimes there are moments of bitterness. Sometimes there are moments of bitterness when the Lord leads us into the valley of testing.
[10:40] And that's what we see here, and that's what the Lord says here. He describes Marah as a place of testing. It was a place of bitter testing. It was a bitter place, because their faith was being tested.
[10:54] Marah was a bitter place, because their faith was being tested. And my friend, that's what the Lord does with His people. He tests His people.
[11:07] He leads us sometimes from the mountaintop of triumph, right down into the valley of testing, where delight can very quickly change to disappointment.
[11:19] Happiness can become heartache. A smile can become sorrow. Blessedness can become bitterness. But you know, my friend, the thing is, the Lord tests us in order to encourage and enable us to grow in godliness.
[11:39] The Lord tests us in order to encourage us and enable us to grow in godliness. The Lord tests us that we might possess and even practice a Christ-like character, conduct, and conversation.
[11:54] Because in our testing, we are always to go back to Proverbs 3. In our testing, we are called to trust in the Lord with all our heart and lean not upon our own understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge Him.
[12:12] For He shall direct our path. And I know that's easier for me to say than it is, maybe in your bitter providence. But you know, in our testing, and this is the thing, in our testing, and we see it here with the children of Israel, in our testing, the devil is always there to tempt us.
[12:31] The devil is there to tempt us to start commenting or complaining. The devil is there to tempt us to start murmuring and moaning against the Lord.
[12:44] The devil is there to tempt us to start grumbling and groaning against the Lord. And you know, when I think of moments of bitterness in the Bible, I'm reminded of a particular woman, Naomi.
[12:58] We find her in the book of Ruth. Because, you know, Naomi was a widow. Naomi was a widow who had loved and lost. She not only loved her husband, who had passed away, she also loved her sons.
[13:15] And she lost all of them in a tragedy. Naomi was someone who had encountered and experienced sadness and sorrow many times in her life.
[13:26] And yet, you know, in her valley of testing, she was on the mountaintop of triumph once. But when she went into the valley of testing, Naomi was someone who acknowledged that the Lord was in it with her.
[13:38] And, you know, I always love those words in the book of Ruth. When Naomi meets the woman of Bethlehem, and they ask her, is this Naomi?
[13:51] And she says, call me not Naomi. Call me Mara. For the Lord hath dealt bitterly with me.
[14:02] I went out full. I was on the mountaintop of triumph, full. But yet the Lord hath brought me home again, empty, into the valley of testing.
[14:14] Call me not Naomi. Call me Mara. For the Lord hath dealt bitterly with me. And, you know, my dear friend, you might be in a bitter place today.
[14:27] You might have a bitter providence of sin or sickness or suffering or sorrow. But know this. Know this, that in the valley of testing, the Lord is with you.
[14:44] In the valley of testing, the Lord is with you. And He's calling you to trust Him. He's calling you to trust in the Lord with all your heart.
[14:55] Lean not upon your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him. Acknowledge Him. Pray to Him. And He shall direct your path.
[15:10] So Mara was a bitter place. It was a bitter place. But it was at Mara that the Israelites heard a beautiful proclamation, which is what we see secondly.
[15:20] So a bitter place and then a bitter proclamation. A bitter proclamation. Look at verse 24. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
[15:32] And Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there He tested them, saying, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in His eyes, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord your healer.
[16:05] So when the Lord led the Israelites away from that moment of blessedness at the banks of the Red Sea, where they're singing this song of victory, the Lord led them, and He brought them to this moment of bitterness at Marah.
[16:18] It was a place of bitterness. But when the Israelites entered into that valley of testing, instead of growing in godliness, and instead of possessing and practicing a Christ-like character, conduct, and conversation, the Israelites started acting like children, and asking like children, Are we there yet?
[16:40] Are we there yet? Are we getting there? And you know, in their time of testing, we see that the Israelites, they very quickly succumbed to Satan's temptation to complain, and to comment, and to murmur, and to moan, and to grumble, and to groan against the Lord, which is what we're like so often.
[17:00] And yet, despite Marah being a bitter place, the Lord graciously displays another moment of blessedness with this beautiful proclamation.
[17:11] He makes a beautiful proclamation to His people. Because when Moses once again intercedes on behalf of the Israelites, the Lord instructs Moses, as we read there, to throw a log into the bitter waters at Marah in order to make them sweet.
[17:30] And we read that Moses did that. He threw the log into the bitter waters at Marah, and the water became sweet. Now, just like the miracle of parting and passing through the Red Sea, many have read this section of the Bible, and they doubt it, and they dispute that the bitter waters of Marah were ever made sweet by throwing a log into the water.
[17:55] Now, I have John L. to thank for this one. There is a tree which possesses properties that can remove bitterness from water.
[18:10] And modern research, I find it fascinating looking all this up, modern research has discovered that the Moringa tree, if I'm pronouncing it correctly, the Moringa tree, it has the natural ability to purify water.
[18:26] In fact, the Moringa tree has also been nicknamed the miracle tree because it's known to be the most nutritious plant on the earth.
[18:37] The Moringa tree, the most nutritious plant on the earth. And it's praised because it has all these health benefits, and it contains, now I'm just quoting what it contains, all these antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins A, B, C, D, and E.
[18:54] It contains minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and copper. One tree. And they say it is a powerhouse of nutrients.
[19:06] You can actually buy them in capsule form. It's been ground down and made capsule form, and you can buy it. It's very good for you. It's proven to help with low immunity, obesity, and also the menopause.
[19:18] Which is why the Moringa tree is hailed as this miracle tree. The miracle tree. But it's not only a natural miracle tree for Moses and the Israelites.
[19:30] It was a supernatural miracle tree which transformed Marah to Matah. Marah to Matah. Bitter to sweet.
[19:42] But by transforming Marah to Matah, from bitter to sweet, the Lord, then, we read, the Lord commanded covenant obedience. The Lord, who was the covenant king of the Israelites, he was the one who makes promises and keeps promises.
[20:00] By transforming the bitter waters to sweet waters, by transforming it from Marah to Matah, the Lord commands his covenant people. He commands them to be obedient.
[20:13] That's what we read in verse 25. He said, He cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord your healer.
[20:45] So the Lord, who is the covenant king, he commands his people. He commands them to be obedient. And the Lord affirms and assures his covenant people.
[20:56] He says to them that obedience will bring blessing, but disobedience will bring cursing. Obedience will bring blessing, but disobedience will bring cursing.
[21:07] If you diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right, I will bring blessing. I will not put any of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians.
[21:19] So obedience brings blessing. Disobedience brings cursing. That's the covenant. That was the covenant promise. But what we have to remember here is that the Israelites, they weren't saved because they were obedient.
[21:32] They were obedient. They were obedient because they were saved. The Israelites weren't saved because they were obedient. They were obedient because they were saved.
[21:43] And that's what we need to remember. We're not saved by our obedience. We're not saved by our obedience to God's commandments. Because none of us, not one of us, are obedient to God's commandments.
[21:58] Doesn't matter how good we think we are, or how gracious we think we are, or how great we think we are before a holy God. The truth is, the Bible says that there is none good.
[22:10] No, not one. We've all sinned. We've all come short of the glory of God. Therefore, we are not saved by our obedience. As you know, we're saved by grace.
[22:22] Just like it was for the Israelites. They were saved by grace. God graciously saved them and redeemed them from Egypt. And we are saved by receiving and resting upon God's gracious gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
[22:37] We're saved by believing and confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. But we're not saved by our obedience. No, we're obedient because we're saved.
[22:52] Whereas the American author and pastor, Kevin DeYoung, he said, and this is the quote I was trying to get on Monday night at Discipleship Explore and I couldn't remember it. Salvation is not the reward for obedience.
[23:06] Salvation is the reason for obedience. Salvation is not the reward for obedience. Salvation is the reason for obedience.
[23:20] And that's what the Bible reminds us again and again. we're not saved by keeping God's law because none of us can. But when we're saved we're to seek to keep God's law.
[23:33] Salvation is not the reward for obedience. Salvation is the reason for obedience. And that's what the Lord was teaching the Israelites here because they had been freed from Pharaoh. They had been saved from slavery.
[23:45] They had been redeemed and rescued by the Lord, their covenant king. Which is why the Lord began testing them. and teaching them. And what he was testing them with and teaching them through, he was teaching them that salvation is not the reward of obedience.
[24:04] Salvation is the reason for obedience. Salvation is the reason for obedience. But you know what I love about the Lord's commandments here is that the Lord signs it.
[24:21] He presents to them a contract. Obedience will bring blessing. Disobedience will bring cursing. He presents to them a contract and then he signs it with his name. And what we see there is that in this bitter place the Lord makes a beautiful proclamation to his people.
[24:37] He says there at the end of verse 26, I am the Lord your healer. That's his signature. I am the Lord your healer. Literally, the Lord signs his commandment of covenant obedience.
[24:52] He signs it with the name Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer.
[25:04] And of course, we're familiar with the name Raphael. It means God heals. But the name Jehovah Rapha reveals the character of the Lord. Reveals the kind of God that he was.
[25:17] And he is, as he describes himself, Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer. But you know what I find amazing is that the Lord signs his name throughout Scripture. He signs his name and he proclaims his name.
[25:32] He reveals his character. We see that when Abraham was on Mount Moriah offering up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. And Abraham proclaimed Jehovah Jireh.
[25:44] The Lord will provide. And when we come to chapter 17 in the book of Exodus and the Amalekites are defeated, Moses builds an altar and he makes another proclamation about the Lord.
[25:55] He says, Jehovah Nisi, the Lord is my banner. When the Lord calls his people to be holy as he is holy, the Lord proclaims his name again and he says, my name is Jehovah Mekadash, the Lord who sanctifies you.
[26:11] When the Lord called Gideon to serve him, Gideon proclaimed about the Lord. He said, he is Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. When David confessed his faith as a shepherd out in the fields of Israel, David proclaimed Jehovah Rohi, the Lord's my shepherd.
[26:32] You know, when the city of Jerusalem was surrounded by the enemy, all the people that were there, they were protected by the Lord and they proclaimed about the Lord that he is Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts, the Lord of the armies.
[26:46] And when Jeremiah discovered that righteousness is of the Lord, how did he proclaim his name? He called him Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord of righteousness.
[26:59] And when Ezekiel was given a vision of the new Jerusalem, he concluded his prophecy with that proclamation, Jehovah Shammah, the Lord is there.
[27:11] He is in the new Jerusalem. You see, my friend, throughout Scripture, the Lord signs his name. He signs his name and assures and affirms to his people of what his character is like.
[27:25] And he proclaims his name throughout Scripture. That's why even when the angels appeared to Joseph, they said to Joseph, call his name Jesus.
[27:38] Call his name salvation. Call him Savior. Because he has saved his people from their sins. And that's the message that the New Testament church has proclaimed and will continue to proclaim until Jesus comes again.
[27:54] That there is no other name. No other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved other than the name of Jesus. The name of the Savior.
[28:06] Because it's at the name of Jesus we're told that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[28:19] You see, my friend, the Lord signs and seals his name upon Scripture. He makes this beautiful proclamation to us that we must come to him.
[28:32] Because as he says even here, I am Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer. I am Jehovah Rapha, the Lord your healer.
[28:47] So we see a beautiful proclamation. Then lastly, we see a bountiful provision. So in this short passage of only five verses, we see a bitter place, a beautiful proclamation, and a bountiful provision.
[29:05] A bountiful provision. Look at the last verse of chapter 15. Then they came to Elam where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees and they encamped there by the water.
[29:24] Then they came to Elam. You know, whenever I read about Elam in the Bible, I'm always reminded of the Reverend James MacDonald.
[29:35] As many of you know, Reverend James MacDonald, he lives in Barve, and he's a great mentor to me. In fact, he's my presbytery mentor, and he shares his advice, he passes on his wisdom in a very loving and a very gracious manner.
[29:51] And he's a great support because he's here at every funeral, whether it's in Barvis or in Borve, he's always supporting the work of the gospel in our community. But whenever I read about Elam, as it's mentioned here in verse 27, I'm always reminded of this man, Reverend James MacDonald, because he has a house in point called Elam.
[30:13] That's the name of the house. And you know, it's a very fitting name for a house, because Elam was a place of rest and refreshment. Elam was a place of rest and refreshment.
[30:26] In fact, the name Elam, it means palms. And as you can guess from verse 27, it was given its name because of the 70 palm trees that were in Elam. They were palm trees there to provide safety and shelter from the hot sun.
[30:41] But we also read that Elam had 12 springs of water. 12 springs of fresh water, which means that Elam was a place of bountiful provision.
[30:54] It was a place of bountiful provision for the Israelites who had become weak and weary without water. Now, Elam, it was only seven miles southeast from Marah.
[31:07] It was just along the coast of the Red Sea. And Elam, you could say it was the complete contrast to Marah. Because Marah, as we said, it was a bitter place. It was a bitter place of testing and temptation.
[31:20] But Elam, was a place of bountiful provision. It was a place of rest and refreshment for the Israelites, which ought to teach us yet again that life isn't always about, as we saw at the beginning of the chapter, it's not always about singing the songs of victory while we stand at the banks of the Red Sea.
[31:42] Neither is life all about, or the Christian life, it isn't all about times of testing and times of temptation. It's not always about fight or flight. It's not always about rushing and racing around.
[31:54] Of course, the fact that that's what our 21st century society thinks we should be doing, rushing around all the time. But you know, the Bible teaches us, and it teaches us here at Elam, that there are times and seasons in our lives when we need to go to Elam.
[32:12] Elam. We need to go to Elam in order to experience and enjoy a bountiful provision of rest and refreshment for both body and soul.
[32:25] We need to go to Elam to take time for prayer and reading God's Word. You know, we should go to Elam every morning in many ways.
[32:39] We should go to Elam every morning to read God's Word and to pray, to think over God's Word, to listen to what the Lord is saying. But there are also other times when we need to come aside and rest a while.
[32:54] That's what Jesus told His disciples who were in the thick of ministry. He said to them, come aside and rest a while. And you know, that's why we need holidays.
[33:07] We need holy days. That's where we get the word holiday from. today is a holiday. The Lord's day is a holiday. It's a holy day.
[33:19] It's a day to go to Elam. It's a day to pray, to meditate, to rest, for not only rest for the body and also rest for the soul. Today is the day we go to Elam because today is the day where we experience and we enjoy not only relaxation and rest, but also recovery, refreshment, so that we are ready for the week that lies ahead.
[33:47] Friends, we need to go to Elam. We need to come aside and rest a while. That's why it's so important to come to church. That's why it's so important to gather together on the Lord's day, so that we find rest and refreshment, so that we come aside and rest a while.
[34:07] And for the Israelites, that's what they did. They came aside, they rested a while, they set up camp at Elam. And they were there not just one night, they were there for two weeks.
[34:20] They were there for two weeks before moving on. It was at Elam that they found rest for their bodies and refreshment for their souls. And God willing, next time we'll see what happens as they move on in their wilderness journey.
[34:38] So there we have in five verses, five full verses, that remind us about a bitter place, a beautiful proclamation, and also a bountiful provision.
[34:51] And friends, we need to go to Elam. This should be our Elam, where we find rest and refreshment for our body and our soul. Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to us.
[35:04] Let us pray. O Lord, our gracious God, how gracious and how good thou art, a God who knows us so intimately and who deals with us so personally, that there are times in our life where we experience bitter providence, where we experience those sins and sorrows of life.
[35:29] But we thank thee, Lord, that thou art the God who reminds us, that thou art Jehovah Rapha, the Lord, our healer, the one who is able to bind up our broken hearts and heal our wounds, the one who is able to restore and to forgive and to renew us, that we might mount up with wings as eagles and run and not be weary and walk and not faint.
[35:53] But Lord, we pray that we would always go to Elam, where we may find rest and refreshment, that we would see the Lord's house on the Lord's day, like Elam, where we are at the fountain drinking from that living water that we would never thirst again.
[36:11] O Lord, bless thy truth to us. Teach us, Lord, we pray. Teach us to trust thee. Teach us to trust in the Lord with all our heart, to lean not upon our own understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge thee.
[36:27] For thou art the one who will direct our path, our path not only from Egypt, but a path towards the promised land, the celestial city wherein dwelleth righteousness.
[36:40] Lord, do us good, then we pray. Go before us. Keep us, we ask, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Amen. We're going to bring our service to a conclusion this morning by singing the words of Psalm 119.
[36:58] Psalm 119, it's in the Scottish Psalter, page 408. Psalm 119, we're singing from verse 103 to verse 106.
[37:18] Psalm 119, as you know, it's a psalm that emphasizes and re-emphasizes all the way through it, the importance of God's word. Because God's word is, as it says in verse 105, it's a lamp to our feet and it's a light unto our path.
[37:37] But as the psalmist says in verse 103, that it's also to be sweet. God's word is sweet to our taste and honey to our mouth. That's why we need to digest it.
[37:50] That's why we need to spend time in it. Psalm 119 from verse 103. How sweet unto my taste, O Lord, are all thy words of truth. Yea, I do find them sweeter far than honey to my mouth.
[38:04] I through thy precepts that are pure, do understanding get. I therefore every way that's false with all my heart do hate. Thy word is to my feet a lamp, and to my path a light.
[38:16] I sworn have, and I will perform to keep thy judgments right. So we'll sing these verses of Psalm 119 to God's praise. Psalm 119 to verse 103.
[38:32] How sweet after my taste, O Lord, are all thy words of truth.
[38:49] yea, I do find them sweeter far than honey to my mouth.
[39:08] I through thy dreams set stars pure, do understanding to understanding yet.
[39:27] I there for every way that's false with all my heart progress and heart tounter K To my feet allow, and to my path align.
[40:05] I swore how loud I will perform to keep thy judgment right.
[40:27] The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and forevermore. Amen.