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0:42Isaiah chapter 1. Begin to read in verse 10 and read through verse 20. Isaiah chapter 1, verse 10. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah. What are your multiplied sacrifices to me, says the Lord? I have had enough of burnt offerings, of rams, and the fat of fed cattle, and I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer. Incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to me. I am wary of burying them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from my sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Reprove the ruthless. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow. Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool. If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you, recognizing, Father, that our hearts are inclined in our fleshly ways and can easily result in sin. And doing that, Which is profane and evil in your sight. And Father, we also recognize that there's just a limit that you will put up with.

3:13And yet we also recognize, Father, that it is your desire for us to cease to do good. I mean, cease to do evil and remove the evil of our deeds from your sight. Help us to learn to do good. That is what you want. Father, that all begins by looking at your heart and the desire that you have to be in relationship with us. Father, we thank you that it was forgiveness that was first and foremost in your heart as you looked toward us and saw us in our sins. Lord, it's because of that reconciliation can follow. And that you can exhort us to seek the good, to seek justice, and to do what's right in your eyes. And we thank you for the justice and mercy that is met at the cross. So, Father, we come before you today. As you have said, come before us and reason together. Father, that our sins, though they be scarlet and crimson, they shall be like snow and wool. So, Father, we desire to walk in your ways. We desire to live in the best of the land. Father, To eat that which comes from your hand and to walk in the way that you have prescribed for us. For we know in that is good and right. And so, Father, we thank you for this opportunity to gather. We thank you for the promise of the cross. We thank you for the newness of reconciliation with you. We thank you that you have dealt with our sins, put them behind us, and we come confessing those today, purposing in our heart to cease to do evil, learning to do good and walk in all your ways. So, Father, we come before you, thanking you for this great exchange, our unrighteousness for your righteousness. And it's in that we rejoice and sing this morning. In Christ's name, amen.

5:16I want to look at verses 9 through 16. Psalm 119, verses 9 through 16. Thank you for that music. I think it's a very fitting song, Be Thou My Vision, for this text because we meet a young man who purposed just that, that God would be his vision. Psalm 119, verse 9. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. Word. With all my heart I have sought you. Do not let me wander from your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways. I shall delight in your statutes. I shall not forget your word.

6:39I'm going to ask you a philosophical question, one that's asked in theological circles and philosophical circles. Is there anything too difficult for God? Or let me say, is there anything that God cannot do? Is there anything God cannot do? Well, usually the conversation takes a lot of different turns, twists and turns. And yes, he's all-powerful. He can do whatever he wants. But the Bible makes it very clear that there are some things that God cannot do. Just read one of those in Isaiah 1:13, where it says, I cannot endure iniquity. I cannot endure iniquity. Something God cannot do is that is put up. With iniquity forever.

7:34In fact, at the end, in Isaiah 1:28, Isaiah says this: Those who forsake the Lord will come to an end. Because God cannot endure iniquity, therefore, those who forsake the Lord will come to an end. God is not going to put up with a society forever that despises or rejects the virtues that He teaches in His Word that emanate from His character. God is not going to put up with a society, a church, or an individual that dismisses the virtues that we find in the Scriptures.

8:26What is America's greatest threat? What is America's greatest threat? I've given this some thought. I've come to the conclusion it's not crooked politics. That's not our greatest threat. But people are cheating. Yes. But that's not our greatest threat. Our greatest threat is not our borders, but people are coming in that don't. Want to do good things. That's not our greatest threat. Nor is it our economy. Nor is the greatest threat to America, our economy. But people can't afford the American dream anymore. That's not the greatest threat we're facing. I'll tell you what the greatest threat that I see is there is a lack of godly virtue among young people today. That is America's greatest threat. A lack of godly virtue among our young people and old people too.

9:43But it's this lack of godly virtue that I can assure you God has outright stated He cannot endure forever. Virtue is this quality that is missing today. You see, those who embrace and defend biblical virtue are rare. I liken them to an oasis in a desert. They're rare. And my hope for this church, our community, and our nation, is that God will raise up a generation of people who will not be ashamed. Of the virtues that are outlined and prescribed for us in Scripture. There and there only is my hope for a revival in this land and in our churches.

10:45How does a young person grow in godly virtue? Well, that's what our passage is all about this morning. And notice there's a progression. Look back at verse 1 of Psalm 119. How blessed are those whose way is blameless. The psalmist acknowledges there is a blessed category of people, and they are the ones whose way, way of life, is blameless before the Lord. Notice the third person. How blessed are those? Third person. He's looking around and he's saying, those people are blessed. Notice what he says in verse 4.

11:30You have ordained your precepts that we should keep them diligently. Notice what he's done. He's looking around. He's saying, there's the blessed category of people. And then he speaks, includes himself in the second person. We, you have given, you have ordained your precepts that we should keep them diligently. And then look at verse 5. So he goes from the third person. To the second person, to the first person. Oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. That my ways, I see the blessed category. I know why you have given your precepts. Oh, that my ways may be established to keep your statutes. And look at the end, verse 8: I shall keep your statutes. Do not forsake me utterly. So, what is the psalmist doing? He is seeing that which is blessed, and he is resolved to walk in God's ways and to depend on God while he does it.

12:41And out of this resolution comes this commitment to godly virtue. Look at verse 9: to a pure way. Look at verse 9. How? By what means can a young man keep his way pure? That's the question. How can a young man? I love this word for young man. It carries the idea of shaken off, like a branch shaken off a tree. How can a young man, a person shaken off from their parents' home? That's a good description of many of you all who are now in college and have come over here kind of shaken off from. Your parents' household. How can a young man or woman for that matter keep his way pure? That's his question.

13:41And the way, the word for way, when I was this last summer in Turkey looking at some of the ancient cities that Paul ministered in and John ministered in, it was striking to me. And of course, I'm taking, I dial in on weird details, but one of them is these roads, these stone roads, huge stone pavers, and these ruts, these ruts that were cut through the stone by cartwheels or wagon wheels. I mean, these are huge stones, but the repeated rolling over, rolling over, rolling over, would actually cut these grooves in these huge stones. And you could see the way. You could see the way.

14:38And that's what he's talking about. How can a young man keep his way? How can his ruts be in the blameless way? How can the life's course pure? The answer by keeping it according to your word, verse 9. But notice he asks the right question. Pure. What does pure mean? It means to stand blameless. How can a young person keep his or her way blameless to stand blameless before the Lord? He's asking the right question. He's not asking the question, How close to the edge of sin can I get without crossing the line? How far is too far?

15:34That's the question of all times. How close can I get to the edge of sin without really sinning? How can I enjoy as much sin as I can without really crossing that line? That question is at the heart of human depravity. And if you are preoccupied with this question, you are not in the direction of the blameless way. The blameless way is asking the question: How can I make sure that my way before you, Heavenly Father, is blameless?

16:13Pure. You see, and this goes for parents, teachers, leaders. If you want to lead people in the blameless way, you need to be asking. The right question. And to be seeing you ask the right question is necessary for them to learn the right question. How can I stand blameless before the Lord? You see, often those who seek the blameless way are labeled prudes, killjoys. Or maybe they're labeled judgmental. Or maybe they're labeled legalists or even Pharisees. But is this a correct assessment of this young man here? What is wrong with the blameless way?

17:16Nothing. It's the blessed way. The blameless way is the blessed way. And those who mock, despise, ridicule it, or those in the way, I can assure you, are not in the way of the blameless. But personal purity, notice, not only does it adhere to, ask the right question, it adheres to the right standard. Look back at verse 9. What is the right standard? By keeping it according to your word. The word. The word for word here is that sum total of God's revealed word by keeping it to that which God has revealed. That is the way your rut in life is going to be blameless. Your course of life be in a blameless way.

18:15The psalmist isn't interested in an abstract knowledge of God's word. The psalmist is seeking the meaning, the word that is given that God has revealed. He is seeking to understand it so that he may live by it. He's wanting to come under it, not just to pick out some curious nuances about it, but to really come under it. And that's very different from the way of evil that is exemplified by so many that are questioning boundaries, that are challenging and looking for a way around God's word.

18:59But the psalmist wants to be blameless. And so he looks to God's way. He's not interested in the human way, the human tradition. He's not interested in the ruts that are formed by human philosophy, human logic, human reason, human conjecture. But he is looking for that which God has established for the blessed to walk in. As we've already Already observed, we're talking about where does a clean heart come from. We looked at in this heart series, we looked at that, that comes from God, that God in Deuteronomy wants us to have a good heart. And a good heart seeks to love Him, come under Him. We also looked in Mark's Gospel at the nature of defilement, what defiles the person, and it's the evil dialoguings of the heart, that which is musing and thinking and contemplating that which is evil. Out of that, that's what pollutes. It's not eating food and what touches the body and only touches the body, that's not what defiles the person, it's what you are thinking about. It's those evil dialoguings of the heart.

20:24That's where adulteries, murders, and thieves, and coveting, that's where all that comes. And that's what pollutes the person, and that's what pollutes our world. But here, here we're talking about a clean heart. Just as a defiled heart has an impact on every part of the human being and the society in which that person lives, so a clean heart also has an effect on every part of the person and the society in which the person lives. Lives, a cleaning effect, a purifying effect.

21:05And so today's question is not so much about how you get a clean heart. That comes from, we've already looked at that, that is given in Christ by recognizing by faith. That is what changes the desire. The natural inclinations of the heart do not lend itself to worshiping God, but rather worshiping self. And so we need, in order to even be able to desire God's ways, a work of grace has to happen in our heart that would change our inclinations. That would say, yes, I see God's ways. They are good.

21:44That is a faith that comes from above, not an earthly kind of belief. But the passage that we're talking about today is about growing in God's grace, that idea of sanctifying grace and sanctification. It's not about so much how you come by it through atonement, though certainly it's implied. How does a young man keep his way pure? By keeping according to your word, God has a sacrifice and has a way to deal with sin that is just, right, good, cleanses. The issue today is really about how do you grow, now that you've been given a heart that desires God's ways and is inclined to God, how do you grow in that way so that his inclinations then become your practical way of life? And you grow in this idea of sanctification.

22:56How do you do it? Well, you guard your heart, as Proverbs 4:23 says, You guard your heart with all diligence, because from it flows the springs of life. What goes on in your heart, what is dialoguing in your heart, if it is evil, it has an evil outflow. If the dialogues of your heart are clean and pure, it has an effect. If your heart's desire is pure before the Lord, it's going to impact every aspect of your being. And that's what is evident in our Psalm today.

23:45But it's important to notice that neither the reckless nor the careless are just going to stumble into the blameless way. The blameless way is not for the reckless, it's not for the careless. It is not for the one who disregards, but for the one who wants to ensure and make sure and cooperate and make sure that his heart is meditating upon the words and the ways of God. So, what I want to do this morning is I want to look at the evidences and the effects of a clean heart. Very simple. Clean heart. Do you have a clean heart? What are its evidences? So, if you're here today and you're wondering, okay, I'm going to judge my own heart today. Is my heart evidencing a cleanness that comes from above? So, first, I want to look at the evidences of a clean heart, and then I want to look at the effects of a clean heart and show you how, if you have a clean heart, how it will impact. And if you maintain that clean heart and its pursuit, how it will impact every part of your being. So, that's where we're going today. A clean heart. We'll look at its evidences and its effects. So, let's look at the evidences of a clean heart.

25:12First of all, look back at verse 10. Notice, with all my heart I have sought you. So, the first thing we can say about a purified heart is that it seeks God. A clean heart, one that is free of defilement. Is going to be a heart that seeks God. With all my heart, I have sought you. Notice that a purified heart is seeking God. God Himself. With all my heart, I have sought you. You see, there's a direct relationship between God and God's words. To seek the one is to seek the other. To seek an understanding of the thought of God revealed in the Word of God is to seek a relationship with God Himself. With all of my heart, I have sought you.

26:10You see, we interact with God in and through the words He has spoken. Second, notice that second evidence of a clean heart is that a clean heart distrusts self. Look back at verse 10. With all my heart I have sought you. Do not let me wander from your commandments. Do not let me go aside from your commandments. That's commandments. That's a word that describes that which is insistent by God, God's insistent will. Do not let me wander. Don't let me get so caught up in the busyness of life and grow distracted or lax to your word and.

27:00Wander away, drift away from that which you insist is right and good. It's easy to do. And the psalmist recognizes that inclination in his own heart. God does have an opinion about where you go and what you do. And it's more, he has more than just an opinion, he has a will that he insists upon. And even as believers, because we're still incarcerated in this flesh, this body of death, we still have an inclination to drift away. And so, all the more, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Let that salvation that is in your heart, let that clean heart that God has given you, let that impact your whole being.

28:07Second, third, the evidence, third evidence of a clean heart is that it treasures God's word. It treasures God's word. Look back at verse 11. Your word I have treasured in my heart. And the word for word here is the word Imra. And it's described really as the promises. The comforting promises of God. Your promises, those promises, especially that have brought comfort to my soul, I have treasured in my heart. I remember years ago, there was a man that I was close to whose wife took very ill. She gained a hundred pounds within a year and was very sickly, and eventually she died from that.

29:03And I remember him telling his wife, I love you, and I always will. That was a comforting promise that she took to heart. I also years ago witnessed another couple. This time it was the husband, except he didn't gain 100 pounds. He lost 100 pounds. Got so skinny and emaciated that he was basically couch-ridden for many years, couldn't work. And it just came out of the blue. You can imagine how a man feels. And you know what she said to him? She said, You will always be my handsome husband. That's a comforting promise. And that's what this psalmist is saying. There is comfort. In God's promises. And he treasured them.

30:06Your word I have treasured. You know what that word means? That talks about hiding something of great value. That which is most precious to me, I have put in the safest place. I have hidden it away because it is that which is of highest value. It's what you do with money, isn't it? When you want to keep it, you put it in a safe place. And that's what a pure heart does with God's Word. It seeks to put God's words in a secure place.

30:44And what is most important to a clean heart? God's words. That's the treasure. God's words. Because with God's words comes relationship with God. A treasure. But what is the most secure place for God's words? An iPhone? A book? No, what does it say? Heart. Heart. I have treasured your word, verse 11, in my heart. That's the best safety deposit box in the world. What goes into the heart is there. That's why you've got to watch what goes into the heart.

31:38That's why one of the things in raising our children, we were always willing to exchange money for good experiences and to bring about that which would go deep within the heart, to instill that which would stay there forever. You think about why, I'm just why do so many Christians commit Scripture to memory? Because it is the safest place for it. Why do we have a truth and grace Bible memory program here at the church? Why? And y'all should get involved with that if you have time, can.

32:18It's what you're doing, you're instilling that which is most precious in the most secure place. That's what memorizing Scripture does. But notice the goal. Fourth evidence of a clean heart is the purpose for all this. Look at verse 11. That I may not sin against you. You see, the evidences of a clean heart seeks God, distrusts selves, treasures God's word, so that the person may not sin against God. What is sin? It's about missing the bullseye. That's. It's a word that describes men who could sling a stone and not miss the bullseye. That's the idea of the word here.

33:13The psalmist doesn't want to miss God's very best. Best place. Want to walk in the blameless way. One commentator put it like this, and I appreciate when you put this all together, God's word is the best thing hidden in the best place for the best purposes. The best thing, God's Word, hidden in the best place, the heart, for the best purpose, not sinning against him. So what's the condition of your heart? Do you have a clean heart? Do you seek God? Do you distrust yourself? Do you treasure God's word so that you may not sin against him? That's the evidences of a clean heart. And if you see these evidences, then you're in the blameless way. Now grow in that way even more. God's grace has been shed. And if you're not, if you're looking at yourself and you're going, you know, yeah, this really isn't my heart, then come to Christ today. Admire the blameless way. Say with the psalmist, I want to. Be in your way.

34:32Come to Jesus Christ. Be united with Him. He is in the way. He is the way. And you are welcome to come to Him today. So, those are the evidences of a clean heart. Next, let's spend some time looking at the effects of the clean heart. Look at the effects of a clean heart. How do you effect? Look at, well, look back at the first of all. A clean heart purifies a person's worship. It's like a clean fountain now going through, emanating from the heart of the person, and it touches all aspects of the person's being. Verse 12: Blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. It purifies. A clean heart will purify your worship. Blessed are you. Notice the object. Blessed, it is you who I speak well about. It is the psalmist speaking well about God. Blessed are you. You are the one to be spoken about with excellence because you are the excellent one, and your ways demonstrate your excellencies. And so, blessed are you.

36:01You, to you I give my worship. I speak and regard highly. And notice its gratitude. This is an expression of gratitude that he is thankful for what God has revealed about himself and his ways. Notice in verse 10, he says, Now I have sought you, and now here he is worshiping him. And then he says, teach me more. Your ways are wonderful. Teach me your statutes. Keep teaching me your statutes. Verse 12. And this is what a person's worship does. A purified worship looks like. It has the right object, but it also has the right manner, posture. Teach me your statutes. I want to worship you for who you are. Statutes.

37:06Prescriptions. Think of it like a medical doctor giving prescriptions for life. God's statutes are prescriptions. They have been inscribed and they're written for our well-being. That's what his statutes are for. Much like prescriptions from a doctor are intended for your well-being. Well-being. And that's what his statutes are given. It's for our well-being. He says, teach me. You must teach me. It's dependence. Blessed are you. Keep teaching me that I may continue to bless you. Second effect of a clean heart is that it purifies a person's speech. Look back at verse 13. When your heart is dialoguing upon the truth of God's word, and that is what's going through your heart, it inevitably reaches your lips and it will characterize your speech. Look at verse 13, with my lips I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth.

38:25Ordinances. This refers, this is a word for God's word that refers to his settled decisions, his judgments. They are the righteous rules of his government. Here's the psalmist saying, I have told of all these ordinances, your righteous rules, your decrees, your judgments, because your judgments reveal the rightness of your decisions and the rightness of your ways. You see, what your lips don't say say, A lot about you, but what your lips do say also says a lot about you.

39:08And notice what the psalmist is saying here in verse 3. With my lips I have told, told, he speaks, word for told, I have reported, I have published, I have declared, I have spoken at length about your ordinances. By the way, this is what you're called to do with your life. Amidst all other pursuits, all other things going on, all of that is secondary. This is what you are called to do. You are called to report, to publish, and announce all the good things and good ways of God.

39:47You see, clean hearts impact the mouth to such that the mouth cannot keep good secrets. You can't keep a good thing secret. You don't believe me? Just tell my girls to be quiet when they know someone's about to be proposed to. That's hard. If my daughters know someone's about to be proposed to, you know, you may want to think twice. It's hard telling them because it's hard for them to keep quiet about. I know something. Can't say, but you can figure it out.

40:38Person A, person B, but I ain't saying anything. But that's what lips do. They speak about that which is good. They can't help but speak about that which is good. And that's what this psalmist says. With my lips I have told of all. I love that word. All your ordinances. He is not ashamed of any of them. Purified lips are not ashamed of any of God's ways or his deeds. Purified lips, notice they're not ashamed. Purified lips teach God's words. Not ashamed of them. Not only are they not ashamed, but they actually are on the offense. They teach.

41:23Listen, if you have been taught by God, you become a teacher of Him to others, and it doesn't really matter what setting you're in. Think about it. If you're at the school, college, or whatever school you're in, your professor may teach you a certain amount of subject, but you may be there to teach them or her the ordinances of God. By the way you conduct yourself. You may be a child, and you may be called upon to teach something to your parents. How do you do that?

42:01By speaking about God's ordinances and his ways, and by aligning your way under, and you may teach ways that you don't even realize. Just because you're not in a position of teaching doesn't mean that God isn't using you to teach something to somebody about him. And you do that by meditating, letting his rich word resonate within your being. But not only do our purified lips not ashamed of God's ways, not only do they speak about God's ways, but purified lips reflect God Himself.

42:48The words of the student of God's word reflect the character of the one who gives those words. And so, as you speak about the things of God, you reflect the quality and character of our master. But what does your speech say about the cleanness of your heart? Grow in this area. This is a call to grow in this area. Develop the skill of communicating all of God's. Ordinances grow in that area. Third effect of a clean heart is it purifies a person's joy. Look at verse 14. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. I have rejoiced. It's the word, I have as much delight, I have more delight in the way of your testimonies than I do in all riches.

44:02What is the source of your joy? What really quickens your heart and gets you excited? I remember this one girl, she had long braids, hair, and grown her hair out for a long time. She got on the school bus, and there were some bullies, and their joy was to torment other people. And so one of the bully girls went in, grabbed a little girl's braid with a pair of scissors, and just cut it off and handed it to her.

44:38Yeah. What is your joy? What brings you joy? Is it tormenting others? Hopefully not. Is your joy driven by a high score on a video game? Does that set you up? Or a good grade on a test? If the stock market goes up, are you up? Or is it how much of your joy is circumstantial, purely based on your circumstances? I was blessed this week. I asked Fidela's permission to share this, but I ran into Fidela in Kroger. And those of you who know about the kind of year that Fidela has had this last year, it's been rough. It's been rough physically on her health. It's been rough spiritually. You remember many of us were here when she just recently had to bury two of her children on the very same day. And you and I, many of us were here.

45:47But I walked into Kroger and she was just full of joy. And it wasn't because pork chops were on sale. I started talking to her, and she was just, she was beaming with the joy of the Lord. She had been to an appointment and she had had a great conversation about the Lord. She said the whole appointment, I was just talking about the Lord and his ways and his goodness. And she says, and then you walked in to the, you walked through the door. Now you're here. I can keep talking about God's ways.

46:23You see, her joy, I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies. And she was talking about the Way that God had brought her through life and all the good things that He, and His faithfulness, and His goodness. And it just couldn't help but come out right there in the middle of Kroger. And that's what the psalmist is showing us here. He's rejoicing. And He rejoices as one who rejoices in all riches. It's like He's saying, I love the way God thinks, and when I understand the way He thinks, it just I rejoice in that more than all the riches of the world. That's what truly excites me. It's not that pork chops were on sale, but that God had been speaking, and God had been showing His ways. Let me ask you a question: What would bring a bigger smile to your face? Now, kids, I'm going to ask you this question: a big bag of candy or a good sermon?

47:33Don't answer that. But think about it. What would bring a bigger smile to your face? A 16-point buck or a good sermon? A good vacation? Or God's truth? A pile of money? Or clear understanding of a portion of scripture. You see, the psalmist shows us that when you truly grasp a testimony of God, it brings more joy than all of these other things by a mile. Let's face it. We go through life and we derive our joy from impure sources. And when you do, you're not in the blameless way.

48:35But you can see the effect. Let the clean heart grow in this area. This sermon is an invitation to grow in these areas. This is what the psalmist was crying out for. Fourth effect of a clean heart is it purifies a person's meditation. Look at verse 15. I will meditate upon your precepts. You see what the things you meditate upon say a lot about what's going on in your heart. That's where there are dialogues. And let your dialogues be that of God's ordinances, God's judgments, God's commandments, God's prescriptions, God's precepts, all of that.

49:19This is what he loves. He loves to fill his mind. And notice the word precepts. I will meditate on your precepts. This word. Shows up 24 times in the Bible, 21 times of those, 21 of those times is right here in this psalm. Precepts. And this refers to this fixed minutiae, the details, the very particular instructions, not just broadbush, but particular instructions, particularities of the orders or the assignments or the charges that God gives. It's like a professor and his syllabus giving out all those detailed instructions of the Course.

50:05But you know, it's not that difficult to meditate upon the things you love, is it? In fact, that's what we do. We meditate upon the things that we love. It's difficult to meditate on a class that you don't like. It's easy to do well in a class that you enjoy the subject material. It wasn't hard for me to focus on Nancy when we first met. Do you know what? I've noticed something. There are some boys that go to church because girls are there. It doesn't happen here. And there are some girls who go to church because of the boys. They meditate upon a romantic relationship, and it's easy for them to get to church and start focusing on that.

50:58But. You see, we love the things that we meditate. We naturally meditate on the things that we love. Joshua 1:8, remember when Israel is about to go into the land? God gives them the prescription for success in the land. And here it is in Joshua 1:8. He says, This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. You see, there is success in life, according to God's standards, is going to be directly related to what the meditations of your heart are. And if you will purify your meditation, if you will let your mind come to rest and muse upon the things and ways and precepts of God, it will shape your life. It will put you in the blessed way and the blameless way. You see, the psalmist got what would have made Israel successful in the land, and the psalmist understands what will make you and I successful in the ways that God has called us.

52:16Number five, fifth effect of a clean heart is that it purifies a person's eyes. Look back at verse 15 and regard your ways. Notice the last part: I shall delight in your ways. Statutes, first part is verse 16. Clean heart regards God's fact. The ESV says, I will fix my eyes. I will fix my eyes on your ways. And that's the idea, the gaze. A clean heart purifies the gaze of a person's eyes. What is it that you gaze upon?

52:54And the psalmist is saying, Your ways have caught my attention and my gaze. And it's not just the words on the printed page that he's talking about here, though that's included. But when God's statutes are displayed in the lives of other people, those beautiful acts of the saints, when you see someone doing what is right, when you see godly virtue manifesting itself, this is what captures the gaze of a clean heart. Notice that he says, verse 12, teach me your statutes. And now, in verse 16, I shall delight in your statutes. Teach me your statutes, and I shall delight in your statutes.

53:50Your eyes tell the story of what fascinates you, and what delights your eyes is what delights you. Grow. In the area of letting your delight be in his ways, studying his ways, and seeing his ways played out in life, and encouraging his ways in the lives and hearts of others. Number six: a clean heart purifies a person's will. Verse 16, notice the last words: I shall not forget your word. I shall not forget. This is speaking to the will.

54:39I will not allow my mind to forget. There's a resolve. You see, a clean heart purifies the will. What will you go after? I will go after a greater understanding, God's word. And the word for forget here, it's not just about a memory loss. Oh, I just slipped my mind type thing. No, it speaks more of a deliberate act of the will, one that is sloppy, one that is careless, one that involves like a willful forgetfulness. Look, when you want to find a way around God's word, you start forgetting some of the texts that are inconvenient to that truth, and you start finding another way. Around.

55:35But the psalmist is vigilant against such forgetfulness. Look back at verse 9. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. And at the end of the stanza, verse 16, I shall not forget your word. That is how a young man or a young woman is going to keep his or way pure. And so deliberate forgetfulness and careless forgetfulness is contrary to that. Teach me, and I shall not forget it. You see, you don't forget your treasure.

56:21What is your most precious possession? You haven't forgot about it. You know where it is. Typically, do not forget treasure. Well, let me just sum up by saying, what are the evidences of a clean heart? Well, a clean heart purifies, a purified, or a clean heart seeks God. A clean heart distrusts self. A clean heart treasures God's word. Some of the effects of a clean heart, it will purify a person's worship. Person's speech, joy, meditation, eyes, and will.

57:06And I said all that today to say this. I want you to be diligent about letting God's word be the meditation of your heart. Let your dialogues of your heart not be evil, but be pure, be clean, thinking upon pure things of God. You see, godly virtue isn't going to happen by accident. It doesn't happen by accident in your life. It won't happen by accident in this church's life. And it won't happen by accident in our country.

57:44It is our greatest threat because it's the one thing that God says he cannot endure. He cannot endure iniquity. And so I am asking you all to do something today. I have a vision and a hope for the future that the young people of our generation and all people of our generation would commit themselves to the blameless way. Will you do that? I've laid out the evidences of a clean heart. I've laid out the effects of a clean heart.

58:25May you cry out with the psalmist and say, God, oh, establish. My way in your ways. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we know as we bow our hearts and reflecting upon this psalm, we know the psalmist isn't talking about sinless perfection. We understand, Father, that though we desire to walk in your ways, there's many failures along the way. But you have made a provision for that in Christ. And so we look upon Christ, His shed blood, and confess to you all of our sins, all of our failures. But we rejoice in the fact that you have made a provision for such sins and failures. And so now we can get up. We can resolve to follow you. We can make things right, no matter how costly that is, to the extent of our ability. And we can move forward. We can move forward freed and equipped to walk in the blameless way to serve you and bless others as we do. So, Father, we call upon your name. May you raise up in this congregation minds and hearts who would commit themselves, who would esteem godly virtue, and practically walk in the ways of your virtue and godliness. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.