It's good to see all of you tonight. I thank the Lord for another
time. And I ask you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Psalms, chapter three, Psalm
chapter three. I was talking to a dear friend
the other day and we were talking about the preciousness of the
Psalms, the comfort of hearing, reading, musing on the Psalms. This, this Psalm at the top,
right above verse one, Mine says a song of David when he fled
from Absalom, his son. David loved his boy. He loved Absalom. Oh, Absalom,
Absalom. And Absalom wanted the throne. He wanted the throne. He turned on his daddy. His daddy,
he loved him. He loved him. And you know what happened. The
Lord took his boy. All the love, the love that he
had for that son. I was just looking at the top.
A song of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. Psalm chapter three, verses one
and two. As I've told you so many times
before, this is, David is praying this, but these
are the words of the Lord. These are the words of the Lord
as he intercedes for his people. And when you keep that in mind,
it just, brings these words to life when you realize these are
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ saying what we as his people
would desire to say, but we don't know how to say it. He does. And he starts off in verse one
and he says, Lord, Well, I thought about just that,
that name, that title. Lord, you who are the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, God Almighty, the triune God,
Lord, how are they increased that trouble
me? or they that rise up against
me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there's no help for him in God. See law. Now, I think about the Lord setting
forth in this passage of scripture, telling us of the animosity that
we face in this world. Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. He's talking concerning himself. He's talking about the Lord himself
saying that. But that's what we face. We face
that. Many there be that say of my
soul, there's no help for God, for him in God. Selah, muse on
that. It also could be a musical note,
but it's contemplate, contemplate what was being said. You remember
those that were around the cross on the day of our Lord's crucifixion.
It's recorded in Matthew 27, verse 43. He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he
will, if you'll have him. For he said, I am the son of
God. We all face trials, tribulations,
troubles. We all experience these. And
this is what the world says. You may not hear them say it
outwardly, but this is what the scripture declares. The world
is saying there's no help for them. There's no salvation for
those that trust in God. And this is what they say or
think because of a carnal heart. Listen, Psalm 86, 14, Oh God,
the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of the violent
men have sought after my soul, and have not set thee before
them." Oh, I jotted this down. Whenever Peter was told by the Lord, he
said, Simon, Simon, Behold, Satan hath desired to
have you, that he might sift you as wheat. The Lord warned
him, the Lord told him, this is what you're gonna go through.
Satan hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat.
That's his desire, Satan's desire. But I've prayed for you, that
thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
I looked it up again. When you're returned, when you're recovered, strengthen thy brethren. Satan
has desired to have you and shift you, but I prayed for you. And when you've been recovered,
pray for your brethren. Does not even our own unbelieving
heart tempt us, think God's forgotten you. God's forgotten. You say, oh,
I wouldn't think that. Oh, please, please don't go there. None of us, let's don't go there.
We, you know, we think that. I'm telling you, we've all going
through things. We've got things in our family,
things in our bodies, things that are just, This world, it's
hard. It's hard. God has forgotten
you. There's no help for him in God. All the while, the Lord's people
know. They know by faith. The Lord
has told them, I will never leave you. I'll never leave. I wonder
how many times. by God's grace, and I wish then,
son, Lord would help me, help me remember that. I will never
leave you. I'm not gonna forsake you. I'm
not going to. But God's people, though they
go through these trials, and usually you're gonna find when
you look back, you're gonna look back over a path, and you're
gonna realize then, You know, it makes a little bit more sense
now than it did before. God's people say with Job, though
he slay me, yet will I trust him. Yet will I trust him. Lord, how
are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Many there be which say of my soul, there's no help for
him in God, Selah. But then Psalmist was moved to
say in verse three, but thou, O Lord, art a shield for me,
my glory, and the lifter up of my head. Lord, you're about me. You're always about me. Lord,
you are my protection. Lord, I'm weak, I'm frail. I'm burdened down, burned down,
always weighty. You're my shield above me, you're
my shield below me. Lord, without you, I can do nothing. And your faithfulness, Lord,
to protect me and keep me, from the fiery darts of Satan that
I know come all the time. They're always there. We just forget that these are
there. These fiery darts are there.
The Lord's promised they're there. Lord, you keep me in this world. You keep me in the midst of all
this. You are my glory, but thou, O
Lord, art a shield for me. You're my glory. You're my keeper,
my buckler, lifter up of my head. You've lifted me up from the
slew of despond. You've taken me out of the clutches
of the bondage of sin. You promised me the sin will
not have dominion. It's there, I know it's there.
And I feel it. I behold it, I see something
of a weakness in me. But Lord, you've triumphed over
death, hell, and the grave. And in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in you, Lord, I'm lifted up. The scripture says in verse four,
I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of
his holy hill. See, contemplate that. I cried
unto the Lord with my voice, and this is confidence, confidence
in the Lord's word, and he heard me. He heard me out of his holy
hill. out of His holy, out of the place
of His presence. Out of Zion, I cried unto the
Lord. And He heard me. Isn't it a comfort
when you think about how the Lord has promised us? Before they call, before they
call, I'll answer. I don't even know how to ask. I don't even know what to ask.
He said, before you even ask. The answers come in here. Here's
David verbalizing his prayer. Often, God's people are found,
they pray just like this. I cried unto the Lord. You know, there is anguish that's
ever present with us. Now, if you just be one of those
that you can go through a day or a week or a month or whatever,
and you just don't have any trials, you know, well, you're just not
breathing. Something's wrong, because I'm
telling you, they're there. They're always there. Scripture
says concerning the anguish of the Lord, I cried unto the Lord
in my voice. He heard me out of his holy hill.
when the Lord was praying in Gethsemane. Scripture says, and he was in
anguish in the garden, and it said, and he went a little further
and fell on his face, prayed, saying, oh, my father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. Oh, but the greatness
of this next word, three words together, nevertheless. Nevertheless,
not my will, not as I will, but as thou wilt. He says in verse five, talking
about, here's a blessing. Verse five, I laid me down and
slept. I awakened, for the Lord sustained
me. I laid me down and slept. Boy, is not, is not some sleep,
peaceful sleep, to be able to rest. And looking at this in
light of the spirituality of it, to be able to lay down and
sleep and rest. But more so, without a doubt,
God's people, they walk in in this world confidently, in the
Lord's security, able to just physically rest, just able to
know that the Lord watches over. But there seems to be something
much deeper here. Whenever the psalmist was moved to speak concerning
the rest, David was talking about the purity, the wonder, the glory,
of being able to die in the faith, die in the faith. Robert Hawker
wrote this. I read this and I thought these are good. He says concerning
that passage, verse five, I laid me down and I slept and I awakened for
the Lord sustained me. Robert Hawker said concerning
that, he said, you think of the Lord when he laid down his life
in rest, peace, trusting God. He said what he did, he said
of the Lord, he said, it is truly said, I laid me down. At the cross, nobody took his
life. Nobody took the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep, So he said, look at this passage in light of the
submission of Christ to his father. He who is the substitute of sinners. And he said, you'll see here.
Here, he said, I laid me down. He said, Christ submitted himself.
Gave his hands, his feet, his side, nailed to the tree. Concerning him being made sin,
he said, justice being served. He said, I laid me down and I
slept. I died. I died. Amazing passage of scripture.
God laid down his life. God, God laid down his life and
died. You know, it's one of those where
people, I would say, somebody said, I can't understand that.
I said, I'm with you, I'm with you. God, he knew no sin. Made sin, but he never sinned
himself. Laid me down and slept. And then
the scripture says, look at this, latter part. I awakened, I awakened. for the Lord sustained me. Three
days later, he came out of that grave. Beautiful, beautiful picture
of our Lord. His spirit entered again, and
he on resurrection day, resurrection morning, truthfully say, concerning
himself, concerning all for whom he died, the Lord sustained me. The Lord kept me. Oh, the reproaches
that our Lord suffered because of the hatred of men, for him
and for his people. He bore our debt. He started
off saying this, first part, chapter three, Psalm three, talking
about those that were in debt. increased against him, troubled
him, rise up against him. Oh, they say there's no help
for him in God but thou, Lord. Oh, Lord. In the midst of all
this, you're my shield. You're my hope. Concerning the
Lord's bearing the animosity, Job 16.10. They have gaped upon
me with their mouth. They've smitten me upon the cheek
reproachfully. They've gathered themselves together
against me. This is what He bore for us. This is what He took upon Himself. So what does a believer have
to fear? The Lord is born. He shed His blood. All the enemies
of God have been conquered, the enemies of his people. Scripture
says, he says in verse six and seven, I will not be afraid of
ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me
round about. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my
God, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. What he's done, he's borne all
of our guilt. He took all of the reproach that
was against us, really. It was against him, but we're
in him. We're one with him. One with him. It was against
him. It's against us. We're his body. Do it unto them, you do it to
me. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Who was Saul persecuting? Christians. The Lord said, you're
persecuting me. You rise up against one of mine,
you rise up against me. That's what he said. Here was the blessed conclusion. Verse eight. This is what the
psalmist was moved by the Spirit of God to write. as the answer
to all the reproach and the sustaining grace in the midst of all that
reproach for God's people. Here's what he said. Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people,
see law. Salvation In my Bible, maybe yours too,
belongeth is in italics, so it was added. It's a good word,
it's true, but it wasn't in the original. So it says salvation
unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Salvation. This world's religion,
when it comes to salvation, I'll just wrap this up. When it comes
to salvation, this is the first thing that a man or woman thinks
when they think about salvation. When I was in religion, we had
something called a cooperative program. Cooperative program. Don't ask me what that means,
I don't know, but it just has to do something, I guess, you
know, working together. That's what I would assume. That's
what I always thought. Nobody ever told me the definition,
but man thinks by nature that salvation is actually a cooperative
effort between God and man. And what it says is that God
has done his part in providing salvation. He wants to give it
to everybody, they say. He's provided all you need, all
you got to do. Now you got a problem with whatever's
getting ready to come out of my mouth right now. I got a problem.
But this is what they're saying. All you have to do is accept
it and make it effectual. Cooperative, we'll work together. That's not what scripture says.
Scripture says, verse 8, salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Man is born dead. He's born deceived. Man is born
self-deceived. Listen to this, Isaiah 4420.
This is talking about Man by nature. Now this is man.
This is what God has to say. He feedeth on ashes. A deceived heart hath turned
him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, is there not
a lie in my right hand? Man is so blind, he's so dead
spiritually. He feeds on ashes. He feeds on
that which is already consumed. It's nothing. It's gone. It's
burnt up. He feeds on ashes. A deceived
heart has turned him aside that he cannot, he cannot, he cannot say, there's a lie
in my hand. Can't say it. Can't say it. To think that man can do something,
for his salvation is to dispute the scriptures. Salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. First and last, salvation belongs
to God. God chose his people. God chose
them. I said before, who did the choosing? Who did the choosing? Us or God? Not what somebody told you. What
does the scripture say? The scripture declares he chose
his people from the beginning. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. From the beginning to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.
He did the choosing. He redeemed his people. He redeemed
His own. He redeemed them to Himself,
to God, by Christ's blood out of every kindred, tongue, people,
and nation. And when it pleases Him, He calls
them. He chose them. He redeemed them. Bought them with His own blood.
And when it pleases Him, He calls them by His grace and quickens
them. He gives them life. And He teaches
them. He teaches them. This is how
we know. I've been here now. It won't
be long. It won't be long. It'll be approaching.
Over 20, well, 21, so it won't be long. Next time I have an
anniversary here, Lord willing, if the Lord allows me to be here,
it'll be 22 years, 22 years. I just said 20 years. I just
said it was 20 years ago. Seemed like about two months
ago. And now it's coming up on, won't be long, 22, 22 years. And of all that time, we got
one message that we preach, one message. Paul said, I am determined,
I'm determined to preach Christ and him crucified. And it's found
in these 66 books right here. Same message all the time. Salvation
belongeth to the Lord. And the scripture says, thy blessing
is upon thy people. The blessing I looked at that,
and I looked up, and it was, he was a John Gill. I can find
it if you want me to. It was either, I didn't jot down
where I got it. I just wrote down what they said.
When it said, thy blessing, this is what he said, the treaty of
peace, the treaty of peace. We got a treaty, a treaty of
peace, and it was signed by his blood, signed in his blood. Thy
treaty, thy blessing is upon His people. Oh, God's people
have been eternally blessed of God, blessed in heavenly places
in Christ, chosen in Him before the foundation of the world,
predestinated, I've told you before, determining the destination
beforehand. Just if we just read what God
has to say and just say, this is what the Lord said, predestinated,
predestinated for the foundation of the world unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself, accepted in the beloved,
redeemed by his precious blood, forgiven of our sins. God's people are Blessed people,
they're blessed, blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who have been
made to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed to have
been given a heart that is merciful, kind, compassionate, Blessed
in regenerating grace. Blessed to be a peacemaker. For
they shall be called the children of God. And blessed when they're
persecuted for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. When it comes to the end, they'll
be blessed. Those that have been made to
die in the Lord. Henceforth, Scripture says, blessed
are they, blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord. Boy, you
think about this, is that not? Your brother and I have been
talking many times about getting older, getting closer to dying. And the sweetness, the sweetness
of thinking about when the Lord takes His people,
when He takes us to die in the Lord, to die in the faith, to
die in Christ. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. From henceforth, yea, saith the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works
do follow them. God's people are blessed people. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing, your treaty of
peace is upon thy people. See law. Muse on that, just muse
on that. I pray the Lord bless this to
our hearts. Amen.