Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms, chapter 130. Psalms 130. The psalmist confessed himself to be in a
place that every regenerated sinner continually finds himself in the depths, in the depths. Now when I say in the depths,
what I'm talking about is in the depths of continually struggling
with the presence of sin. A believer knows in whom he hath
believed. And he rejoices in Christ Jesus,
but he absolutely finds no confidence whatsoever in the flesh. He's continually struggling.
And he says, out of the depths, have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Like I said, that is the continual
cry of a believer's heart. He knows it. The Apostle Paul
said the same thing in Romans chapter 7 in verse 23 and 24
about this struggle out of the depths. This is what he said.
He said, another law in my members." Now, what he was talking about
in the members there, he was talking about that corrupt flesh. He's got an old nature. And he
said, I see it. I see another law and it's warring
against the law of my mind or that new nature. He's got a new
nature and an old nature. And he sees a battle going on.
He said, bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members, it holds me. I just can't get away from it.
No matter how I try. I cannot not sin. I just can't do it. I don't want
to. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this dead? Now, let me ask
you, you that believe in the words of John Newton, is it not
so with you? Isn't that the way you see it?
I mean, I know religion of this world
proclaims that there's a kind of a universal high. You know,
it's always on the mountaintop, and I will say this, I'm so thankful
for those moments, and I mean it when I say this, it appears
as though to me that every once in a while that the Lord has
been pleased to grant me just a moment, a fleeting moment of
being able to enter into a passage of scripture where it just grips
my heart and I'm just so taken up with it. It brings me to tears.
I'm just so thankful for it. But those moments are just like
that. They're just so fleeting. And
then, it seems like to me for the rest of the time, I just
stay in kind of a perpetual state of belief, but oh, mixed with
unbelief and just finding myself so lax and unconcerned and just,
you know, somebody said, well, my, that just, that seems like
it would be a wretched state to be in. I'll admit it. Just
a believer just stays in that place right there, out of the
depths. I cried unto thee, O Lord, A
believer needs to cry unto the Lord who is the covenant God
of grace and mercy when he's realizing that the depths of
affliction and conviction of his sin to one that has ever
loved me, that's the one I need to cry to. That's the one I long
to cry out, the one that died and put away the penalty of my
sin. The one that sought me out, when I would have never sought
Him out. I didn't. He crossed my path without me
seeking Him. I know that for a fact. I didn't
get up one day and just, you know, I thought, well, I think
I'm going to seek the Lord today. I'm going to find him out. No
sir. He powerfully arrested me, convicted
me just like he did whenever Adam and Eve, they heard the
voice of the Lord in the cool of the day and hid themselves. They heard the voice and they
hid themselves. The Lord called them. Adam, where
are you? You know, I can hear the voice
of the Lord in the cool of the day without the convicting power
of the Holy Spirit, and I'll tell you what I'll do, I'll hide.
But whenever God calls an effectual grace, mercy, and calls an effectual,
Adam, Marvin, Gary, where are you? Where are you? That's when
I'll answer. He found me, I didn't find him,
didn't find him. And woven into every believer's need is that
desire for the Lord to hear him. I need to call because I'm in
the depths. Verse 2, Lord, hear my voice. Let thine ears be attentive.
to the voice of my supplications. I want you to notice, I've brought
this out before. Look at that verse one, out of
the depths have I cried unto thee. Oh, look how Lord is spelled
there. He's calling to Jehovah. Look at verse two, look how that's
written. That word there is Adonai. And actually it's a word, when
you look at the definition of the word, actually it's a word,
it's a plural word. It's a plural word setting forth
the Godhead in His triunity, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
who is the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Lord, Lord Jesus, You
who the Father will hear, You who Jehovah will hear. For Him,
for Jehovah to hear me, I need a priest. I need an advocate. I need for somebody to speak
for me on my behalf. He's not going to hear me. But
Lord, He'll hear you. Jehovah, He'll hear you. Lord,
hear my prayer. Hear my voice. Let thine ears
be attentive to the voice of my supplications. Lord, don't
turn from me. Lord, don't disregard my prayer. That's the cry of a needy sinner. Lord, I'm not worth hearing.
I admit that. There's nothing in me that is
worthy to be heard, worthy to be regarded. And here's the reason,
verse 3, Lord, verse 3, if thou, Jehovah, shouldest mark iniquities,
O Lord Jesus, O my Adonai, my God, my God, Jehovah, Oh, but
my God, Lord, if you should mark iniquities, who shall stand? Lord, if you should judge them,
if you should observe them in that day, Lord, if you observe
them right now, if you look on them right now, Lord, if you've
ever looked on them, if you've ever regarded them against me,
You who never changes, if you've ever marked them against me from
all eternity, you who never changes are still marking them against
me now because you don't change. You don't change in your attitude,
you don't change at all. There's no shadow of turning
with you. But Lord, if thou shouldest mark iniquity, if those iniquities
are charged against me. If you mark them in judgment,
and you bring them up, who can stand? Who can stand
before you? Who can stand with any kind of
hope before you? Malachi chapter 3. I'll read
this if you want to turn to it, you can. Malachi, last book of
the Bible. Malachi chapter 3. in verse two. But who may abide the day of
his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he's like
a refiner's fire and fuller's soap, and he shall sit as a refiner
and a purifier of silver. He shall purify the sons of Levi,
purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness. If you mark them, if you observe
them, if you charge them to me, who can stand? A believer crying
out of the depth of his need knows that in himself, I'm guilty. There's no doubt about that in
myself. I'm guilty and I know that in
myself I deserve punishment. I know that I stumble. I fail. I've fallen so many times. But Lord, You're the one that
has sustained me. You're the one that lifts me
up. But Lord, I know this. Also, You've been pleased to
show mercy. I know that. I know that You've
been pleased to show compassion to whomsoever. You will. I know that. Lord, I'm crying
to You. out of the depths of some knowledge
of what I am. I don't know the depth of what
I am. If I knew the depth of what I am really in myself, I'd
go nuts. I couldn't stand the very thought
of myself, but the little bit that I do know. Lord, I'm asking
you to hear me. Lord, I'm admitting that if you
mark them, if you charge them, I can't stand before you, but
Lord, verse 4, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
feared. Lord, I know that there's pardon.
I know there is. With you that's found toward
a people of your choice, And I know that your forgiveness
and your pardon is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
according to your everlasting covenant of grace. I know this. God is sovereign. I know He is. I know He's sovereign
in creation. He's sovereign in providence.
He's sovereign in salvation. He's sovereign. He rules. The
army of heaven, the heavens of the earth. Nobody has any right to question
Him. He doesn't owe anybody an explanation.
He's God. I know that. I know that He's
going to save or He's going to condemn according to His will
and purpose. I know that. I know He is. And
I do know that He has ordained that there's a people that He's
going to save. And I know this. that those people
He has ordained. We're not fatalistic. Now what
do I mean by that? I mean that God's people are
not fatalistic. The world is, and this is what
I mean. When I read something like in Romans chapter 9, and
I behold the surety of God's sovereignty The scripture says
in Romans 9, 17 following, for the scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee, that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy, whom he will he hardeneth. Now, what did I just say? I just
said that God has the right, God has the right to show mercy,
and save a man, save a woman, and he has the right to harden
a man. Leave him to himself is all he's doing. He just left
him to himself. He told Pharaoh, he said, for this purpose I raised
you up and left you to yourself. Show my power, show my right
of judgment. But then the Spirit of God moved
upon Paul to write this, verse 19, Thou wilt say then unto me,
why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will? Now
that's fatalism. What he's saying is, well look, since God is going to do what
God wants to do anyway, I mean, I don't have any say in the matter.
God's sovereign. He's going to save or He's going
to condemn. Obviously then, it doesn't really
matter what a man does. Well, that might sound real good
right now, but let me say this. God has also set forth the means
through which He's going to show mercy. He's going to put a man,
a woman, He's going to put them under the sound of the gospel.
the message that does declare that God is sovereign in creation,
providence, and salvation. And God is going to have mercy
on whom He'll have mercy. And He also said this in Ezekiel
chapter 36 concerning what He said He would do for His people. He said also that He's ordained
that God's people, that they're going to call on Him. Now, you leave a man or woman
to themselves and they're not going to call on the Lord. But
the Lord said in Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 37, He said concerning
everything I'm going to do for my people. He said, Thus saith
the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house
of Israel to do it for them. I will increase them with men
like a flock. If God is ordained, he's gonna
have mercy or compassion, he's gonna harden according to his
will. And I don't know who the Lord's gonna say, I don't. I
pray God have mercy on me, but I can tell you this, if a man
or woman doesn't call upon the name of the Lord, they're not
gonna be saved. The Lord's gonna have to give
them a new heart to call. But to just say this, well, it's
all in the hands of God, so I'm just not gonna worry about it.
You're gonna perish, I can tell you right now. What would you advise that I
do? Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord, hear my voice. Let thine eye ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee, that you might be feared, that you might be reverenced.
God's people are not fatalistic. They're not going to just say,
well, whatever's going to be will be. What are they going
to do? They're going to call on the Lord by the grace of God.
I realize it didn't come from Him. I know that. You know that,
too. But I'm telling you, they are not going to stand by and
just say, well, it doesn't really matter. They know better than
that. There's forgiveness with thee. Psalm 86 5 says, for thou,
Lord, art good. and ready to forgive and plenteous
in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Oh, when God gives a man or woman
a heart to call on Him, to call on Him, not to look to anything
they've done or can do or something. I need mercy. I need for God
to save me. I need God to forgive me. Somebody
will say, well, I thought you said he was going to do what
he's going to do. He is going to do that. But I need him to
save me. I need him to have mercy on me. There's forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be feared. Not the terror, but rather the
forgiveness of sin and the application of that forgiveness to the sinner's
understanding brings reverence. and worship. It gives a longing
to follow after the Lord. I want to follow Him. What do
you mean follow after the Lord? I want to hear His Word. I want
to read His Scriptures. I want to have His Scriptures
explained to me. Explain this to me. Tell me what it means.
Tell me what those words mean. I want to follow Him. I want
to call on Him in prayer. I want to get somewhere in my
closet and meet with Him. Call on Him. You said, Lord,
You said, I call on You in secret. Lord, this is the most secret
way I know to call. I don't know any other way to
do it. But Lord, You said You'd hear and You'd reward me openly. And Lord, whatever that means,
I'm thankful for that. Whatever the open reward is,
but I know You're guiding me and directing me. Lord, I need
You. I need You. I don't need a doctrine. I believe
in five points of Calvinism. I believe in total depravity.
I believe in that. And I believe I'm totally depraved.
I believe in unconditional election. I need for God to elect me. I don't want to just look to
a doctrine. I want to know He died, He died
for me. I want to know, I want to, when Christ died at I believe
that he died with my name on his heart. That's the difference,
you know? You just say, well, Christ died
for his people. Well, yeah, but that's just kind
of a broad shot there. I want to know, David, that he
died for me. That Marvin Stoniker was on his
heart. This is personal. This is real. Look at 5 and 6. I wait for the
Lord. My soul doth wait, and in His
word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning. The psalmist is admitting from
the depth of his heart sorrow and conviction. I've hit bottom. I've hit bottom. I'm as low, there's no other
place for me to go. So I need for the Lord to minister to me. I'm waiting.
I'm waiting. I'm waiting for the Lord. I'm waiting for Him to help me. What do you mean waiting on the
Lord? I'm looking patiently by faith. I'm looking to you. You order all things after the
counsel of your own will. You that said you'll never leave,
you'll never forsake your people. My soul waiteth. I mean out of
the depth of my being, my heart is desperate for Him. I wait for the Lord more than
they that watch for the morning. I've told you this before, but
it made such an impression on me. I've never forgotten it. I wait for them more than they
that watch for the morning. You know, I've always said this,
it's always worse at night. Whatever it is, whatever it is,
it's always worse at night. It's always a I wake up and I
start thinking about something and, you know, I can talk to
myself, tell myself, well, you don't have, I mean, you know,
just get that off your mind. Oh, that's, well, that's good
advice, you know, if I could do it. That's my problem. It's always worse at night, but
it, there was a, I told you about my buddy that I knew and had
just dear friend in, Louisiana, Central Louisiana. And when he
got back from Vietnam, he was telling me one day, he had gotten
out of college, a lawyer, very successful lawyer now. But he
told me, he said, Marvin, I'll never forget. He said, man, they
would put me in that guard post on the perimeter. And he said,
and we knew that the enemy was out there. And he said, you're
out there in that little old hut. And he said, you know they
can see you. And he said, you're standing
guard. And he said, oh, I was just thinking,
if it would just get morning. And he said, when I see that
sun coming up, he said, I think, oh, I'm so glad. He says, nothing
like being out there in the loneliness of a jungle. And he said, I just
wished the morning would come. My soul, verse six, waiteth for
the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say
more than they that watch for the morning. The Lord sets forth
to his people. He said, I'm the Lord, I'm your
hope. And the believer says unto the
Lord, Lord, my soul waits for you. You are, you are my hope.
Now, verse seven. Here's the comfort from God's
Spirit. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. Let Israel, the God of electing,
redeeming, and regenerating grace, let true Israel, now I know He's
not talking about all of it, of natural Israel, you know that. But let Israel, let those Jacobs,
remember when Jacob had his name changed to Israel? The Lord asked
him, he was wrestling. What's your name? Jacob. No more. You're a prince with God. Let
those Jacobs who have been made by the grace of God to be Israels,
with God. Let the people of God's everlasting
love, those chosen vessels of God's mercy, let them be patient,
waiting for the Lord to work all things after the counsel
of His own will. Let Israel have her hope, her
confidence, her assurance in Jehovah. For with the Lord there
is Mercy. There is plenteous redemption. There's an overabundance, sufficiency. His Word's not going to return
void. It's going to accomplish the
purpose. There's plenteous redemption. He's not going to withhold anything
from His people. All of His spiritual Israel,
there's a continual, heaped up, abundant deliverance. Crying to Him. Let your hope
be in Him, for He will, for the sake of His Son who bought you,
who stood for you, who redeemed you by His blood, what He's done.
He bought you off the slave market. The one that we read back in
Lamentations. He bore all of that. He's the man that's seen the
rod of God's affliction. Most writers always relate that
to Jeremiah. And like I said, I don't doubt
for one second Jeremiah grieved over what he saw, but nobody
has ever borne the affliction of God's Christ. Nobody. Born alone. And scripture says,
now you let Israel, let spiritual Israel have her confidence in
the Lord. For with the Lord there is mercy. There's mercy. There's mercy for us because
mercy was not shown him. Wasn't showing him. He said,
he set me as a mark with his arrows. I cried and he wouldn't
hear me. He hedged me in and wouldn't
let me out. Oh, what he's done for us, what he's... Have hope. Verse 8, and he shall redeem
Israel from all his iniquities. That's the precious promise that
I want to hear. I love that word right there.
All. All. all. I've said this before,
nobody knows anybody like a person kind of knows himself. And I'm
thinking, Lord, that you would forgive me for all, because I've
got some that I'd rather not bring up, I'd rather not anybody
ever know. Thoughts? Yeah, yeah. Actions? Yeah. Just attitudes? Yeah, yeah. What's he going to do? Well,
number one, he Shall. He shall. I know that that means that there's
no possibility that he's going to fail to do what he said. But
now what did he say he was going to do? He shall redeem Israel. He shall redeem his bride, the
church, God's elect. He shall redeem. And that from which he shall
redeem Israel, what is it? All his iniquities. All of our pollution. All of
the power and dominion of sin. And soon, the very presence of
it. Oh, let Israel hope in the Lord. The spiritual Israel knows what
she is. She knows what she is. She's
not in a bargaining position. God's people don't, we don't
have any bargaining chips. We are, apart from Him, totally,
totally iniquity, sin. But with the Lord, there's forgiveness. What do we do? out of the depths. Call upon Him. If the Lord's
given a man or woman a heart to call, they'll call. They will.
They will. That He might be glorified and
honored and praised in the ages to come. I pray that He have
mercy on us today. I pray He have mercy on me. I
need it. I know you that know Him do too. For His glory and
our