Turn to Psalm 56. Psalm 56. Brother Mitch read out of this
passage last Sunday, and I began to think on that passage of Scripture,
and I want to look actually in verse 9. I'd like to read the
first nine verses. Psalm 56, Be merciful unto me,
O God. For man would swallow me up,
he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily
swallow me up. For they be many that fight against
me, O Thou Most High. What time I am afraid, I will
trust in Thee. In God, I will praise His Word. In God, I put my trust. I will
not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day, they rest my words. All their thoughts are against
me for evil. They gather themselves together.
They hide themselves. They mark my steps when they
wait for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity?
In thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my
wanderings, put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not
in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall
mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me. Let's pray together. Our Father,
help us this evening to worship. Lord, cause your word to come
to us in power. Give us some understanding. Forgive
us for Christ's sake. Amen. Years ago, I'd just gotten
here, and Brother Scott made a statement to me that I'm sure
I'm going to remember as long as the Lord gives me memory,
as long as I live. This is what he said. He said,
I've got your back. You know, he never knew what
that meant to me. I know that he knew. from experience, the struggles
that a pastor has, the warrings and the concerns and the battles
within and without. You just, for a pastor, this
right here, Being in this study, this is
his life. This is his life. You don't get
away. You don't get away. You know,
you that have studied, you know, to preach before. Neil, you know,
you know something what it's like, don't you? I mean, you're
just, you're just, you're there. You're always there. You want
to be prepared. You want to be ready. You want
to be, where you've been, where the Lord speaks to you. I know, I know he was a frail
creature. He just like me. He had faults
just like me. But I knew this. I knew that
he loved me. He cared for me and I loved him,
cared for him. You did too. I got you back. You know, coming from Scott,
that meant a lot. But let me tell you something.
There's one who has given His Word, the Lord God of Heaven,
One who has pledged Himself to be the haven, the guide, the
protector of those that He has eternally loved. He who is omniscient, omnipresent,
omnipotent, God Almighty. David, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, says in verse 9, When I cry unto thee, then
shall mine enemies turn back. This I know. I know that my enemies
are going to turn back when I cry unto the Lord. This I know. For,
because God is for me. I looked at that passage of scripture
and I thought to myself, first of all, when I cry unto the Lord, why will
a man cry unto the Lord? Why? Why? Well, look at verse
1 and 2. Be merciful unto me, O God, for
man would swallow me up, he fighting daily oppresseth me. My enemies
would daily swallow me up, for they be many that fight against
me, O Thou Most High. Here's the reason that a man
cries unto the Lord. It's because he sees something
of the oppression and the trouble that's in this world. He sees
the fightings. Listen, Exodus 14.10, when Pharaoh
drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold,
the Egyptians marched after them. They weren't just marching, they
were coming after them. And they were sore afraid. And
the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, we're in trouble. I'm in trouble. I've got trouble
outside and inside. There's a battle inside here. Why will a man cry unto the Lord? Because of the trouble. When will he cry? I'll tell you
when he'll cry. Look at verse 3. What time I
am afraid I'm afraid. Fear is something that every
human being possesses. Fear. Do you know why? Look at
Genesis 3, 6 to 10. Genesis 3, this is where fear
comes from. Genesis 3, When the woman saw that the tree
was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, a tree
to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he
did eat. And as soon as he ate, and the
eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were
naked, they sewed fig leaves together, They made themselves
apron. They heard the voice of the Lord
walking in the garden, the cool of the day. And Adam and his
wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord amongst
the trees of the garden. And the Lord called unto Adam
and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy
voice in the garden. And I was afraid because I was naked and I hid
myself. You know why a man will cry unto
the Lord? Why he's afraid? Because he's
a sinner. That's the reason. I'm a sinner. And I'm fearful. I don't have
confidence in myself. Exodus 17, verse 4, Moses cried
unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they'd be almost ready to stone
me. The very people that the Lord
led out of Egypt, they were just ready to stone Moses. Why'd you
bring us out here? Because the Lord told me to. And a man that cries unto the
Lord is one who has some confidence in the Lord. That man that has
confidence in God, he trusts Him. Look at latter part of verse
3 and 4. What time I'm afraid I will trust
in Thee. In God I will praise His Word,
in God I put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. You don't look to somebody that
you don't trust. If you don't trust them, you're
not going to look to them. You're not going to have any
confidence in them. A believer cries unto the Lord when I cry
unto thee. Why will a believer cry unto
the Lord? Now when you have some, when
you're in trouble, you're afraid, And you know that there's one
that you've got some confidence in. Why will you call? Here's it, here it is. Because
you believe that He hears. If I don't believe that God hears,
what good is it going to do for me to cry? First Samuel 7, 9,
Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a burnt offering,
holy, W-H-O-L-L-Y, holy, completely, unto the Lord. And Samuel cried
unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. I think about
right now, with the fears, with the warrings, the fightings,
We call unto the Lord and we believe that He hears. Now that's
a settling thought to me. That God truly hears. That He will lend His ear, bend
His ear to me. Listen to David, Psalm 18.6,
in my distress, I called upon the Lord, cried
unto my God. He heard my voice out of His
temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears. There's been times that I would
be trying to pray, and this thought goes through my mind. The Lord
has time for me. He has time for me. Of all the
people in this world, many of whom I'm sure are believers, and He has time for them, He
has time. I hear you. We call because we're in trouble,
we call because we're afraid, we call because we've got confidence
and we trust the Lord. And listen to this, The Scripture
says that before we call, the Lord Himself who hears has
already answered it. Now that's an amazing thing. I call because I realize I'm
in trouble. The Scripture says before His
people calls. Listen to this, Isaiah 65, 24.
It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while they're yet speaking,
I will hear. Before you ever called, the Lord
said, I, I sent the answer. But I'm going to listen until
you ask me. All these things I'm going to do for Israel, yet
for all these things will I be inquired of, saith the Lord.
He's going to draw us to cry unto Him, and He's going to listen
to that which He's already heard and answered. What confidence! What confidence! You talk about
one respectfully, I say this, that has our back, that will
watch over, guard, somebody that is there for you because He cares
for you. Before we cry, before we approach
His throne of grace, the answer is prepared. Why? Because the
Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, is ours by grace and by the application
of His blood, the imputed righteousness of our Lord. And we're accepted
in Him because of Him. God's for me. As His bride, as His beloved, as His brethren, God is for me. But do you know that a believer
is not only convinced that the Lord hears and He's going to
answer, He's going to answer right now. I know there's times that we
go through periods of praying and seeking, and it seems as
though to us that the Lord doesn't hear. But I'm telling you, you
listen to this scripture. Isaiah 58, 9. Then shalt thou
call, and the Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry, and he shall
say, Here I am. Even if it appears to us that
it's silent, He answers. What do you do? You continue
to pray. He'll make it evident. Is this not a foundation of peace
and comfort and security? This God-given assurance of deliverance
from all that would oppress God's people. He hears, He cares. He sovereignly leads us into
dire straits, but it's always for our good. You know that.
Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteth. Brings these trials and tribulations. Why? That we might cry unto Him. That He might answer before we
ever cry and then listens to the cry. That's protection. That's security. David said,
when I cry unto thee. And we will. God's people cry.
I said a moment ago, they cry with importunity. They seek and
they knock and they ask. And they ask, and they ask. I thought about Abraham when
the Lord met Abraham in the desert. Remember, he was going, the Lord
was going to go into Sodom, going to send those angels into Sodom
to see if what he had heard was so. Well, you know, that's understanding
to our mind. He knew what was going on. Listen
to this, Genesis 18. Here's Abraham, and Abraham's
got a nephew over in Sodom. He's got a nephew, he's got a
couple of girls there, and Lot's wife, and he's over there. He's in Sodom. The Lord's done
made it evident what he's going to do to Sodom. And Abraham is... Okay, now he's thinking about
some believers over there. And Abraham drew near and he
said, Will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? For adventure there be 50 righteous
within the city. Will thou also destroy and not
spare the place for the 50 righteous that are therein? You know what
the Lord told him. He said, if there's 50, I won't
destroy it. I can only imagine Abraham's
heart. He's anxious. And he's thinking, I should have
asked for less. How about 40? Would you spare
it for 40? How about 30? How about 20? If there's 10 there, would you
spare it for 10? The Lord told him, he said, I'll
spare it for 10. There wasn't 10. You know what
happened. When I cry unto thee, David said,
then shall mine enemies turn back. Of this, David, by experience,
was assured. When a believer cries unto the
Lord, the enemies of God's people, Satan, yes. Sin, yes. The world, yes. Oh, and my flesh. What an enemy I have in myself. The Lord has promised, when God's
people cry unto Him, then shall my enemies turn back. I said God's timing is not our
timing. But we have the confidence in
Him. And listen. This is to the assurance
and the confidence of one that the Lord has given a heart to
cry unto Him. Scripture says, some trust in chariots and some
in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
What David says, Psalm 23, Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, this is it, this is, this world is
the shadow of death, right here. I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Paul, the apostle, Romans 8.31,
what shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who
can? Who can? Who has the ability? That's what David's saying. When
I cry unto thee and beseech you and trust you and have confidence
in you, crying unto you for help, then shall mine enemies turn
back. Who can be against us? Concerning the flight of the
enemies of the Lord's people, David said this, I know. I know
this. For God is for me. God is for
me. I know we admit it's impossible,
though we believe it, to enter into the depth of that state.
I know that. God is for me. Let me ask you this. How do you
know? How does a person know that God
is for them? I think that's a good question.
I know everybody and their brother says he is. I'm a Christian. I'm a believer. I worship God. I know this. Here is the only way John 3.36,
this is the only way that a person has any confidence in knowing
the Lord. John 3.36. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now let me tell you something,
that verse of scripture right there settles every question
about whether or not God is for a man or against a man. It settles
it right there. He that believeth on the Son,
I qualify this statement every time I read it, something like
that, but this is what I'm saying. He that believeth not in water
baptism. Brother Stan was baptized last
Sunday. That water doesn't save anybody,
Stan. That water is water. Water is water. My walking down an aisle means
that I can walk. that I can move from one spot
to another spot. Walking does not save a man. Almighty God gives a man a new
heart, gives him faith to believe on Christ and trust Him alone. Nothing of myself. Not of myself. Nothing that I can do. I believe
God. And even that belief is by grace. I don't even possess that ability.
God's got to give me faith that I'm not born with. All men have
not faith. God's got to give me faith to
believe. You tell me one other thing that
gives a sinner any confidence whatsoever that God is for him. I'm telling you, John 3.36 tells
those that God's far and those that God's not far. He that believeth
on the Son hath life. Though he slay me, Job said,
yet will I trust him. I'm gonna trust him. I'm gonna
wait on him. I have confidence in him. I cry
unto the Lord. I cry unto Him, looking to Him. And when I cry unto Him, it's
because He gives me faith to believe. I cry unto Thee. Then shall mine enemies turn
back. This I know, for God is for me. In closing, let me tell you,
what I know about God being for a man or a woman. He was for
us before the world was made. He was for us because He loved
us. He chose us in Christ. Gave us to the beloved Son. I believe that. I believe that. You believe that Almighty God
elected a people. Scripture says He did. He was for us when He forsook
His only begotten Son at Calvary. He forsook Him. My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken Me? Let me tell you why. He was for
us. He was for us. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him,
when He hung on that cross and there made sin, it was because
God was for me. for his people. When all his elect fell in Adam, then, right then, there was a
surety, a redeemer, an advocate, the great high priest to approach
God on their behalf, a priest who ever liveth The One who was ever before the
Father, I was ever before Him. Before the mountains were made,
I was there, brought up with Him. God was for us. Always been. As His people, yet unregenerate. I think about this and think
of the marvel of God's grace. when I never knew Him. When I
lifted my fist in rebellion against God, when I was walking in my
own ways and mind and flesh, when I cared nothing for Him,
spoke of Him in the most disrespectful ways, things that would come out of
my mouth referring to Him, the filthiness, Now I know God was
for me when I hated Him. When He pleased Him, He called
me out of darkness, revealed His Son in me. Then I knew. And I tell you this because He
is for His people. He's going to summon a host of
trials and tribulations and cause them to call upon Him and cry
to Him that He might meet their every need in the display of
His mercy and grace and compassion. How could I have been kept? There's a lot of folks I know,
I've known, you have too, over the years, that one time, or
even in this assembly, And they're not here. Maybe alive, but they're not
here. Do you realize that it's only
by the grace of God that you've been kept? By the power of God
and to the day of salvation. And I know this lastly, because
the Lord is for us, He's going to ever be for us. Because He
doesn't change. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob, you supplanters, you tricksters, you hucksters,
you liars, you cheaters, you're not consumed. That's the
only reason. This I know, and I cry unto the
Lord, cry unto the Lord. Mine enemies, mine enemies, shall
flee. This I know, because God is for
us. God's for us who can be against
us. Lord bless the word to our heart,
for Christ's sake.