This psalm begins with an exhortation
to us to remember the Lord's benefits unto us. The Lord has to keep reminding
us. He's given us the beautiful ordinance of his table and said,
do this in remembrance of me. And his word continually reminds
us of all of his blessings upon us. And then after exhorting
us to remember his benefits and to think on them, it becomes
a Very thorough and quite impressive catalog of those benefits. So
far in verses 3 and 4, we've seen that he forgives our sins. This world is thankful usually
for things and always pursuing things. I'm thankful for things
too, but David begins in the right place, doesn't he? Thank
you, God, for forgiving my sins. We talked about at what cost
he did that the word redeemeth in verse 4 is key And we're told
that he surrounds us in verse 5 with his love and mercy in
verse 4 I mean And in verse 5 now, we see that his love and mercy
is not like that of most people people talk about love and having
mercy but look at verse 5 who satisfied thy mouth with good
things and so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. You see, His love surrounds us. It's not just good wishes, benevolent
intentions. He actually, because He loves
us, He actually gives us what we need. The word satisfy is
very important. He surrounds us with His love
and mercy and it actually Satisfies the need Very significant James
2 14 you remember this verse we've had occasion Going through
the scripture to look at it several times in the last months Remember
James said what does it profit my brethren though a man say
he hath faith and have not works can faith save him If a brother
or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you
say unto them depart in peace. I Be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding
you give them not those things which are needful to the body,
what doth it profit? Even so, faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. And how blasphemous the notion
that 99% of this world's religion espouses that, which is that
God's love is like this dead faith. He wants to save, he has
good wishes toward you regarding salvation, but he doesn't save.
He doesn't actually provide what's needed. I know, I can hear the arguments
now. Oh, He did, He provided it on the cross. Yeah, but I
need more than just somebody to die for me and then hope I
do something. If I'm a dead man, I need life.
I need faith. I need a new heart. And my Savior gives me, He satisfies. Satisfy, we think of the word
satisfy as, you know, you had a good meal as opposed to a bad
one or something like that. But the word satisfy means to
meet the need, to meet the need. And that's what our Lord does.
The savior of this world, he hopes you get saved, but he doesn't
actually save. Our text refutes that concerning
the true Christ of scripture. David said he loves us and he
satisfies us with what we need. And this of course is true both
physically and spiritually. David said in Psalm 37, 25, I've
been young and now I'm old and I've not seen the righteous forsaken
nor his seed begging bread. That includes both, doesn't it?
Not forsaken in the sense of all of our other needs, nor begging
bread. And this is just the truth of
the matter. We will not lack what we need, either physically
or spiritually, if we're His. The Lord is my shepherd. What's
the next line? I shall not want. I will be satisfied. I will have what I need because
of who my shepherd is. Of the physical, provision that
the Lord gives us. He teaches us in Matthew 6 to
seek first the spiritual. He rebukes his disciples for
constantly worrying about the physical. What am I going to
wear? What am I going to eat? What if I lose my job tomorrow? What am I going to do? Where's the next paycheck coming
from? How am I going to pay the rent? I know people that have lived
60 70 years And the lord has given
them what they need All those years And they're still worried
about tomorrow I also know somebody that's 51 fixing to be 52. That's
a lot like that I don't want to be that person You think about
that all your life He's showered you with His blessings and we're
still wearing it. We'll go to our grave wearing
it. He said, take no thought for
those things. What a gracious Savior He is. Take no thought for what you
shall eat or what you shall drink or what you shall wear. Seek
the kingdom of God and all this will be added to you, all these
things. And if you do seek His kingdom, He gives all of the
grace, all of the peace, all of the comfort, all of the spiritual
food. Faith, increases our faith, all
that we need, every grace. And the word satisfied is to
be fulfilled or have one's fill of. Are you satisfied with Christ? That's the question. Because
this is what our Lord gives us. He gave His only begotten Son. And He still does. Many people reveal in their dealings
with the church that they're not satisfied with Christ. And
I just use this as an example because I've witnessed it personally
over the years. They crave entertainment or quite
often people typically and repetitively that aren't satisfied with Christ,
they crave involvement of some kind. They want to be somebody
in the church. They're very quick to mention
how that they've taught before and would sure be willing to
do that again or have some kind of position. They want some kind
of position in the church. I've experienced that a lot.
But you know what position they don't want? Janitor. They don't
want that one. When it comes time for the church
to be cleaned or something to be fixed, they're not so quick
to volunteer for that as they are teaching or something like
that. But mostly, mostly, by far mostly, those who will hear
this gospel at all are usually satisfied to just hear of Him. Just hear of Him. Christ is enough,
and I can't tell you what a blessing that is to me, to see that in
you. It's good to be satisfied, to
have your fill. Our Lord said, if you eat of
the bread that I give you, and I am that bread, you'll never
hunger again. If you drink of the water that
I give you, that only I can give you, You'll never be thirsty
again. God, the father is satisfied
with Christ for my sin. And by God's grace, I'm satisfied
with him. He is that meat and drink indeed. Satisfy the soul and think about
this. He satisfied our mouth with good
things. We put vinegar to his mouth mixed
with gall. Something that was counter to
his purpose of suffering for our sins, but he puts good things
to our mouth. When we need grace, he doesn't
send us away with good wishes. He gives us grace. When we need comfort in trouble. And I started to say when we
need trouble, sometimes we need trouble. He gives us the medicine of His
afflicting grace. The Lord feeds us so that we're
spiritually satisfied. When we need comfort,
He gives it. He's our comfort. He is our comfort. As to the latter part of the
verse, think about this. Renewed like the eagles, our
youth renewed. Think about this. Clearly not talking about physical
youth Consider what it is to be renewed spiritually Because
we need that don't we You know, there's a reason why the scripture
says don't be weary and well-doing Because we tend to be weary in
following the Lord and in Trying to do his will in this world.
We tend to weary This world wears that you doesn't it? It's a constant
battle that battle. Will break you down, but the
Lord feeds us so that we're spiritually vigorous and zealous and we regain
our first love for him. As he feeds us and we won't be
weary and well doing. He feeds us by his Gospel. Keeps
us strong in the Lord. It's like we're young again.
Only spiritually, have you experienced that? Have you ever heard a message,
a gospel message, and it blessed your heart so that it was as
if you had never heard the gospel before in your life? It wasn't
like other times, and we're honest. I pray we'll be honest with ourselves
especially and with one another. There are times when it's just
not that way. We hear it and it becomes routine.
We hear the gospel and we just kind of zone out. But there are
other times it's like it's the first time you ever heard the
gospel in your life. It's refreshing and beautiful. That's your spiritual youth being
renewed. Because Christ has satisfied
your mouth with something good. He knows what's good. We don't know good from bad.
And by his grace, he satisfies with only good things. No good
thing will he withhold from those that love him. Verse six, the
Lord executes righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. And notice, I just want to point
out a thing or two here. He doesn't just teach righteousness. He doesn't just require Righteousness,
although he does. He executes it. God must have righteousness in
order to save sinners. If God can't save you in a righteous
way, you're not going to be saved. And he himself supplies it. He executed righteousness. He sent his son down here to
this earth to execute righteousness. In other words, to get it done,
to do righteousness. Notice also, it doesn't say he
executes righteousness and judgment upon the oppressed. He executes
it for them. Big difference there. Big difference. It would have been righteous
for him to deal with me according to my sins. But David, right
here in this context, said he didn't do that. He didn't execute
righteousness and judgment upon me, but for me. When did he do that at Calvary? Because His life culminated in
that death. He was obedient. That's what
righteousness is, obeying the law. But he was obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. So that's when righteousness
was executed and judgment was executed for me at Calvary, when
my Lord laid down his life that he might take it again. Verse
seven, he made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the
children of men. Now it's been noted and commented
on quite a bit that the people, the people of Israel saw his
acts. He made known his acts to the
children of Israel, but that the Lord seems to have been more
intimate with Moses, more More forthcoming with Him. That
He seems to have revealed something deeper to Him. It's described
not just as His acts, but His ways. Not just what He did, but why.
He revealed to Moses something of who He is. We see what God
has done, but what is God like? That's His ways. How come? Why did God deal differently with Moses than
He did, generally speaking, of the people of Israel? Why did
He favor Moses? Well, I know this. The Lord favors
who He pleases. Peter, James, and John were especially
favored of the Lord, just because He wanted it that way. But I
also know this, I'll tell you one other thing about that. Moses
asked. Moses asked. The Lord says you don't have
because you don't ask. Moses said unto the Lord, God
of heaven and earth, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And the Lord did. The Lord made
known his ways to Moses. Do you want to know God and not
just doctrine? And I know that there are some
that would mock me for even saying that. They'd say, well, how are
you going to know God without doctrine? Well, by His Word. Because when
people talk about doctrine, they're usually not talking about the
gospel. They're talking about something they made up. I don't need man-formulated,
systematic deductions about God in order to know Him. Here's
what I do need. I need when the gospel is preached,
when Christ is preached, I need for God to open my understanding
and reveal himself to me. That's what Moses said, Lord,
show me, show me, make known yourself to me. Ask and you'll
receive. And I know this, I know God's
glory is seen in the face of his son. I need to hear of Him. I need to hear of His Son. That's
where... Not the doctrine of election. There are people who
are able very meticulously to lay out the doctrine of election.
That will put you to sleep if you come to hear about Christ. How do we see the face of Christ?
You say the glory of God is seen. How do I see the face of Christ?
By seeking. That's clear from scripture.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and
will heal their land. Ask, and it shall be given to
thee. Seek, and you shall find. Moses asked, and he sought. David sought, didn't he? He said,
one thing have I desired of the Lord, and that also will I seek
after. that I might live where he lives and behold his beauty
and ask him, inquire in his temple, ask him for more. Seeking the face of Christ doesn't
mean looking up in the sky to see if we can spot a cloud that
looks like, you know, religion's Jesus or something. Seeking the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what it means. It means
what Paul said in Philippians 3 listen to this is seeking the
face of the Son of God Yea, doubtless and I count all things but lost
for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord If I
lose everything else, I willingly give it up so that I might know
him. That's what he just said For whom I have suffered the
loss of all things sure enough and do count them but done that
I may win Christ I and be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness, which is of God by faith, that
I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship
of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death, that
I may know him. And then in verse 13, he said,
brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended But this
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forth under those things which are before, I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God, and it's in His
Son, Christ Jesus. That's seeking the face of Christ
right there. When you get ready to give up everything, if that's
what it takes to see His face, you're about to see His face. What about you? What about me?
Have you arrived? Or are you still pressing? Do you know him all you want
to know him or do you still cry with Paul? Oh that I may know
him. God is able to reveal himself
in such a way that it would transform us. I know that. I see that in the word of God.
I saw it happen throughout the lives of God's people in the
word of God. He transforms us when he first saves us, no question
about that. But I believe that when God revealed
himself to Moses, as he did when Moses said, Lord, I beg you,
show me your glory. And God said, all right, I'm
going to have to put you on a rock and hide you in the cleft of
the rock and cover you with my hand. And you can't see my face
now. But I'll show you what I can without killing you. I'll have
mercy. I'll make my goodness to pass
before you. I'll show you how God can have mercy on sinners
and still be God. And he revealed himself to Moses
in a way that he never had before. And I'm pretty sure Moses was
never the same again after that. What do you reckon? I also believe that God can still
do that. I believe that when Job was able
to say, finally, Now, mine eye seeth thee. I believe that that marked a
turning point in Job's life and I believe that God is still in
that business. All men see the acts of God every
day, everything. God will send a wave or a storm
and he'll cause his rain to fall or he'll dry it up. He'll raise up one and put down
another. You can see the acts of God really in everything that
happens in this world. If you know how to look. But
do you know his ways? Do you know why he does everything
that he does? God may kill. Or he may make
a life. But his manner doesn't change.
He may deal in death. The saver of death unto death,
or it may be the saver of life unto life, but his manner is
the same in both. Whatever he does, he does it
for the glory of his son. And he does it for the good of
his sheep. If you know God's ways, then no matter what his
act is toward you, you'll be at peace. Because you know that
his way is to bless his little sheep. The act may look terrible,
The act may hurt. The act may cause fear. But if
you know his ways, you won't be afraid. You'll be able to rest in him
and glorify him in everything. Like Job did. What are his ways? Well, what did he say to Moses? I'm not sure what Moses saw that
day, but I know what he heard. I will have mercy. Look at verse
8. He made known his ways to Moses.
What are his ways? What are his ways? The Lord is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
and plenteous in mercy. If you just saw his acts, you
may not see this. If you saw what God did to Job,
and that's all you knew, you might think, boy, he's a hard
God. He's a hard God. That's what his friends, his
friends said, well, Job must have done something bad, you
know. They misunderstood, because they don't know God's ways. But
if you know something of God's ways, you know that the Lord's
affliction upon Job was a mercy. We just read where Paul said,
Lord, I suffer the loss of everything and that's fine if I can see
you. And what happened to Joe? He
lost everything and he saw Christ. That's a mercy. That's great
mercy. God is plenteous in mercy. That means abundant, abounding
in. I love what Paul said in Romans
5, 20. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound.
God revealed his law to me so that sin to me might become exceeding
sinful. Ah, but where sin did abound,
the grace of my Savior did much more. Now let's look at verses 9 and
10 together, and this is very important. They have to be considered
together, as really all of this should be considered, all scripture
should be considered in its context. But you'll see why we particularly
have to look at verses 9 and 10 together. He will not always
chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt
with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. So in verse nine, he's talking
about the anger of God with his people. This is one of those psalms,
a lot of times in the psalms he'll talk about the enemies
of God and his wrath upon them. This whole psalm is about the
believer. The word chide means to strive or contend against. And it seems to us at times that
the Lord is against us. Job complained that way. If you
remember in the book of Job, he said, Lord, why have you turned
your back on me? Why have you forsaken me? Job
made some complaints to that effect, but be assured about
something now. This is a comforting couple of
verses when seen together, the Lord may present himself as angry
with us. And he, he does at times he is
at times in a sense, angry with his children. It says in Exodus
four 14, as the Lord spoke to Moses from the bush, that the
anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses. God said Moses
I'm fixing to send you I've heard the cry of my people I'm gonna
save you save them and I'm gonna send you down there to do it
and Moses made excuse after excuse didn't he but I speak as a child.
I can't even talk. I'm not a leader And God said I'm gonna send you And
after about the second or third or fourth time Moses made excuses
The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, Moses,
you fix him to go. But never doubt this, and this
is vitally important. The Lord, if you are his, if
you are loved by him, crowned with his love and mercy, he never
has and never will deal with you according to your sins. Do
you see why these two verses need to be, why they're next
to one another here? He does. Have you ever felt God's
anger toward you? Like Moses did? Like Job did? Not much in my case. I can't
say I have a lot. But I know there's nothing more
frightening than that. To think that God has forsaken
you. But be assured, He hath not,
He is not, He will not deal with you according to your sins. He
may present Himself angry with you. He may chastise you. He may contend with you, strive
with you in sins. Or it seems that way to you.
But never doubt this, if you're His,
He has never and will never reward you according to your iniquities.
That's not what it is. And remember why. Remember why. It's because He loves you. But
what He did because He loves you, the reason that He won't reward you
according to your iniquities is because He rewarded His own
Son according to your iniquities. He will not deal with you according
to your sins because he dealt with his well beloved only begotten
son according to your sins. God fully punished your sins
when he poured out his wrath upon his darling son. And he
is well satisfied with regard to them. The Lord hath received
double at the hands of his people for all of their iniquities. How's that? Well, we come before
him with an offering. With one offering. One lamb. Our savior is our offering unto
God for our sins. And he's well satisfied with
him. God may afflict you for a time. He may correct you. He may seem to be angry with
you, and even that's just for a little while. Even before we
get to verse 10, it says in verse 9, that's not
going to last long. He's not going to hide his face
from you long. He won't afflict you long. He
won't allow you to suffer for long, and only what's necessary. He may afflict you when it's
needful. He will. but he will never punish you.
He does not deal with you that way since he dealt with his son
in strict justice as your substitute. Now this is interesting and I'm
about through, but listen to this. He doesn't deal with you according
to your sins because he dealt with his son according to your
sins. How then does he deal with us? We're told how he hasn't dealt
with us. Injustice. How does he deal with us then?
Look at verse 13. There's your answer right there.
Like as a father. Like as a father. The father
of our Lord Jesus Christ dealt with his only begotten son as
if he were the sinner. And in the case of his sheep,
he deals with sinners as if they were his son. So even when, if the Lord does
afflict and correct you, especially then, remember, What Paul said
in Hebrews 12, 7, if you endure chastening, God dealeth with
you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father
chasteneth not? When he seems to be angry, verse
9, it also goes back to the previous words that we read, doesn't it? We're still surrounded with his
love and his mercy. Even when it seems we're not.
Even when it seems he's forsaken us and David often in the songs
cries that way. Lord, have you cast me? Have
you forgotten your mercy toward me? Is it clean going forever? No. We're still crowned with His
love and mercy even then. And He deals with you as any
father would deal with his son or daughter. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
suns.