His hand was used to write this
song. That's what the Holy Ghost entered
into and moved him to pen the song. He had experienced it. He had entered into some of it
too. He could attest. He said, what I'm telling you
is true. I'm telling you the truth. David could answer for
all this and account for all of it. But this is our Lord speaking. Our Lord speaking. and it's his
thoughts in his mind and the words that came out of his mouth
to his father while he was on the cross. I want to give you the sense
of the text. We're going to go through a psalm
and look at it, hopefully, quickly. But the milk is how it applies
to us. I was reading through Hebrews
5. I'm going to have to preach on this soon. Well, you keep giving the
milk, and those need to handle meat. The milk is how it applies
to us. Oh, woe is me. And I'm a sinner,
and it's bad. That's so we live at. The meat,
this is Christ. Melchizedek coming to Abraham,
that's the meat. That's Christ that came to him.
That's some strong stuff, isn't it? That's heavy, that's deep,
isn't it? I wanna cut straight to that. We've all been here
and done something for 20, if a man was a plumber for 20 years,
you think he ought to be a better plumber at 20 years than he was
at year one? Ought to, isn't it? If the Lord's been teaching
us for 20, 30 years, we ought to grow something. Well, to know
these things and start acting like adults. Put away childish
things. Knock that off. You know that's
so. Now move on. People say, well, now we've got
to get to the deeper doctrines. Hogwash. Now you get to loving. I hear
people, I don't care. I hear people that it burns me
up one side and another. So they want to be adults and
believers in faith and grownups and strong people. Good. Act
like it. Start forgiving. Are you offended? It's harder
to overcome an offended brother than a city is what the Lord
says, isn't it? Well, do it. Just love them. Forgive. Be long-suffering. Suffer long. Bear burdens. That means put
it in a backpack, carry it around until your bones look like they're
broke because y'all been over. Get after it. People say they want strong meat.
This is Christ speaking in this song. There ain't nothing stronger.
He's our strength. Let me get to it. I want to give
you the sense. That's the sense of this song.
It's Him speaking. It's His thoughts. You ever ask
people that were in hard situations? In our days, it's Navy Seals.
Oh, what was you thinking? What was going through your mind
at the time? We have what's going through
the mind of Christ as He hung on that Roman cross. Could you
sit with me for an hour? You think we can keep from nodding
off for that long just to hear what He had to think and what
He had to say? You think you can hang with me?
I think He'll bless it if we do. or Nehemiah said they read
the book of the law of God distinctly here is what it says and they
gave the sense that's what it means and it caused them to understand
the reading God says go out in all the world preach the gospel
we do that baptize folks they'll come to you I need to be baptized
God's people do and then teach them teach them what he says
Would you like to hear the thoughts and the prayers of God Almighty
on that moment of Calvary? We know this is Him speaking
there in verse 5. It says, Into thine hand I commit my spirit.
We'll look at that in a moment. We know this is Him speaking.
Every book, every chapter, every verse in this entire scriptures
is designed to point us to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ
and to point us to what He accomplished on that cross. Who He is and
what He did. Who He is and what He did. It says in verse one, to the
chief musician, a psalm of David. David penned it. He entered into
it some of his experiences. He's writing for another. The
church sang this, and we will too. It says in verse one, in
thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. How are you faring? You put all
your trust in the Lord at all times? Do I? The answer is no,
I don't. Do we believe Him that we trust
like we ought? We cast all our cares on Him
as we ought. How about during the good times?
When everything's going, I'm just having a really good day
today. Do we trust Him when we're out
fishing or golfing or whatever we're doing? Walking and checking
the mail. Do I trust Him while I'm going to check the mailbox?
What about in bad times? Boy, we sure don't then. Woe
is me, woe is me. We'll get to that. Ain't that
time in His hand too? Do we trust Him? Do we trust
Him? Do we fully trust the Lord of hosts? We have total faith
in Him, in Him alone. How are we holding up on that
moral law of God? Man thinks he can keep it. High
on drugs, this ain't right. High on self-righteousness is
what they are. Our divine substitute hung on that cross, trusting
the Father for His people. Thomas, do you know how you've
trusted the Lord? Right here, fully. That when the Father looks
at you, He says, that one's trusted me from conception. Perfectly,
perfectly. Our substitute did this for his
people. He said, I in thee, oh Lord,
do I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Let
me never be ashamed. Being one with our savior, being
one with our husbandman, he will never be ashamed. You know what
that means? We will never be ashamed. for
one with him. Peter reminded us, whosoever
believes on Christ will never be ashamed. Not believes in,
believes on. I mean our totality, that new
creation in us. That has to be a new birth. If
you believe on him, you'll never be ashamed. Paul wrote about
that. He said he wasn't ashamed a whole lot in Romans, wasn't
he? I'm not ashamed to preach the gospel. Not ashamed of those things.
I've been through a lot. We all have trials, but tribulation
works patience. And patience, experience. And
experience what? Hope. What's hope? Hope maketh
not ashamed. The one we hope in. Now we finally
got this stuff figured out. We finally got God in a box and
a checklist of gospel points and a message. Somebody we can
whittle down and say that's it. When he comes and saves us and
gives us the experience of faith, we trust in him and boy that
hope that we have in that one, it'll never be a shame. Ever.
It ain't gonna happen. Much more importantly, the Lord
said. He said, you shall know that I'm in the midst of Israel,
my people. and that I am the Lord your God and none else and
my people shall never be ashamed." Says that in Joel 2. He said
so. What assurance do we have we
will not be ashamed? What's on the line? If one slips
through, if one gets away, one sheep gets away, what's on the
line? Well, that sheep's going to go into eternal damnation.
Yeah, that's bad. Something much more valuable.
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver
me in thy righteousness. His holiness is on the line.
His holiness, this is important. This is what he's thinking on
the cross. He says deliver me in thy righteousness
deliver me according to your holy law While he's hanging there
According to everything that's right and holy and just deliver
me according to thy will We just read Wednesday night about Hosanna
Him crying Hosanna here. He's riding in on a young ass
an unbroken Little donkey And he's not blinking and he's not
looking around. He's not chit-chatting with people. He's a man on a
mission. He's heading to that hour Knowing
what he's going into What'd he do trust? Trust he's gonna be
publicly put to shame He said I'll never be shame Maybe this
outside we're so worried about ain't important. Maybe our position
and status ain't what matters, son. Peter wrote that with joy,
and he was rightly delivered, wasn't he? He walked right into
Jerusalem, and he was delivered in righteousness. Peter told
us that, said, him being delivered, he was delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Who put him where he's praying
right now? Determinate counsel and foreknowledge.
A wicked man with wicked hands did it. But it was determined
by him. It says in verse 2, bow down
thine ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be thou
my rock, my strong rock, for a house of defense to save me.
For thou art my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for thy name's sake,
lead me and guide me." He asked his father to bow down. We know Christ humbled himself.
Scriptures say that. We know the things he went through
to be humbled, but mankind cannot enter into, and our language
cannot touch how much he humbled himself, how far he humbled himself. We have a finite language for
an infinite God. We have no idea. He's God and
he's man. We can't begin to describe that.
We can't begin to describe it. Great is the mystery of godliness. Great. Our sin was laid on him. It made him cry out to his father
in need. Made him cry out to his father
in deliverance and defense. The whole time saying, you're
my rock, lead me, guide me. Do it for your namesake. The
namesake is saying do it for your namesake. Because you won't. and you can't,
and I can't, and I won't. He did it for us. He did it for
us. Why? That communication's required
of me, and I came short. I've cried out for mercy, but
I don't know what to cry out for mercy for. I prayed, I don't know what
to pray for. I don't know what I don't know.
It says, verse four, pull me out
of the net that they have laid privily and secret for me. For
Thou art my strength. Praying on my behalf, I was made
aware of the net I'm in, and the Lord must pull me out. He's
my only strength. Oh, Elihu said that to Job, didn't
he? He said, if there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one
among a thousand, one in a thousand could come and say this, interpret
these things, give the sense of these things, to show unto
the man his uprightness. Then he is gracious unto him,
and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. Deliver him from going down that
net, down that pit. He's found a ransom. Our ransom
prayed for us on our behalf while he was being made a ransom. That's
where we went. Down that pit, wasn't there? Man, he reached, we sang, he
reached down his hand for me. I was in a mire pit, and the
Lord brought me out. What do you imagine? What's your sinful,
sin-filled, cursed mind imagine? The Lord's sticking his hand
down, and us what? Reaching up. You done a lot of
reaching? Dead men don't reach. How'd he
reach his hand down? Below us. to the dregs of that
pit, the very bottom of it, and lifted us up out of it. Not pulled
us up out of it, lifted us up out of it. He brought us up out
of it. He reaches down for us. Where
do all this take place? Verse 5. Into thine hand I commit
my spirit. Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord,
God of truth." We do commit our spirit to the Lord, we do. Mankind
says, give your heart to Jesus. That's nonsense, and that's been
made horrible through wicked intent and everything else and
ignorance. But there's a total commitment of the soul to our
Lord. We do. An expectation against
that day. So Paul said, I know whom, not
what. There's a whole lot of people
who believe what. They need to meet a person. I know whom I
believe. And I'm persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. What
did Paul commit to him? Lock, stock, and barrel. Absolutely
everything. He's all. Christ is all, right? He's all. Everything. Well, I know. No, you didn't. The thief on the cross had just
been given that promise to be with the Lord that very day.
He was nailed to that cross, cussing him. And he couldn't wash, he couldn't
work, he couldn't walk, he couldn't handle. Couldn't eat nothing,
not eat nothing. Completely incapacitated, wasn't
he? And the Lord saved him. Revealed Christ to him right
then. He said, who are you talking to? Don't you know who this innocent
man is? And the Lord said, today you'll
be with me in paradise. The one that knew him for the
shortest amount of time should have the most assurance out of
anybody that's ever walked this earth. The Lord looked him in the eye
and said, you're mine. You're going to heaven with me
today. I am heaven. You're going to be right where I am. It was about the sixth hour.
It's high noon. There was darkness over the whole earth until the
ninth hour. From high noon until 3 p.m. People said, well, there's
an eclipse. Well, the whole earth was dark.
Darkness came upon the earth. And the sun was darkened, and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit and having said thus he gave up the ghost
that's where this is taking place and I asked to lay in the tomb
for three days the Lord forsook him he said my God my God why
hast thou forsaken me like he did at Lazarus tomb because I
know you hear me always but I'm gonna say this out loud so they
can hear it Why did he say, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Did he have a question that wasn't answered? No. So we knew
he was forsaken. God turned his back on God. Then he has to lay in a tomb
for three days. Separated from God. You and I cannot enter in
how terrible that is. People say, I'm lonely. I feel
so alone. You talk about alone. In totality,
he was alone. Separated from the very God he
had constant communion with from eternity past. Well, he had a
couple good friends with him. No, he didn't. He was alone. He tread that winepress alone. I mean, nobody. Peter said, I'll
die with you. Nope. Then he'd had a battle,
buddy. Alone laying that grave alone.
He called him himself. He called it hell, didn't he?
He said in psalm 16 for thou will not leave my soul in hell
Neither we all suffer the holy one to see corruption his body
ain't gonna rot You're gonna leave me there verse 5 says in
psalm 31 into thine hand I commit my spirit thou hast redeemed
me oh lord god of truth I have hated Them that regard lying
vanities, but I trust in the Lord. He hated them that regarded
lying vanities. God's just trying to do some
lie. So he don't try, he's God. God
wants to do some lie. God doesn't want to do things,
he's God. That's who he is. God loves everybody. Right there
he says he hates some people. We hate our sin, don't we? You
hate your line? When was the last time you lied? You hate it? Not like we ought. I wish I didn't sin. I wish I
told the truth all the time. I wish I was bold all the time
in the Lord and trusting Him. And tell all people the truth.
And they say, well, I think this. Well, you're wrong. Thus saith
the Lord. I want to be consistent on that.
And then the people fight me well, but I don't care. That's
what he said. I want to do those things and
I want to hate sin. I don't do it like I ought to.
I don't do it like I want to. What about this one? He says
in Psalm 45, thou lovest righteousness. That's all he loves. Holiness,
perfection. And thou hatest wickedness. All
of it. It's easy to hate the sins I
don't want to do. What about them sins I like doing? This one. Hated, wicked. What parts of
it? All of it. Every one of it. And he can distinguish. I'm too
dumb to distinguish between the two. I call bad things good,
good things bad. I'm a fool. Mankind's a fool.
There's a way it seems right to us and it ends in death. He
loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows. Mankind says that he anointed
him with the oil of gladness while he hung on a cross. How
could that be? It's so. It ain't like us, is it? Verse
7 says, I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. He was glad to
go to the cross while he was riding that donkey. and all seriousness
and reverence and respect and trust. He willfully did that. He willfully did that. We read
in Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our
faith. It's his faith. He gives it. He authored it. He keeps it.
He prays for it. He finishes it until we see it.
Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame. Why? Why did he do that? The means of the cross was the
only way to righteously show mercy to a sinful people. He
knew it. He knew it. This is the only
way. What if there was only one way you could do something to
keep your wife alive? Would you be like, well, I don't want to
do it. That's it. It's the only way. I'll gladly
do it. Would you do it for your children? Keep your children
alive? Would you gladly do it? He said, this is the only way the
Lord can show mercy. I'll gladly go. He's just and the justifier. Verse seven says, I'll be glad
and rejoice in thy mercy for thou hast considered my trouble.
Thou hast known my soul in adversity. You know why we are set free? Those that the Lord's come to
and revealed Christ in and put new life in and are born again
and they're set at liberty. Liberty, why do we have liberty?
Why are we set free from the bondage of sin and death and
hail? Because the father sees the trouble and the adversities
in the soul that Christ he bore in his soul He saw that and he
satisfied All the wages I rightfully earn and this is just unfathomable
all the wages of sin that every believer in combination throughout
eternity has ever earned I Can't even count my own How precious
that blood was he bore it and he bore the brunt of everything
That every cross thought and sour look and everything else.
He bore the brunt of it in his body on that tree We're reading
isaiah 53 and he shall see the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied the father said I'm satisfied Everything's right
By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall
bear their iniquities When every child of God is seen by the Father,
he just sees the satisfaction he feels in Christ's blood sacrifice.
He sees the blood. He's satisfied. He passes over
us. Verse 8 says, Thou hast set my feet in a large
room. You've done this, and we need
to remember this. We're not man's prisoner. We're God's prisoner,
isn't it? The enemy ain't shut me up. Well,
there's just so many bad things around me. Who put them there? You don't like what's going on
in your life? Who gave you that life? The Lord's done this. You've not shut me up to the
hand of the enemy, as he hangs on a cross. Thou hast set my
feet in a large room." That's what that's talking about. It's
like a big open field. There's no mountains. He's the highest
thing on that field. He's exalted. But he can see
everything. He can see all the enemies coming.
Nobody can hide from him. When we talk about the valleys
of this world, no. Enemies can get up in the mountains,
shoot down on you. That's no good. The Lord's put
him there, and he knows it. That's what Paul said. He said,
I'm a prisoner of Jesus Christ. There's no valleys here, no place
for the enemy to hide. He knows that the Father's eyes
on him. I know this. You've done this. Do I do that
every time? Things ain't just going my way.
And I don't like it. I'm mad, sad, and pouty and everything
else. The Lord's done this. I'm in
a lot of pain. The Lord gave me that pain. He's
looking dead on his child, and he's doing this on purpose. Verse
nine, have mercy upon me, oh Lord, for I'm in trouble. Mine
eyes consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. For my
life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing. My strength
faileth because of mine iniquity. My bones are consumed. The sins
he bore, he made them his own. We can't do that. That's why
a man gets so confused on it and they just, their intellect
is insulted and they have to talk their way around what God
said. He can and he did. He bore our
guilt. We can't do that. He can and
he did. How? The Lord made him sin. Who
knew no sin? A man never asked, how can I
be righteous? There's a word about how dad pays taxes and
you ain't old enough to have a job. Knock it off. Because
he has borne that trouble, we'll never see trouble. Because he's
consumed with grief, we will never be consumed with grief.
Because those years of sighing, he's a man of sorrow. We'll never
suffer that sorrow. Will we have light affliction
in this life? Yeah. Job had light affliction. When we see Christ and what he
did, who he is and what he did for his people, buddy, everything's
easy. What if the Lord killed all my children, took everything
I had, took my health from me and everything else, and then
left my bride and she cussed me, said curse God and die? Lie
to affliction. Lie to affliction. Turn over
to Lamentations 3. Because He's borne our iniquity
that we can't bear, it's gone. There's nothing left. Lamentations
3. You got Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
Lamentations. Lamentations 3. These are the
words of Christ too. It's so easy. I knew a brother
a few years ago that read through Lamentations. We do a lot of
crying. Our crying don't matter too much. It's what he bore for his people.
Lamentations 3 verse 1. I am the man that hath seen affliction
by the rod of his wrath. We all think God's punishing
us, don't we? He don't punish his sons. He chastens them. He
chases him. This is the only one that saw
the rod. He hath led me and brought me into darkness, but not light.
Surely against me as he turned, he turneth his hand against me
all the day. This is the one that was in the
beginning, was with God and was God. This is the one that made
everything in creation. And it was made for him and he
knows it. He said, Father, I know you hear
me always. Now the Father's turned from
me. He's not hearing me. Verse 4, My flesh and my skin
hath he made old, he hath broken my bones. Those bones are bending. There wasn't a bone broken in
his body. Those bones are bending out of
the weight. And his flesh is old and his skin's made old.
What's that mean? He was 30-some years old and he said, Oh, Abraham
saw my day. He was glad. And those Pharisees,
don't want to be one of them, looked at him and said, You're
just barely 50. He looked like he was 50 years old. You know
what that means? He looked like he was 50 years old. Because
his flesh and his skin was made old. Being in this sin-cursed
world, it just aged on him. His body just bored. Verse 5,
He hath built it against me, and compassed me with gall and
travail. He hath set me in dark places, and they that be dead
of old. And he hath hedged me about,
that I cannot get out. And he hath made my chain heavy.
Also, when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. He hath
enclosed in my ways with hewn stone, carefully carved stone,
and he hath made my path crooked. And he was unto me as a bear
lying in wait and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned
aside my ways and pulled me in pieces. He hath made me desolate.
He hath bent He hath bent his bow and set
me as a mark for the arrow. This wasn't haphazard, this wasn't
just a bucket pouring out. The father drew his bow and took
careful aim. He hath caused the arrows of
his quiver to enter into my reins, into my deepest parts. I was
a derision to all my people and their song all the day. He hath
filled me with bitterness and hath made me drunken with wormwood.
He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones. He hath covered
me with ashes. Thou hast removed my soul. Far
off from peace, I forget prosperity. And I said, my strength, and
my hope is perished from the Lord. Remembering my affliction
and my misery, the wormwood and the gall, my soul hath them still
in remembrance and has humbled in me. Now when we read he humbled
himself, made a little lower than angels, a little bit different.
When we think we're humble, well I've just done good. I'm just
a good servant. I ought to shut us up. What do we cry out all day? What's
our response to the believer, to the one that's truly given
life? Not somebody that just says they believe. Somebody that
does believe. What's your response to that? How does that make you
feel? Verse 21. This I recall, this is us speaking.
We cry this. This I recall to my mind, therefore
I have hope. Everything I earn, all I earn,
all that. He bore it and put it away, now I have hope. I have
hope, untouchable hope. No man can take it away and that
includes just me. Untouchable hope. The majority of people
you walk down the street, they'll agree with you. I wish I could
talk to everybody in this county and then pay close attention
to me. Everybody walking up down the street still agree with you.
A man named Jesus died on a cross. Oh, yeah. Yep. Jesus died on
a cross. We know that. Well, we're thankful for Jesus.
Don't you just love Jesus? Bless his little heart. if they had any idea what torment
was and who it was that was tormented even I mean just a glimpse that's
all we have and for who he died this holy one of Israel this
holy thing hung on that stinking Roman cross not even a Jewish
death it wasn't stone he's hung on a cross a heathen cross and
bore all this and the father what this is what's going on
inside we saw outside his mom didn't even know that was her
son Who'd he do this for? The upstanding righteous people
in our day? Them good old church goers? Little
blue haired grandmas and stuff? Sinners. Enemies. Those that said crucify him.
Give us Barabbas. Give us that convicted felon.
Those that are still in sin. Those that hated him. We recall
this to our mind and we haven't expected him. If he did this
while I was an enemy with him, well now I have a wife. If he
kept me then, you think he's gonna keep you now? That's an
expected end. It's not hope like it was a 50-50
shot. Hope is an expected end. We have
an expected outcome. His person and his work is why
we have hope. It says in verse 21, this I recall
to my mind, therefore I have hope. I thought, this I recall
to my mind, this do in remembrance. We told to do that in something?
How lightly man's so prone to take the Lord's table. Flippantly. Paul said plainly, that's why
a bunch of you's sick and that's why a bunch of you's dead. God,
the Bible kills people. It's not just a thin bowl of
wine and a saltine cracker. Do you know that? This is his
broken body. This is his blood that he willfully
shed for a wicked worm like me. If that doesn't cause reverence,
you don't know who it's about. Verse 22 says, it's of the Lord's
mercies that we're not consumed because his compassion's failing
us. Mercy's not getting what you
rightly deserve. We understand that's a definition
and that's right. We don't know what he's been merciful to us
over. Unknown things. We don't know what we don't know.
We don't know how bad we are. We don't know what we've been
saved from. He got everything we deserved.
The bulk of which we have no idea about. Back in our text,
Psalm 31, verse 9. Psalm 31, verse 9. It says, have mercy upon me,
O Lord, for I'm in trouble. Mine eyes are consumed with grief,
yea, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief,
and my years with sighing. My strength faileth because of
mine iniquity. My bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine
enemies, but especially among my neighbors. and a fear to mine
acquaintance. They that did see me without
fled from me." Everybody run around. Every friend abandoned
him. Verse 12, I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind. I'm
like a broken vessel. People don't care about it. For
I have heard the slander of many. Fear was on every side while
they took counsel together against me. They devised to take away
my life. But I trusted in thee, O Lord.
I said, Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. We said well, you know something
big happens good or bad. Well, that was very providential
and in a way That's saying it wasn't everything else provident.
Is that everything what times are in the Lord's hands? Who's
in office? Who's the president what's flying
overhead what's moving next to me what's going on underneath
the ground I Everything's in his hand. Everything's in his
hand. People talk about Jesus as our
example. They say, well, what would Jesus do? That was a big
thing in the 90s, wasn't it? He's given us a good example.
He's given us the holy example. What'd he do in the absolute
darkest moment of all of history? As he hung there, he says, my
time's in your hands. The Lord's done this. The Lord's
done it. You ever had the sniffles? God
did it. You hear that? I mean it. We
don't just agree with it. Let's grow up and start acting
like it. The Lord did this. If I got aches and pains, the
Lord did it. If I have good times, happiness, I just really like
the Rolling Stones. Well, He made the Rolling Stones
so I could listen to them. Happiness. He did that. It's
all in His hands. Do you understand? Everything.
That's maturity. That's setting your face like
a plant. What's going on today? Whatever the Lord is pleased
to do today. Brother Henry prayed that years
ago, and I do too, and I hope you do. I'm sure you do. Oh,
that we could be surrounded by brothers and sisters that don't
just say the Lord's hands are what our times are in, but they
believe it and act like it. What an example that'd be for
my brethren, for me to do that. Oh, I hope he'd enable me to
do that. In all things, give thanks, isn't it? Samuel came
to Eli and told him the words of Lord Lord said he's gonna
kill you and or take what the thing from your Family, you'll
kill both your sons. Your ministry is gonna be destroyed
Your whole lineage is gonna be messed up and he said it's the
Lord let him do what seems right to him It'd be alright Verse
16 says make thy face to shine upon thy servant Save me for
thy mercy's sake. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord,
for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and
let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to
silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously
against the righteous. Our Lord hung on that cross.
He laid in that grave for three days, and on a beautiful Sunday
morning, he rose. He rose. The father was satisfied. He endured things our language
can't describe. And he arose. Now he speaks concerning his
bride. Verse 19. Oh, how great is thy goodness,
which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee. You honor that? Is that honorable to you? Is
that just something else we got to read on Sunday morning? You
fear that? You honor that? which thou hast
wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men. You wrought it in them. Thou
shalt hide them in secret of thy presence from the pride of
man. Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife
of tongues. A dog can't wag its tongue at his people. Bless me,
the Lord, for he has showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong
city. For I said in my haste, I am
cut off from before thine eyes. Nevertheless, thou heardest the
voice of my supplication when I cried unto thee. Oh, love the
Lord, all ye his saints. For the Lord preserveth the faithful,
and plentiful rewardeth the proud. What's that mean? Lord preserves the faithful those
he's made faithful. That's what he's just saying.
He's done this work. You know, he it's his faith.
He prays for that faith. He keeps people so well my faith
got me through I've just I dusted off my faith. So flippant. It's
a shame. And we're sorely ashamed. They're
gonna be disappointed. Lord gives faith. It's his. We
don't have to fear going over his gifts and calling without
repentance or what about those proud doers, they get a plentiful
reward. They'll get the same thing Croston endured. They're
leaning on their experiences and their hope and their thoughts
and patterns and they're doing and studying and whatever it
is. One ounce, you'll receive everything he endured for his
people. A plentiful reward. And they'll receive that eternally,
won't they? Here's the instruction and the conclusion to this whole
thing. Be of good courage. This one
that overcame it all, and it's risen from his grave. He speaks
to his child, and he says, be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen your heart. All ye that hope in the Lord.
What's he saying? My friend gave me a sign, a little
metal thing I keep in my office. I got it positioned on the wall,
that way whenever I give up from studying and I quit, as I do
often throughout the week, I can turn that way away from the desk.
It says, keep on keeping on. You're doing what you're doing.
Hang in there. Hang in there. When you're at
your wit's end, and you're alone, and nobody's with you, you felt
that? I have. Be of good cheer. Be of good courage. Isn't it?
He shall strengthen your heart. And I remember that. And you
know what? Right then, when I remember Him, what He did for me, and
who I am, who He is, heart strength a little bit in we breathe in
not out all ye that hope in the lord we think life's so hard
and we're just not going to make it he says be of good courage
i'll be your strength we look at what christ endured all of
that's over did you know that that's what when paul said there
is therefore now no condemnation that condemnation he's talking
about that's what we've just been reading through it's gone He done the heavy lifting. He
done the heavy lifting, Cass. What do we have left? Light affliction.
If he did the heavy, we have the light. Light affliction ain't
nothing, is it? That strengthens your heart, doesn't it? Doesn't
that make you have good courage? Why? He's our hope. He's our
expectation. Let's pray to God.