I trust we can have a blessed
time together today and then in the morning, tonight in the
morning, and talk about the things of the Lord. Would you look at
the third Psalm, please? Psalm 3. We'll begin reading with verse
5 in Psalm 3. I laid me down and slept. I awaked, for the Lord sustained
me. 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. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Now, these verses began with
a talking about blessed sleep. One of the greatest blessings
that a person has is sleep. And the psalmist is sleeping
here in a sleep of holy confidence in the Lord. At this particular
time, he had a good conscience before God, and anyone who has
a good conscience before God can always lie down and sleep
and be safe in the Lord. You know, sleep is the image
of death. I don't know whether you thought
about that or not. The blood flows, the lungs breathe,
the mental faculties continue, everything goes right on, though
you're not aware of anything going on. And not only that,
but David says he awoke. I laid me down and slept, the
Lord sustained me, and then the Lord waked him. It was God that awakened him
and preserved him while he was asleep. So all the time we're
asleep in that blessed rest that he gives the body, it's God that
sustains us. And the Lord must have all the
glory when we awake because we do not have to awake, do we?
It's God that awakens us. And every morning, we ought to
say early in the morning, Lord, I thank thee that I slept and
that you awakened me. That's the first thing to thank
him for. Shirley and I had a precious grandson who was 22,
23 years old. And that young man lay down and
went to sleep and never did wake up. And he went out into eternity
while he was asleep. And so it's the Lord that awakens
us. I know absolutely nothing about
his spiritual condition. I have real, real concern about
it, because he showed no sign of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. But he lay down and went to sleep
and never opened his eyes again in this life. And that's God. God awakens us, he gives us sleep,
and then he has us rise up the next morning. So the psalmist
said, I laid me down and slept, and I awake for the Lord sustained
me. And then he said, I will not
be afraid of 10,000s of people that have set themselves against
me round about. Now one thing the psalmist does
not do is underestimate the number of his enemies. They are many.
And there may be no way of escape, and the enemies have hemmed him
in on every side, yet in the name of the sovereign God, he'll
run right through them. We have absolutely no concern
about our enemies. What is one against 10,000? David's
against 10,000. But one and God are always a
majority. We're always on the winning side. Our God is the sovereign, holy
God of the universe, and he takes care of us. There are times in
this life when we come into circumstances like this, where the enemies
are round about. They're everywhere. And we cannot
even count our troubles. And there's no way out. You ever
been there? I know you have. You're a human
being. You've been there. No way out. But David said what we must say,
I will not be afraid. There's a great deal of fear
in this life. But David said, because of the
Lord is sustaining me, I will not be afraid. When Martin Luther
was called to come before the Catholic hierarchy, as he was
about to enter the city, a friend came and warned him not to come
in. And Martin Luther said, even
though there should be as many devils in the city as tiles upon
the housetops, still I will enter in. That was his answer. And Luther said of this incident,
I was then undaunted. I feared nothing. Only God can
put us in the place of fearing nothing. To trust God only when
all is favorable, that's easy. When the pantry's full and money
in the bank and the children are healthy and we feel good
and we go down the path of life and all is favorable, that's
to sail with the wind and the tide, but we have to sail sometime
against the wind and against the tide. But stronger is he
that is in us than they who are against us. And I'm so glad to
say that. He dwells within us. David here
is too wise to go into battle without taking it to the Lord. Don't ever go into battle without
speaking to the Lord about it, though the Lord's will shall
be done. Don't ever fail to pray and ask
him, God help me in this situation. I know you folks are just like
we are down in Texas. You have your problems and you
have your troubles and your families have hurts and disappointments
and you have the same. But God is always, He's always
there, and God is always the sovereign God, and no matter
how low things get, I know this from personal experience, He'll
lift you up. He'll bring you out. He always
will bring His own people out. And so he said in verse 7, 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. And he knows that with the God
he serves, that all that God has to do is arise and it's all
over. It's enough for the Lord to stand,
and he's saved. He compares his enemies here
to wild beasts, but he said, you've broken their jaws, and
you've knocked all their teeth out. And so they set out to eat
him alive, but when they do, they find all they can do is
gum him, and they can't hurt him. What has happened here? Where are our weapons? They're
all gone. God has broken their teeth out. The herd of the enemies of the
gospel is great until the Almighty arises, and then they're nothing. They're absolutely nothing. His
gospel will go on and his gospel will prosper. And when we preach
the God of the Bible, the God who is omniscient and omnipotent
and the God who does all as he pleases, his word shall go on
and on because he's able to take care of the enemies. And when
these enemies come our way, we cry to our God, and He makes
them feel His all-mightiness. All you have to pray is, Lord,
knock their teeth out, and He'll take care of it. Knock their
teeth out. All His powers exercised in punishing
those who would harm His people, you're the apple of His eye.
He loves you. He'll take care of the ones who
hurt you. Verse 8, salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Now here is the sum and substance
of all our doctrine. This was Jonah's testimony from
the belly of that great fish. Jonah chapter 2, verse 9. Here's Jonah's testimony. Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. And Jonah said here in verse
9, chapter 2, I will sacrifice unto thee with a voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. That's what we preach. That's
what we believe. Salvation is of the Lord. From the start all the way through
to the consummation when we're glorified, that's all of the
Lord. We really believe that. God has
caused us to really believe that. Now, one of these free will preachers
heard about Jonah in that large fish and so he got a boat and
he paddled out to that large fish and he took an oar and he
hit that large fish on the head and he said, Jonah, are you in
there? And Jonah said, yes, I'm in here. Well, why don't you
make a decision to get out? Well, a decision is what got
me in here. The Lord will have to get me
out. That's what we believe. Our decisions get us in trouble. It's not our decision, it's God. And you can search the scriptures all the way through from front
to back. And if you're honest, you'll
be persuaded that the doctrine of salvation by grace alone is
the great doctrine. of the Word of God. But we daily
fight this battle. We have a little group there
in New Caney, Texas. We daily fight this battle. And those with the sharp teeth
say salvation belongs to the free will of man, if not to man's
merit, yet at least to man's free will. But we hold and teach
that salvation from first to last and every eye out of every
bit of it belongs to the Most High God. That's what we believe. That's what we preach. God chooses
His people. God calls His people by His Spirit,
and He keeps them by His power. It's not of man, neither by man. It's all of God. That's what
we believe. Well, David, you believe that
salvation belongeth unto the Lord. It belongs to him. You don't own it, it belongs
to the Lord. And proud flesh and blood will
never learn this except by revelation. That's the reason we're not to
look too hardly at other people who do not believe this. Because
you wouldn't get a baseball bat and go hit a blind man on the
head because he can't see. They can't see. And perhaps you
can be an instrument to help them to see. But don't get all
up in the air because you know something they don't know. All
you know was revealed to you by Holy God. I don't know anything
that He didn't reveal to me. The last of this verse, verse
eight, shows the special people whom God blesses. Thy blessing
is upon thy people, not Egypt, not Nineveh or any other people
except the blood-bought, eternally loved people. That's all. And then he says, Selah. That's a good word. That's Selah. That means stop and meditate
upon this divine, discriminating, distinguishing, eternal, infant,
immutable love. That's what that word means.
Now the word seal is found 73 times in the Psalms, and it is
generally at the end of a sentence or a paragraph, but there are
two Psalms where it's in the middle. Psalm 55 19 is one place
psalm 55 19 55 now God shall hear and afflict them even he
that abideth out of old Selah Because they have no changes
therefore they fear not God and in Psalm 57 verse 3 and He shall send from heaven and
save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
Selah. God shall send forth his mercy
and his truth. That's not necessary to read
Selah unless you want to. It means to stop while the instruments
played an interlude. Think on this. Think about what's
being said here in these great truths. And if by humble faith
you see the Lord Jesus Christ is yours, and if by his own free
gift he gave himself to you, then stop right there and just
give him eternal thanks right there in the middle of a verse.
Thank God for his grace. Selah. Think on that. Now to the carnal man, the child
of God is far from blessed. They don't think you have a blessing
at all. Paul told us of some of his blessings. Let me show you some of them.
Second Corinthians 11. Here are some of Paul's blessings. Second Corinthians 11, 24. Of the Jews, five times received
I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day
I've been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in
perils of robbers, in perils of by mine own countrymen, in
perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the
wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren,
in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often in hunger
and thirst, in fastings often in cold and nakedness, and beside
those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches. This is blessings? Look at all
this is blessings. Oh yes, 2 Corinthians 4 17. 2 Corinthians 4 17. For our light affliction, that's
what he called all those things that we named, our light affliction
which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory." You know what he's saying there?
He's saying what a great blessing all these things are. Look at
the people of God in Hebrews chapter 11. They were filled
with blessings also. Hebrews 11, 36. And others had trial of cruel
mockings and scourgings, moreover bonds and imprisonment. They
were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, slain with a sword, wandered
about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented,
of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains, in dens. Caves of the earth they were
likewise Blessed and the carnal man would think if that's God's
blessings deliver me from his blessings But the carnal man does not understand
what you and I understand He does not understand his end David learned the end of the
carnal, fleshly man. Psalm 73. And when he learned the end,
he quit complaining about anything. Psalm 73, at verse 2. What did you find out, David?
Psalm 73, verse 2. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. Why, David, I was envious at
the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They don't suffer
like I do. They don't have any problems
like I do. Oh, but he went on in verse 17,
he said, I didn't understand until I went in the sanctuary
of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou did set them
in slippery places, thou castest them down unto destruction. Our Lord pronounced the godly
man blessed in all of his afflictions. You have afflictions, you have
trouble. God said you're blessed. No matter your circumstances
in this world, if you're in mourning, you're blessed. I've mourned
over the death of loved ones. You have too, but I'm blessed. I'm always blessed in that. Even
if they have their blood shed as martyrs, Christian people,
God's people are blessed. I read about a man named Lawrence
who was a faithful preacher of the gospel. And we can't hardly
even express the fury they showed toward him, the religious persecutors
of the day. They said, kindle the fire. Hath
this villain deluded the emperor? Away with him. Away with him.
Whip him with scourges. Jerk him with rods. Buffet him
with fists. brain him with clubs, peach him
with fiery tongs, gird him with burning plates, bring out the
strongest chains and the fire hooks and the grated bed of iron,
bind the rebel hand and foot, and when the fire is hot, roast
him, broil him, toss him, turn him so greatly Did God help this martyr that
the bed of fire seemed like a bed of roses? That was what he said
before he died. The Savior's blessings are upon
his people. I don't know how to really say
that in the right way. The Savior's blessings are upon
his people. Everything is good that happens
to God's people. Did you know that? Everything
is good. I don't know whether I told you
this story or not. This is good. But I'm going to
tell you again, so you can listen again. This is good. The story is told of a king in
Africa who had a close friend with whom he grew up. And the
friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever
occurred in his life in a positive note. And he'd say, this is good.
to everything that happened. And one day the king and his
friend were out on a hunting expedition. That friend had the
job of loading the weapons for the king, and he apparently had
done something wrong with one of the weapons. And when the
king took the gun from the man, he pulled the trigger and it
blew his thumb off. Well, his friend always said,
this is good. So he looked at the blown off
thumb. He said, this is good. And the king said, no, this is
not good. And he put him in jail. And about
a year later, the king was out hunting again. He went into a
territory he knew better than to go into. There were headhunters,
cannibals there. And sure enough, they captured
him. And they put him in the pot. We're going to boil him.
And they came over and were about to light the fire. One of them
noticed he had a thumb missing. And they were very superstitious.
And they wouldn't eat anyone that wasn't whole. So they turned
him loose. And the king got thinking about
his dear friend down there in jail. And he went down and said,
I'm so sorry. that I put you in jail, and you've
stayed in jail for a year, and I'm just so sorry. Oh, he said,
no, he said, this is good. Well, why do you say that's good? Well, it's good because if I
hadn't been in jail, I'd have been with you. Now, everything's good, brother. It'll
come out all right. It'll come out good. I'm just
saying everything with God's people, this is good. We've learned
to say this is good. And I know some things are so
hard, it's hard to say anything, much less this is good. But God
brings things out for the good, for his people. Salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. It's his to give or withhold
as he sees fit. His grace bestows salvation. And when a thing is said to be
of grace, it means the recipient has no claims upon it. It's in no wise do him. You don't have anything do you
from God. It's unasked, undesired, and
if grace belongs to the Lord, that means it's sovereign grace. And grace singles out whom it
pleases. It pleased God to come to you
with his grace. Why? When there were 10 million
more that he did not come to, why is that his sovereign choice? Oh my, that does not mean that
God the giver ever refuses this gift to anyone who seeks it. He always gives it to those who
seek it. but no one seeks until the Lord
causes them to seek. So this salvation is in Christ. He is the giver of grace. The
law came by Moses, but grace came, grace and truth came by
Jesus Christ. So it's through Christ the mediator
alone that the salvation of God flows to his elect people. And that's what David said, thy
blessings are upon thy people. So we'll give him glory alone
for the salvation that belongs to him. And realize that all
he does is good toward us. And so the psalmist said, I laid
me down and slept. And we'll do that tonight, won't
we? While we're asleep, our God will keep everything going unless
it pleases him to take us out to be with himself. He could
do that. But that'd be so good, wouldn't
it? That'd be the best thing if he took us out. May God bless
you. Excellent message.