Morning again. Good to be here. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
40. Psalm 40. I had to sing the song by Isaac
Watts of the verses that we'll be looking at. And then I had
John read Psalm 40. And today we'll be there in Psalm
40. But we'll only be in the first
three verses. The name of the message is A Picture of Christ. A Picture of Christ. Look at
Psalm 40, verses 1 to 3. Psalm 40, verses 1 to 3. It's
the Psalm of David to the chief physician. I waited patiently
for the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. He
brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and
set my feet upon a rock. and established my goings. And
he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear, and
shall trust in the Lord." Now this portion of Scripture has
been used as a picture of the way in which sinners are raised
from the despair of our sin and our hopeless, helpless condition,
to salvation which is only in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him
alone. And this is a true picture. But the Scriptures in verses
1 to 3 also picture Christ and what He went through when He
redeemed us from our sins. The first verse gives us If we're
looking at this verse as we who are sinners, this first verse
gives us trouble as a picture of you and I, right? Because
it says, I waited patiently for the Lord. Now, I have a hard
time being patient. Is it so with you? And in the
Hebrew, it's waiting, I waited. Waiting, I waited. So this first portion of this
verse, it gives us a hard time. Because if we're honest with
each other, as one old grace preacher said, it could be said
of we who are sinners, I waited impatiently on the Lord. Because
that's how we are. That's how our flesh is. And
that old grace preacher was right. And I know it's so with me. I
know it's so with me. Only you can say if it's so with
you, but I wish I had more patience. But I don't have a lot sometimes.
Sometimes I do, and then other times I don't. But the rest of these three verses
is true for the believer as a picture of our salvation. But that first
part, again, gives us a lot of trouble. And these three verses
here are pointing to our Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we see that as we look through the Scriptures, He waited patiently
on the Lord. He waited patiently on the Father. And God took Him, God took Him
out of a horrible pit and out of the miry clay and set Him
upon a rock. And so complete is the union
between Christ and the believer that it's possible to describe
them both at the same time in these three verses. In reading
through this psalm, we see Christ. And it may be the words of David,
but we see a greater than David in this psalm. A greater than
David. Look at the words from verses
6 to 8. Look at this. Sacrifice and offering
thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt offering and sin offering
hast thou not required. Who's this book written about?
It's written about Christ, brother, amen. Lo, then said I, lo, I
come in the volume of the book. It is written in me. In the volume
of the book. Turn if you would to Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter 10. And I'll finish reading this.
It says, I delight to do thy will, O God. Who delighted to
do the will of the Father? Perfectly. Christ. Christ delighted to do. Now,
we as God's people, we delight to do the will of the Father,
but we can't do it perfectly. But the one spoken of then said,
I know I come in the volume of this book. It is written of me.
This book's written about Christ. And he came. He delighted to
do the will of the Father, as this text says in verse 8. O
God, yea, the law within my heart. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. And
look at verses 3 to 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verses 3
to 10. But in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again
made of sins every year. speaking of the sacrifices that
the Israelites had to offer. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. All those sacrifices
offered in the Old Testament could never take away sins. They
were pointing to one who could. They were types and shadows and
pictures pointing to Christ. But they couldn't take away sins.
They couldn't take away the sins of those who were offering them. Wherefore, when he cometh, being
Christ, into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offer, and thou
wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. He's the God-man. He's human and God. He's perfect. In burnt offerings
and sacrifices for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then said
I, Look at this, quoted from the psalm we're in. Then said
I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book that is written of me
to do thy will, O God. Christ came to do the will of
the Father. He came to do. He waited patiently upon the
Lord. We see that through his life.
He waited patiently upon the Lord. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and burnt offering, and offering for sin, thou wouldst not, neither
hadst thou pleasure therein, which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. That's quoted
from verse 8 of our psalm. Christ said, I come to do thy
will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish
the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So the one
who comes to do the will of the Father, the one who delights
to do the will of the Father, is the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ. So let us look at this morning
at how in this text before us, in these three verses, are most
fit to be the language of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is our representative and who is our head. Look at Psalm
40, verse 1. To the chief musician of Psalm
of David, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he acclined
unto me and heard my cry. So let's look at this first statement
and how it speaks of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Number
one, I'd like us to consider this verse in our Lord's time
of great trouble. In our Lord's time of great trouble,
in our Lord's actions during that time. Number two, I'd like
to consider our Lord's deliverance expressed by the phrase in verse
two, He brought me up out of a horrible pit and out of a miry
clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. And
number three, I'd like us to consider the Lord's reward, which
is found in verse three, where it said, many, many, many shall
see it in fear and shall trust in the Lord. So let's look at
the first portion and consider this. I want us to consider this Consider this verse in light
of our Lord's time of great trouble and our Lord's actions during
that time. Look it. I waited patiently for
the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. And I pray,
as always, that God the Holy Spirit will take the Scriptures
and illuminate them for us, because otherwise we won't learn anything.
But if He illuminates the Scriptures and teaches us and applies them
to our hearts, we're relieved, rejoicing. We're relieved, rejoicing.
And our one desire is to see Christ, isn't it? Like Brother
Matt brought out, we want to see Christ. And that's the desire
of the preacher, that you'd see Christ, that you'd look to Him
and Him alone. So let us consider our Lord's
conduct when He was on the earth. on this earth. He waited on the
Lord. He waited on the Lord all his life. He was totally submissive
to the Father his whole life. And he waited. It says there,
I waited patiently on the Lord. And in the Hebrew, as I said,
it's waiting, I waited. He waited perfectly, in perfect
submission to God's will. All through his life, he waited. He waited, totally submissive
to the will of the Father. And the waiting became even more
visible in his passion and in his death. Even more. He went to Gethsemane. And there
he prayed earnestly. Sweat of blood. And in perfect,
sweet submission, he said, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this
cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will. Not my will. But Thine will be
done. He's in complete submission to
the Father. Patiently waiting. Patiently
waiting. In His life, beloved, was a life
of total, complete submission to the will of the Father. And
remember, when he was doing this, when he was being totally submissive
to the Father's will, he was doing that for us, for we who
believe. We can't do that. And our great substitute does
it for us. in complete submission. Complete
submission. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
26. His life was a life of complete submission. And think, in the
garden, He's sweating great drops of blood, right? And He rises
from prayer. And do you know that He willingly
went to meet His foes? Think of it in life, in complete
submission to the Father's will. Look at this, Matthew 26, verse
46. He completely went to meet his
foes, delivering himself up voluntarily to be led as a sheep to the slaughter. Look at Matthew 26, verse 46.
Rise, let us be going. Behold, he is at hand that doth
betray me. Then look down at verse 50. We'll
read a small portion to verse 52. Look at this. And Jesus said
unto him, Friend, speaking to Judas, Wherefore art thou come? Then came they and laid hands
on Jesus and took Him. And behold, one of them, which
were with Jesus, stretched out his hand and drew his sword and
struck a servant on the high priest and smote off his ear.
Then said Jesus, put up again thy sword into his place, for
all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Now he's in submission to the Father's will, isn't he? He knows
he must die. He knows he must go to Calvary
and be the sacrifice for his people's sins. He knows. He knows. He did not unseat the
sword as Peter did. He did not flee like his disciples. Oh my. Look at verses 53-56. Do you know that He could have
called legions of angels? Do you know He could have called
legions of angels to destroy those who had come before Him?
He could have just spoken a word and they would have dropped to
the ground. They would have dropped a lifeless
to the ground if he had just spoken a word of it. But he submits
himself. to the Father's will. He submits
Himself patiently, submissively to the Father's will. He came
to save His people from their sins. Look at verses 53-56, Thinkest
thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently
give me more than twelve legions of angels, six thousand angels
per legion, and destroy everybody on the
earth. He's the captain of the Lord's
house, beloved. He's a great king and warrior. What power! But see the restraint. He must... He's totally submissive
to the Father's will. He's the perfect sacrifice. How
then shall the Scripture be fulfilled that thus it must be? He says. In that same hour said Jesus
to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords
and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching
in the temple, and you laid no hold on me. But all this was
done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.
Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. He, as I said, he did not call
down legions of angels. Peter unseathed the sword and
took the guy's ear off, right, while our Lord healed the guy's
ear back on. It was amazing. And his disciples, they fled. But he waited on the Lord. He willingly allowed himself
to be taken He must redeem His people from their sins. They took our Lord
before Ananias and Caiaphas and Pilate and Herod, hurrying Him
from bar to bar. And remember, they didn't use
cars like we do now, right? And remember, He's beaten and
bloodied, right? And these streets would just
stir up dust. And it's sticking to him where
he's bloodied and bleeding. They take him from bar to bar
and he keeps silence. He keeps silence. False witnesses
are brought before him and he keeps silence. Fully submitted
to the Father's will. He's led like a sheep before
his shears. He's silent. Fully submitting
himself. He's a willing sacrifice, beloved. He's a perfect sacrifice. when they led him away to his
crucifixion. Through the streets of Jerusalem,
he spoke to the women who were lamenting for him. Weep not for me. Daughters of Jerusalem, weep
not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. fully
submitted to the will of the Father, waiting patiently upon
the Father. They took Him to Calvary's cross. They nailed Him to a tree. And He did not refuse to be crucified. He did not complain or slander. He's appointed of God. He must redeem His people from
their sins, and He willingly is nailed to the cross. They nailed Him to the tree,
and there He hung in tortured, fevered, agonizing pain. And the words that escaped Him,
the words which He spoke, were not those of murmuring and complaining. The words which He spoke from
the cross were words of pity and pain and patience and submission. To those who had hung Him on
the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. To the dying thief, the one who
looked to Him, regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, who said, Lord, just remember
me. Barely, barely I say unto thee,
today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Brother Matt brought
out his visage was so marred, he is beaten to a pulp. And there's no words of complaints.
No words of murmuring. To Mary, Woman, behold thy son. And to John, behold thy mother. A cry to God the Father. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? fulfilling that which was written
of Him in the Prophets, Jesus knowing all things now were accomplished
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith I first. The work in which He came to
do in this earth is complete, and our Lord cries, It is finished. And then in his death, in complete
submission to the Father's will, he says, Father, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit. And he bows his head and gives
up the ghost. His whole life, in his death,
he's fully submissive to the will of the Father. He took the cup of God's justice
and wrath. That cup which was appointed
Him for my sins. And for yours if you believe.
And He drained it to the bitter end. All in the room and place of
sinners. What condescension, beloved.
What condescension. The King of Glory, the Lord Jesus
Christ, becomes a man and lives a life of patiently waiting upon
the Father. His eyes were upon Him all through
His life. The work which the Father had
given Him is before Him and He submits to it willingly. all his life, he knew that God
would help him. He knew that God would deliver
him. He knew that his head would be raised above the sons of man,
but still he waited for the Father's time. Meanwhile, made himself
of no reputation, no reputation, and took upon himself the form
of a servant, God incarnate in the flesh. and yielded all his
strength to the work which was given him
to do. And he was willing in the hour of his passion to receive
scorn of man. He did not hurry when the hour
of shame and scorn was upon him, but he trusted and patiently
waited upon the Lord. There's never been a man like
this man. Never. He's the God man. And our text
adds to the words waited, the word patiently. Look at our text.
I waited patiently. Now if we, folks often say, speak
of Job's patience. We want to see a picture of patience,
we look to our king. We look to our king. A model
of patience all through his life. A model of patience even in his
death. Job waited on the Lord, but at
some time he probably grew impatient because he's human just like
you and I. Just like we grow impatient. Like I said, sometimes
we're really patient, and other times we're not patient. I know
that's so with me. And I can never tell when I'm
going to be patient or not. But our Lord, He gives Himself
up completely to the will of the Father. Completely submissive
to Him. He doesn't show any sign of complaining. His face is set to the work which
He must do. This is why He came to this earth.
To die upon Calvary's cross. To be the sinner's substitute.
And he's in full submission to the Father to do that. His answer to his murderers
was the prayer, Father, forgive them, for they know not what
they do. And let us note with awe and
wonder our great King, who is truly the meek and lowly One.
He's truly the meek and lowly One. Now they mocked our Lord
while He hung upon the cross. They insulted him, and yet he
did not utter a single word of rebuke. Not one. He could have spoken a word,
as I said, and dashed his mockers to pieces. And he could have proved by their
destruction that he was indeed God. That he was indeed God in the
flesh. But he does not say a word. He's in full submission to the
Father's will. Now, when trouble starts to rage
around us, we're usually in a hurry to get out of it. Help me, Lord. Help me. Deliver me from this. It's a
natural cry of God's children when a time of trouble or a trial
comes. And during our trials, sometimes
minutes can seem like hours, and hours can seem like days,
and days can seem like years. But our Savior endures the shame
of the cross willingly. Willingly. And patiently. As again, He's resolved to do
the Father's will. So our text says, I waited patiently
for the Lord. This is speaking of Christ because
he patiently endured. He had a crown of thorns plated
upon his head and a robe placed upon him after they'd whipped
him and then ripped off. And the soldiers mocked him. And he patiently endured being
mocked and spit upon, submitting to the will of the Father. He's
a lamb being led to the slaughter, beloved, just like Isaiah spoke
of. He patiently endured his back
furled with a lash, his hands and feet nailed to the cross.
Now why did he endure all of this? Well, because it was necessary
for the completeness of His atonement, which was in our place as our
substitute. No expiation and no propitiation
could have been made by an impatient Savior. Only perfect obedience, only
perfect obedience can satisfy the holy law of God. Only perfect
obedience, only perfect submission can satisfy the holy justice
of God. Like I said last week, we're
in a heap of trouble if it's based upon what we do, aren't
we? But do you see the submission? Do you see our Lord patiently
waiting upon the Father? Only an unblemished sacrifice
could put away our sins. Only a perfect, sinless sacrifice,
who is the Lord Jesus Christ. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
He did no sin. He's perfect. Perfect. And He's fully submitted to the
Father's will. Fulfilling in our place, we who
believe, fulfilling in our place everything, every, every jot
and tittle that the justice and law of God demanded for us. And
then, when he's dying on the cross, he's suffering our punishment
in our place. all in full submission. He didn't
struggle against the cords. You think of someone being, like
when Isaac was placed upon and being ready to be sacrificed,
and we don't know if he struggled on the cords or not, but the
Lord didn't struggle against any cords. He didn't turn away
from the sacrificial knife. The sword of God's justice was
unseathed and plunged into him. Christ's death in our place was
willing. He willingly died in our place, patiently died in
our place, suffering the divine will of God for our sins. Don't you marvel? Don't you marvel
that the Savior did this for us? He was oppressed and he was
afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He's bought as a lamb
to the slaughter. And as a sheep before her shearers
is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. He willingly again gave
His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked
off His hair. And He did not hide His face
from shame. I waited patiently for the Lord. Our great God and King proclaims.
And we've seen how He's done this. Our Savior waited patiently
and prayerfully as well. And we see that in Gethsemane.
Turn, if you would, to Luke 22. Luke 22. Further down in our psalm again,
it said, Lo, I come in the volume of the book that is written of
me. I delight to do Thy will, O God. Yea, Thy law is written
in my heart. Christ delighted to do the will
of the Father. But look at how our Lord patiently
and prayerfully waited upon the Lord. We're weighted upon the
Father. Luke 22, 42, look at this. And remember, a lot of commentators
believe He's feeling the weight of the sin of what's before Him
is coming upon Him. Look at this. Then said I, Lo,
I come and say, same Father, verse 42, same Father, if Thou
be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, look at this.
And remember what we've looked at? He's a willing sacrifice,
isn't He? He's in full submission to the Father's will. Remove this cup from me, nevertheless,
not my will, but Thine. Be done. Be done. This is speaking of His humanity.
Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done. He's in full submission
to the Father's will. Full submission to the Father's
will. Our Lord and Savior has completely
resigned. He's completely resigned Himself
to the Father's will. Look down two more verses and
think of Him saying this, right? Father, if Thou be willing, remove
this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done."
And look what verse 44 says, in being in agony. Being in agony. He's fully submitted
to the Father's will in being in agony. He prayed more earnestly,
and sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to
the ground. Oh, our Lord is praying. And
think of this, there was never a moment in his life when he
did not have full communion with the Father, except the period
when he cried, why have you forsaken me? Why hast thou forsaken me? He was all in his life and his
death in full submission to the Father's will. What a Savior. What a Redeemer. What a God. The next point I'd like to consider
as we come to is the Lord's deliverance. Look at verse 2. Look at verse
2. He bought me up also out of a
horrible pit of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock,
and established my goings. Hawker, Robert Hawker comments,
Christ is represented as our sacrifice on Calvary's cross
here before us. Now we've read of our great king
in agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. We've heard his cries from the
cross. Turn if you would to Hebrews chapter 5. We know that his soul
was exceedingly sorrowful unto death as he's dying as our substitute. Look at Hebrews 5, verses 5-10. So also Christ glorified not
himself the maid and high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another
place, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him, that
was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared.
Though he were a son, yet learned he obedience, fully submitted
to the Father's will, beloved. By the things which he suffered,
in being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. He is the author of eternal salvation
for all his people, beloved. called of God and high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. Our suffering Lord and Savior
was brought up again from the depths of sorrow. His deliverance
is set forth before us under two images here. Let's go back
to our text in verse 2 of Psalm 40. He bought me up also out
of a horrible pit out of the miry clay and set my feet upon
a rock and established my goings. So the first picture represented
here of Christ upon the cross is bringing up out of a horrible
pit. Now, it's said that there are dungeons that were in ancient
Rome which were made of stone, which had four walls, four walls. And the only entrance was from
above. The only entrance was from above, from the ceiling.
Those four walls were just, there was nothing else, no windows,
no door, nothing, just four walls with a round circle at the top. A round hole in the top that
was blocked with a stone so no light entered in. No light entered
into that prison unless the stone was removed. And no fresh air
could enter unless the stone was removed. The prisoner was
in utter darkness. The darkness of a horrible pit.
And they could not get out. Help must come from above. Help
must come from above. And the prisoners were let down
into the dungeon by a rope. which was taken up after they
were in the dungeon. And once the opening was closed,
they were cut off from all communication with their fellow man. As one grace preacher said of
old, no being has ever been so cruel to man as man. Man is the
worst of monsters, the preacher went on to say, to his kind,
and his cruel inventions are many. Now imagine inside the
darkness, the air would become stale. But imagine what our great
savior endured during the three hours of darkness when the sins
of God's elect were imputed to him. And he's rotting out the
salvation of his people. Rotting out salvation for me.
And rotting out salvation for you if you believe. The worst of dungeons may illustrate
He bought me up also out of a horrible pit, but what a description again
of our dear Redeemer when He's bearing our sin. Suffering in our place. When
the wrath of God is, and I mean it's fully poured out upon Him,
there's nothing left. It's the wrath of God, not just
for my sins, and for you who believe, not just for your sins,
But it's poured out upon Christ for all the elect of all the
ages. And He's willingly submissive
to the Father's will. What a Savior. What a Savior. Oh my. Let us also take note that our
Lord was like a man put into a pit. He was alone upon the
cross. Now, there was two others who were nailed beside Him, but
He was rotting out alone. He was treading the winepress
of the wrath of God alone for His people. All His disciples
forsook Him and fled. And what was infinitely worse,
God forsook Him. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Why has thou forsaken me? Can
we even begin to ponder the depths of that cry? He had been in constant communion
with God all his life. And here He is forsaken of God
when the sins of His people are imputed to Him. When He's rotting
out the salvation of His people. Is it not a wonder He bought
me up? Also out of a hole put out of miry clay pitchers are
king. John Gill comments about the part here where, look at
our text again. He bought me up also out of a horrible pit
and out of the miry clay. John Gill comments the miry clay
expresses the state and condition Christ was in at the time of
his bloody sweat, his crucifixion. And these figures fitly signify
when our sins were imputed to him. He had all the sins of his
people laid upon him. He was clothed with our filthy
garments. He's sinless, but our sins are
placed upon Him. And Gil goes on to say, He might
be truly said to be in the miry clay, and also that He was made
a curse for them, and bore the wrath of God in their room instead,
and was forsaken by His God and Father, and so endured the punishment
of the sins of His people. The sinless one. Dying in the
room and place of sinners. The just one. Dying for the unjust. Paying all that God demands for
their sins. And I can say for my sins, can
you? For the sins of all His people. Psalm 62, verse 2 says
this, I sank in deep mire where there is no standing. I am coming to deep waters where
the floods overflow me. Gail again comments on that text.
The Messiah now bearing the sins of his people and the punishment
of them is pictured as being in a horrible pit in miry clay. while he was performing the great
work of redemption. And if you want to use that for
reference, it's Psalm 62, verse 9. I'll read it again. I sink
in deep mire where there is no standing. I am come into deep
waters where the floods overflow me. And think of that in light
of the judgment of God being poured out upon him for our sins. And let us ponder the grief and
sorrow which our Lord Jesus Christ It can never be described or
conceived by any of us what He did. He's absolutely sinless,
dying in the place of sinners. And again, God poured out his
wrath against sin on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
room and place of his people. And thus, the death of Christ
appeased the wrath and satisfied his holy and righteous demands
against sin, against the sins of his people. God's satisfied. He's satisfied. The just one
dying for the many spoken of in verse 3. Look at this. And
he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.
Many, many shall see it in fear and shall trust in the Lord.
Turn if you would. Matt read this. I didn't have this in my
notes, but Matt read this today. And it's amazing how the Lord
works here. Turn over to Hebrews chapter 9. And keep in mind what
we just read there. And He hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God, and many shall see it and
fear and shall trust in the Lord. Look at Hebrews 9, verses 28.
Look at this. Oh, what a picture this points
to Christ, eh? Look at verse 28 of Hebrews chapter
9. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. Many. Not all, but many. Many. I'm so thankful I'm one
of the many. I don't deserve to be. Oh, my. Many. And unto them that look
for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Oh, beloved. Many. Many. He is not held by the cords of
death, our Savior. He has ascended on high. He has
led captivity captive. He has given gifts unto men,
the gift of salvation in and through the shedding of His own
precious blood. The debt for the sins of all
His people is paid. It is finished. Finished. He's risen and God is satisfied
with the sacrifice of Christ in the place of His people. Psalm
16.10 says this, For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Hell there
is a grave. He is risen from the grave, seated
on the right hand of the Majesty on high, beloved. He was brought
up like Jonah in the depths of the sea, in the belly of the
whale, and yet landed safely on the shore by God's providence.
He's brought up like Joseph who rose from a pit to the palace. Like David who was led from a
sheepfold to the kingdom. And we're told that he was set
upon a rock. Look at our text again. He bought
me up also out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay
and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." Oh, judgment and truth confirm
His ways. The judge of the earth approves
His doings. Christ is justifier, preserver
and perfecter of His people. He stands upon a rock, the immutable
foundations of the everlasting covenant, which God the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit made in eternity. on the decree of God, on the
purpose of the Father. He stands upon these rocks, on
His own work, and on the promise of God that He would reward him
in that work. And well, may we say that our
feet are set upon a rock, because Christ is our rock. He's our
rock. He's our rock. 1 Corinthians
says this, and they did all drink of the same spiritual drink.
They drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and
that rock was Christ. He's the foundation of our salvation. Let's look at verse 3. And he
hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto God. Many shall
see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Now, Gale comments
on the first part of this verse, a new song sung by him. Sung
by him in the midst of the great congregation of angels and saints
upon his resurrection and ascension at the right hand of God. But
think of this, when he was upon this earth, when they were having
the Passover feast before he was to be crucified, he sang
hymn with his... He knows what he must endure.
And he's singing praises. Oh my. My, oh my. What a God. What a King. I will declare, Brother Matt
read this in Psalm 22, verse 22, I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Spurgeon comments on verse 3
in Psalm 40, so the Savior is the chief leader of the holy
song which goes up to God on account of redemption. Both the
surety and the sinner are now free. The surety has risen and we've
risen in Him. And the song goes up from both
of them. The song goes up from both of them. Oh, what sympathy,
what fellowship, what a union we have with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The last point I'd like us to consider is the Lord's reward,
which is found in verse 3, where it is said here, And he hath
put a new song in my mouth, even praising to our God. Many shall
see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. The Lord's reward for having
gone down into the horrible pit and having sunk in the mire of
clay for us is many. Those given to Him by the Father
in eternity. Every single one of them. Every
single sheep of God given to Christ. Many. And there are many.
There are many, beloved. There are a number no man can
number. If you're saved, aren't you glad
you're included? Oh, my. And this gives us hope for preaching
still, right? Many. There's a lot of sheep out there.
Many. That's why we send missionaries out. That's why we put the messages
on the internet. Many. Oh, that God would give
them ears to hear and eyes to see. Many. It says many. It doesn't say
all, but it says many. Many. Many shall look to Christ. Vast numbers continue in unbelief
all around us, right? But many, many shall believe
and live. And the Lord's many, again, the
Lord's many is a number that no man can number. And I hope that there may be
some who have not believed here. That the Lord give them hearing
ears. Maybe they belong to the many. I hope they'll be saved. I know
the many will be saved. There's no doubt. I hope that maybe some will hear
who belong to this many, that they'll be given eyes to see
and ears to hear. of the wonderful Redeemer, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and that they're put all their trust in Him. Our text, and look at it. Again,
Matt and I have been talking about this in our studies. Look
at this. Shall. These little hinge words. It's not, well, many who make
a decision, no. There are many who know, look,
many shall. There's no might about it, is
there? There's no basis upon man. Many shall. Many shall. Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust in the Lord. Well, one says, but we don't
see by nature. But the scripture declares, many
shall see it. One says, well, but we don't hear by nature,
by natural, but the scripture declares that many shall see
it in fear and shall trust in the Lord. Because he gives us
seeing eyes to see him and ears to hear him through the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these many shall
hear. There's no doubt. There's no
doubt. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believe. Their eyes shall be opened and
they shall see the Lord. What shall they see? They shall
see the Lord. They shall see the Lord who bore
all their sins on Calvary Street. They shall see the perfect, spotless
Lamb of God in willing, perfect submission to the Father's will.
And they'll look to Him, they'll look to Him for their salvation. There see Him wounded and bruised
and crucified. There see Him rising again for
their justification. There see Him ascended upon high
in glory and majesty. And they trust their eternal
souls to Him. Many. If you're one of the many
here today, rejoice, rejoice. Many, many shall see it in fear
and shall trust in the Lord. Oh, they're giving eyes to see
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I love that, shall. There's
not a doubt. They shall. And all their hope
of salvation, all the many here spoken of, all their hope of
salvation, all their hope of acceptance with God is in Christ
and Him alone. It's nowhere else. It's in the
one who waited patiently on the Father's will and submitted fully
to that will for me. And if you're one of the many,
for you. And not just for us, but the ones included in the
many who haven't come to Christ yet. Oh, my. Oh, my. Are you trying to be
saved by your own works? Maybe there's someone here listening
who's trying to be saved by their own works. You think that, well,
you know, I can make myself good enough to become before God. It's an illusion. Are you hoping
to be saved by your feelings? Some folks say, well, I feel
like I'm saved. Feelings come and feelings go. To be saved by your feelings
is a lie. To be saved by your works is a lie. Salvation is
only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only in the One we saw today
who suffered for our sins and in Him alone. Turn, if you would,
to Acts 16 and we'll close with this. Many shall see it and fear, and
shall trust in the Lord. Acts 16, verses 30. Acts chapter
16. Oh my. In the Keeper, let's start in
verse 26. Now Paul and Silas are in jail.
And Scripture declares, And suddenly there was a great earthquake,
so that the foundations of the prisons were shaken. And immediately
all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. And the Keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. Now when the prisoners took off
like that, the keeper of the prison would suffer. He'd die.
He'd die. But this keeper of the prison
is one of the many. He's one of the many. He doesn't
know it. He doesn't know it. But Paul
cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are
all here. Then he called for a light, and
sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and
Silas, and bought them out." Now he had heard them singing
praises the whole time they were in prison, singing praises unto
the Lord. The text tells you further up.
And look at this. Verse 30, "...and he bought them
out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Well, there's nothing he needs
to do to be saved. He can't save himself, right? But look at Paul's
answer. This is wonderful. And they said,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy
house. And he took them the same hour
of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized. He,
in all his straight away, he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's one of the many. He's one of the many spoken of
our text. Oh, may God grant you faith to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Gracious
Heavenly Father, oh, we come before thy throne. Today we saw,
Lord Jesus, what You endured for our payment of our sins. But that You willingly, willingly,
in complete submission to the Father's will, died in our room
and place. May we think about this this
week. May we just think upon how You
knew. You knew exactly what You had
to do. And you could have called down legions of angels to destroy
those that came against you. And the scripture says, and it
was a great multitude that came before thee. But you willingly
submitted to the Father's will to redeem my soul and to redeem
the souls of your people. Oh Lord. May we leave this place
rejoicing in the great salvation we have in You, those of us who
are saved. And if there are some of the many who have not heard
Your voice, oh, may You call them by Your grace. We pray in
Jesus' name, Amen.