It's a real blessing to be here
with all of you. I pray the Lord will bless the
preaching of His Gospel and that we would be built up in Christ
and that we would see Him, that we would see Jesus. Turn with
me, if you would, to Psalm chapter 4. The name of the message today
is Confidence and Confession. Confidence and confession. Psalm
4 ties in with where our Scripture reading was today about our hope
is in Christ and Him alone. Some commentators believe it was when
David was fleeing from Absalom. Some say that Psalm 3 was the
morning psalm and that this was the evening psalm. Hear me when
I call, O God of my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will
you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity
and seek out their leasing? Selah. But know that the Lord
hath set him apart that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear
when I call unto Him. Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness
and put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say, Who will
show us any good? Lord, lift Thou up Thy light
of Thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my
heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine
were increased. I will both lay me down in peace
and sleep, for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. Now think of this in light of
David being betrayed by his own son, being hounded, and being falsely accused. So we'll look at this psalm today
in light of David's confidence not being in himself, or his abilities. Remember, he's
the one who by God's power slayed Goliath. But his confidence is not in
himself at all. His confidence is in his great
God and King. And his confession is also in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he joys in God through Christ. So let's look at David's confidence.
Look at verse 1. Hear me when I call, O God of
my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. Now God has appointed David king. He is the one who is appointed
by God to establish peace and security in the land. He is God's
representative. He is ordained by God to represent
God's justice and mercy in the land to His people. And He's
not being received. Contrast this with our great
King. Turn, if you would, to John chapter 1. Contrast us to
our great King who came into this world King. Born King. And He was not received by man.
He was despised and rejected by man. The who's who of the
religious world, they hated Him. And they despised Him. By their actions and intents,
they said, we will not have this man reign over us. And every
sinner does that by nature. Oh, praise be to God. He saves
the people. Look at John 1, verses 11-13. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name, which were born... Now here we go. Man thinks that their free will
saves them, don't they? Religious man thinks their free
will saves them. But look what Scripture plainly
declares, which we're not born of blood, so it's not by your
heritage, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but
of God. If a person's saved, they're
saved by the will of God. It's His will to save sinners,
and He does. The Holy Spirit regenerates the
believer. And he flees to Christ, or she
flees right to Christ. So here in our psalm, David is
experiencing injustice and oppression exactly what our king experienced. By those whom he is appointed
to be king over. And in this crisis, as in many
times in his past, Since the Lord has been pleased to reveal
Himself to David, He prays. He turns to the Lord. He turns
to God. And notice. Hear me when I call,
O God of my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. There's no hopelessness here
or despair, is there? He's not gone into panic mode. His hope rests in God. His hope
rests in Christ. He's calm in this situation.
Why is that? Hear me when I call. He is confident
that God will hear him because, not because of his praying or
anything based upon himself, but because God has delivered
him in the past. Is it not so with you and I who
believe? Has not God taken us through
things time and time and time again? And we cry out to Him.
Oh Lord, deliver me. Have mercy upon me. See, we don't
just cry, have mercy upon me when the Lord first saves us.
We continue to cry that. God, have mercy upon me. Help
my unbelief. Lord, have mercy on me. And David
cries out to God. knowing that God has delivered
him in the past. Do we not remember what God has
done for us in the past? When we're going through trials
and tribulations, we are reminded of how the Lord's delivered us
continuously, and we cry out to Him. And we do this because
He's delivered us in the past. He's sustained us. As we go through trials and tribulations,
He's with us. He said to the believer, I'll
never leave you nor forsake you. Never. Never. And left to ourselves, what would
happen? What would happen in a trial or a temptation? We'd
be crushed. if we were left to ourselves.
But our great God and King carries us and sustains us, and we pray
in confidence, again, not in ourselves at all, but confidence
in the God who will deliver us. And if He doesn't deliver us
out of the situation, He'll sustain us right through it. He's a God
of all grace and a God of all comfort. Behold, I have refined
thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace
of affliction. We go through, as believers,
we go through afflictions. Remember this, and I heard a
story about a smith when they were refining silver. When they
refined silver, how do they know when it's done? Think of this
when we go through a trial or tribulation. How do they know
when it's done? When they can see the reflection
of themselves. How does God know when we're
done with the trial when He sees a reflection of Himself? He's
continuously refining believers through trials and afflictions.
The Christian is either going into trouble, coming out of trouble,
or in trouble, going into trouble, or coming out of trouble. And
the Lord sustains us through it all. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians
1. is a God of all comfort. A God of all comfort for weary
pilgrims as we travel through this veil of tears, this world
of woe. God is a God of all comfort.
He comforts His people. He sustains His people. Hear,
never leave His people. 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3 and 4. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies. and the God
of all comfort. Our God is the God of all comfort.
He comforts His people. Some here may be going through
physical things right now or emotional things right now, but
God to His people is the God of all comfort. We can rest in
Him. We can trust in Him. He's carried us through time
and time and time again. And if you're a believer in Christ,
He's going to carry you right home. Right home. Right to glory. The God of all
comfort. Look at this. Who comfort us
in all our tribulation. Why? That we may be able to comfort
them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God. Sometimes we go through a trial,
right? And what happens? Someone else will go through
a very similar trial and you're able to comfort them. If they're
a believer, you're able to comfort them and say, the Lord took me
through this. Oh, it's marvelous. Let's go
back to our text in Psalm 4. Look at it. It says, Hear me
when I call, O God of my righteousness. God hears His people. And look
at it. It says, O God of my righteousness. This speaks of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the righteousness of God. God is our righteousness. When false accusations are leveled
at God's sheep, where do we find refuge? In Christ, the God of
our righteousness. The God of our righteousness.
And God will vindicate His people. He will vindicate His people.
Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. He will deliver His people,
and He has done that in the past, and He will continue to do that.
And David calls out to the One who is all His righteousness. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the righteousness of His people. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
26. Now our Lord was falsely accused when, and He opened not
His mouth, but He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And David here has many who are
seeking counsel against him unjustly. And our Lord had many who sought
counsel against Him unjustly. He was sinless, perfect, spotless. Look at Matthew 26, verses 57
to 68. Oh, our Lord had those who sought
counsel against Him unjustly. And they that laid hold on Jesus
laid Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes
and elders were assembled. But Peter followed him afar off
unto the high priest's palace, and went in and sat with the
servants to see the end. Now the chief priests and elders
and all the counsel saw a faultless witness against Jesus to put
Him to death, but found none. but found none. Yea, though many
false witnesses came, yet found they none. And at last came two
false witnesses and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy
the temple of God and to build it in three days. And the high
priest arose and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? What is it which these witnesses
against thee? But Jesus held his peace. He's
silent. And the high priest answered
and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell
us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast
said, nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall you see
the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming
in the clouds of heaven. This is God incarnate in the
flesh speaking to these men, and they have no clue who He
is. Then the high priest rent his
clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. What further need
have we of witness? Now ye have heard this blasphemy.
What think ye? They answered and said, He is
guilty of death. Then they did spit in his face
and buffeted him. And others smote him with the
palms of their hands, saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ,
who is he that smote thee? He's being accused unjustly. And he's silent, being led as
a lamb to the slaughter, because he must redeem his people from
their sins. Now back to our psalm. So we
see that David was unjustly accused. Christ our Lord is unjustly accused. And David is appealing to God's
goodness and mercy. Like He says, Thou hast enlarged
me when I was in distress. I ask you, beloved of God, has
God not given you relief in distress in the past? Has He not been with you? We
don't always see it when we're going through it, do we? But
He's with His people. David's recollection of how God
has delivered him in the past is how he is confident that God
will do it if He wills. And this is what we pray, don't
we? If you will, Lord. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
119. David has experienced God's grace in distressing situations. Look at Psalm 119, verses 132-135.
Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me as thou usest to do unto me. as Thou usest to do unto those
that love Thy name. Order my steps in the Word, and
let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Deliver me from the
oppression of man, so will I keep Thy precepts. Make Thy face to
shine upon Thy servant, and teach me Thy statutes. Psalm 119, verses
132 to 135. God gives mercy. He gives strength
to His people. during times of trial and temptations
and distress. Now the word distress in the
Hebrew, where it says here, Thou hast enlarged me when I was in
distress. In the Hebrew, the word is defined as narrow, tight,
straight. When you're in a straight, when
you have no escape, when it looks hopeless, When David was hemmed into a
tight spot, God always delivered him, always made space for him
to escape, and he does that for his people continuously. Continuously. Now there may be a time of sorrow
when we're going through things, but there's gladness on the other
side. And David has learned in the
past that God will deliver and rescue and make a way of escape
For him, in distressful situations, when he's in a strait, when he's
hemmed in, God always makes a way of escape. Now, we can find ourselves
in tight situations sometimes, can't we? Trials and tribulations. And God always, always is there
with us, going through it. And like I say, either He'll
make a way of escape, or He'll sustain us right through it. and the distress and intense
pressure in the Christian life might overpower us, but it can
never overpower God. It can never overpower God. Oh, and he's with his people.
He's watching over while we're in the furnace of affliction.
He's ever watching his people, ever watching them. Daniel 9,
verses 18 and 19. Turn there if you would. Now
Daniel was going through a distressing situation. Daniel 9, verses 18 and 19. And let us remember, when we
are beset again and again by sin or temptation or trial, when
we're distressed or overwhelmed that God has rescued us in the
past and that He will again. He will again. Daniel 9, verses
18 and 19. Oh my God, incline Thy ear and
hear. Open Thine eyes and behold our
desolations in the city which is called by Thy name. For we
do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousness,
but for Thy great mercies. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, hearken and do. Defer
not for Thine own sake. Oh my God, for Thy city and Thy
people are called by Thy name. The Lord delivers His people.
And we cry out to Him. We cry out to Him for deliverance.
He's our King. He's our Rock. Christ says what? Come unto Him. All ye that are
weary and heavy laden, come unto Him. Are you burdened down by
sin and by temptation and trial? Come unto Christ. Come unto Him. Come unto Him. Here give you
rest. All we who are saved are ones
who have come to Christ. We're made willing, but we come
to Christ. We ran to Him. He came to him. And oh, I ask
you, beloved, oh, the burden's light. The burden's light. And He gives us rest, doesn't
He? He gives us rest. Rest to the weary. He's the God
of all comfort. He has mercy upon His people.
And it's only in Christ. David pleads for God's mercy
as he is in a desperate and helpless condition. Yet his confidence
is in God, and he's not panicking. His confidence is in God. He
trusts that God will deliver him as he has in the past. He's
not in despair. He has total confidence in God.
Is it not so with you, beloved, you who have been saved, you
who have been redeemed by the Lamb? When we get into stressful
situations, do we not flee to Christ? Do we not cry out to
Him? Oh, what a great God we have.
And the Hebrew says, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee.
What comfort for God's people. Even while we're going through
the midst of that trial or whatever it is, he says, I'll never. In the Greek, that's never, not
ever, never. Hebrews 13.5, I'll never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Oh, our confidence is in Christ
and Him alone. Look at Luke, chapter 22, verse
41. Our Lord. Luke, chapter 22. Our great King. Our great King is in the garden. Look at verse 41. He was withdrawn from them about
a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if
Thou be willing to remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but
Thy will be done. He bowed His knee to the will
of God. He must redeem His people from
their sins. And there appeared an angel unto
Him from heaven, strengthening Him and being in agony. The sins of His people are being
placed upon Him. He's in agony. But wait! And being in agony, he prayed
more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling down to the ground. But look at verse 42, saying,
If thou be willing to remove this cup from me, nevertheless,
not my will but thine be done. He was trusting in God. And what happens to us in circumstances,
right? We trust and rest, and we say,
your will be done, Lord. Your will be done. In life and
in death, our confidence is not in ourselves. Our confidence
is in Christ. Our hope is in Christ and Him
alone. Our confidence is not in our
strength or our intellect. But it's in Christ. Our confidence
is not in our own wisdom, but Christ is our wisdom. He's the
wisdom of God. Our confidence is not in our
faith. It's in one who is the object of our faith. See, folks
put trust in their faith. We trust in the one who is the
object of our faith. It's Christ and Him alone. David
declares the character of God. Also, back to Psalm 4, verse
1. Look at this. Have mercy upon
me and hear my prayer. God is a God of mercy, beloved.
And a believer obtains mercy in Christ. We obtain mercy in
Christ. Undeserving sinners. I've obtained
mercy. This is what we cry. It's only
found in Christ. Oh ye sons, look at verse 2.
Oh ye sons of man, how long will you turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love vanity and seek after leason? Here David
enters into the field of conflict with his enemies. And notice
the courage of the man of God. And this comes from God strengthening
him. He now asks them how long they will turn his glory into
dishonor and love vanity and seek after falseness? These men
were trusted in falsehoods and lies, trusted in themselves,
as many do today. Many trusted themselves to their
doom. But David's glory was in the
Lord. Turn, if you would, to Matthew 23. Matthew 23. David is rebuking
those who are against him here, as our Lord also rebuked the
Pharisees and scribes. For the David also, the experiences
of another day enable him to declare that Jehovah is great. That Jehovah is great. And he
does so unashamedly. He proclaims that his trust is
in God. Look at Matthew 23, starting
in verse 13. But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men. For ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye. them that are entering in to
go. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye
devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer,
therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye can pass sea and land
to make one prostrate, and when he is made, ye make him twofold
more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, blind guides, which
say, Whatsoever ye shall swear by the temple, it is nothing. But whosoever shall swear by
gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind, for whether
is greater the gold or the temple that sanctifieth the gold. Then
look down to verses 27 and 30. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like unto white Receptacles,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, And this is religious
folks, he's talking to religious folks here. But are within, full of dead
man's bones and of all uncleanness. And remember, these are worksmongers.
These are folks who believe that they were, because they were
scribes and pharisees, they were better than other folks. Even so you outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity, warring to your scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because
you build the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of
the righteous. And say, if we had been in the days of our fathers,
we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the
prophets." Liars. You see, They would have done
the same thing as their fathers did. They didn't know who Christ was.
The prophets spoke of Christ. The prophets spoke of Christ.
So our Lord enters into the field of conflict with His enemies,
as David did also in Psalm 4, and tells them their state. And
what? They hated Him for it, didn't they? They hated Him for
it. Let's go back to Psalm chapter
4. Look at verse 3 now. But know
that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. The
Lord will hear when I call unto him. Scripture says, but know. Take notice of it. Take notice
of it. Consider it. Be assured of it.
Depend upon it. It's a fact that God has set
apart the godly for himself. He's chosen the people in eternity. And this speaks of David being
separated as a holy man after God's own heart. He's not holy
in his own, he's made holy by Christ. A man made righteous by God through
Christ. Remember, he was a shepherd and
God separated him, didn't he? Separated him from his brethren
in a marvelous manner. God took him from the sheepfold
and set him upon the throne of Israel, king. He went from being
a shepherd to being a king. What a picture. What a picture.
And it's all for the glory of God's name. It's all for the
glory of God. All to the glory of God. And
therefore, think of this, in light of that, any attempts of
his enemies against him would be without success. Now keep this in mind about our
great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah. God's
Holy One. The Savior and Redeemer of His
people, to the glory of His grace. And the work of the Lord prospered
in His hands. And He set out, what He set out
to do, He accomplished, didn't He? and no one could thwart Him. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
And He set out to save His people from their sins. It is finished. And He gave up the ghost. And
He willingly went to that cross for His people. Willingly. What a great God we have. And
it says in Psalm, but know that the Lord has set apart him that
is godly for himself. Now let's bring this down to
we who believe, we who are right here. We've been set apart in the Lord
Jesus Christ, elected by God's grace and goodness in eternity. And those of us who believe,
we have obtained mercy. undeserved mercy. But know that the Lord has set
apart him that is godly for himself. Now is there any difference between
us and say our family members or our friends? Only the grace
of God in Christ. Who made you to differ and what
do you have that you didn't receive? Know that the Lord has set apart
him that is godly for himself. And this gives us confidence
preaching the gospel, right? Because it will go forth with
power. And he shall save his people. He will. Here gather
his lost sheep. Oh, if you have family members
who aren't saved, just keep praying. There is hope. I mentioned this
in the Sunday school. There is hope for them until they breathe
their last breath. Just keep praying. And pray if
it's the Lord's will to save him, know that he would. We who are called and set apart
on Christ, it is not based upon anything we do, anything we think. It's all by the grace of God
in Christ. And think of this. God has made
us to differ. I have two older brothers. God
has made me to differ in eternity, but even born out of my mother's
womb, I'm different than my brother, than my brother, only by the
grace of God in Christ. And it leaves the believer in
awe. I obtained mercy. Mercy. And this is what the believer
says. Oh, the elect are him that is
godly, in our text. They are chosen through sanctification
of the Spirit. Not because of anything that
was foreseen and God didn't look down through time and see that
they would choose Him because none of us would have chosen
Him. No. We're chosen simply by the grace
of God in Christ before the foundation of the world. And it's marvelous. It's based upon nothing in us.
This is pure grace. This is sovereign grace. And
this is free grace. Free grace. Pure mercy. God's people are
recipients of God's covenant grace and mercy in Jesus Christ
our Lord. And the Lord will hear when I
call unto Him. The Lord hears His people and delivers people out of the
hands of enemies and cut them off. Think of this. It's a vain thing for men to
set themselves against Christ and His people. It's a vain thing. Look at verse 4. Stand in awe
and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed and be still. Selah. Pause. But stand in awe. Think of it. Be in awe. Be still. Be still before the
Lord. Tremble and sin not. Tremble
at the sovereignty of God. tremble at the holiness of God. The God of the Bible. Not a God
of people's imagination who wants to do things and can't do it.
But the God who can do all things that He purposes and His will
is accomplished. And it will be thwarted by no
one. No one. This is the God of the Bible.
He is King. He is Supreme. He is Sovereign. And he has mercy. He has mercy
on his people. And think of this. I was reading
Augustine's Confessions this week, and he brought out something
that absolutely blew my mind away. He said, we're but particles,
we're but particles in God's creation. Think of God's vast
creation space, everything that he's done. He's spoken it all
into existence. Everything that he's done, we're but particles. And He has mercy upon us. He is so far above us. He is a great God. Stand in awe. Stand in awe. And sin not. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed and be still. Ponder the greatness. Ponder
the majesty. Ponder the power. Ponder the
glory of Jehovah. and tremble in awe of He who
is Almighty. He's Almighty. Oh, what a great God. Still before
the Lord. Just be still. Look at verse
5. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness
and put your trust in the Lord. Let the greatness of God fill
your heart with awe. fill your heart with awe, and
put your trust in the Lord of glory, the Lord of heaven and
earth, God incarnate in the flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our trust
must be in Christ, because He is our righteousness. In our
own righteousness we stand before God guilty. But clothed in the
righteousness of Christ, the believer stands without blame. Without blame. Our trust must
be in Christ. He is the righteousness of God.
And in Him is found God's tender mercy. In Christ is found all
grace. In Christ is found pardoning
love. In Christ, by His shed blood for His people, is found
the atoning blood for all our sins. All of them. The believer has complete forgiveness.
Past, present, and future. That doesn't give us a license
to go out and go crazy, but our sins are forgiven. Forgiven. And the love of Christ constrains
us now from sin. Don't you hate sin now more than
you ever did before, believer? Look at verse 6. And think of
this, though. There's no hope for men but in
the work of Christ. Outside of Christ, there's no
hope for men at all. But in Christ, we're secure and
saved. Look, it says in verse 6, There
be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift Thou
up the light of Thy countenance upon us. Now the world is always
looking for riches or knowledge, but it finds emptiness. The world
seeks contentment in things that wither away and not in eternal
things. They have no care for the things
of God, no care for Christ, and this will lead to their eternal
doom. But believers in Christ delight in God. We delight in
God. We delight in what He's done
for us. And we delight in Christ who is God. He's God. And what joy we find. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter 11. What joy we find in our blessed Redeemer. The
things of this world do not have the allure that they once had. The more we look to Christ, the
less we look to the world. The less we see these trinkets
of the world. The more we look to Christ, the
more we see the things of the world as trinkets. Empty. They perish. They perish. Look at Hebrews 11, verses 13
to 16. Oh, we seek a better country,
beloved. We seek a better country where our great King is. These
all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar. Oh, we look to Christ. And we're
persuaded of them and embrace them and confess that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if
they had been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, They might have had the opportunity to have returned,
but now they desire a better country. Oh, we desire to be
with Christ, don't we? That is in heavenly, wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared
for them a city. Oh, I ask you, believer, do you
not delight in Christ as your Savior? Do you not delight in
Him? Does He not cause the darkness
to flee? Does He not cause the darkness
to flee? Does He not fill our hearts with peace and with praise? And that peace is the peace that
passes all understanding. And it keeps our hearts and minds
on Christ. Oh, think on His reconciling
love and it will bring you great joy. Think on His abiding, comforting
favor towards His people in Christ and it will bring you great comfort. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
For God, who hath commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
that's what he's done for every believer, to give the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
This is why we proclaim Christ. I can't help you. God must save you. But if a preacher
gets up and he preaches 15 ways to live a better Christian life,
that's not going to help you. It's not going to help you at all.
Preach to the One who can redeem you. Who can redeem you from
all your sins. All of them. The One who shed His precious
blood on Calvary's cross for sinners. For sinners. He is the
only One who can help. He is the only One who can rescue
us from our sins. He is the only One who can deliver
us from our sins. And Christ is the believer's
rest and the believer confesses the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we're
closed with David's confession. Look at verses 7 and 8. Thou
hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that Their
corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace
and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. David
has gone from trouble to triumph by delighting in God. He's gone
from trouble to triumph by delighting in his great God. Is it not so
with us? We rest and trust in Christ from
trouble to peace. Now, some may be going through
trials, some may be going through tribulations, but let this psalm
be our prayer. Oh, Thou hast put gladness in
my heart more than in the time that their corn and wine increased.
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for Thou, Lord, only
makest me dwell in safety. This is David's confession. He's
resting in Christ no matter what comes to pass. He's resting in
God. He's resting in His sovereignty.
He's trusting His great God. No matter what comes. And the
peace comes from the Lord. The peace comes from the Lord.
And it passes all understanding. I can't explain to people the
peace that I have going through tribulations and trials. But
I have a peace now that I never had before. And it's only in
Christ. It's only in Him. It's only in
Him. Oh, so David's peace comes from
the Lord amidst whatever comes. Look, and I will both lay me
down in peace and sleep, for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell
in safety. May this be our prayer each night,
resting and reposing in Christ. I both lay me down in peace and
sleep, for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. You ever
wonder, How the believer, there's all kinds of things going on
in the world, and how we can pillow our head at night. Why?
Because God's in full control. He is in full control. Oh, what a great God we have.
This peace that the Lord gives us is unmoved repose. Now, you've probably often heard
grace preachers use the word repose. I decided to look it
up in the 1913 dictionary. And the old timers used to say
we need to rest and repose. I like to read a lot of old sermons,
and repose comes up all the time. All the time. Now, repose means
this. Laying at rest. Sleep. Rest. Quiet. to cause to stop or rest after
motion. You cease from moving. You ever
see when someone dies, they say they're in repose? They're not
moving. They can't do anything. This
is how we should be with Christ. We just repose in Christ. Repose
in what He's done. Figuratively to remain or abide
restfully without anxiety or alarms. I need help with that. Boy, ain't that hard for me to
get anxious. Is it so with you? That's why
I keep saying, I need to repose in Christ. I need to repose in
my King. He's in full control. Rest of
mind, tranquility, freedom from uneasiness. So let the world
scorn, beloved. Let the world scorn believers.
Because our joy and our rest is in the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him alone. Our happiness is in Christ. He
gives us joy. He gives us rest. He gives us
comfort for our souls. He is the God of all comfort.
The God of all comfort. And the happiness a believer
has in Christ is real. It's substantial. And it's abiding. It's abiding. Because it's in
Christ. Now this world gets very excited
about various things. They may get full of joy, but
notice something. Their joy subsides and sinks
into gloom. It doesn't take you very long
to realize that when you get around folks who aren't saved.
They may have joy, but it soon sinks into gloom. But the joy
of the Lord is like the giver. The joy of the Lord is like the
giver, pure, perfect, and eternal. It doesn't stop for the believer,
because our hope is in Christ. We look to Him. I will both lay
me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell
in safety. He keeps His people. He preserves
His people to the end. Oh, may we seek to glorify and
praise the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom is all our peace and
rest. And I ask you, is Christ your confidence? Is Christ your confession? Is Christ your confidence? And
is Christ your confession? And I pray that God would make
it so if He's not. Oh, that God would reveal Himself
to you. And that you'd flee to Christ. He is the God of all comfort.