Turn to the 36th Psalm. The transgression of the wicked
saith within my heart. Now, the fact that David says
that lets me know that David is speaking about himself, what
he sees in himself. And that's very important. It's
true with regard to men, but David is speaking specifically
about what he sees in his own heart. And one of the things
that struck me is when he talks about Look in verse four, he
divides of mischief upon his bed. David, how do you know what
they're devising? He's talking about himself. He's
describing himself. Now let's read that with these
first four verses in mind, and then what the remedy for this. The transgression of the wicked
saith within my heart, no fear of God before his eyes, for he
flattereth himself in his own eyes until his iniquity be found
to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity
and deceit. He hath left off to be wise and
to do good. He deviseth mischief upon his
bed. He setteth himself in a way that's
not good. He abhorreth not evil. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the
heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth under the clouds. Thy
righteousness is like the great mountains. Thy judgments are
a great deep, O Lord. Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is thy lovingkindness,
O God. Therefore the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly
satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make
them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the
fountain of life. In thy light shall we see light. Oh, continue thy loving kindness
unto them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright
in heart. Let not the foot of pride come
against me. And let not the hand of the wicked
remove me. There are the workers of iniquity
fallen. They are cast down and shall
not be able to rise. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would meet with us and speak in power by your spirit
through your word to our hearts. Enable us to worship thy dear
son. May we be enabled to see something
of his glory and his sufficiency. Lord, we confess our sin, we
confess the sinfulness of our sin, and we pray for forgiveness
and cleansing, and we pray that we might be found in Christ.
Lord, give us grace to love you more, to love one another more.
Grant us your blessing, be with all your people wherever they
meet together. In Christ's name we pray, amen. An unbeliever cannot possibly
understand or grasp sin. It's impossible. It takes a holy nature to understand
sin. If you don't have a holy nature
given by God the Holy Spirit in the new birth, you cannot
possibly understand sin. Now, an unbeliever knows there's
a right and wrong. He knows when he's lied. He knows
when he's cheated. He knows when he's stolen. He
knows when he's committed sexual sin. And he may even feel bad
about it. What I thought about is there
in John chapter eight, when the Lord said, he that's without
sin among you, Let him throw the first stone. And the scripture
says, they being convicted of their own consciences. They knew what they did was wrong.
They knew that they had committed the same sin that they were accusing
this woman of. They knew deep down that was
true. And they were convicted by their own conscience. And
what does the scripture say they did? They left one by one. Now this lets us know something
about the fallen nature of man's conscience. If their conscience
was doing what it should have done, it would have taken them
to Christ, but it made them leave Christ. But they knew what they
did was wrong. They knew they were being hypocritical.
Now in that sense, men have some understanding of right and wrong,
but they don't really understand the true nature of sin. It takes a holy nature to understand
sin. Now, I've said this many times.
I hope it registers. It's one thing to believe the
doctrine of total depravity. It's quite another thing to,
in your heart, believe you yourself are totally depraved. all the difference in the world. Now, when someone is born from
above, they understand something about sin. And that's what David
is speaking of in these first four verses. Yes, he's talking
about mankind in general, but he's speaking from experience.
He's talking about what himself, he's talking about himself and
what he sees in himself. And that is, seen particularly in verse 1
when he says the transgression of the wicked saith within my
heart. It's my heart that observes this. It's my heart that sees the old
man and his actions. Now, David is, yes, he's talking
about men in general, but more importantly, he's speaking of
himself in particular, what he sees about himself. Now, what does he say? The transgression
of the wicked saith without my heart no fear of God before his
eyes. And this is talking about what
he is by nature, and he sees his old man like this. Now, the
fear of God, is regeneration, isn't it? The fear of God is
the new birth. No natural man has the fear of
God in his heart. The only person who truly fears
and reverences God and looks to Christ only is the one who's
been born of the Spirit, born again. They have this new nature.
And he looks at his old nature and he says, this old nature
is so disgusting that there's no true fear of God in it. And you look at your old nature
and you see that's true about yourself. How disgusting, how
wrong, how sinful. There's no fear of God with this
old man in this old nature. Now look what he says next in
verse two. For he flatters himself in his own eyes. Now, that is
every natural man's problem. We know that, don't we? Flattering
yourself. Making yourself think you're
better than you really are, lying to yourself, deceiving yourself.
That's the natural man. But David looks at himself and
he says, I flatter myself. I flatter myself. I tell myself
things that really aren't true. I make myself look bigger than
I really am. I try to make myself think I'm
better than I really am. And anytime you flatter yourself,
when you bring yourself up, what are you doing? You're bringing
your thoughts of the Lord down, aren't you? Every time. The wicked flatters himself. Yes, the natural man does that.
I see it in myself. Flattery. Flattering myself.
Until his iniquity be found to be Hateful. One translation says this, in
their blind conceit, they can't see how wicked they are. That's
a good description of the natural man, isn't it? In his blind conceit,
he can't see how wicked he is. And I see that so clearly with
regard to my nature right now. I flatter myself. And I can't
really see how wicked I really am. That's what David is saying.
Look what he says in verse three, the words of his mouth are iniquity
and deceit. Now that's true with regard to
every natural man. You know, here's the bottom line.
Thou shalt not lie. Every time I've opened my mouth,
it's been a lie. Every time with that exception. Well, what about
when you're preaching? Can't we listen to you? Yeah,
you can listen to me. But I mean, even when I tell
the truth, absolutely, I've got some kind of slant on it to make
me look better. I've never told the truth one
single time. This is the language, yes, of
the natural man, but you know it's true. The only one who knows
this is true is a believer. He knows this is true about himself.
You see, you haven't kept one commandment one time. And you
look at yourself, the words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.
He hath left off to be wise and to do good. That's his description
of his, yes, every natural man, but that's, you look at your
own, he left off to be wise, hadn't he? You think of how foolish
you are and to do good. Verse four, he diviseth mischief
upon his bed. David, how do you know what somebody's
doing on their bed? You can't look into their mind,
I can look into my mind. Do you still devise mischief
in your bed? Do you still lay awake at night and all kinds
of wicked things come to pass while you're laying there? David
knew this by experience, didn't he? He's not talking about somebody
else, he's talking about himself. He deviseth mischief upon his
own bed. He setteth himself in a way that's not good. He abhorreth
not evil. How many times have you been
horrified by your wicked nature that it doesn't abhor evil? Now
David's talking about himself. And that is demonstrated by verse
one, the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart.
He's talking about what goes on in his heart. This is how
he understands sin so well. He knows it by experience. You
know, it's, what do you know by experience? Not what do you
know simply by what you're taught. What do you know by experience?
That's what David is speaking of. And that's why he now speaks
of the only remedy for somebody like him. Thy mercy, O Lord,
is in the heavens. The heavenly mercy of God in
saving someone so bad. Isn't it true that the only hope
you have is his heavenly mercy? Him not giving you what you actually
deserve. That's what David is speaking
of. Heavenly mercy, he understood his need of mercy. Thy mercy,
O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth under
the clouds. Now, I love that verse of scripture
in 1 John 1-9, if we confess our sin. if we take sides with God against
ourselves. That's what confession is. It's
agreeing with God. It's not just articulating a
sin. There's not enough time in the
day for me to confess every one of my sins. And most of them,
I don't know what they are anyway. Confession of sin is taking sides
with God against yourself, agreeing with what God says with regard
to you. Seeing that you are that person
David described in these first four verses of Psalm 36. That's
me. That's me. I'm not talking about
somebody else. That's me. If we confess our sins, what
the scripture says is he is faithful and just to forgive us of our
sins. Now he doesn't forgive me of
my sins because I confessed them. He forgives me of my sins because
he's faithful to his covenant. He determined for my sins to
be forgiven before the foundation of the world and the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. He's faithful to forgive me of
my sins, and he's just, not merely merciful, not merely gracious. He is just. His justice demands
the complete blotting out of all my sins because of what Christ
did on Calvary Street. Now, isn't that glorious? Somebody described in these first
four verses, the only hope he has is the heavenly mercy that
is faithful. His faithfulness reaches under
the clouds. Look what he says in verse six,
thy righteousness. is like the great mountains."
Now, once again, someone who is described in these first four
verses, they understand that the only righteousness they have
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. His righteousness is
the only righteousness there is. I'm not saying that simply
because I've taught it. I'm saying it because I believe
it. I believe in my experience. The only righteousness I have
is the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ the Lord, my
Redeemer. Thy righteousness is like the
great mountains. Thy judgments are a great deep. You think of the depth of the
cross. That's what he's talking about
when he's talking about thy judgments. He's not just talking about his
judgments sending people to hell, although I suppose that could
be included in it, but the main thought is the great judgment
of the cross. How deep that is. You know, when
I think of the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and I start
thinking of my attempts at explaining it, I think this is so infinite.
You know, when we use words to describe it, we use a definite
redemption, particular redemption, limited atonement, all these
different terms we use. And I think I'm not so sure that
we don't darken counsel with words without knowledge, with
all of our terms of explanation, infinite. Infinite, that's the
only way you can describe the judgments of God, infinite, infinite. Oh, the atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that great judgment. Now listen to me, let me tell
you two things I know about the atonement of Christ. Number one,
we can't be saved without it. You believe that? But number
two, when Christ said it is finished, it was finished. Nothing for
me to do. That's how complete this atonement
is. There is nothing for me to do. Thy judgments, how infinite,
how great, how deep. You know, the depth. Who can
plumb the depth of the judgments, the atonement, the saving work
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree? Who can plumb the depth?
He says, oh Lord, thy judgments are a great, deep, oh Lord. Thou
preservest man and beast. Now, there's a couple of things
to think about. Isn't it glorious to think of
all the billions of creatures, insects, cats, dogs, bears, lions,
whatever kind of animal there is, bacteria, whatever lives,
he preserves. He saves. He gives him food. And it's not hard for him. It's
not like his storehouses are running dry. No, he preserves
man and beast. But I want you to think about
his preservation of you. Why is it that you haven't departed? One reason. He preserved you. Thou preservest. Oh, I'm so thankful
for that. Thou preservest man and beast. Verse seven, how excellent is
thy loving kindness, O God. Now somebody once said, and I've
always liked this, the Old Testament word for grace is his loving
kindness. And David expressed that so clearly
in Psalm 51, verse one, when he said, have mercy upon me,
O God, according to thy loving kindness. How excellent is his loving kindness. How excellent is his grace. How excellent is thy loving kindness,
O God, how glorious, how precious. Now, if you are the person described
in the first four verses, isn't it precious to you that salvation
is by his loving kindness, his grace. Therefore, the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. We trust God all sufficient. Now, The first time that word,
loving-kindness, is used in the Scriptures, it's with regard
to Lot. And there it's translated merciful, same word, but it's
where the Lord took Lot by the hand. Remember how Lot lingered
in Sodom? The Lord told him to get out.
There he lingers. And you know what scripture says?
Those angels grabbed him by the hand and yanked him out, the
Lord being loving kindness to him, the Lord being merciful,
the Lord being gracious to him. Verse eight, they shall be abundantly
satisfied. with the fatness of thy house,
and thou shalt make them to drink the river of thy pleasures. Now
this thing of satisfaction. How can someone that David described
in these first four verses that's so bad, where are they gonna
find satisfaction? I am completely satisfied. that
what Christ, who He is and what He did is all that's needed to
save me. Bad as I am, I'm still satisfied. I'm not looking anywhere else.
You know, when someone looks somewhere else, it's because
they're not satisfied. Have you ever been satisfied
to be saved by Him only? I am. I'm not looking for anything
else. You drink of the wells of this
life, the water of this life, you'll thirst again. But the
Lord said, whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst. And this is what this is talking
about. You are satisfied, completely
satisfied with the way God saves you. You're just satisfied. God
satisfied. God's satisfied with Jesus Christ.
His complete satisfaction is in His Son. We are too. And that's
drinking of the river of His pleasure. There's nothing more
pleasurable than simply resting in Christ and knowing God is
satisfied with you in His Son. Nothing the world has to offer
that's that pleasurable. He said, we drink of the rivers
of thy pleasure for with thee is the fountain of life. Christ
is my life. Now that means more than Christ
is most important to me. He is, but that's not what that
means. Christ is my life. His life is my life before God. When my name is called on judgment
day, It's his life that will cause me to be accepted. That's
my life before God. With him is the fountain of life. In thy light shall we see light. When the Lord said in John chapter
eight, verse 12, I am the light of the world. What happened right
before then? that woman taken in adultery
in the very act. There was no question with regard
to this woman's guilt. And the Lord said to her, woman,
where are those thine accusers? They were all gone. They left
one by one. Hath no man condemned thee? No
man, Lord. Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. I am the light of the world.
I'm the light as to how that can be. Oh, verse 10. Oh, continue by loving kindness. Continue, draw it out, cause
it to continue. That's streams of mercy never
ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise.
You know that grace that he gave me when he first saved me? I
need the same grace right now. I need the grace of God to continue
to preserve me and keep me, that loving kindness of God. Oh, continue
thy loving kindness unto them that know thee. I want to be as clear as I can
about this thing about knowing the Lord. This is eternal life,
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. You claim to know God? Yes, I
do. Like the thief did. He knew who
Jesus Christ was. That's what I'm talking about.
That's what the Bible is talking about when it's talking about
knowing God. Does it mean you're on this chummy relationship with
Him? The thief knew that He was God. You see, if you know Jesus Christ,
you know He's God. You know that. The thief knew
He was sinless. If you know Jesus Christ, you
know He's sinless. He knew He was Lord. Lord, remember
me. who He was. Now that's what it
is to know God. You know who He is. You recognize
who He is and you know when you're hearing somebody that's not Him.
You know. Now what does He say? He says,
thy lovingkindness to them that know thee, and thy righteousness
to the upright in heart." Now, the upright in heart, that's
talking about the heart God gives in the new birth, the new heart.
Every believer possesses this new heart. Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they shall see God. Oh, let thy righteousness continue
to the upright in heart. There's never a time when the
righteousness of Christ is not the only righteousness I have.
Now look what he says in verse 11. Let not the foot of pride
come against me. The greatest enemy you and I
have is self and it's seen in this word pride. Pride. Pride is the problem behind every
problem you and I have as believers. Pride. Letting off the foot of
pride come against me. It is pride that makes me make
moralistic judgments against you. It's pride. It's a high thought of myself. It's pride that is the enemy
of sympathy. It's the enemy of empathy. It's the enemy of compassion. It's my high thoughts of myself
that have come from this flattery that he speaks of in the second
verse, where they flatter themselves. He says, let not the foot of
pride come against me, Well, that's a prayer we knew
I'd be making, isn't it? Let not the foot of pride come
against me. It destroys my view of everything. Resentment. Resentment. I deserve better than this. I
shouldn't be true. All that kind of attitude is
the foot of pride. Let not pride, the foot of pride
come against me and let not the hand of the wicked remove me,
I'll be removed if he doesn't preserve me from being removed.
And I think when he's talking about the hand of the wicked,
he's not talking about somebody else moving him. He's talking
about himself. He's talking about that same
man he described in the first four verses. Let not the hand
of the wicked remove me. There are the workers of iniquity
fallen. They are cast down and shall
not be able to rise. Here we have a clear picture
of what we are. Can't you say amen to that in
your heart? That description, did I describe you those first
four verses? I mean, isn't that just a real
accurate description of you and me? How we need his mercy, his
faithfulness, his righteousness, his judgments, his preservation,
his excellent loving kindness. This is why the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. Okay.