Psalm 34. I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard
me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him
and were lightened. Their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord
heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of
the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth
them. Oh, taste and see. that the Lord
is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Oh, fear the
Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear
him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that
seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children,
and hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth
life and loveth many days that he may see good? Keep thy tongue
from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do
good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face
of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance
of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord
heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The
Lord is nigh unto them, that are of a broken heart, and saveth
such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of all of them. He keepeth
all his bones, not one of them is broken. That's quoted in John
chapter 19 verse 36 and as to why the Lord's bones were not
broken. You remember when they came to
break the legs of the one or the two thieves and they broke
them and they came up to Christ and he was dead already and they
didn't break them. This is a quotation from this
psalm as to why his legs were not broken. And remember his
bones are his people. His bones are his people, his
body. He keepeth all his bones, not
one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, and
they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The Lord redeemeth
the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him
shall be desolate. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for. Your
word. How we thank you for your glorious
son. How we thank you for the salvation
that's in him. Lord, we pray for your blessing
on our time together that you would be pleased to speak according
to your will. Lord, those that are sick, we
pray for your blessing and your healing hand to be upon them.
Those that are sick in body, those that are sick in mind,
those that are sick in soul, bless us for Christ's sake. Be
with all your people wherever they meet. And Lord, we ask that
you would forgive us of our sins for Christ's sake and enable
us to see the cleansing that's in the blood of thy son even
now. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. I will bless the Lord at all
times, and his praise shall continually be in my mouth." Now, could you
say that? Have you blessed the Lord at
all times, and is his praise continually in your mouth? Well,
you know the answer to that question is no. This is the Lord Jesus
speaking. He's the only one who could truly
say, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually,
nonstop be in my mouth. Now that scripture I read from, where is it? 20th verse tells you that this
is the Lord speaking. I know David's speaking as well,
but just the fact that this is quoted in the New Testament as
referring to the Lord Jesus Christ tells you this is primarily Christ
speaking when he is speaking in this song. Now he says, my
soul shall make her boast in the Lord and the humble, the
poor, that's talking about all of us people, The poor shall
hear thereof and be glad. They're going to rejoice in what
I've got to say. Now look what the Lord says in
verse three. And he's saying this to all of his bones, to
all of his people. He says, oh, magnify the Lord
with me. What a glorious thing. The Lord
saying that to me and you. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. and let us exalt his name together. Isn't that amazing that we would
be privileged to do something like that? He says in verse four,
I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all
my fears. Now, somebody says, how could
that be the Lord? Well, the scripture says he was
heard and that he feared. He feared his father perfectly. That's so beautiful. I sought the Lord and he heard
me and delivered me from all my fears. Now, he feared the
Lord and the thought of being made sin being separated from
his father. He wasn't, I can't express what
his emotions were at that time, but some kind of fear, being
made sin, being separated, but the Lord delivered him from them
all. Verse five, they, every believer, he's talking about
all of those he calls upon to magnify his name together, they
looked unto him and were lightened. And their faces were not ashamed. They looked unto Him. That's
what faith is. They looked unto Him, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. What were the children
of Israel that were bitten by the serpents commanded to do? Look. Look. They looked unto him and were
lightened. Now you won't have, I won't have
any light until we look to him. And we look to him, we're enlightened
concerning who God is. We're enlightened concerning
who we are. That's when we see our sinfulness,
when we see who he is. We're enlightened with regard
to how God can embrace me and accept me for Christ's sake and
see me as perfect in Christ Jesus. Now that's being enlightened. And the word also means they
were radiant. They looked unto him and were
radiant. They shine like Moses' face shined
in God's sight. They looked unto him and were
radiant. But this is very interesting. This word, every other time it's
used in the Old Testament, it's flowed, flowed. Now picture in your mind water
flowing downhill. That's what it does naturally,
isn't it? Faith naturally flows uphill. and it flows to him. This is coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ. They looked unto him and they
flowed. If you ever look to him, if I ever look to him, we'll
flow straight to him. That happens just like water
going down the hill. It's natural for it. It's natural
for us to go up the hill to Christ. They looked unto him and were
lightened and their faces, he says, were not ashamed. There's only one reason that
my face is not going to be ashamed looking to him. It's because
I have nothing to be ashamed of. I am perfect in Christ Jesus. I'm perfectly righteous in Christ
Jesus. I'm without fault before the
Son of God, before the law of God. Nothing to be ashamed of.
That's justification. All your sins that you're aware
of, they're not. They're not. You know the reason
they won't be brought up on judgment? There's nothing there to bring
up. Christ put them all away. They looked unto him and were
lightened. Their faces were not ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him
out of all his troubles. Now, David could say that, no
doubt, and you can say that, but what about the Lord? You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes,
he became what? Poor. Once again, who can describe
the poverty of Christ when he was made sin? Oh, the poverty
of Christ, that you through his poverty might be rich. Now, this poor man cried out.
Yes, that's David. But more preeminently, this is
the Lord Jesus Christ. This poor man cried and the Lord
heard and saved him from all his troubles. Now the angel of
the Lord encampeth. Isn't that beautiful? He encampeth. Now that could be a created angel,
but I think it's talking about the uncreated angel of the Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him. That's why I think this is talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ. He encamps around about those
that fear him, and he delivers them. Verse eight, oh, taste
and see that the Lord is good. Tasting. Now, isn't it a blessing
to be able to taste good food? Oh, that's something you enter
into. It's something everybody knows
something about. Tasting good food. It becomes part of you. It goes
inside of you. Taste and see. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. He's good all the time. There's no time when he is not
good. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. Now, faith is trusting him. That's what faith is. And if
you trust him only, as the only reason you'll be brought into
glory. You know why? It's because you're blessed of
God. God did this for you. Blessed is he. Oh, the blessedness
of the man. Blessed is he that trusteth in
him. Verse nine. Oh, fear the Lord,
ye his saints. This is the Lord talking to his
people. Oh, fear the Lord. And this is the fear of respect.
The fear of reverence, the fear of awe, it's not the fear of
punishment, it's the fear of he's so glorious, you don't even,
all you can do is bow down. You don't even know how to respond
other than he's glorious. Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints,
his holy ones, and that's what every believer is. I like to
take St. Todd. St. Todd, and that's true of
every believer. Put a saint before your name,
holy one. That's every one of his people.
Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want, there's
no lack to them that fear him. The Lord's my shepherd. I shall
not want, I'm complete in Christ. Now, the young lions do lack.
and suffer hunger." Now that's the animal that we could think
of has the greatest ability to take care of itself. A lion,
you know, the king of the jungle. Well, they may lack and suffer
hunger, but he that shall seek the Lord shall not want any good
thing. Now come you children, hearken
unto me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. I love the way David said, the
fear of the Lord is clean. You know, it's the only clean
thing there is really, isn't it? The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever. Now verse 12, what man is he
that desireth life? and loveth many good days that
he may see good." Now, do you want to live a life that you
would desire, love, and see good? Peter quotes this passage in
1 Peter 3. So let's turn, hold your finger
there in Psalm 34, and let's turn to 1 Peter 3. Verse eight, finally, be all of one mind. And the only way me and you can
be of one mind is if me and you both have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. Every believer does. And that's
truly being of one mind. You know, he knows he's all in
salvation. We know it too, don't we? He knows he is altogether
glorious to the Father. We know it too. He knows he gets
all the glory and salvation. We know it too. We have the mind
of Christ. And if we're of one mind, it's
because we have the mind of Christ. Finally, brethren, Be all of
one mind. Have compassion one of another. Be sympathetic. Be sympathetic. Don't be a hard nose. Don't be
judgmental. Don't be harsh. Be sympathetic. Love as brethren. Be pitiful. That word pitiful is the same
word Paul used when he said, be kind one to another, tenderhearted. That same word, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Be courteous, be friendly, not
rendering evil for evil. You know, if your brother does
you wrong, don't try to pay him back. Don't, don't do that. Don't render evil for evil. But contrary wise blessing, knowing
that you're there unto called, that you should inherit a blessing.
And now here's the quotation from Psalm 34. For he that will
love life and see good days. Let's go back to our text now,
Psalm 34. Here's what he quotes. He that
would love life and see good days, verse 13, keep thy tongue. Every major problem that I have
brought upon myself came right out of here. The tongue. James spoke so accurately when
he said, the tongue is set on fire of hell, full of deadly
poison. The tongue, speaking evil of
my brethren, speaking evil. How much happier would we be if our tongues were kept? And no man can tame the tongue.
Scripture says that, but we ask that the Lord tame my tongue.
I, you know, I ask, Lord, cause me to never say anything harsh
about anybody. I always end up doing it, but
I ought not. And every trouble, see that here's,
here's the thing. When you say something harsh
to somebody or harsh of somebody, they're always going to look
at you differently. And that's what the Lord meant
when he says, judge not that you be not judged. He's not saying
if you judge somebody, God's going to judge you and send you
to hell. Because if that's the case, ain't nobody here going
to be saved. Every one of us have been far too judgmental
constantly. But what he's saying is, is when
you judge somebody, they're going to be looking for faults in you.
Now, if you are non-judgmental toward them, oh, you're great.
You're good friends, everything's fine, but as soon as you judge
somebody, as soon as you're harshly critical toward somebody, they're
gonna just be looking for faults in you. So this is what he's
saying. If you would keep your tongue from evil and your lips
from speaking guile, deceit, depart from evil and do good. Seek peace. The Lord call every
believer in the Beatitudes, a peacemaker. A peacemaker, as much as in you
is that live peaceably with all men. Seek peace and pursue it. Now I realize that there's times
when peace can't be had, but if it can, seek it, pursue it,
be a peacemaker. For the eyes of the Lord are
upon the righteous and his ears The eyes and the ears of the
Lord, his eyes are upon the righteous right now, and his ears are open
to their cries. The face of the Lord, verse 16,
is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of
them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord
Now, if you're a believer, you have the Lord's ear. You may
not even feel He hears, but He does. He hears all the time because
of your great intercessor presenting your prayer to the Father. And
it's a sweet smelling savor to Him. The Lord heareth and delivereth
them out of all their troubles. Every one of them. Verse 18,
the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and save
as such as be of a contrite, crushed spirit. Now, what is
this thing of having a broken heart? I dare say that everybody
in here at one time or another has had the proverbial broken
heart over some kind of relationship that went bad. And that is difficult,
that's troublesome. Everybody here has experienced
that. That's not what this is talking about. When something's broke, what
is the primary thought concerning that thing that's broken. It
doesn't work. It doesn't work. It is unable
to do what it's supposed to do. It's broken. We do things that
are broken, throw them away. They're no good anymore. They
can't function. They can't do what they're supposed
to do. Now, the only good thing that's
broken is a broken heart. It's at its best state when broken. A broken and a contrite heart,
oh God, thou will not despise. Who does God save? It says, The
Lord is near unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth
such. This is who he saves. He saveth
such as be of a crushed spirit. Now, here's the broken heart
to him that worketh not. It's that simple. You see, you
cannot be saved by your works. You've got your heart's broken.
It's no good. It's no good. That's your problem.
A wicked heart, an evil heart. It's no good. Now that is the
heart. Somebody says, my heart's not
like that. Well, Lord's not nigh you then. He ain't gonna save
you either. He saved us such as be of a broken heart and a
contrite spirit. And really the only people whose
hearts are broken, are the people who the Lord has broken their
hearts. He's broken their heart of all hopes of self-salvation,
and they're made to look to Christ only. The Lord is nigh unto them
that are of a broken heart, and save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. Now, I'm not real sure why the
translators translated that afflictions because here is the way the word
is usually translated, evil. Evil. Many are the evils of the
righteous. Now that could refer to affliction,
I'm sure, but doesn't James say, in many things, we offend all
of us? Many are the evils of the righteous. How about you? Many are the evils
of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. The promise of the gospel, the
Lord deliver them out of them all. He keepeth all his bones. Now you can remember when the
soldiers came to break the legs of the first two thieves on the
cross so they would suffocate. That's what would happen. And
they came to do it to the Lord and they saw he was already dead
and he didn't break his bones. He was already dead. And then
John quotes this verse of scripture as referring to the Lord. Not
one of his bones will be broken. Every single one of them are
saved. You see, he keeps his body. And
the church, every believer, members of his body, his bones. Look in the next Psalm. I know it's in there somewhere. Verse 10, Psalm 35, verse 10. All my bones shall say, Lord,
who is like unto thee? There's what his bones say. Who
is like unto thee, which delivers the poor from him that's too
strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy for him, him that
spoileth him. See, he keeps all his bones.
Why am I going to be kept? Because he keeps all his bones. Verse seven. 21, evil shall slay the wicked. You might've heard this saying
before, talking about employment. I've heard it, and I think it's
a good say, but you fire yourself. If you get fired, it's because
you did a poor job. Now, I know that's not always
the case. It could be somebody took something personally against
somebody. I remember one time, this is aside, but I was saying,
I don't know what I believe about teachers getting tenure, where
they can't get fired. And I remember somebody said,
well, and listen, I'm all for it. I'm not making a statement.
I'm glad teachers get tenure. But I remember somebody said,
well, what if your boss doesn't like you? I said, well, that's
life. I mean, that happens quite a
bit. But the point is, if you are fired, you fired yourself.
If you're damned, you damn yourself. It's your fault. It's your fault. Your sin is your fault. Evil shall slay the wicked, and
they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. Now, my marginal
reading says guilty. Guilty. They're guilty for what
they're doing. They're wrong. Verse 22, the
Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants. I love to call the
Lord my redeemer. You know what he did? He redeemed
me. He redeemed me from all evil. He's, he's my redeemer. You know
who loves particular redemption? The redeemed. All of the redeemed
love successful, particular, definite redemption. All of the
redeemed love redemption. The Lord redeemeth the soul of
his servants, and none of them that trust him shall be, there's
that word again, desolate, guilty. Guilty. You know what that means? You trust him, you stand not
guilty before God. Now this is justification. If
I'm justified, that means I am not guilty. And none that trust in him will
ever be guilty. I stand before the God of glory
right now without guilt. Okay.