This evening we're going to take
a look at these nine verses found in Psalm 20. It's called the
Psalm of David. Psalm of David. I've entitled
the message from this psalm, I originally had the victories
of our King and Savior. The victories of our King and
Savior. So we could use that for title
or we could use the title from the words found in verse 5. We
will rejoice in thy salvation. We will rejoice in thy salvation. Remember from last week in Psalm
21 verse five, his glory is great in thy salvation, honor and majesty
as thou laid upon him. We will rejoice in thy salvation. Now this Psalm and the subject
of this Psalm This psalm and the subject of
this psalm is about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
the psalm of all scripture, all scripture and all the psalms,
all about the Lord Jesus Christ, our God and our Savior. Our Redeemer
is victorious over all of His enemies. He's victorious. He's the victorious Savior. He's
never lost a battle. He's always conquered all of
His foes. They're all made to bow at his
footstool. You remember Psalm 110, verse
one said, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right
hand till I make all thy enemies to bow, submit at thy footstool. So the Lord Jesus Christ, every
knee, God has highly exalted him, given him a name which is
above every name. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess, now or later, Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ
are more than conquerors through him that loved us, who gave himself
for us. Because he wins the victory,
We're on the winning team. We are winners in Him. Thanks be unto God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul writes this
in second Corinthians, now thanks be unto God which always causes
us, always causes us to triumph, to triumph in our blessed Savior. When we study through the Revelation,
remember in chapter 6, I told you verse 2 was one of the key
verses in that whole study of the Revelation. I think it opens
up the whole book to us. The Lord Jesus Christ, that mighty
warrior, He went forth conquering and to conquer. And He has conquered
all our enemies. You think the enemies we have?
Death? Hell? The grave? Sin? Satan? They're all defeated. He said,
I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore.
He said, I've had the keys. I have the keys of hell and death.
So we give thanks to the victories that we have in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord knows nothing of defeat.
Jesus of Nazareth is not a weak, defeated, frustrated reformer.
He's a conquering, victorious God, our Savior and King. He
knows nothing of defeat. He knows much about agony. He's called a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief, but he knows nothing of the agony
of defeat. He knows a lot about the agony
of victory over our sin. We read in Isaiah, the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. God said, my righteous
servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. We're going to see, Lord willing,
on Sunday from Isaiah 42, that our blessed Savior, the elect
of God, he's called the elect, shall not fail nor be discouraged
until he's accomplished all our salvation. One old writer said,
this whole psalm is a prophecy of Christ's sufferings and his
deliverance out of them, for which the church with him is
triumphant. It's all about the triumphant
victories of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember over in Colossians
2, having spoiled principalities and powers, he may have showed
them openly, triumphing over them himself, by himself, with
himself. Here, Old Testament believers
look forward to the coming of the Messiah and pray for his
victorious intercession, his successful priestly redeeming
work of his church. We look back to his coming, they
look forward to his coming. How he loved the church. How
long has he loved the church? He loved his church with an everlasting
love. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. He might present it to himself,
spotless church, holy and unblameable, unreprovable in His sight. Now, let's look at verse 1. And we're going to consider this
psalm as concerning the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
hear thee in a day of trouble, Jehovah. Jehovah hear thee. in the day of trouble. The name
of the God of Jacob defend thee, or as a marginal reference says,
set thee on a high place. What did the Lord Jesus Christ
do when he purged away our sin? He sat down in a high place,
didn't he? He sat down on the throne of
God on the right hand of the throne of Almighty God. The Lord
Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh knew much about trouble,
didn't he? He knew much about trouble. He had his own sorrows
and bare the griefs of others. He bare our sins in his own body
on the tree. Remember from our study in the
book of Hebrews that he was tempted and tested at all points like
as we are yet without sin. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin. Such a high priest became us
who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and totally separate from sin. He knew much about trouble because
of our sin being made his sin. In the day of trouble, in the
day of trouble, we studied all through the book of Matthew and
Mark and Luke and John. And in the days of his flesh,
the Lord Jesus Christ had green lights and blue skies and no
trouble. We know different, don't we?
He had much trouble. He had much trouble. Much trouble. God had one son without sin,
none without sorrow. He's called a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief. In a day of trouble, persecuted
by Herod, tempted by Satan, harassed by the Pharisees, grieved by
the hardness of unbelieving sinners, disappointed by Unbelief in his
own disciples. Remember he told them to stay
here and pray while I go yonder and pray. And he came back and
he found them sleeping on the job. What he said, couldn't you
pray with me for one hour? And he went away again and prayed
again. And he came back and there they
were again, sleeping on the job. The Lord is so compassionate,
isn't He? Disappointed by unbelief in His
own disciples, yet He had mercy on them. He didn't cast them
out, did He? He didn't fire them. If you get caught sleeping on
the job today, you're subject to being dismissed. They were
sleeping on the job, but the Lord, He said, sleep on now. The time's at hand. Chiefly here
is meant the Day of Sorrows in the Garden of Gethsemane and
in the Day of Trouble as he was crucified for the sins of his
people and during the wrath of his father being forsaken of
him. Just turn one page. Remember
the Psalm of the Cross? We have here in Psalm 22, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from
helping me from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry
in the daytime, thou hearest not. In the night season I'm
not silent, but thou art holy. Oh thou that inhabitest the praises
of Israel, our fathers trusted in thee. and thou didst deliver them,
they cried unto thee, were delivered, they trusted in thee, were not
confounded, but I am a worm, verse six. Imagine the Lord saying
that, I am a worm, and no man, or a coach of men, despised of
the people, despised and rejected of men, verse 13. They gaped
upon me with their mouths as a ravening and roaring lion poured
out like water. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It's melted in the midst of my
bowels. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt. My tongue
cleaves to my jaw. Thou hast brought me into the
dust of death. We see something there of its
agony and sorrow, don't we? The reason of his agony and sorrows
is our sins being laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ. My sin brought
him trouble. My sin brought upon him the wrath
of God. The Lord Jehovah hear thee in
the day of trouble. The Father heard his cry upon
the cross and helped him as the God-man mediator. Isaiah 49,
we read, in acceptable time have I heard thee, in a day of salvation
have I helped thee, I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant
to the people to establish the earth to cause to inherit. The God of Jacob, verse one,
the God of Jacob. And I looked that word up, you
know, he's called the God of Jacob more than any other name. 26 times in scripture he's called
the God of Jacob. Jacob was a worthless, no good,
guilty, vile sinner. The Lord Jesus Christ saved sinners. He's a God of Jacob. Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. Sovereign mercy, sovereign love.
We know Jacob certainly didn't merit God's favor, did he? Not at all. The God of Jacob
defend thee, or as the marginal reference has, or set thee on
high, and exalt him and his church in the high place. The Lord Jesus
Christ, having accomplished our salvation, he ascended to the
Father, and he's seated right now. There's a man in glory right
now. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
there's a man in glory right now. sitting on the throne of
God at the right hand of God the Father. What's he doing there?
He ever lives right now to intercede for us. He's busy about his business
interceding for us, but his redemptive work is done. He sat down. That
Old Testament high priest, when he went into the Holy of Holies
and the holy place, there was never a chair in there to sit
down. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest, having
finished the work, he sat down on the right hand of God. The
Old Testament church prays for his victory over sin and for
his resurrection glory and his exaltation. And we look back
to all that he has done. They look forward to the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the victories that they had in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And we look back to his coming. for us, how he accomplished our
salvation. Look at verse two. Here is where
the church then and now looks for help. Send thee, or send,
notice on the word thee, the marginal reference on number
eight is send thy help. You see that? Send thy help from
the sanctuary, from the holy place. and strengthen thee out
of Zion. Here is where the church then
and now looks for help. Hold your place there and turn
to Psalm 121. Remember Psalm 121. I lift up my eyes into the hills
and whence cometh my help. Verse one, Psalm 121. My help cometh from the Lord.
which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is our keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. To whom do we look for our salvation? Unto our great God, to the Lord.
Send thy help, send thy support. Out of the heavenly sanctuary,
out of the holy hill Zion, the Lord did send help to our blessed
Savior. Turn over here to Psalm 89. Psalm
89 verse 18. For the Lord is our defense,
the Holy One of Israel is our King. Then thou spakest in vision
to the Holy One, and saidest, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty, I've exalted one chosen out of the people. I found David
my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed
him. David was the anointed king.
He reigned for 40 years. But David is only a type and
picture of the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called,
you remember Blind Bartimaeus? Blind Bartimaeus said, thou son
of David. Messiah was to come from. The
tribe of Judah, house of Jesse, son of David. After the temptation
in the wilderness, in the agony in the garden of Gethsemane,
sweating great drops of blood, where did he receive help from?
He didn't look to Peter and John. James, the Lord sent a messenger
from heaven. The angels came and ministered
unto him. On the resurrection morning,
when the ladies came to the tomb, The angels, remember they said,
who's going to roll back the stone? On that resurrection morning
when the Lord came out of that grave the third day, and they
wondered Mary and Martha, or Mary and the other Mary, they
wondered who was going to remove the stone, and when they got
there they saw the stone rolled away and an angel sitting on
it. And they said, the angel said, why do you seek the living
among the dead? He's not here, he's risen. He's risen. There
is no help like that of God's sending, no deliverance like
that from the sanctuary, His sanctuary. He sent from the highest
resources possible. Turn over here to Psalm 57. Send thee help from thy sanctuary,
send thy help and strengthen thee out of Zion. Look at Psalm
57, verse two. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send
from heaven and save me. He sent from heaven, didn't he?
And save me. He's the God that performed all
things for me from the approach of him that will swallow me up.
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. God sent from
the highest resources possible, God Himself. God so loved that
He gave His well-beloved Son. Look at verse 3 back in Psalm 20.
Remember, the Lord hear thee in a day of trouble, the Lord
defend thee, send thee help. And then verse 3, remember all
thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice. Amen. Accept thy burnt sacrifice. As the marginal reference has
on the word, accept, turn to ashes. Turn to ashes. Turn to ashes. Remember all thy
burnt offerings. All those offerings under the
law were a type and picture of Christ, our substitute, the Lamb
of God, the coming Lamb of God, to satisfy what they only pictured. The sin offering of Christ answers
to and is the body, sum, and substance of all those offerings
under the law. Every lamb and bullock and every
blood offering under the law is a type and picture of Christ
coming and fulfilling everything that picture. Now, therefore,
accept the burnt offering. Notice the word accept means
turn to ashes, which signifies acceptance of the offering. You
remember the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18,
and they had Elijah faced off Was it 750 false prophets of
Baal? And they had a contest about
the God who answers by fire, he is God. You remember, they
offered a sacrifice to Baal. Their God didn't answer. Elijah
mocked him, said, maybe he's on vacation or maybe he's sleeping.
And then when Elijah came and presented the sacrifice, Remember,
he took twelve barrels of water and poured it on that sacrifice,
and then God answered by fire. Listen to what it said. Then
the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice,
and the wood, and the stone, and the dust, and licked up the
water in the trench. It was accepted of God. The sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ is accepted of God. Christ and His sacrifice
of Himself, putting away our sin, His blood is a sweet-smelling
savor unto God. It's satisfaction unto God. Ephesians chapter 5 talks about
His offering unto God being a sweet-smelling savor. Do you reckon God is satisfied
with His sacrifice? Absolutely. How do we know? He's
satisfied with the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
was raised from the dead. Why was He raised from the dead? He put away our sin. Sin had
no claim on Him. He put away our sin. He satisfied
the law of God for us. Believers are accepted in the
merit of His person and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and
His blood shed for us. We are accepted, you remember?
Ephesians chapter 1 verse 6, we are accepted in the beloved.
in the Beloved. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. Only what God provides will God
accept. And we are accepted in the Beloved.
Look at verse 4. Grant thee according to thine
own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. The counsel of the Lord
shall be done. The will of the Lord shall be
done. I was going home Sunday morning after study time over
here, after the radio broadcast, our broadcast is over. I was
going back home, crossing the bridge down here, and the guy
that follows me afterward was talking about the political turmoil,
and then he talked about the will of God not being done. I
thought to myself, he's got no idea who God is. The will of
the Lord is always done. Always done. He does according
to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
this earth and no one can stay his hand or say to him, Lord
God Almighty, what doest thou? I felt like, I thought about
this today, I felt like calling him up and saying, what are you
talking about? God trying to do his will is
not being done. How silly, how silly. God's will
is always done. Grant thee according to thine
own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. And that reminds me
of that verse that I often quote. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. Remember the former things of old, Isaiah 46, 9.
Where I am God, there is none else. I am God, there is none
like me. declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times
to the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall
stand. I'll do all my pleasure. Does
that sound like a God whose will is frustrated by political division? How silly. How silly. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that would execute my counsel from a far
country. I've spoken it. I'll bring it
to pass. I've purposed it. Oh, I will
do it. God's counsel will be done. The
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He works all things
after the counsel of his own will. Look at verse four. Grant
thee according to thine own heart. all that the Lord has decreed,
grant, he has decreed according to his own heart will be fulfilled,
is being fulfilled. Verse five, we rejoice. We rejoice in the
determinant counsel of our God, don't we? We will rejoice in thy salvation. It's the salvation that Christ
has accomplished for us. We will rejoice in thy salvation. In the name of our God, we will
set up banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Seeing the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplish our salvation for us, Let us rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always. And
again, I say rejoice. The believers in this Psalm anticipating
the coming of the Redeemer and the complete salvation by Him,
they were rejoicing in the Lord. And we look back to our Redeemer
who has come, who completed all salvation for us, and we do rejoice
in the Lord, don't we? In Him was all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and we stand complete in our Lord Jesus Christ. We lift up, notice it says there,
we will set up our banners, and that has an indication of we
raise the flag. We raise up the flag of the gospel
of victorious Lord Jesus Christ. We're not ashamed, we raise up
our flag. What does it say on our flag?
Christ is all. What does it say on our flag?
Salvation of the Lord. We're not ashamed to raise that
banner, wave it high, publicly, that Christ is King. Christ has accomplished our salvation
for us. As Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation. Or as He says in 2 Timothy, I'm
not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded
He's able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against
that day. We raise the banner of Christ's sovereign mercy,
sovereign love, and sovereign grace, don't we? We raise up
that banner. Look at verse 6. Now know I that
the Lord saveth. He saves His anointed. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the anointed of God. Now I know, I know that
the Lord, Jehovah, saveth His anointed. He will hear him from
His holy habitation, or from the heaven of His holiness, and
with strength, saving strength of His right hand. Now this is not spoken about
David David alone, but the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the anointed. He is the anointed in all of
his office. Remember all of his office? Prophet
to reveal, priest to redeem, king to reign over us. No one
in the Old Testament ever held all those three offices. Moses
was a prophet, but he wasn't a priest. He wasn't a king. David
was a king and a prophet, but he wasn't a priest. The Lord
Jesus Christ is prophet, priest, and king. A prophet to reveal
God unto us, a priest to represent us unto God, and what does a
king do? He reigns. He's king of kings
and lord of lords. Our confidence in our salvation
rests upon the Lord Jesus Christ and his interceding love for
us. Let me read this one to you.
Don't turn, let me just read it to you. You remember Psalm
45, one of my favorite Psalms. Psalm 45. Thy throne, O God,
thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy
kingdom is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness, hated
wickedness. Therefore, God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellow. The
Lord Jesus Christ is anointed. That's what the Christ of God
means. That means He's the anointed Messiah. The prophet, priest,
and king came to accomplish all our salvation. Verse 7. Some, some trust in chariots. trust in horses back in the early
days when they would fight battles, the army that had the horses
and the chariots, and they were the victors. That's what Pharaoh
thought, didn't he? When he gathered out all of his,
what was it, 600 chariots, something like that, and there was Israel
down there trapped by the Red Sea, and he said, I've got them
now. I've got the chariots, I've got the horses, I've got the
army. Israel had God. The man of war did fight for
them, didn't he? What a contrast here. Son put
great confidence in the flesh, only in perishing things. Pharaoh
put great confidence in his chariots, but the Lord destroyed all of
them, didn't he? He drowned them all in the Red
Sea. They sank like a stone, like a lead rock to the bottom. God said, stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. We studied that recently, didn't
we? Turn over here to Psalm 33. Psalm 33. Look at verse 16. Some trust
in chariots, some trust in horses. Psalm 33, 16. There is no king saved by a multitude
of hosts. A mighty man is not delivered
by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety. Neither shall he deliver any
by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is
upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy to
deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waited for the Lord.
He is our help and he is our shield. For our hearts shall
rejoice in him. because we've trusted in his
holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon
us according as we hope in thee." Some trust in chariots, some
trust in horses. Look back at Psalm 20, verse
7, but we will remember the name of our God. We remember his name,
his name. You remember they sang in Exodus
15, who is likened to thee among the gods, who is like thee, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. His name, call
his name Jesus, we remember his name. You have to know him to
remember him. Call his name Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sins. Call his name Emmanuel, God with
us. You remember Isaiah 9? His name
is Wonderful, Counselor, unto us a child is born, a son is
given, a government upon his shoulder. His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
and the Prince of Peace, and of his reign there shall be no
end. But we will remember the name
of our God. His great name, Jehovah Jireh,
Jehovah Sidkenu, Jehovah Shalom, all those seven different names
of Jehovah, we will remember the name of our great God. God
has highly exalted him. They're giving him a name above
every name, at that name every knee will bow, every tongue will
confess that he's Lord to the glory of God the Father. You
remember Peter and John, when they healed that cripple in the
temple, and the Pharisees got so upset, and they asked him
by what name and by whose power? Whose name? Whose power? Remember what they said? Be it
known unto you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and neither
is there salvation in any other name than the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what a contrast. Those who
trust in horses and chariots, those who trust in the energy
of the flesh, in the excitement of the flesh, they are brought
down, verse 8, you see that? They are brought down and falling. But we are risen and we stand
upright. Now, how are we risen? But God,
who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved
us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us together
with Christ, and raised us up, and made us sit together in the
heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ, that in the ages to come
He might show forth the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us. That's Ephesians chapter 2. You
see, we're risen up in Him. His people already exalted and
seated in the Lord Jesus Christ. What's true of Him is true of
the body. Where the head is, that's where the body is. They're brought down, but we
are risen. And we stand upright. We've been uprighted in Christ,
who is our righteousness. Now, verse 9. Save, Lord. I looked that word
up, save. It means to deliver, defend,
and rescue. Who else can? He's able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever
liveth to make intercession for us. Remember Peter, when the
Lord came to them, we studied that in Matthew 14. When the
Lord came to them walking on the water, they were out in the
boat, and they were affrighted and they didn't know what was
going on or what were they seeing. And the Lord said to Peter, Peter
said, Lord if it's thou bid me come. And the Lord said come.
And the scripture said that Peter walked on water. But when he
saw the boisterous wind he was afraid and beginning to sink
and he cried Three words. Lord, save me. And we can shorten that to just,
save Lord. The publican prayed seven words. God, be merciful to me, thee,
sinner. But here's a three-word prayer. Peter said, Lord, save me. And
here's a two-word prayer. Save Lord. Whoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Save the Lord. Let the King hear us when we
call. Let the King hear us when we
call. That goes back to verse one. It's an echo of verse one. The
Lord hear thee in a day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. Let the King hear us. when we
call, he will. He said, come unto me all you
labor heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Let us therefore come
boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, find
grace to help in our time of need.