This evening we want to take
a look at Psalm 17. And it's quite amazing as you
take a portion of scripture and study it and read it and reread
it and study it and look at it, how it just comes alive. It just becomes rich and real,
rich and real to your heart. I got thinking about this psalm
when we brought our message Sunday from Revelation 22 about seeing
the Lord face to face. It reminded me of this Psalm
verse 15. As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness or behold thy face in Christ our righteousness
and I shall be satisfied. I shall be satisfied when I awake
Awake from the grave, awake in regenerating grace, and awake
in the resurrection morning in your likeness, in the likeness
of our blessed Savior. Now we are, by God's grace, satisfied,
satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ in everything he is and everything
he has done. We're satisfied. But you know more importantly
than that? You know what's more important
than that? God is satisfied. God is satisfied
with all that Christ has done for us. It says that in Isaiah
53. Or it says, it pleased the Lord
to bruise him in our room and in our stead. He shall see the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. Satisfied. We are satisfied with the Lord.
But more importantly, God Almighty is satisfied with what he has
accomplished for us. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. As for me, how about you? I'm satisfied. Satisfied with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, think about this. What a glorious future every
believer does have right now. Right now, and to be with the
Lord forever, to be like him, to behold his face in perfection,
in righteousness, to worship him without distraction, without
interruption, to love Him fully, to be completely removed from
the power, penalty, and presence of sin. And we've never worshiped
the Lord without being distracted by this sinful flesh, have we? To worship Him and to sing forever
the song of the redeemed unto Him who loved us and washed us
from our sin in His own blood. Remember from last week, In Psalm
16 verse 11, thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence
is fullness of joy, fullness of life, fullness of salvation.
At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Satisfied forevermore
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's go back to verse 1. Hear the right, or hear the just
one, O Lord, and attend to my cry, attend to my prayer, give
ear to my prayer that goeth forth not out of lips of hypocrisy,
not out of faint lips, but out of sincerity of heart. Look at
verse six. I've called upon thee, for thou
wilt hear me, O God, incline thine ear unto me, and hear my
speech. Now, notice the marginal reference
on the word where it says, hear the right justice. Hear justice. Now, here's David's
prayer and every believer's prayer. Attend and give ear, O Lord,
unto our prayer. Now, I don't know if we could
say it this way, but one of the most important parts of prayer is to be heard. to be heard,
to be heard by Almighty God. And it's a threefold cry of faith,
for it's a sincere cry of the heart to hear the right, or to
hear justice, to hear the just one, the righteous one. Hear
my advocate, my redeemer, let his wounds plead for me. Hear
the rights of the Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute for
our sin. Hear him. He's the one that is
our intercessor. He's the one who makes mediation
for us. He is our kinsman redeemer, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who has the right to redeem. You remember
Boaz and Ruth, that story. The Lord Jesus Christ, he is
the right one. We pray unto the Lord in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask to be heard because of
him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
kinsman-redeemer who has the right to redeem like Boaz, who
is able to redeem, and who is willing to redeem. That's our
Lord Jesus Christ. He is our kinsman-redeemer. David
prayed, you remember, in Psalm 143, in thy faithfulness and
in thy righteousness, answer me. Answer me, O Lord. Hear the right, or hear the just
one. And that's referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
could say it this way, Lord, hear us in Christ. Through our
mediator, bless us. That's the only way we can approach
God, is through the just one, through the holy one, through
our advocate, through our mediator. And then he says, verse 2, let my sentence come forth from
thy presence. Now, who would you want to sentence
you? We have the judges among men,
don't we? Men in black robes that sit on
the courts of men, and they pass out. What do they pass out? They're
going to sentence you. The criminal is going to get
his sentence today. Let my sentence come forth from
thy presence. You see what he's saying there?
Or in other words, let thy salvation come from the throne of God.
Let my sentence come forth from thy presence, from the throne
of God. You know, his throne is called
a throne of mercy. That's why he says, come boldly
to the throne of mercy. Let that eyes behold the things
that are equal, just, and right. In other words, he's saying,
Lord, save me in a just, holy way. Save me in such a way as
you can be just and the justifier of the ungodly. Let my sentence
or my verdict or my salvation come from his presence. Let my life be in thy hands.
Lord, judge me and bless me in Christ. That's where I want to
be blessed. That's where I want to be judged. Let my sentence come from the
presence of thy throne. Let thine eyes behold. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere.
He knows everything through and through. His eyes behold the
things that are just and right. He's gonna justify every one
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ in a right and just way. Now
look, verse three. Here's our confession. Verse
three, thou hast proved my heart. The Lord doesn't look on the
outward countenance, the Lord looks upon the heart. Salvation
is a heart work. Thou hast proved my heart. Thou
hast given me a new heart. Thou hast visited me in the night. Thou hast tried me and shalt
find nothing but faith in Christ. I am purposed that my mouth shall
not transgress against thee. Thou hast proved, Thou hast proved
my heart. Now I've got written down here,
Psalm 26, turn over there. Psalm 26, Thou hast proved my
heart. He's saying here, as David says
in Psalm 26, Judge me, O Lord, verse 1, for I have walked in
my integrity, I have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I
shall not slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove
me. Try my heart, my reins, my bowels,
my heart, for Thy lovingkindness is before my eyes, and I have
walked in Thy truth. Thou hast proved me and found
me to be faithful to the Lord. He visited me. He has visited
His people in grace and mercy. He has tried us. In Christ, and
in Christ there's no condemnation to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's found nothing, nothing in
us to condemn. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. I am
purposed, I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Thou has visited me in the depths
of my sin and have justified me in Christ. Thou has tried
me and shall find nothing to condemn me as we are blessed
in the Lord Jesus Christ. No condemnation to those who
are in him. Our sin and our iniquity has
been forever put away. I love this scripture in Jeremiah
50 verse 20. You remember Jeremiah 50 verse
20? Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. In those days, say it to the Lord, The iniquity
of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. The
sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon
them whom I reserve." Remember, in Hebrews chapter 10 he said
their sin and their iniquity, well I remember no more at all. And my purpose now is to honor
the Lord. My mouth shall confess what's
in my heart. I purposed in my heart and my mouth shall confess
that Christ is all my salvation." To do contrary would be to transgress,
wouldn't it? I purposed to honor God in my
heart. As Paul said so many times, God
forbid us a glory saved in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 4. Concerning
the works of men, or concerning the works of the flesh, the sinful
flesh, ours or others, concerning the works of the flesh, by thy
word, the word of thy lips, I have kept, or thou hast kept me from
the paths of the destroyer. Concerning the works of men,
the works of men are judged by what? By the word of the Lord.
Concerning the works and the doing of men, and nothing but
sin, nothing but flesh, man at his best state is altogether
vanity. All of our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. But the word of the Lord has
kept me, restrained me from going the way that seems right unto
the flesh, the way of the destroyer and the violent man. He has taught
us by, notice, by the word of thy lips. That's what we need
to hear. Turn over here to Psalm 119.
Psalm 119. Look at verse 9. Almost every
verse in Psalm 119 is about the word and testimonies
of the Lord. Psalm 119 verse 9, Wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his ways by taking heed thereto according
to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought
thee, O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have
I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Blessed
art thou, O Lord, and teach me with thy statutes, with my lips
have I declared the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced
in the way of thy testimonies as much as all riches. I will
meditate in thy presence and have respect unto thy ways. I
will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word."
Almost every verse has a reference to the word of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Concerning the works of the flesh,
the sinful flesh, what does the word say about that? All flesh
is grass. By the word of my lips, you've
kept me from the destroyer. He's taught us by his word. He's
kept us by his word. Now look at verse 5. Hold up
my goings in thy path that my footsteps don't slip, don't slide,
don't slide. Hold my steps in thy paths. that my footsteps be not moved."
Turn over here to Psalm 37. Psalm 37, we've seen this before.
Psalm 37 verse 23, the steps of a good man are ordered of
the Lord. Though we fall, he shall not
be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him. I've been
young, now I'm old. Yet I've not seen the righteous
forsaken nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful and
lendeth. His seed is blessed. Now, the Lord does hold us by
his word, by his power, by his truth. Hold up my goings in your
path, or your way, the way of the Lord, that my footsteps do
not slide. Now, he talks about the ungodly. The ungodly are not so. The ungodly
are not so. Let me read this one to you.
Psalm 35 verse 6 says this. Let their way be dark and slippery,
and let the angel of the Lord persecute them." And then in
another Psalm, 73, when David said, when he saw their end,
he said, Surely thou didst set them," talking about the wicked,
"...he did set them in slippery places, thou castest them down
into destruction." So ungodly the Lord puts in slippery places. You remember in the book of Deuteronomy
where it said, "...their foot shall slide in due time." But
He holds us. He holds us. in his pathways,
in the way of salvation in Christ, and he gives us a solid rock.
That's why we don't slide and slip. We're fastened to the Lord
Jesus Christ, that solid rock. On Christ's solid rock I stand. All of the ground is sinking
sand. I have, verse six, called upon
thee. Now, you think about that. To call upon the name of the
Lord in prayer and ask to be heard of the Lord, Lord hear
my prayer for Christ's sake. I have called upon thee because
you'll hear. Oh God, incline thy ear unto
me and hear my speech. Now, what a privilege God has
given to us to pray unto the Lord. I shall call and he will
hear. Because he's a living God, he
can hear. Because he's the almighty God,
he will answer in his own due time. According to his own will. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall save. In due time, he'll hear our call
and he will answer. He won't answer. We're taught
to pray, Lord, not what? Not my will. Thy will be done. And then we're told to wait upon
the Lord. And again, I say, wait upon the Lord. Now look at verse
seven and eight. Show me thy marvelous, loving
kindness. Isn't that precious? Loving kindness. You know that word is used in
the book of Psalms over and over. Turn over here to, you remember
Psalm 51? You know that word loving kindness is used 23 times
in the book of Psalms. Loving kindness. But I often
think about this scripture here in regard to loving kindness.
You remember Psalm 51 verse 1? Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgression. Wash me throughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me. According to your lovingkindness,
Lord. That's what we appeal to. But
he adds an extra word here in verse 7. Marvelous lovingkindness. I think of another psalm, I think
it's Psalm 118. Marvelous in the sight of the
Lord is all his doings. It's a marvelous thing. His marvelous,
loving, kind, that God Almighty, think about this, that God Almighty
would assume our humanity, born of a woman, born under the law,
live a life of faithful obedience unto the law for us as our surety,
as our substitute, and then upon Calvary's tree, take all of our
sin to himself, our guilt, take the judgment and wrath of God,
do our sin, and suffer in our sin. Now, if that's not marvelous,
I don't know what is. And give us salvation, he takes
all of our sin and he gives us his righteousness. That's a marvelous
deal. That's his marvelous, loving
kindness. And then he adds this, verse
7, you saved by your right hand. Now who's at the right hand of
God? When he by himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right
hand of God. He saves us with his marvelous,
loving kindness through the Lord Jesus Christ. Show me thy loving
kindness, O thou that savest. He's the only one that can save.
Salvation's of the Lord. By your right hand. And those
who are saved by his right hand, they put their trust in thee. It doesn't matter who rises up
against us. We trust him. Trust in the Lord
at all times. You people pour out your heart
before him. He is our salvation. Now here's the good news of the
gospel. He says, show me or reveal Christ to me. And then he says,
save me. And then verse eight, he said,
keep me. You see verse eight? Keep me
and then hide me. Now, those are four precious
truths, are they not? That's more of that marvelous
loving kindness. It's the Lord's doing, and it's
marvelous in our eyes. Show me or reveal unto me your
mercy in Christ Jesus, because of the Lord's mercies that were
not consumed. Save me by thy right hand through
the arm and power of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then keep me
as the apple of the eye. Now, if you look that word apple
up, it has to do with your pupil. your pupil in your eye. And then he said, hide me, hide
me. Now, someone gave this homely
illustration some years ago, and I think it's quite good,
when he talks about the pupil of the eye. Have you ever considered
how God, in his marvelous creation, how he has set our eye in such
a way in our body that it's protected? It's really protected. If you
think about what the eye has and how the Lord has set the
eye in our body. Think about this. This eye is
surrounded and protected by what? All this bone. All this bone. Surrounded by the bone. And the
Lord has surrounded us with the strength of His grace. And the
eye has a fountain of tears. Those tears. tear ducts, I guess they're called,
and how the eye waters. If you get something in your
eye, what happens? Immediately, it just starts wringing
out water, washing out that eye. You see how the Lord has made
us so marvelously, wonderfully? The eye has a fountain of tears
to cleanse it, and that is a picture of Christ cleansing us by his
precious blood. Then the eye has an eyelid. It's kind of a door to the eye.
You don't even think about this consciously, but if something
heads towards your eye, I mean, you close, your eyelid closes. Why? To protect that. And God
has kept us as the pupil of his eye. He's our protector. He's
our protector. The eye has eyelids like a door
or a curtain to close and protect it. And the eye has eyelashes. to keep the dust away. Blink
your eye, blink that dust away. And then the eye has the shade
of the eyebrow, an eyebrow, to keep the bright sunlight from
burning and the sweat from running in. You see how he keeps us,
and you can use that anatomy of the eye and use that, and
it's a good scriptural illustration how God at David says, so wonderfully
and fearfully I'm made. You ever think about how God
has protected the eye? It's amazing, isn't it? He has
kept us as a pupil of his eye by his grace. And then he says,
hide me. Hide me. Hide me. Show me, save
me, keep me, and then hide me. What did we sing a moment ago?
Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till the storm of life is past. The
Lord Jesus Christ is our hiding place. He's our refuge in the
storm, isn't he? We hide in him. He's our sure
hiding place. And then he says, hide me. He takes us down on the farm
here. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings. illustration of a mother hen
with her baby chicks. And when the storm comes up,
those baby chicks, where do they run? They don't run away from
mama. They run right to mama. And she puts out those wings
and she gathers those little baby chicks in and protects them. That's what the Lord does for
us. You remember, he used that illustration in Matthew 23. Oh,
he said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets
and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I
have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens
under her wing? And then he said, you would not.
I'm not the problem, you're the problem. I would, but you would
not. You would not. Now, verse 9 down
to verse 14. or lifted enemies that come against
us, that would consume us, apart from His grace, apart from His
intercession, from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly
enemies who can pass me about, that come against my soul, even
our own sin within us. That's the deadly enemy, isn't
it? There's a warfare that goes on within us, the flesh against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And then he talks
about in verse 10, they are enclosed in their own fat, their own righteousness. With their mouth they speak proud,
proud of godly things. Who is the Lord that we should
obey Him? Verse 11, they compass us in
our steps. They have set their eyes bowing
down to the earth. You ever been out in a cow pasture
and there's a bunch of cows out there, but also there's a bull
out there in that field? You often hear that statement,
take the bull by the horns. That's not a good thing to do.
You get out there in that field and that bull down there, he
starts, he He starts bowing his eyes to the ground. And why is
he doing that? He's got horns out there. And
he's fixing to give you some trouble. And that's what the
wicked do. They bow their eyes or bowing
down to the ground ready to attack. And then verse 12, he talks about
the lion. Satan is called a roaring lion
going about seeking whom he may devour, like a lion that's greedy
of his prayer, as a young lion lurking in secret places. Verse
13, Arise, O Lord. Now here's our help. Arise, O Lord. I can't defeat
the devil. I'm no match for him, but the
Lord can handle him. Arise, O Lord, and disappoint
him. cast him down, and deliver my
soul from the wicked by thy sword." The sword of the Lord. Oh, the
sword of the Lord. The Word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Verse 14, "...by thy sword
from men with the sword that's in your
hand, O Lord, from men of the world which have their portion."
All they have is this life. They don't have any portion in
Christ. All they have is what this life
is. Flesh, sin, whose belly is their
God. They are full of children. They
leave the rest of their substance to their babes. When God meets our foes face-to-face in a battle, in a conflict, we
know who's going to win. We've seen that in the Revelation,
haven't we? He delivered our soul, the enemy has been disappointed,
and he delivered us by the sword of his word. You remember Revelation
19, out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword. that it should smite the
nations, he shall rule them with a rod of iron, he shall treadeth
them the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God,
and then the sword is in his hand. You see that? Now, again,
an earthly illustration, if you could have the sharpest, the
finest, the strongest sword, and laying in the dust, laying
on the ground, that sword is not going to defend anyone. But
if a skillful soldier picks up that sword and puts it in his
hand to wield it with skill and precision and strength, oh, now
he's talking about something different now. The sword of the
Lord is in his hand. His word goes forth with power
because it's in the hand of Almighty God. Now, who can stand against
the sword of the word of the Lord? No one can. His sword, His hand, none can
stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou, O Lord, from
men of the world? All they have in this life is
their portion. And what they have, God gave
it to them. And whose belly thou? God's given them whatever they
have. God's given it to them. have children, but they leave
everything in this life. They don't take anything with
them. Not at all. Their portion in this life is
their belly, their treasure, their children, their substance. The believer's portion, remember
from last week, turn back to Psalm 16, look at verse 5. The believer's portion, Psalm
16 verse 5, the Lord is a portion of my inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The
lines are falling out unto me in pleasant places. I have a
goodly, goodly heritage. The Lord is our portion. He's
our portion now. He's our inheritance now and
forever and ever and ever. As for me, verse 15, as for me. Not every man can say this. Not
every person can say this. But every believer can say, as
for me, as Joshua said, as for me and my house, we're going
to serve the Lord. As for me, I will by His grace
behold, behold the face of the Lord Jesus Christ forever. The
glory of God shines in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will
behold Him face to face and see Him as He is and be like Him.
And I shall be satisfied. I'll be satisfied and we are
now. But when we awake with His likeness,
That will be glory for me. Glory for me. We shall have a
new resurrected body. Our bodies will sleep in the
dust for a while, but when the Lord Jesus Christ returns, we'll
be raised up with a new body, likened to His glorious body.
to enjoy Him forever and ever and ever. The Lord Himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel,
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall
we ever be with the Lord." Well, that's satisfaction, isn't it? Satisfied with the Lord. Satisfied
with the Lord now and forever. Forever and ever. You know, every
Old Testament believer had the same hope that we have. Abraham,
he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. Our Lord said,
had you believed Moses, you would have believed me. Moses wrote
about me. He said, if Abraham, Abraham
rejoiced to see my day, he saw it and was glad. But Job wrote
this. Job says the same thing that
David says here. In Job 19, for I know my Redeemer
liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worm destroy this body, yet in my
flesh I shall see God. Job was saying, I'm satisfied. As for me, I'll behold His face
in righteousness, and I shall be satisfied, satisfied forever.
God is well-pleased and well-satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ. The
Lord has provided all things for us. My God shall supply all
your need according to His riches in the Lord Jesus Christ being
accepted in the Beloved. Isn't that a good verse? As for me, you just take that
verse and stick it somewhere in the back of your mind and
just let it ring and ring and ring and ring in your mind. I
will behold thy face in perfect righteousness. Righteousness
has been imputed freely by his grace. We have satisfaction of
God's law and justice and he's going to raise us up and make
us just like himself forever and ever and ever.