Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Psalm 73 and the last verse,
verse 28. But it is good for me to draw
near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord
God that I may declare all thy works." Psalm 73 and verse 28
and specifically, upon my spirit is drawing near to God. The text begins with a but and
In that way there is a contrast with that which has gone before. We have those before spoken of
in verse 27 that are far off from the Lord. And it is said
that they shall perish. And thou hast destroyed all them
that go whoring from thee. What a contrast. Those far off
from God, and those who are drawing near to God. You know, there's
no middle, no middle road. And we may ask ourselves, are
we far off from God? Or are we drawing near to God? What is our state and our condition? And really, the whole of the
Gospel provision and plan is bound up here. You know, in this
psalm, we mentioned as an overview at the beginning of the reading
of it, how the psalmist Asaph so struggled when he saw in God's
providence how the wicked in this life were seemingly so prosperous
and getting on so well and even when they died there was no trouble
in their death. And yet God's people were afflicted,
they were troubled, they had troubles even in their death
and it really troubled him. He couldn't understand why it
was so until he went into the house of God. Then as it were
he saw the other side, the other side of the grave. What a lesson
it is that we are to not judge things by outward appearances
or by what is happening to people outwardly, but judge according
to the Word of God. Those that were wicked were not
living according to the Word of God. The Lord blessed them
in spite of that, but they had no need of Him. They lived for
time and time only. But when they died, the other
side of the grave, then they had to come, face to face. They had to draw near then. They
had to come to God, come to His judgment throne. They had to
give an account of their godless lives. They had to give an account
of how they'd abused every blessing He'd given them and never given
thanks, never sought Him, never acknowledged Him in many cases.
persecuted the people of God, derided and mocked the way of
salvation whenever they came to hear of it, looked upon it
as something that marred their enjoyments and had rather banished
the people of God from off the earth. Yet God's dear children,
who have found this world a waste-hailing wilderness, that it was not their
rest, it was polluted, and that God caused in all their afflictions
and trials to bring them to cry unto him and that they knew him
here below. Their end and their reward and
blessing in heaven was an eternal inheritance. I believe this is
a psalm that we should So often, bear in mind, and especially
when we start to reason and think of those things that are happening,
because the devil sometimes, he can say to God's children,
look, this is what you have testified is the truth. These are decisions
you've made in the church. These are things that you've
done. And so God has then brought all this affliction and troubles
and sorrows into your life, whisked it and turned it about. And yet
if we have walked according to the word of the Lord, It should
be our desire that, though he slay me, yet will I trust in
him, and that we will obey the Lord, even though that meant
sorrows and afflictions and trials. And we are not to be offended
at the Lord's dealings. We have an account in Deuteronomy
where the children of Israel were tested because of false
prophets, those that came amongst them that even prophesied and
said that this or that should come to pass. And yet if it came
to pass, the Lord said you are not to follow them because they
seek to turn you away from the Word of God. And the contrast
is a people that will cleave to the Word of God, or a people
that will be, as it were, dazzled by those that will speak of wonderful
revelations or happenings or things that have come to pass
and cause men to be in admiration and cause them to go away from
the Word of God. The Lord says of those, they
cause the people to err because of their dreams and we are then
to be guided and walk according to the Word of God, not according
to sight and reason, but by faith in the Word of God. Our text speaks of drawing near
to God. But what is our condition by
nature? Conditioned by nature, we're
all wicked. We're all far off from God. We've everyone gone our own way. This is our condition from nature. And it is the work of redemption,
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the emzers, God, and sinners
reconciled, is to bring together two opposites, two warring parties,
those that are strangers to be made a friend, those that are
far off to be brought nigh, those that were enemies to be made
dear brethren. It is the work of the gospel
that does that, it is the power of God And it is the provision
in Christ to draw men. Our Lord said, no man can come
unto me except the Father which sent me. Draw him, and I will
raise him up at the last day. But our text says, it is good
for me to draw near to God. We should always remember the
hidden things of God, reason why sinners are brought to Christ. It is because of the drawing
of God. It is hidden in God. But for
us, when we hear the word of God, when we read this, our text,
we are to understand it is good for me to draw near to God. We're not to say, well, I can't
draw near. God has got to draw me. It is
the encouragement of a poor soul that feels so unable to draw
near in the right sense. There is hope, there is hope
in the Lord to move our hearts and to draw us after him. But
we have to remember, you know, those, some that were healed,
that had a withered hand, We're told to hold forth that hand. And as they tried or went to
hold forth that withered hand, it was made whole. They didn't
say, well, it's a withered hand. There's no use even trying to
obey or to walk in that way. If they'd have done that, it
never would have been made whole. electric bikes that are in Holland. And, you know, you've got to
pedal to bring on the electric power to assist and help you.
If you were to say, well, I've got no power or no might, I can't
get up that hill, and you don't even start to pedal, you wouldn't
realize of that power. But as soon as you start to pedal,
then the electric comes in. It's like with all of our cars
really, with our power steering, if we hadn't got that assisted
power steering or assisted braking, we could not do it ourselves.
We remember the old cars without the assistive braking, how difficult
that was. Or when something gets malfunctioned
in our cars and we've had to actually steer without that assistance. There's no ability in us whatsoever. But when we venture, then we
immediately realise that, that help and that assistance. And
it is so to be in all the ways of the Lord. We are to be venturous
and obeyers of the word and yet looking to the Lord for help
in all that we do. Well, I want to look this morning
at three things. Firstly, the question, how do
we draw near? If the psalmist says it is good
for me to draw near to God, How are we to do that? How are we
to understand that? And then secondly, why it is
good. The Sama says it is good. Why is it good for us to draw
near to God? And then thirdly, the fruit of
trusting in God. In the latter part of our text,
I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all thy
works. There is a trust, a fruit in
our text, a fruit of trusting that I may declare. all thy works. But firstly, how do we draw near? Really, there is three main headings
that we could consider in this. And firstly, it is through Christ. There is no other way in that
a poor sinner draws near. When the law of God was set before
the children of Israel, as recorded in Exodus 20, we have the Ten
Commandments set forth. And then we have in Exodus 20
verse 18 to 21, the thunderings, the lightnings, and the fear
of the people. And the people saying to Moses,
speak thou with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with
us lest we die. It was a fearful sight and the
law of God and the holiness of God is a fearful sight. And yet Moses then said to them,
Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that his fear
may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And then we read
this, and the people stood afar off, they weren't near, they
weren't nigh, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was. Moses here is a beautiful type
of Christ. We have the people, the far off,
but Moses drawing nigh on their behalf as they desired. And you have the same repeated
when King Solomon dedicated the temple, the beautiful temple
in Jerusalem in 1 Kings 8, verse 12. There was the cloud then that
filled the house of God in verse 10. So that the priest could
not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of
the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. And Solomon seeks
to encourage them, to point them this is the same thing that happened
there in the wilderness, it was the sense of the Lord's presence. Then spake Solomon, the Lord
said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. You know many
a Lord's dear people have proved like David did in Psalm 23, when
he was in the valley of the shadow of death. that you would fear
no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Sometimes those darkest valleys
is when we realize the presence of the Lord and help of the Lord. We have in Jeremiah, again, another
word that speaks of this work of our Lord. how that he on behalf
of his people approaches. We read in Jeremiah 30 verse
21. And their nobles shall be of
themselves, their governor shall proceed from the midst of them,
and I'll cause him, he is the governor, to draw near, and he
shall approach unto me. For who is this that engaged
his heart to approach unto me, saith the Lord? And you shall
be my people, and I will be your God. And it is the Lord Jesus
Christ, in the first place, that engaged to be our advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, He appears in the
presence of God for us. He is that great antitype of
the great high priest who once a year, not without blood, went
into the holiest of all and made reconciliation for the people
and intercession for them. And there is no other way of
drawing near to God but through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is
why it is so important that in all that we do, it is for Christ's
sake, it is through Christ, we may mention of him in our prayers. The Lord said, if you ask anything
in my name, I will do it for you. And it is the revision of
the gospel that brings sinners once so far off nigh unto God
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He that gives us boldness
to come. And we might say, why? Why is it Christ? Because He
has paid the price. He has shed His blood by His
obedience. He has made his people to be
accepted in the Beloved. He has settled their debts. He
has endured the wrath of God. It is his sacrifice that is a
sweet-smelling savour unto God, and by which the people are accepted. It all centres in what the Lord
has done, taking away that wrath of God. It is because of that
that we may draw nigh. And we must always remember this. In ourselves, all of our sin,
our shame, the evil of our hearts, there is all a reason why the
Lord should destroy us or separate us and cut us off from Him. Sin
separates. It did in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden. When the Lord came
in to speak in the cool of the day, they couldn't stand before
him, they hid themselves. That is our state by nature.
But it is through Christ that we draw near. And we must always
remember this. This is the strength, this is
the help of sinners. If you're looking at self, what
you deserve, what you've done and what you've said and what
you've thought, then we can never stand before God. We can never
draw near. We would be consumed. But it
is as a sinner, and a sinner coming on mercy's ground, and
upon the ground of what Christ has done, that we are to draw
nigh. unto God. These Old Testament
saints, they look forward to Christ and the provisions of
the Gospel. You know how it should be so
much more clear for us. Paul says to the Ephesians, it
is by grace that you are saved, through faith and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God. ye that for some time far
off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. And we are to remember
that when sin is so strong, when we are feeling so guilty, so
condemned, so far off, it is through Christ that sinners,
not the righteous, sinners, are made nigh unto God. So that is the first thing to
consider. How do we draw near? It is by
Christ, through Christ. But how is it then in an outward
way? In an outward way, it is by prayer. Prayer is the way that is appointed
for men, for sinners, to approach unto God. It is coming to the
mercy seat, and we have in Hebrews, let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. The mercy seat was over top of
the ark in the Old Testament dispensation. And the Lord promised
to meet his people from over that. And our Lord exhorted that
men ought always to pray and not to faint. It is in prayer
that we draw near to God, we speak to God, and God speaks
to us. It is in that way that We have
that fellowship and communion, whether it be in the public prayer
in the house of God, whether it be in private, especially
in private in the closet. The Lord said that when thou
shalt thy door then call upon the Lord thy God, who seeth in
secret, he that seeth in secret will reward thee openly. that
man ought always to pray and not to faint. And that is the
way, that is one of the primary ways that we are to draw near. So in the words of our text,
it's good for me to draw near to God. Do we, in a very literal
sense, draw near in prayer? How much time do we spend in
prayer? How much time do we, are we near
God? And then there is the house of
God. We are in the house of God this
morning. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst. If we are to
do according to this text, will draw near in that way, gathering
with the people of God, gathering in the Lord's dear name. The
psalmist here went into the sanctuary of God. And so that is a second
way that we would draw near to God. We spoke of Solomon in the
dedication of the temple and the cloud that filled that, and
it is the place where the Lord has promised to meet with his
people. Then there are the other acts
of worship. We think of the seeing of his
worthy praise, in the declaration of the gospel, in the preaching,
in the reading of the word of God. We're coming to the inspired
word of God, listening to what God is speaking to us through
his word. And so there are those outward
ways that we are to draw near to God. When we think of the
contrast, This psalm is a psalm of contrast. That there are those
that never pray to God. There are those that never go
into the house of God. Might be for a funeral, for a
wedding, for a christening, or whatever it is. But, as for worship,
as with regular attendance upon the means of grace, gathering
on the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, they never do
that. They never draw near to God in
that way. They never read the Word of God.
They never hear it preached. They never, in these outward
ways, draw near to God. And then there are those that
you might say do, but very sparsely and intermittently. Hardly could
be said that they are taking any delight in drawing near to
God. And that comes very, very close
to us. But then we must look at it in
a third way. How do we draw near to God? because we can know the first
about Christ and we can actually go through the motions of prayer
and outward worship and yet never be drawing near to God. Our bodies
might be, our profession, our words might be, but there's more
to it than that, isn't there? Is that inward drawing near? With our hearts, our true being,
our real person, drawing near. So does our heart go with the
words that we say in prayer? Do we draw near in faith? He
that cometh to God must believe that he is. and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Do we come before him
sincerely? Or is it in a light, trifling,
frivolous spirit, so often evidenced by those who use words like,
well, there's someone looking down on us, or words that give
evidence of not having any realisation of the holiness and majesty and
greatness of God. Do we draw near reverently? God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints, to be had in reverence of all them
that are about him. Do we draw near in holy boldness
in Christ, really realizing the provisions of the gospel and
laying hold upon those precious promises and pleading them, I will not let thee go except thou
bless me. I can no denial takes as the
hymn writer when I plead for Jesus' sake. And so there are
these three aspects in drawing near. There's the great provision
in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's the outward, in the outward
acts of worship, of prayer, of gathering together, of reading,
and the acts of worship. And then there is the engagement
of the heart that makes it a real drawing near to God. We may ask ourselves then, do
we draw near to God? The psalmist here says, but it
is good for me to draw near to God. And so there's no doubt
that he decided to do it, he endeavoured to do it, he made
his business to do it. he went to pray, he went to the
house of God, he went to the word of God, he walked in this
way, and so drawing near to God. But then secondly, let us ask
this question and answer it, why is it good? The psalmist says, it is good
for me to draw near to God. One thing we'd say here, the
psalmist was speaking out of personal experience. Remember
how troubled he'd been, how tossed to and fro because of the prosperity
of the wicked, and so stumbled because of the afflictions of
God's people. And then we read in verse 17,
until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their
end. He could profess to having this
trouble, this difficulty, And it was when he drew near in going
into the house of God that then he understood their end. He can
say it was good. It is good for me to draw near. This made these contrary things
to be reconciled. This made it to be all right
again. Set things in the balances of
the sanctuary. And it's good for us as well
to have this personal experience of the goodness of drawing near
to God. And may it be a lot this morning
to cast our minds back to those times that have been so good,
so precious in the house of God, so good at the throne of grace,
in our homes, in our closets, and amongst the people of God. Those times when the word has
been our meat and drink, and we can say that it has been good. Why is it good? Our Lord said
when he was on earth, He will not come unto me, that ye might
have life. In ourselves we have no life,
we're destroyed. The Lord said of Israel, O Israel,
thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found. And all outside and away from Christ,
there is death, there is no life. But to draw near unto God To
draw near through Christ is the way of life. It is the way of
life. All other ways are ways of death. To not draw near is to perish. To not know that way of life
is to perish. That is why it is good. It is good as well. Because Christ
never turned any away that came for help. We think of the woman
with the issue of blood, and she pressed through the crowd. Yes, we will get those hindrances,
difficulties. And yet, you know, when she touched
the hem of his garment, she was made whole. She would say, it's
good. Good for me to draw near to God. She believed that the Lord was
God. I am my Father, O One. The virtues and blessings that
flowed forth from Christ, they healed her immediately. We think
of all that sued unto Him, came to Him, pleaded for His help. The woman, the Syrophoenician
woman, because of her afflicted daughter, Lord, help me. He put her off for a while, tried
her faith, may be with you as well. The Lord's trying your
faith at this time, as if he doesn't hear. The disciples as
well, they were a trouble to her. They said to the Lord, send
her away, she crieth after us. They couldn't help her. But as
she kept coming, and kept pleading every promise that she could. Then the Lord commended her faith
and gave her that healing for her daughter. She could say it
was good, good for me to draw near to God. David says, my help
cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. And that help
is from him coming unto Him, drawing near unto Him. We may have heard the report
afar off of what Christ is and the benefits and blessings of
drawing near in the way that we've described. It might be
like Queen of Sheba heard of all the glory of King Solomon,
but it wasn't until she came near, draw near, that then she
said that the half had not been told to her. It was by drawing
near that she saw that. It was like when Philip said
to Nathaniel under the fig tree, we have found him of whom Moses
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth. And he says, can
any good thing come out of Nazareth? So Philip says, come and see.
And there is Nathanael coming, and he's drawing near, and as
Christ sees him coming, he says, an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile. And Nathanael is amazed that
he knew him. Before that Philip called thee,
when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. And by that
Nathanael knew that this was the Christ. that he should see
Him before Nathanael saw Christ. And the Lord knows us before
we know Him, and it is He that draws first and causes us to
draw near unto God. It is good for me to draw near
to God, because if the Lord has put in our hearts that desire
and that longing and that inclination to draw near, then it is good
to do what the Lord has inclined our heart to do and bid us to
do. Never resist, never the resist
the drawings of the Spirit, the inclination of the heart, because
our heart by nature are not inclined. to go unto the Lord. How many
times when I've had over the years that still small voice,
go and pray, and when I've been able to do so, I've been able
to drop what I've been doing and immediately pray, never think,
well, just wait until I finish this job and then I'll pray. No, go instant, in season, out
of season, And I prove those times so very precious. The Lord draws us and inclines
our heart to pray wherever it is, in the home or about, or
maybe one evening we feel, well, there's a service at such and
place, or I do so long to desire to go, will you go? And then
it is good to draw near to God because where the Lord has given
us that drawing. In a tender conscience, we're
doing what he has drawn us to do. The children of Israel were
so often reproved for being hard-hearted, rebellious, and would not walk
in the Lord's ways. Well, it is a blessed thing where
we prove the benefits and the light of understanding and the
blessing of strength in the means of the grace of God. Strengthened
in our souls, fed with the bread of heaven, our knowledge increased
in the things of God, the flesh mortified and put down, and our
trust in the Lord so strengthened. It is good for me to draw near
to God. May we prove that goodness in
this day of grace and so encourage us to draw near to God in these
ways. Well, I want to look lastly,
the fruit of trusting in God. Our text says, I have put my
trust in the Lord God that I may declare all thy works. And I,
in a way, want to just be brief on this. But it is those that
trust in the Lord that are then able to declare the works of
the Lord. You think of Joseph in all the
trials and great troubles that he went through in his life.
Later on he was able to say to his brethren, it was not ye that
sent me hither but God. And he was able to declare to
them, and to us through the holy inspired word of God, the works
of God. And we read in Psalm 105, until
his time came, the word of the Lord tried him, but he trusted
in the Lord. And because he trusted in the
Lord, he then was able later on, in the Lord's time away,
that maybe for you, not a time to declare now, but wait until
the afterward, nevertheless afterward, and then you may declare the
works of the Lord. Just remember that the text,
it puts the trust first, if you and I, are to declare the works
of the Lord, it begins first with trusting Him in darkness,
in that which is so uncertain. You think of the three Hebrew
children that Nebuchadnezzar said if they did not bow down
to the idol that he'd made, the image that he'd made, they'd
be cast into the burning fiery furnace. And they said that we
are not careful to answer thee in this matter. We will not bow
down. If the Lord had pleased the Lord,
then he will deliver us out of thine hand. But the Lord would
deliver it out of his hand, because even if it was through death,
they'd be free of him. But they wanted to make it known
they would not bow down. to that idol. Well, as they trusted
in Him, they were thrown into the fire. Those that threw them
in were slain. They were preserved. The Lord
was with them in the fire. They were brought out. Nebuchadnezzar's
word was that there is none other God. The Lord has sent His angel
and saved His servants that trusted in Him. and what the works of
the Lord that are able to be declared, and the same as it
was with Daniel, that trusted in the Lord, so he continued
to pray, even though it had been made a law in that land, that
if you prayed to anyone else but the King, in 30 days you'd
be slain. But Daniel continued to pray,
continued, continued to draw near to God. And the Lord delivered
him from the lions, brought him up, saved him, destroyed his
enemies, and these works are declared. You think of David
when he goes out against Goliath. He already has trusted in the
Lord. The Lord has already delivered
him from the poor of the lion, the poor of the bear, and now
he delivers him from Goliath. and you see all of the accounts
through the Word of God. That which is spoken of and declared
of the works of the Lord begins first with His dear people walking
by faith in darkness, you might say uncertainty, not knowing
how the case will stand. And yet they trust His Word,
they trust the Lord, and at the end of the matter They declare
what God has done for their souls and how he's appeared for them
and how he's helped them. This word is such an encouragement. Encouragement to draw near in
the ways we've said. An encouragement to trust and
to think, well, there shall come a time we will declare not what
we've done, but what the Lord has done. And I believe there's
many of us we can look back And we can see there are things that
we can declare the Lord's works. Things that we have, by His grace,
trusted in the Lord and put our trust in Him. And it is only
in that way that you and I will declare not just some, but all
the works of the Lord. And that will not just be what
He's done for us in Providence. We'll trace it right back. We'll
trace it back to Christ on Calvary, what He's done for us there.
We'll trace it back to that everlasting love of God for our souls. All the works of the Lord, what
are bound up with our soul's salvation and our deliverance. So may we read this word, may
we walk it out with understanding, and may we be found in it and
not along with the ungodly that are far from the Lord, that do
not draw nigh at all, that have nothing to declare of the works
of the Lord's. But may we say with the psalmist
here, but it is good for me to draw near to God I have put my
trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works. The Lord at his blessing. Amen.