Good evening. We're going to
open tonight's service with hymn number 21 from your Spiral Gospel
Hymns hymn book. For those watching online, if
you have Fortner's Songs of Grace hymn book, it's number 47. But
for us, number 21. Number 21. Let's all stand. God the Father and the Son and
the Spirit, three in one, in eternal ages past, made a covenant
sure and fast. God my father chose his own in
the person of his son and ordained that I should be one with him
eternally. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law
and retrieve me from the fall. Christ in love so willingly stood
as my great surety. For my price he offered blood
to appease the wrath of God. God the Spirit, heavenly dove,
promised to come down in love, bringing life and peace and grace
to the chosen, purchased race. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame, and He brings us to the Lamb. By His mighty sovereign
call, God's elect are gathered all. This poor sinner is secure,
for God's covenant will endure. It is sealed by God's own word. ? By his spirit and his blood
? ? Blessed holy covenant God ? ? I am yours by ties of blood
? ? Ties of grace and ties of love ? ? Hold me to my God above
? Please be seated. We open your Bibles with me to
Psalm 5. Psalm 5. I'm gonna try to make the Psalm we
look at next Wednesday night our call to worship as often
as we can. So to familiarize you with the
Psalm ahead of time, tonight we're going to be looking at
Psalm 4. And Psalm 5 is a, is a beautiful
call from our Lord to come into his presence. Give ear to my
words, O Lord, consider my meditations. Harken unto the voice of my cry,
my King and my God, for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt
thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning will I direct
my prayer unto thee and will look up. for thou art not a God
that hath pleasure in wickedness. Neither shall evil dwell with
thee. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak lies. The Lord will abhor the bloody
and the deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into
thy house in the multitude of thy mercy. And in thy fear, while
I worship thee, thy holy temple, toward thy holy temple. Lead
me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of my enemies. Make thy
way straight before my face, for there is no faithfulness
in their mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness.
Their throat is an open sepulcher. They flatter with their tongue.
Destroy thou them, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels.
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for
they have rebelled against Thee. But let all those that put their
trust in Thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy because
Thou defendest them. Let them also that love Thy name
be joyful in Thee. For Thou, Lord, will bless the
righteous with favor, but Thou can pass him as with a shield. What a promise. Pray the Lord
to answer that prayer for us tonight. I want us to continue
to pray for for Mary's mother, Carol. She's on a very, very
slow downward spiral. And she's still still with us. And tomorrow will be Jennifer's
first procedure up in Jacksonville at Mayo Clinic. So I wish to
pray for her. And Reynaldo's sister Solange,
Solange and Mike have been here several times over the years.
Solange is very, very sick. I think the cancer is in her
bones now, is that right? And she went in the hospital
today distressed. And you pray for the Pena family
and for Solange and Mike. All right, let's pray together. Our merciful heavenly father,
how grateful we are to be able to come into thy presence with
boldness, knowing that we approach a throne of grace a place where
we have full acceptance, a place where you hear the cries of your
children and where you're pleased to bless them with your mercy
and with your grace. We thank you that the Lord Jesus
Christ, our savior, our substitute, Lord, that he
has made the way He is the forerunner and the anchor of our soul, and
we pray, Lord, that for his namesake, you'd be pleased to hear our
prayers and bless us with your presence and with your spirit.
We pray for Carol. We ask, Lord, for you to be merciful
to her. We pray for Mary and ask that
you'd give her strength and wisdom and comfort as she waits on you. We know that it is appointed
unto man once to die and that that time has been ordained of
you, Lord, that you do all things right and well. We pray for faith
to trust you in this time of great need. We ask, Lord, that
you would give the physicians that minister to Jennifer tomorrow
an extraordinary amount of skill to be able to map her tumors and to know exactly where
to put the treatments. Lord, we pray for Jennifer that
you would give her comfort and rest in Christ. Lord, we know
that all healing comes from your hand and we pray for your mercy
on our family to provide healing for Jennifer. And we pray for Solange, and
Lord, ask that you would bring to her heart and mind the things
that she's heard over the years and give her hope in Christ.
Pray for Mike as he waits on you, Lord, that you would cause
him in this time to find his strength and his hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for Ronaldo and the rest
of the family and ask Lord to give them comfort and wisdom
as they wait to see your hand at work in mercy and in grace. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We'll sing hymn number 352 from the great hymns of the faith,
Hardback Tymnal. Number 352. Jesus, lover of my
soul. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still ? Hide me, O my Savior, hide ?
? Till the storm of life is past ? ? Safe into the haven guide
? ? O receive my soul at last ? Other refuge have I none, hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Levi, leave me not alone, still
support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed. All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with Thee is
found, Grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams
abound, Make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain
art, freely let me take of thee. Spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. Please be seated. Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Joy.
I failed to mention, most of you know Solange and Mike live
in Dominican Republic. They're in San Domingo. So remember
to pray for them and for Rinaldo and Alex and the rest of the
Pena family. And Armida doesn't know anything
about Solange's situation. All right, you want to open your
Bibles with me to Psalm 4, Psalm 4. I've titled this message,
Safety for the Distressed. If a ship or a plane send out
a distress call, it means that they are in immediate danger
of sinking or crashing. Safety on those, for those on
board is immediate peril. They, if someone doesn't come
rescue them, all will perish. This psalm begins with a call
of distress and it ends with safety. So this is a call, a
distress call. For those who need God's grace,
those who are in need of mercy, those who are in need of forgiveness,
those who are in need of Christ, this is a call of distress. And
according to the promise of God's word, it ends in deliverance,
it ends in safety. Those who send out the distress
call in the examples I gave may be rescued and they may not.
But those who send out this distress call will all be saved. They will all be saved. Even
as the Lord Jesus Christ was saved in the call that he sent
out in his distress. And that's how this psalm begins.
Notice in verse one, hear me when I call, oh God of my righteousness. That's the God that we call to.
The God who is all our righteousness. Lord, I don't have, I don't have
any reason for you to come rescue me. I don't have anything to
present to you that would, uh, that would force your hand in
any way. You are the God of my righteousness. And if I'm going
to be delivered from my distress, it's going to be because of your
righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. Now Hebrews chapter five, verse
seven says, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears
unto him that was able to say from death and he was heard because
he feared. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is him praying to the Father in his distress, asking the Lord
to deliver him. And though he were a son, Hebrews
chapter 5 verse 8 says, though he were a son yet learned he
obedience by the things that he suffered. So the distress
that the Lord Jesus Christ felt when he bore our sins in his
body upon that tree, That distress was separation from the Father.
It was being forsaken of the Father. My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? What distress. There's no distress
like that than to be found a sinner in the presence of a holy God
and to be found under the judgment and wrath of God for that sin. And yet, though he was in great
distress, Though the father had forsaken him, he believed that
God was going to be faithful to his covenant promises. And
he believed that in the end that the Lord would deliver him and
rescue him and that he would be safe. And that's the same faith the
Lord gives us, isn't it? We come before God as a sinner
in distress as a result of our sin, knowing that if God doesn't
have mercy upon us, If the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't present
himself before the Father for all our righteousness, that we
will perish. We will perish. This is worse
than any plane crash. This is worse than any sinking
ship. This has to do with the eternal
destiny of our immortal soul. And we've got a sin problem that's
got to be taken care of. And that's the reason the Lord
Jesus Christ went to the cross. And that's what this first verse
is really all about. It's all about Him interceding
on our behalf and praying for His church. Now notice in verse
2, O ye sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? Natural man turns the glory of
God into shame. Isaiah 58, The glory of the Lord, we saw
that Sunday, didn't we? The glory of the Lord shall be
our reward. What happened? That cloud came
down from heaven. When the children of Israel were
pressed between the Egyptians and the Red Sea, and God came
and separated between them, that cloud was Christ. That's the
same cloud that protected them all the way through the wilderness
for the next 40 years. And what happened? The Egyptians
were not able to see the Israelites. Why? Because the glory of the
Lord had descended. And the same thing's true now.
The law cannot see us. It sees the glory of God. And
yet what does the natural man say? What's he say? Oh no. No, God's still looking
at the law. God's still looking at us to
keep the law. And they turn the glory of God,
which is the fulfillment of the law in Christ, they turn it into
shame. They make the law something that
man's able to satisfy. They turn his sovereign electing
grace into something that's controlled by men. They turn his effectual,
irresistible call into something that is dependent upon man's
will. O man, sons of men, how long
will you turn the glory of God into shame? They turn his sanctifying
grace into a holiness that can be achieved
by man's works. How long, O man, will you turn
my grace my glory into shame. The self-righteous Pharisees,
what do they say? Don't come near unto me, I'm
holier than thou. I've kept the law. I'm doing
my part to satisfy the demands of the law. They turn the glory
of God is seen in the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. He's
the only one that ever satisfied the demands of God's law. And
he's that and yet the sons of men, what do they, they turn
his glory into shame. They turn his successful atonement
into a mere offer of salvation to be accomplished by something
that man does. They turn the glorious revelation
of Christ into his, in his word into rules and regulations and
then they pretend to keep them. They turn his word into nothing
more than doctrinal presuppositions and pretend to understand them.
They ignore, they ignore the revelation of Christ in his word. They turn the work of God's perfect
providence into nothing more than chance or luck. Oh, sons
of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame. They turn our Lord's perfect
work in creation into something that's performed by Mother Earth
or by evolution or by man's influences. The bottom line is that the natural
man hates God. He will not give him glory for
anything. The sons of men turn the glory
of God into shame. Notice what else he says in this
passage. Verse two, how long will you
love vanity? Vanity is that which is empty.
And the scripture says that man at his very best state is altogether
vanity. How long will you love yourself?
How long will you trust in the works of man? His will is empty
of any power to choose God and yet he glories in his free will. He loves vanity. He loves emptiness. His words are empty of any, his
works are empty of any righteousness yet he loves his works and glories
in them. His knowledge is empty of any
understanding and yet he thinks he's got it all figured out.
He loves vanity. The pleasures he derives from
sin are empty of satisfying him, yet like a moth to the flame,
he's drawn to them. His religion is empty of any
ability to save, yet he loves it so much he'll die for it. How long, you sons of men, Will
you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love that which
is empty? The natural man's God is empty
of any power, yet he serves him with great devotion. How long
will you love vanity? His praise from other men is
empty of any virtue with God, yet he loves it so that he lives
his whole life in order to get praise from men. How long? And then he seeks, notice the
last part of verse 3, the sons of men not only turn the glory
of God into shame, not only do they love that which is empty,
but they seek leasing. They seek after that which is
lying. Now the word seek here means
he requires it, he requests it, he begs for it. His theme song is tell me lies,
tell me lies, tell me. Sweet little lies. That's what
he wants. He doesn't want to know the truth.
He wants to hear lies. God says every man is a liar.
He prides himself in being the discerner of truth. I hear people
all the time. They say, well, you know, I take
everything into consideration, then I decide for myself what
I'm going to believe. He listened to all the lies and
then he picks the one that suits him the best. The Lord Jesus Christ said, light
has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds are evil. They want to hear the truth. Nothing's changed. Men still
beg for, they require, they request, they look after lies. So they turn the glory of God
into shame. They love vanity and they seek lies. That's certainly
a clear description of the natural man, the unbeliever, but child
of God. We think so seldom and so slightly
about that which has completely occupied the heart of God for
all eternity. I'll say it again. We're guilty
of this, aren't we? Turning the glory of God into
shame. Loving vanity, seeking after
lies. Does the child of God see these
things in his own flesh? Yes. Does he not loathe himself
when he realizes how empty the things are that he loves? Does his ability to worship God
as he ought not grieve his soul? Yeah, it's our experience, isn't
it? Does the attraction of this world
not burden his conscience and break his heart at how much he
loves the things of this world? And so God says to us, oh ye
sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How
long will you love that which is empty? How long will you seek
after that which is not true? And then the Lord gives us a
glorious but, doesn't he? Look at verse three. But know,
but know this, that the Lord hath set him apart that is godly
for himself. Now, in Psalm 1610, there's a
passage of scripture that I've quoted many times where God says
of Christ, thou wilt not suffer thy holy one to see corruption. The word holy one in Psalm 16
is the same word translated godly here. Who is the godly man that
the Lord has set aside for himself that he's speaking of here? It
has to be the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one that's holy.
He's the only one that's harmless. He's the only one that's separate
from sinners, undefiled. He is God's darling
son and everything that God does is for his glory. Paul tells
us in Romans that everything is for him. Everything is through
him and everything is in him. And so God has set the Lord Jesus
Christ apart for himself. And everything that he does is
for Christ. We're in distress because of
our sin. And our sin is summed up in verse
two, turning God's glory into shame and loving vanity and seeking
after lives. And yet God has set apart for
himself the Lord Jesus Christ as the savior of sinners. And the Lord will hear when I
call unto him. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
speaking here. When I call to the Father, God's
gonna hear me. God's gonna hear me. When he
cried from the cross, Father, into thy hands, I commend my
spirit. God heard him. When he cried from the cross,
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. God heard
him. When he prayed in John 17, he said, I pray not for the world.
I pray for them which thou hast given me out of the world. Them
are thine. They are thine. They're yours, Lord. And I depart now. That's what
the Lord said in John 17. I come now unto thee, but I pray
that you would keep them. So when the Lord Jesus Christ
prayed unto the Father, Everything that he asked the father for,
he gave him. Why? Because he's the one that the
father set apart, sanctified for himself. First John chapter five is a
promise to those who are in Christ. Those who are looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ for the hope of their salvation. And the Lord
says, these things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal
life. And this is the confidence that we have of him that if we
ask anything according to his name, he hears us. I've set my
son, my darling son aside. I've set him apart. I've sanctified
him. And all that come to me through
him are hurt. They're hurt. And anything you
ask according to my will, I'm going to give it to you. Now,
there are things that we know are according to God's will.
The rest of that passage says, and if we know that he hears
us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petition that
we ask of him. Now, there are things that we
can pray for that we know are God's will. And so if we ask
according, here's the promise, if you ask according to God's
will and you ask according to the one that I have set aside,
the one that I have sanctified unto myself, I'm going to hear
your call. Now, it's the spiritual things
that we know are according to God's will. When we pray for
a lot of things, we have to say, Lord, if it be thy will. If we
pray for financial deliverance, Lord, if it be thy will, maybe
you want me to be in this straight for, you know, we pray for healing. We don't have any assured promise
from God's word that he's going to heal every person that's sick. Lord, if it be your will, we
know that you can heal if you will. We pray for whatever physically. We don't know what God's will
is in those things. But we do know that it's His
will to save sinners. And so if you come before Him
as a sinner and you ask for Christ's sake for Him to save you, He
will. He will. We know that it's His
will to give us wisdom. If any man lack wisdom, let him
ask it of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth
it not. But let him ask in faith. Let him ask believing on Christ,
not wavering. not double-minded, not like the
waves of the sea, tossed to and fro. Well, maybe he'll give it
to me if I do this. The blessings of God are not
based on works, they're based on faith. All the promises of
God are yea and amen in Christ. And so when the Lord says, whatsoever
you ask according to my will, I'll hear you and I'll give it
to you. He's talking about praying for those spiritual things. Lord,
I need a righteousness that I don't have. I need a holiness that
I can't bring together. Lord, you're gonna have to save
me. I need grace. I need mercy. I need forgiveness. I need the
Lord Jesus Christ. I need to know him. I need your
Holy Spirit. I need acceptance with God. I
need you to put my sin away. That's what John's talking about.
He said, you come before God and ask for those things that
you know are according to His will. He's going to give them to you.
He's going to give them to you. Verse 3, but know that the Lord
hath set apart him that is godly. for himself. He set apart the
Lord Jesus Christ for himself. The Lord will hear. The Lord
will hear. The Lord will hear when I call
him. He will. When the Lord Jesus Christ prays
for his people, God hears him. Peter, Satan has desired thee
to sift thee like wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy
faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
you're going to be, you're going to be, you're going to be changed.
Teach the brethren. The Lord Jesus Christ prays for
his people. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. I pray for them which thou hast
given me out of the world. Now, Father, I am no longer in
the world. I pray that thou would keep them, keep them. And that's
exactly what he does. And the father hears every prayer
the Lord answers, offers, and he hears every prayer that his
children ask in faith, in Christ, for those spiritual things that
are most important. Look at verse 4. Stand in awe. Now that's what the distressed
do. Those that are carrying the burden
of sin, they stand in awe before a holy God. They know that he
is past finding out. They understand what David said
when he said in Psalm 139, such knowledge is too wonderful for
me, it is high, I cannot attain it. All his ways are known unto
him, are known unto him. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13,
we look through a glass dimly now, but then face to face, Now
I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am known." Lord,
I'm coming, I'm standing in awe in thy presence knowing that you're a whole lot
bigger than anything I can ever comprehend in this world or in
the world to come for that matter. Paul said when he When he was
caught up in the third heaven, he heard unspeakable things that
are not lawful for a man to utter. You know what the most awful thing is for the believer?
And I say awful, not awesome, because it's full of awe, not
just some awe, that God would have mercy on
me. Why did he choose you? Why did
he give you ears to hear? Why did he give you a heart to
believe? Why did he give you eyes to see? Why did he cause
you to believe the gospel? So many, so many in this world
never have an opportunity to hear the gospel. And many that
do, don't believe. Lord, why would you have mercy
upon me? I stand in awe. I stand in awe
of God's glory. I stand in awe that God would
have mercy on me. Look at what else he says in
verse 4. Stand in awe and sin not. And we know that we are
nothing but sinners by nature. And that's what makes us hate
our sin when we stand in awe before God and we become aware
of the fact that we're not in any way like Him, dependent upon
Him for all grace and for all mercy. And yet what the Lord's
talking about here is, well, the best way I know to
illustrate it is like this. You cannot look at the brazen
serpent on the pole and play with the snakes on the ground
at the same time. You got that? You cannot look
in faith standing in awe at the brazen serpent on the pole. The
Lord said, as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness,
so much the Son of Man be lifted up and I, if I be lifted up,
will draw all men to me. You cannot stand in awe of that
brazen serpent, that sin bearer on Calvary's cross and play with
the snakes on the ground at the same time. And that's exactly
what John was talking about. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
5. 1 John chapter 5. And this is not an indictment. This is not a condemnation or
a judgment against... This is our hope, isn't it? We hate our sin. How am I going
to resist the snakes on the ground? How am I going to deal with this
sin nature that I've got? There's only one thing you can
do, and that's look to Christ. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look what John said in 1 John 1 at verse 5. This then is the message
which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is
light and in him is no darkness at all. He's unsearchable light, glorious
light, truth, If we say that we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
We say, well, I'm looking to Christ and I'm acting disobedient
or rebellious against Him at the same time. No, you can't
do it. You can't do it. This is not
denying the fact, we're going to see this in just a moment.
It's not denying the fact that we are sinners by nature and
there's nothing in us but sin. But that's not what he's talking
about. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,
we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanses us from all sin. That's what I need. I need
cleansing from my sin. If we say that we have no sin,
that's a noun. That's our nature. If we say
that, well, I'm not a sinner. then we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, that's
a noun, if we confess that we are sinners, he is faithful and
just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all of our
unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, that's a
verb, then we make him a liar and his word is not in us. My
little children, these things write I unto you that you sin
not. That's what, stand in awe and
sin not? How am I going to not sin? How
am I not going to engage in these snakes on the ground? Only by
looking to Christ. My little children, I write these
things unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous one. There's
my hope. There's my hope for my sin. All
right, go back with me to our text. You cannot look at the
serpent on the pole and play with the snakes on the ground
at the same time. Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart. Now, this is what a distressed
person does. A distressed person stands in
awe before a holy God, confesses his sin nature and seeks to avoid
those snakes that are on the ground. Look what he says. Verse 4, stand in awe and sin
not, commune with your own heart. Turn with me to Psalm 77. Psalm
77. Look at verse 6. I call to remembrance my song
in the night. I commune with my own heart and
my spirit made diligent search. You see, this thing of faith
is not something you do. It's something that takes place
in the heart, isn't it? This is a heart matter. Communing
with your heart, meditating over the things of God. Set in your
affections on things above where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God. Looking to Christ is a heart issue. And religious
people like to put on their religious garments and act religious, don't
they? But this is a matter of the heart. Look at verse seven. Will the
Lord cast off forever? And will he be favorable no more?
Is his mercy clear gone forever? Doth his promise fail forevermore?
Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his
tender mercies? You see, when I commune with
my heart, that's what I fear. That's my distress. How does God discipline his children? Now, when we give one another
the silent treatment, we do it to manipulate one another, don't
we? But I thought about that. That's exactly what God does
to me. When he disciplines me, he gives me the silent treatment. And there's nothing that causes
me to want to make things right with my wife more than when she
gives me the silent treatment. I mean, it works, doesn't it? Well, that's what God does. That's
how he disciplines his children. He gives them the silent treatment.
And all we, Lord, don't be silent to me. Don't leave me. And I said, this is my infirmity,
but I remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
This is my infirmity. My infirmity is the distress
of my sin. Lord, I know I deserve the silent
treatment. I deserve a lot more than that.
I deserve your wrath. I deserve your judgment. But
I'm going to remember the years of your right hand. I'm going
to remember what the Lord Jesus Christ came to do. He came to
save sinners like me. He came to present himself before
you on my behalf. He came to be my righteousness.
And he bore all the guilt and shame and penalty for my sins
on Calvary's cross. I'm gonna remember him. And I'll remember the works of
the Lord. Surely I will remember thy wonders of old, I will meditate
also of all thy work and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God,
is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a God as our
God? When do you feel the greatest
deliverance from sin? When do you feel rescued? When do you feel the safest?
When the gospel is being preached in the sanctuary, isn't it? When
you're hearing from God's word and hearing from God's spirit
about the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're distressed
now. You realize that he has saved
this drowning shipwreck. I sent out a distress call and
he saved me. Look at, go back with me to our
text. Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed. And if you do, you're going to
find yourself being still. You're going to be still. If
you commune with your heart and the spirit of God makes it clear
to you that you're a sinner and you have no righteousness and
you're completely dependent upon him to do all your work for you,
then you're going to be still. You're just going to be still
before God. You're not going to lift your hand. You're not
going to try to save yourself or redeem yourself because you'll
know that there's nothing you can do. You won't be looking
to Christ, aren't you? You're going to be calling out
as one who's in distress for someone to come save you. Verse 5, offer the sacrifices
of righteousness. David makes it very clear what
that sacrifice is. Psalm 51, if sacrifices is what
you wanted, I'd bring them. I'd bring the blood of bulls
and goats. I'd bring more than any man's ever brought before.
But with those things, God's not pleased. The sacrifices of
God are a contrite spirit, a broken spirit, a broken, a contrite
heart, isn't it? That he will not despise. Why? Because that's his work of grace.
You see, when you commune with your own heart, your heart becomes
broken and you become contrite before God. You're still, you
don't have anything to offer. You're completely dependent upon
Christ, aren't you? And so offer the sacrifices of
righteousness. What's the sacrifice of right?
Christ is the sacrifice of righteousness. You see, verse 5 is really the
same phrase said twice in two different ways. There's a redundancy
in verse and that's a lot in the Psalms. The Psalms are written
that way. One verse will say the same thing
as the previous verse just in different words but saying exactly
the same thing. And this one verse says the same
thing twice, offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your
trust in the Lord. You can just leave out the and,
because offering the sacrifices of righteousness is putting your
trust in Christ, putting all your hope in Him. There be many
that say, who will show us any good? You think God's gonna save you
without you doing anything? Ain't that what they say? There are many that will say
that. You think that you don't have to make a choice? You think
your works don't count for anything in your salvation? Many will say, who's going to
save you based on something that's been done completely outside
of you? You've got to make some contribution.
God's not going to save you by someone completely outside of
you or without your help? He doesn't, he's not gonna save
like that. You've got to do your part to
secure the blessings of God. There are many that will say,
God's not gonna show you any good. Oh Lord, lift up the light
of thy countenance upon us. Lord, don't let me be intimidated
by the accusations of man. Shine your countenance. Shine
the light of the gospel in my heart, in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Enable me to set my affections
on Him, to look to Him, to call upon Him, to rest the hope of
my salvation in Him. Enable me to do that. Notice
verse 7, Thou has put gladness in my heart more than in the
time that their corn and their wine increase. The peace and
happiness that he gives is better than all the comforts and pleasures
of life. Do you find that to be true? Men are still looking for love
in all the wrong places, aren't they? They're still thinking,
well, if I just had this or if I had that, I'd be happy. And
what's David say? Thou has put gladness in my heart
more, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increase. You see, the truth is that the
happiness of man can only be found in the pleasure of God. The happiness of man can only
be found in the pleasure of God. And God is pleased with Christ.
and everything's about him. And if the Lord enables these
distressed sinners to call out in faith to him, oh, the peace,
the comfort, the joy that he gives is better than anything
the world has to offer, anything. Verse 8, I will both lay me down
in peace and sleep Now, all of these verses can be seen of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one who bowed his mighty
head on Calvary's cross. And as he bowed his head, he
trusted the father to raise him from the dead. And that's exactly
what he did. My holy one will not see corruption. I will both lay me down to sleep,
to end peace and sleep. Turn to me to Isaiah chapter
32. Isaiah 32. Look at verse 17. And the work of righteousness. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
did. He did the work of righteousness shall be peace. Peace. Lord, I was in distress. I sent
out a distress call. You heard my cry and you came
and saved me. And the work of righteousness
shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever. I've got assurance. I've got
hope. I've got peace with God. Why? Because I've got Christ.
I've got a Savior. I've got one that God's pleased
with, one that He set apart for His own pleasure. And my people
shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in sure dwellings and in
quiet resting places when it shall hail coming down on the
forest and the city shall be made low in a low place. The water shall not overtake me.
Death has been conquered. Hell has been shut to me. Satan's been defeated. I've got an advocate with the
Father. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep and lie my head down on the pillow
at night. And however much hail comes in
the forest, however much, how much trouble God's ordained for
me to experience in my life, I've got Christ. I've crawled
out in my distress and what has he done? He makes me dwell in
safety. Safety. Safety for the distressed. If
you were going down in a sinking ship in the open ocean and you
sent out a distress call, oh, what a delight it would be to
see that helicopter coming or that ship coming over the horizon.
Oh, I've been saved. I've got safety. How much better,
how much better is the salvation of our souls accomplished by
the one? Again, notice what he says. The
Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. And the Lord
will hear when I call unto him. The Father heard when Christ
called unto Him, and God hears when we call unto Him. Call on
Him. Call on Him. Ask Him, Lord, come
save me. I'm in distress. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we're thankful for the promises of Your Word, and we thank You
for the accomplished work of Thy dear Son. Lord, we come before
You as Mercy begging centers in need of your grace and we
thank you for the promise of knowing that whatsoever we ask
according to your will. That you give us. Lord save us
for Christ sake. For it's in his name we pray.
Amen. Number 13, let's stand together. We'll sing this hymn a cappella.
This is the same hymn Adam played special this past Sunday. Dark the stain that soiled man's
nature. Long the distance that he fell. Far removed from hope and heaven. into deep despair and hell. But there was a fountain open,
and the blood of God's own Son purifies the soul and reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Praise the Lord for his salvation. God still reigns upon his throne. And I know the blood still reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Conscience of the deep pollution. Sinners wander in the night. Though they hear the shepherd
calling, they still fear to face the light. This the blessed consolation
that can melt the heart of stone. That sweet balm of Gilead reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Praise the Lord for His salvation. God still reigns upon His throne. And I know the blood still reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. All unworthy we who've wandered,
And our eyes are wet with tears As we think of love that sought
us Through the weary wasted years Yet we walk the holy highway
Walking by God's grace alone Knowing Calvary's fountain reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Praise the Lord for His salvation. God still reigns upon His throne. And I know the blood still reaches
Deeper than the stain has gone When with holy choirs we're standing
In the presence of the King And our souls are lost in wonder
? While the white rope choir sing ? Then we'll praise the
name of Jesus ? With the millions round the throne ? Praise him
for the power that reaches ? Deeper than the stain has gone Praise
the Lord for his salvation. God still reigns upon his throne. And I know the blood still reaches
deeper than the stain has gone.