I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Psalms, chapter
56. Psalms 56. I was looking just back through
some of the beginnings of some of the chapters in the Old Testament. And how many times I recognized,
not every time, in the beginnings of these Old Testament prophets,
but how many times I noticed that it began with the burden
of the Lord. The burden of the Lord. Charles Spurgeon wrote a fantastic
article on that, and he said that to one called to preach,
he says if he stands or ascends the pulpit without a burden for
what he's about to say for the people, he shouldn't be there. And I thought to myself, oh my,
oh my. Lord, help me, help me. This is not, this is not a exercise. It's a, it's a burden, a burden. I pray God give us a burden.
The glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 56. My heart was brought back to
this passage of scripture recently. And it was a passage when I read
it, I was arrested. My heart was arrested. And it was one verse of scripture. I'm gonna try to look at each
verse here, just touch on it. But there was one verse in particular,
Psalm 56. And verse nine, when I cry unto
thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God
is for me. God is for me. I read that again this morning,
just trying to grasp hold of the depth unimaginable depth. This book, that song, was inspired
by the Spirit of God, but it was written down by a man. A
man wrote those words. Inspired of God. All scriptures
given by inspiration of God. But holy men of God penned as
they were moved by God. This I know, for God is for me. Now, when
we read this psalm, and all the psalms, I've heard people say,
well, that's a messianic psalm. All psalms are messianic. They're
all concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. They're all pointing
to Him, dealing with Him. And we know, therefore, that
certainly this passage of Scripture is pertaining to the Lord. But
I want you to do something with me as we look at this passage
right here for a little bit and think, pray that the Lord would
give us some understanding that as we read these words, these
words are set forth by the Spirit of God concerning Christ who
prays these passages, who prays this, who makes intercession
for His people. And these words right here, when
you look at these words and hear these words and imagine these
are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ as He, as our intercessor, prays Ever liveth to make intercession,
ever liveth. May we forget that word, ever
liveth. It's now, it's now, it's now,
it's now. Praying for us, praying on our
behalf. These words that, I couldn't
pray. In myself, I have no ability,
no heart but to think that he prays on our behalf, prays for
us, prays for us. I was looking in the very beginning
before it even went into the scriptures to the chief musician
upon Jonath. Jonath, it says, dressed
a man named Joe Hath, I'm sorry, Joe Hath, Elam, Requim, and I looked it
up. It was a name, it was a name
of a man which seems to translate silent or silence. It was a setting forth of quiet,
Be quiet. Be quiet. We find that word quiet and we
think to ourselves, the Lord is in his holy temple. This is
what Habakkuk 2.20, but the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all
the earth keep silence before him. Lord, help me to be quiet and
listen. Listen to what you have to say. The rest of that, there was also
a word in there, in that beginning here, mitzthum, which is translated
the golden sayings or a golden song. And it just caused me to
just stop for a minute and just realize Okay, I know how we are
by nature. Today's Sunday. This is the day
we go to church and we came to church and we're here and everything
like that. And is it not the easiest thing in the world to
forget how reverent, how reverently we should approach these scriptures?
And we open this book and this is God's Word. This is the Word
of God. And how, to my own shame. How many times have I taken the
scriptures and read them? If I don't understand them, just
kind of glean over them there just quickly. And I read those
words again and I thought, Lord, help me. Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for my insensitivity. Verses one and two, Psalm 56. Again, I want to remind you.
I'm going to be very careful here. I want to remind you. These words were spoken by a
man, but these words are God-breathed. And these words are actually
breathed from the very heart of God, who is praying for His
people, saying what they cannot say, saying what they don't know
what to say. I don't know what to say. Be merciful unto me, O God. For
man would swallow me up. He fighting daily oppresseth
me. Mine enemies would daily swallow
me up. For they be many that fight against
me, O thou most high. Be merciful. Pity, pity. Pity me, O God. You think about
this. How much pity do I desire from
the Lord? Pity me. I don't even know how
to ask. Pity me, oh God. For man would
swallow me up. Man, it's set forth as it pant
with desire. He would, man, would pant with
desire against me because of his hatred for what I believe,
who I believe, who I love. Pity me, pity me. He fighting daily oppresses me.
He squeezes me. Here's the Lord praying for us.
Lord, you tell us you don't know, you don't know what to ask for.
I'll tell you, this is what you ask for. You ask for me to pity
you. God's people read these words.
Oh, mine enemies would daily swallow me up, for they'd be
many, and fight against me, O thou most high. You know, as the surety
of the sheep, we read of how the Lord was hated, and he was
oppressed. He who endured the hatred against us, he who endured it
and endured the persecution as he stood on our behalf. We have
no idea. You know, when the Lord says,
they hated me before they hated you. We just read those words
and it just. But here he was explaining to
us, this is the hatred of the natural man against God Almighty. This is man's thoughts against
the Lord. The Lord is telling us, you need
to ask for pity. You need to ask for compassion.
You need to. And here he was praying for us.
God hearing him on our behalf. Verses three and four. What time
I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God, I will praise his
word. In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. What time I am afraid. Actually,
the word afraid there is in awe. A-W-E. What time I am in awe. Afraid? Yes, in awe. The fear that God
Almighty knew concerning His people. He was in all points
tempted like we are. Ever been afraid something happened
and you're just afraid? He knew, he knew what fear was. He knew what being afraid was.
He was touched with the feelings of our infirmities. In God, I
will praise his word. I'll make my boast. I'm gonna
make my boast in the Lord. In God, I have put my trust.
I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Oh, I took note of how the Lord expressed
the very heart of his sheep. Again, he felt every burden. He felt it. Oh, I find myself
so easily being fearful question, wondering, wondering the burden,
the responsibility. Oh, and I think, Lord, thank
you. Thank you as the great high priest,
how you, you're touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
you know, and you care. Verse five to seven. Every day
they rest my words. All their thoughts are against
me for evil. They gather themselves together.
They hide themselves. They mark my steps. When they
wait for my soul, shall they escape by iniquity? In thine
anger cast down the people. Oh God. Here's the Lord saying,
now I can, I know a little bit, you do too, we know a little
bit how you try to tell somebody concerning the gospel. Try to
speak to somebody that doesn't know. And they're resentful toward
you. They're resentful, they don't,
you know. And they mock you and they, you
know, just arrogant and hateful because of the truth that we
believe. But look at the Lord. The Lord's
saying this. They rest, they twist my words,
and all their thoughts are against me for evil. Think, well, I don't really see
anybody that mean. We don't see their heart. You
know, we hide a lot of stuff, don't we? Or how? They gather
themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark, they watch
my steps. They watch. Waiting for you to slip up? Waiting
for you to say thanks? I thought you, I thought. They
watch. They watch my steps, they mark
them. When they wait for my soul, shall
they escape my iniquity? You think their iniquity is gonna
deliver them? In thine anger cast down the
people. Oh, what did the Spirit of God reveal concerning the
attitude of the maliciousness against the Lord Jesus Christ? Matthew 26, 59. Now the chief
priest and elders and all the council sought false witness
against Jesus to put him to death. That's all they want to do, just
kill him. He exposed them for what they
are. Verses 8 to 11. Thou tellest my wanderings, put
thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? When
I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know,
for God is for me. In God will I praise his word. In the Lord will I praise his
word. Thou tellest my wanderings. Now, I jotted down what one writer
said. He says, my wanderings," he said,
it actually is saying, you take account of me being pursued by
my enemies. And I don't have a problem with
that, but there's also something that I noticed that I would just
say, could this be? I'm not saying this is, I wrote
down what this writer said it was saying, but thou tellest
my wanderings. Not the Lord's wanderings, he
doesn't wander. But the Lord exposes us for our
neediness. Thou tellest my wanderings. He
shows us. He shows us. As we walk through
this world, we step, sidestep, and the Lord's not going to cover
it up. When Peter denied the Lord, you
think he really denied the Lord? He did. Did the Lord know he
was going to deny the Lord? Yeah, he did. He shows us what
we are. my wanderings, now put my tears
into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? When
I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies be turned back. This
I know, for God is for me. Oh, the preciousness of the Lord
who knows the tenderness of his people. My tears. my tears in thy bottle. He knows the affliction of the
people. He knows the heartache, the sufferings that we, you know,
even the tears of God's people. I was talking to someone here
the other day, and as he was relating, the, uh, an experience
that he'd just gone through. I was talking to him on the phone
and I couldn't, I couldn't see him. Obviously I'm on the phone
with him, but I could tell in his voice as he was talking,
it just, he was broken. And I, in my mind, I just imagined
the tears that would come up from his heart of realizing,
you know, what, what had happened. How precious that they're noted,
but concerning the Lord. I think about it, the tomb of
Lazarus. Here's what scripture says. Jesus
wept. And I thought, what preciousness,
what concern, what a heart. And here's the Lord as he watches
over his people. And then verses 12 and 13. Thy vows are upon me, O God. I will render praises unto thee,
for thou hast delivered my soul from death. Wilt not thou deliver
my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light
of the living? These words, again, these words
are truly the words of the Lord Jesus Christ speaking these words
on behalf, ultimately concerning the sheep, him as the great high
priest. And we take these words truly
to be the Lord's words. And that's when they become truly
precious because of his heart. That's what he says right here.
You take these words as His words, as our surety, and can we not
truly praise Him as we hear Him say, Thy vows. That's what it says. Verse 12. Thy vows. What did He vow? What did He vow? As the surety. I'll answer. I will save my people. I'll save
them. I'll call them. I'll give them
a new heart. All these things that the Lord
Jesus Christ has promised. The psalmist was moved to say,
this is my heart. This is my, this is my vow. That's
my, the Lord's given that to me. Thy vows are upon me. If he's promised as my surety,
what he's promised I promised. What he vowed, I vowed. Not in
myself, but in my association with him, in my oneness with
him. I will render praises unto thee, for thou has delivered
my soul from death. Oh, will thou not deliver my
feet from falling? Lord, you've saved me. You saved
me by your grace. You shed your blood for me. Lord,
will you not keep me to the end? Lord, you've given all for me. Show me what you've done. Well,
I wanna just close, but I can't close without going back and
looking at that verse nine. Verse nine. When I cry unto thee,
Then shall mine enemies turn back. All the enemies, the enemies without and within,
when I cry unto thee. The psalmist was moved to say,
then shall mine enemies. And again, I was thinking about
fear and carelessness. All these things that are bottled
up within us, When I cry unto the Lord, Lord deliver me. And
the Lord hears our prayer. And in mercy, in his time, in
his mercy, he's gonna deliver. When I cry unto thee. When will
a man cry unto the Lord? When? Now, I'm just asking you
a question. I'm asking my question. When
will a man cry unto the Lord? I'll tell you when. Whenever
the Lord has given that man a burden, that Christ is his only refuge.
As long as I think I can work it out, I'm not gonna cry. I may go through, give it some
lip service, but I'm talking about crying unto the Lord. I'm
talking about bearing my heart. And right here is where I need
some help. Lord, give me a heart. to cry unto you. I jotted down
in Exodus 14, verse 10, and when Pharaoh drew nigh, I looked at
Pharaoh right there as being all that oppresses God's people. Picture of Egypt, a picture of
bondage, a picture of sin, a picture, when Pharaoh drew nigh, The children
of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched
after them, and they were sore afraid. And the children of Israel, children of Israel, Israel, those
who were made to be princes of God, the children of Israel,
cried out. And I know that this actually
happened, but when you look at it with new eyes to see, You
know when a child of Israel will cry out? When Pharaoh pursues
him. And he knows it. When death and
hell and the grave. That's when he'll cry out. The
reason that man by nature doesn't cry out is because he's not in
trouble. You know why before the Lord
gave us a heart for Christ, we didn't cry out unto the Lord.
Didn't have a heart to. We had our refuge of lies. Psalm 18, six, in my distress. Here again, I just looked it
up. In my narrow, when I'm squeezed in, when I'm in a strain, when
I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble. When I'm in trouble, I called
upon the Lord and cried unto my God. He heard my voice out
of his temple. And my cry came before him, even
into his ears. Oh, the Lord is ever ready to
hear the cry of his people. Ever ready, ever ready. I jotted
down Isaiah 65, 24. And it shall come to pass that
before they call, I will answer. And while they're speaking, I
will hear. I think about how the Lord, who
knows His people, knows their need, knows what He's gonna order,
knows what He's gonna send them, and the provision that He makes.
What mercy, what compassion, what an amazing thought. Even
before we cry unto the Lord, before we approach Him, before we approach His throne,
The answer's prepared. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. I said, Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Do I ever get tired
of saying that? Lord, forgive me. Because of
the blood, the blood that was shed, the grace that was shown,
the application, the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, Beloved, the scripture says we are accepted in Him. We're accepted in the beloved. Therefore, every vessel of God's
mercy can, with spiritual assuredness, and for Christ's sake, say, God
is for me. God is for me. What a beautiful Sentence, word,
phrase, quote, hope. God is for me. He was for us
before the world was formed. He was for us. He had not been for us before
the world was formed. I'll tell you this. We'd had
no hope after. He was for us in electing grace. In his well beloved son. God was for us when he forsook
the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. He was for us. Whenever the redeemer of sinners
cried from the cross, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? You know the answer. Because
God is for us. God is for us. The Lord himself cried for the
sword of justice upon the Lord Jesus Christ to be awakened upon
the shepherd. God was for us. And all of God's elect fell in
Adam. God was for them, the elect,
the sheep, the bride. The Redeemer, the Advocate, the
Great High Priest, He who answers on our behalf, He answers because
God is for us. God is for us. Needy sinner, if the Lord has
given you a heart, made you know that without Him you have no hope, All you have
to look forward to without Christ is judgment. But if the Lord
God of heaven be for us, if he's given you a heart to cry out
for him, it's because he's everlastingly been for you, been for his people. Lord bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.