Well, it's good to see all of
you tonight and I thank the Lord for this precious time that we
do have to be able to assemble ourselves together and hear what
the Lord has to say. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Psalm chapter 11, Psalm 11. Psalm 11 has got seven verses
in it, and I'd like to look very briefly at these seven verses. Before I read, though, I'd like
to say only when the God of all mercy and grace has been pleased
to shed the light of the glory of Almighty God in the face of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When that takes place, only when
the Lord makes His Word effectual. We all can hear. We've got ears. But I want to hear. I need God
to speak to me. I need to hear from the Lord.
I need to hear what God has to say. And I pray that God Almighty
will bless His Word to our hearts tonight. Let's read these seven
verses out of Psalm chapter 11. In the Lord put I my trust. How say ye to my soul? Flee as
a bird to your mountain. For lo, the wicked bend their
bow. They make ready their error upon They make ready their arrow upon
the string that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
Now if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The
Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord's throne is in the heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids
trieth the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous
and the wicked, and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain
snares, fire, brimstone, and horrible tempest. This shall
be the portion of their cup. For the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness. His countenance doth behold the
upright. Now, every person born into this world
comes forth with a heart that trusts in himself. He trusts his judgment. He trusts his choice. He trusts
himself. But when the Spirit of God is
pleased according to the eternal will and purpose of Almighty
God, and the Lord gives new eyes to see, new ears to hear, and
a new heart to understand and bow to the Sovereign Lord God
of Heaven, a man doesn't trust himself anymore. To trust yourself is to trust
a fleeting vapor. Something that's not going to
be there. David was moved by the Spirit of God to say in verse
1, In the Lord put I my trust. I love you here. You're my brethren. but I can't trust you. You can't
trust me. We cannot trust each other to
make the decisions that need to be trusted and relied upon. We mean well, but we don't know what to do. Trust in Jehovah. Notice all caps there. in the
Lord, in Almighty God who chose me, in Almighty God who redeemed
me, Almighty God who called me by His grace, regenerated, that's
leading me, guiding me, and directing me. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. Scripture
says, in the Lord put I my trust, my reliance, my hope. Being convinced of God's mercy
shown to a rescued vessel of God's mercy, that believer now
has some confidence. to be able to say what David
started off saying right there. In the Lord put I my trust. Then he asked a question. How say ye to my soul? Lee is
a bird. To your mountain? Notice that's
a question. Here a mountain being that which
I supposedly could rely upon. David is asking a question to
those that trust in themselves, and he's asking them, how do
you say, in the Lord put I my trust? I'm going to trust God. I've said this before. I've said
this so many times, and I believe I mean it. I believe I do. I've
said before to you, this may be the last time I preach, I
don't know. But by the grace of God, I have
a heart to say in the Lord, put on my trust. Now stumble and
I waver and I I'm so frail and I'm so weak. But I've got I've
got one upon whom I can rely. You know. But let me ask you
this. How can you say to me? to your mountain. Flee to a mountain
that is no stability. How can you say that? That's
what David is asking. Satan, as a person of deception,
he'll do everything in the world he can to deflect God's people
from keeping their minds upon the Lord. He'll do anything in
the world he can cause them to be afraid and be frail and what
if, what if, what if. Almighty God is our peace and
our comfort and our hope. He says in verse 2, For lo, the
wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string,
that they may shoot privily, or privily shoot, I'm sorry,
at the upright in heart. There's an ever-ready arsenal
of Satan himself, father of lies, to cause us to deflect us, to
cause us to not keep our eyes upon the Lord, to cause us to
look away. Beloved, listen to me. Satan
is a crafty foe. He's been around a long time,
and he's seen a lot of things. And he knows something about
the frailty of man. He's not God. He's not omniscient. He doesn't know, but I'm telling
you, he knows how to get to the root of God's people and cause
them to be deflected. Though the wicked, verse two,
the wicked bend their bow and make ready their arrow upon the
string, ever ready to fire at God's people, stir them up, get
them distracted. Oh, here the Lord has given us
some warning. that trials and tribulations
gonna come, and it's surely gonna be levied at God's people. But I want you to remember this
one thing. Our hope is not in us. Our hope is, let me see if I'm
sure. Yeah, in the Lord. Put I my trust. I want you to listen. Verse three, if the foundations, notice that
that's a plural word there, if the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? Now, yes, again, this is not
gonna come as a surprise to you. Whenever I get to a passage of
scripture like this, I'm gonna pretty well, Pat, get me a good
concordance. I'm gonna look these words up,
make sure that what I'm saying is so as I can find it to be. He didn't say if the foundation,
if he said if the foundation be destroyed, well, there's only
one foundation, our Lord and Savior. He is our rock. He is
our hope. We have one Foundation, but it
doesn't say if the foundation be destroyed. Foundation's not
gonna be destroyed, but rather if the foundations be destroyed. And another thing concerning
that third verse right there, that first word in the third
verse, if, if the foundation. Now that word, if, good understanding of the meaning
of that word is going to settle our heart a little bit here.
The word's meaning, the word if, in our passage, is not one
that suggests that there may be a possibility of this world's
strength being shown to be frail. It's not a word that means, well,
that if this happens to work out or if this, no. But rather,
the word translated would be better translated when, when,
when. Strong's gives this meaning of
it concerning the word if. It means that, because, for,
surely, except, Doubtless, this word is not saying that there's
a possibility that these foundations, now what are these foundations?
Well, I can tell you this, it's these things that we think are
so stable. It's these things that we think
are so sure that's not gonna be moved. These things in this world that
tells us, you've got a refuge in Me. Everything in this world,
apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, His Word, His sovereignty, His
deity, His promise, everything is going to be shaken. Everything
is going to be moved. Everything is going to be destroyed.
Everything you're looking at right here, everything you've
got in the bank, You may want to enjoy it now,
if you want to enjoy it, because you ain't going to keep it. I
can tell you this, it's going to be burned up. Everything is
going to be taken away. Everything. If, or when, or surely
the foundations be destroyed. Let me ask you this, what can
the righteous do? that which we have set our hope
upon. Whenever we place our confidence
in when all that appears to be stable is destroyed, then what
are you going to do? Then where are you going to run
to? Listen, hold your place in Psalm. Turn over to Job chapter
1. Job 1, I'd like to read verses
9 to 19. Job 1, I'm sorry, Job 1, 6 to
19. Job 1, 6, there was a day when
the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. And
Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord,
and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Hast thou considered my servant Job? That there is none like
him in the earth, a perfect upright man, one that feareth God, and
escheweth evil. And Satan answered the Lord,
and said, Doth Job fear God for nothing? That question has always
just amazed me. The arrogance of Satan. Do you
think Job's serving you for no reason? Like he was saying to
the Lord, are you so foolish? You can't see through this? You
can't see what he's doing? Do you think he's doing this
for nothing? Does Job fear God for naught? Has not thou made an hedge about
him, about his house, about all that he hath on every side? Thou
hast blessed the work of his hands, his substance has increased
the land. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold all that he hath, is in thy power only upon himself. Put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the Lord. Scripture says concerning him
leaving that conversation with the Lord, then there was a day
when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine
in their eldest brother's house. There came a messenger. under
Job and said the oxen were plowing, the asses feeding beside them. And the Sabaeans fell upon them
and took them away, and took away. Yea, they have slain the
servants with the edge of the sword, and I only am escaped
alone to tell thee." And while he was yet speaking, there came
another, said the fire of God has fallen from heaven, had burned
up the sheep and servants, consumed them, and I only am escaped alone
to tell thee. And while he was yet speaking,
there came also another and said the Chaldeans came out and made
bands, made three bands and fell upon the camels and carried them
away, yea, slain the servants from the edge of the sword, and
I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking,
there came also another and said, thy sons and thy daughters were
eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house. Behold, there came great wind
from the wilderness and smoke to four corners of the house
and it fell upon the young men and they're dead and I only and
escaped alone to Tel Aviv. Everything up to this moment
right here that appeared to have some stability. This man, Job, he was a rich
man, one that feared God. He hated evil. Here was Job. doing all that he could, praying
for his kids, prayed God have mercy on them, possibly they'd
sinned against God, that's what scripture says. While he was
doing all that he could, trying to do that which was right and
honorable before God, he read a conversation between
the Lord and Satan. Satan told the Lord, tempting,
really the Lord, but not the Lord never yielding to that temptation.
Satan trying to get him to do something, kill Job. And while they talked, the Lord
gave him leave to put his hand upon Job. And the scripture says in a moment,
in a day, everything that Job had materially, God preserved him for a moment.
And he allowed Satan to put his hand on Job. He took his kids, he took his
livestock, he took everything that he had. It's the foundations. These things
that we think are stable. That's why it's a plural word
there. Like I said, I wanted to make sure you understood.
It didn't say foundation. We have one foundation, Christ.
But when the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous
do? I'll tell you what they could
do. Look at verse 20 of Job chapter 1. Then Job arose and rent his
mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and
worshiped. and said, naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. I shall return thither
the Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord in all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. The Lord allowed a man named
Job to have everything that he owned materially to be taken
from him. That's all that he had materially. Brethren, if the foundations
be destroyed, what can the righteous do? I can tell you, you can do
one thing. You can worship God. What if He takes my home? What
if He takes my wife? What if He takes my kids? What am I going to do in that
day? Back in Psalm chapter 11, in
verse 1, this is what the Spirit of God moved David to say. In
the Lord put I my trust. When the foundations, or if the
foundations, it is when, surely, what can the righteous do? They can believe God. It's the
Lord. Let Him do what seemeth Him good. What is all this stuff? If God
is pleased to take it, it's His. The earth is the Lord and the
fullness thereof. Remember, you turn back to Job,
I'm going to look at just a couple of verses and I'm going to be
done. When these foundations, foundations, these things, we've
worked for, I've worked hard for this. I've worked all my
life. I've toiled, I've suffered, I've done this. when the foundations,
the supports, that's what that word means right there, the support,
the stay, the purposes. If the foundations, when everything
that we thought was gonna stand, if they be destroyed, and that
means everything. Look what Job lost in that one
day. They're thrown down. That's what
that means. If they be destroyed, they be thrown down and ruined,
broken, what can the righteous do? I said to turn back to Job, I
meant to turn back to Psalms. I want to read these last few
verses out of Psalm chapter 11. Scripture says, David was moved
in verse 3. It says, if the foundations be
destroyed, what can the righteous do? Here's the conclusion. This is the Spirit's revelation
of the believer's foundation of hope in Christ. God takes whatever from you. Whatever. Whatever. Money, anything, anything you got, it's
the Lord's. Here's the Spirit's revelation
of the believer's foundation of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 4, Psalm 11, 4. The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven,
and His eyes behold His eyelids try the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous. What does that mean? He's gonna
prove what you're made out of. He's gonna prove what He's made
you to be, His child. If you know Him, rest assured,
write this down. The Lord, whom the Lord loveth,
He chasteneth and scourgeth... How many? Everyone. Everyone that He receiveth. Why? Because you're His. Because He
loves you. Because He's going to prove you.
Oh, when He proves His people, He brings them through the fire.
Come through the water. through the fire, all through
the blood. He's going to prove you. Verse 5, The Lord trieth
the righteous, but the wicked, and him that loveth violence
his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall reign
snares, fire, brimstone, and horrible tempest. This shall
be the portion of their cup, or because the righteous Lord
loveth righteousness, His countenance doth behold the upright, if the foundations be destroyed.