I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Psalms, chapter
20. Psalms 20. I originally planned
to preach Psalm 20, all nine verses, in
this first service. And as I began to look at the
passages I felt impressed to take this passage and preach
it in both messages this morning, part one, part two. And Lord
willing, I had a message prepared out of Proverbs, or have one,
and Lord willing, I'll try to preach that Wednesday on iron
sharpeneth iron, out of the book of Proverbs 27. But this passage, that I want us to look at this
morning. I'm going to look at the first two verses, Lord willing,
this morning. This is a revelation. By the Spirit of God, all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God's Spirit. But it was penned through
the hand of a man named David. And it's concerning the promise
of the Lord Jesus as he speaks, my sheep hear my voice. These words are the voice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And as he speaks to his sheep,
concerning their comfort and peace. Comfort and peace that's
based upon his sufferings in the day of his humiliation while
he was on this earth. And in these sufferings that
he experienced personally, which were beheld by the Father as
the Lord Jesus Christ finished the work that was given him for
the sheep of God's pasture. And now all that would be said
to Christ for his obedience, for his suffering, all that would
be said to him by the Father, now he says to us. And so let's look at these first
two verses and hear. Now remember, this is what the
father would say to Christ because of his obedience. And now to
the sheep of his pasture, those found in him, his body, the Lord
is speaking to us. So hear the word of the Lord. I pray that God give us ears
to hear. Look, verse one. The Lord, Jehovah, hear thee
in the day of trouble. Now, truly, I'll just take it
just easily as we go. Let's just look at it. This,
this, is set forth in the scripture, and we know this to be a fact,
that the Lord was heard in the day of his trouble. Now, the
day of his trouble, when was the day of his trouble? Well,
I can tell you it was from the cradle to the cross. That's the
day of his trouble. You remember whenever the three
wise men were coming, and they stopped by, He was talking to
Herod, the king Herod. He said, we've seen his star
in the east. Where is he, you know, the prince of the Jews?
And Herod said, oh, I want you to go and find him and come back
and tell me so I can go worship him too. Herod had one desire,
to kill him. The king? Here's Herod. So his suffering, the day of
his trouble, it started at his birth and went right on into
his sufferings upon the cross. Here's the Lord himself. The scripture says that he was
a man of sorrows and he was acquainted with grief. tempted of Satan
in the wilderness, hated by the religious Jews, sweat, as it
were, drops of great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane,
betrayed by one of his own apostles with a kiss, mocked at his trial
before Pilate, suffered the agony of being forsaken of the Father.
Truly, the Lord himself could say this, I am the man that hath
seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. Lamentations 3.1,
I am the man. We go through the things that
he providentially allows us to go through, but these are all
tempered by his mercy and his kindness. Whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth, scourgeth, And these trials, we was talking
about this trial that now Moose and Sandy and his family is going
through. But oh, the mercy of God. The Lord said, I'll never leave
you. I'll never leave you. But he
was forsaken of all. Forsaken of men, forsaken of
his father. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He said,
I've seen affliction. Oh, in the midst of his sufferings,
the Father heard him. Hebrews 5, 7, 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 save
him from death and was heard in that he feared. The God of covenant mercy heard
his cry. heard it from the sanctuary of
heaven itself. At the tomb of Lazarus, the Lord
was told, he whom thou loveth is sick. And the Lord waited,
you know, he waited. And then he came and he's standing
before the tomb of his friend. Lazarus, the one he loved. John
11, 41-42 says, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest
me always. But because of the people which
stand by, I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent
me. The father ever heard him, ever. This was his beloved son. And
now having borne all for His people, all, the justice of Almighty
God spewed out upon Him as He's borne our guilt in His own body. Now, having borne all, having
been heard of the Father, having suffered alone, bled alone, now
He speaks the words to us for His sake, of His acceptance,
And that established peace before God for us. Words that are spoken
to us, His people, founded totally, remember, on what He has done. He says, Jehovah, the Lord, hear
thee in the day of trouble. Now, what a miracle of God's
grace that the Lord would hear a worm like us, worms, maggots. Psalm 143, verse 7. The Lord's speaking. He says, hear me speak. He's speaking now on behalf.
David penned this. But you remember this. It was
the Lord speaking in His merit to His people And here's what
a believer now can say. Hear me speedily, O Lord. My
spirit faileth. Hide not thy face from me, lest
I be like unto them that go down to the pit. Others may shut me out, but O
Lord, not you. Lord, hear me speedily. Lord,
hear my cry. Turn with me to Psalm 66. Psalm
66. Psalm 66. Look at verses 16 to 20. Come and hear all ye that fear
God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul. I cried
unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me, but verily God hath heard me. He hath attended to the voice
of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not
turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. Now let me ask
you something. Who alone could say that? If
I regard iniquity in my heart, God's not going to hear me. Those words could only be spoken
by the Lord Jesus Christ as the victorious reigning King of glory. But now here's the Lord now speaking
in His merit to us and being found in Him We truly can say,
we can say these words, being found in the Lord alone. Here's what a believer can say. Come and hear all ye that fear
God, let me declare what He's done for my soul. Let me tell
you what God's done for me. Let me tell you something about
what God Almighty has done for my soul. For Christ's sake, hears. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. Now, for all God's people, when
is their day of trouble? Well, when was his day of trouble? From the cradle to the cross. What is our day of trouble? I'll
tell you what it is. It's from our birth, until we
take our last breath. That's our day of trouble. That's
the day. Turn to Job 14. Job chapter 14. Oh, we think about a day of trouble
as being that, you know, we've, oh no, we've got some problems
with finances, and we've got troubles with the kids, and our
troubles come and go, something, uh-uh, no. Job 14, one and two. that is born of a woman is a
few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower
and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and
continueth not." I think about, for myself, you
think about this for yourself, when I didn't know him If I, by the grace of God, know
Him now, if I, by the grace of God, have been made to have a
heart willing to call upon Him and know Him, I know something. I know something
about trouble, but I had problems before I ever knew Him, before
I ever called upon Him. Turn to 2 Peter 3.9. This passage
of Scripture becomes very, very precious to a believer, one that
realizes that by the grace of God, God didn't leave him to
himself, let him leave this world before he knew the Lord. Neil, think about this. What
if God would have taken us before we knew him? 2 Peter 3.9, the Lord is not slack
concerning his promise that some men count slackness, but is long
suffering to us worth. Not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. I know how that passage is abused
by this world. Men will take that passage of
scripture right there and just say, well, now you see there,
it's not God's will that anybody in this world perish. God doesn't
want to. If that was God's will, I tell
you this, nobody would perish. If that was the will of the Lord,
nobody would perish. God is long-suffering to His
people. You know that. Not willing that
any of His people should perish, but that all of His people come
to repentance. If God wills you to come to repentance,
let me tell you what's happening. You're coming. You're coming.
The counsel of the Lord is going to stand. God's will is going
to be done. It's not up in the air. Oh, the
day of my trouble, when I didn't know Him, rebelling against Him,
no desire whatsoever to hear His Word. I didn't want to hear
the Gospel. I didn't care. I didn't care
for His preachers. I didn't like them. I just didn't
care. I was in trouble. I was in trouble. Oh, that he hears my priest in
the day of my trouble. Oh, when I see something of the
struggles of my flesh right now and I feel the weightiness of
unbelief, of unbelief, Lord, I believe, help my unbelief,
my doubts, my fears, how merciful he has been to me. Before I knew him, after I knew
him, Thanks be unto him for a great high priest that ever liveth
to make intercession. Jehovah hear thee in the day
of trouble. Back in Psalm 20. The name of
the God of Jacob defend thee. If you got a margin there, that
defend, that's what it means. Set thee on a high place. Oh, here the Spirit of God has
been pleased to reveal to God's people the name or the character
of the Lord who hears. Who is He? He's God of Jacob. Jacob. The God who's been pleased
to show mercy and compassion to heel catchers, hucksters,
tricksters, supplanters. Those who in the day of his power
shall be willing, willing to come, willing to wrestle. You
think about how Jacob wrestled with the Lord. And the Lord who
had him, you know, we've gone over that before. The Lord who
had him, Jacob thought he had the Lord. The Lord had him. Let me go. Jacob said, not unless
you bless me. I'm going to reveal to you my
blessing. The Lord said to him, what's your name? Jacob. Trickster. He'll catch you. Liar. Conniver. Cheat. Your name is Israel. You're a prince with God. Oh,
these Jacobs. Is that not a precious name? Who are you? I'm a Jacob. That's
what I am. I'm a Jacob. The Lord hear thee
in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
sets you on a high place, defends you. Those who in covenant mercy
are set upon the mountain, the lofty rock, the high and exalted
one, defended from all their enemies, Turn with me to Romans
8, Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 35. Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword, as it is written, for thy sake, for thy sake, We're
killed all the day long, accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay,
in all these things, we're more than conquerors through him that
loved us. I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor death, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." Aren't you glad? I'm so thankful. that the God of Jacob defends
me, defends you, no, defends him. Because I can't defend myself. I don't have the ability. I don't
have the will. I don't know how to defend myself,
but he does. Peter, my soul was in bad need, desperate
need of cure. I can read of a cure, but God's
gonna have to apply that cure to me. What can wash away my
sins? Everybody and their brother will
know the answer to this. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Okay. How are you gonna apply it if
it's left up to you? The God of Jacob. Set you on
a high place. Lord, you put me there. Lord,
you kept me there. Lord, you applied the blood.
And when you see the blood, you said, I'll pass over you. Verse two. And just as verse
one started with the Lord, here they continue right on. The Lord
send thee help from the sanctuary. The Lord send thee help from
heaven. from the true sanctuary. The
Lord, in the days of his humiliation, knew something about help from
heaven. Turn to Matthew 4. This is amazing,
amazing, amazing. Matthew chapter 4. You remember
when the Lord Jesus Christ was in the wilderness of his temptation. The Spirit led him into the wilderness. He was tempted of the devil.
And the Lord faithfully, by his own merit and his own power,
resisted the devil. That's what you just read about
that, Dick, wherever you are. Resist the devil. He'll flee
from you. The Lord alone did that. The
Lord do that. But here the scripture reveals
something, that after the Lord resisted Satan's temptations,
look at Matthew 4, verses 10 and 11. Then saith Jesus unto
him, get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil
leaveth him. Why'd he leave him? Because the
Lord just said, get thee hence, Satan, Satan could be there as
long as the Lord told him he could be there. He's God's devil. He's God's creation. He's the
Lord who rules in heaven and earth. None can stay his hand. You mean not even Satan? None. Get thee hence, Satan. Then the
devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto
him. What, what subjection? Here's our federal head. Here's
one who humbled himself, made himself of no reputation. He knew something of God Almighty
sending help from the sanctuary in the day of his trouble. He
knew that. And now he speaks to us. And here's what he says
to us. according to his obedience being
found in us, the Lord send thee help from the sanctuary. God's gonna send you help. We
have the blessing of those same ministering spirits. I'm convinced,
I'm convinced at this moment, the Lord's here. The Lord's here,
you know that, the Lord's here. And those that would trip us
up are here too. And the ministering spirits are
here too. There's a whole lot going on right now that we can't
say. But this word declares it to
be so. Oh, there's that line, you know,
the spirits of Satan himself, those demons and all that. How much do you think Satan would
want to distract us right now? How much? Quite a bit, quite
a bit. Oh, but God Almighty sends help
from the sanctuary. The Lord send thee help from
the sanctuary and strengthen thee. Send help and strengthen
thee out of Zion. Support, comfort, and refresh
thee out of Zion. Oh, the Lord came into this world,
dwelt among us, lived, died for our sheep, established their
righteousness, that righteousness that's imputed to everyone that
believeth on Him. In His death He bore our sins
upon the tree, putting away those sins, cried from the cross concerning
the work that the Father had given Him to do. It is finished. It's finished. And then after
40 days, 40 days after His resurrection, He ascended up into heaven, Scripture
says. But I'm going to tell you something.
He's not left us to ourselves. He's not left us to ourselves.
He strengtheneth, He supports us out of Zion. I think after carefully, prayerfully
looking at that and seeking the Lord for a good answer, explanation
of that out of Zion. He strengtheneth us out of Zion. I think one of the best explanations
that I can give, and I pray that the Lord bless this to our heart
and understanding, is that parable of the Good Samaritan. There
was a Good Samaritan that had found, the scripture says, a
certain man, I'll tell you the story as I wrap this up, that
had fallen among thieves. He was stripped of his raiment.
He was wounded, left half dead. In the scripture, I mentioned
this last time, but I want to bear out one point here. He came,
the Lord set forth, this good Samaritan came and found this
certain man, wounded, poured in oil and wine into his wounds,
bound him up, put him on his own animal there, and brought
this rescued man, the scripture says, to an inn. And here's a
beautiful picture of God taking care, strengthening his people,
supporting his people out of Zion. That inn is a beautiful
picture of the Lord's physical body, his church, his bride.
And here's the good Samaritan, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has
come to this inn keeper. I believe, at least in type,
I can see A picture of God's preachers for sure. He gave him
two pence. He told him, he said, you take
care of this man till I come back. You watch over him. Now
here's the Lord himself who said, I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. Now here we are. Now here's a
group of people sitting here this morning. And what has God
done for us? Well, I can tell you what we're
doing. We're sitting here in the place of God's provision
in this world. I'm so thankful that we've got
a place, an inn. I'm so thankful that God raises
up innkeepers, innkeepers. The scripture says in Hebrews,
I'll just turn there to you, it's Hebrews 13, 17, but listen
to this. What is the responsibility of
a pastor? Well, I know according to Isaiah
40, verse one, you comfort my people. You tell them, you tell
them their warfare is over. And the Lord has given unto them
double for all their sins. What does that mean, double?
I told you, but it means double, folding over. They're hidden,
hidden, where are they? Far as the east is from the west.
Behind the back of God, I don't know where they are, But I tell
you what, God doesn't remember them. I know that. I know we're
to comfort God's people, but listen to this, Hebrews 13, 17. Obey them that have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy
and not with grief. That's unprofitable to you. God
raises up a pastor. And He gives a pastor a heart
to want to study and want to search the Scriptures. And what
is he doing? He's feeding God's sheep. He's comforting God's people.
Well, who's doing that? The Lord! Whose pastor is he? The Lord's
pastor. Whose church is he? The Lord's
church. What's he doing? Never leaving them. Never forsaking
them. Sending them ministering spirits,
watching over, guiding them by his Holy Spirit, directing, sealing
them. Oh, but he's teaching them. Teaching
them by pastors after his own heart. And they are to feed the
sheep. preach the word of God, preach
the gospel, the bread of heaven, the water of life. Oh, how the
Lord has been pleased to hear his own. The Lord hear thee in
the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee, and send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen
thee out of Zion. Lord, feed us today. Lord, keep us today. Lord, hear
us today, for Christ's sake. Amen.