Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms chapter 3. Psalms 3. Psalms 3. Eight verses in this
psalm. And I've entitled this message,
Arise O Lord, Save Me. Now from the title of this Psalm,
we're told the circumstances which was the means by which
the Spirit of God moved David to pen these verses. It is a Psalm that dealt with
the trial that David suffered when he bled from his son, Absalom. And without a doubt, the circumstances
of this Psalm I actually refer to a part of David's life when
the Lord was pleased to send that which He had promised. David
would be sent because of David's transgression with Bathsheba
and the murder of her husband Uriah. If you want to turn to
2 Samuel 12, read what the Lord promised 2
Samuel chapter 12 to David because of that transgression with Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 12 verse 7 to 12, and
Nathan said to David, thou art the man. You know he told him
a story about a fellow that came into town. You know, had a friend, rich
landowner, and this rich landowner who had a lot of cattle and sheep
and stuff, didn't take one of his. Took one little ewe lamb
that belonged to someone, and that's all he had, took that
lamb. And used that to feed his friend, instead of taking out
of his flock. David heard that story, and it
just infuriated him. Who in the world would do something
like that? And Nathan said, you're the man. Nathan said to David, thou art
the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the
hand of Saul. I gave thee thy master's house,
thy master's wives into thy bosom, I gave thee the house of Israel
and of Judah, and if that had been too little, I would moreover
have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou
despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite
with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and
hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon, Now
therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house because
thou hast despised me and has taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite
to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, behold,
I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house.
I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto
thy neighbor and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of
this son. For thou didst it secretly, but
I will do this thing before all Israel and before the Son. Well, here we learn that the
sins of God's people truly have been purged. Atonement has been
made by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But rest assured,
there's consequences for disobedience in this life. There's consequences.
The Lord didn't cast David out concerning his mercy, but he
promised him. He said, you're going to go the
rest of your life suffering. And here he is, what God promised. He said, you're going to have
tribulation out of your own house. And here's Absalom, and he's
fleeing from Absalom. So, this is truly concerning
David, no doubt. But, in a greater sense, and
we have to remember what the Lord told those two on the road
to Emmaus. He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures those
things concerning Himself. So there's a greater than David
being spoken of here. Truly David, yes, but a greater
than David. A picture, and these are the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that all the scripture
gives glory and honor and praise. He says in verse 1, Lord, Jehovah,
how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up
against me. No doubt. Absalom had stolen,
the scripture says, the hearts of God's people away from his
father, David, and unto himself by flatteries, causing many to
turn away from David. No promise of me, you know, listen,
my dad may not be as sensitive to you, but I will be. You got
a problem, come to me. I've got time. My dad doesn't
have time. He's got things that he's got
to do, but come to me. He stole the people's heart away. And many did. They turned from
David. But what persecutions and afflictions
did our Lord suffer? Let's look at this concerning
the words of our Lord. How are they increased that trouble
me? Isaiah 53.3 says He is despised. and rejected a man, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Isaiah 53 verse 5 says, but he
was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we're healed. You talk about
the grace of God, it's just a continuation of the first message. Talking
about the sufferings of our Lord. So here, we behold the sufferings
that our Lord willingly endured. On the behalf of His sheep, He
came into this world for those that were given Him of the Father. The Father had given Him a people,
a sheep, a bride. And He came into this world for
those particular people that had fallen in Adam's transgression. They were all children of wrath,
even as others. those who were loved, everlastingly
loved, by the one that they despised. He ever loved us, and here he
cries out, I mean from birth, he was hated. Herod, you know,
heard that the king of the Jews, there's a king, where is he? Oh, if you find Him, please come
back. Tell me, tell me where He is
that I can worship Him too. From the cradle, they say, to
the cross. He was despised, rejected, hated
of men. Oh Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Verse 2, many there be that say
of my soul, there is no help for him in God. Many say of my soul. There's no help for him in God. Now, again, we can look at David. I don't want to take anything
away from that. David suffered. He was a man after God's own
heart and the resentment, not only by his son, but I mean through
the scriptures. You can look at Shimei. He came out, David was coming
in, shimmy-eyed, threw rocks at him, cursed him, called him
everything. David realized he was hated,
hated of Saul, but that resentment and hatred that our Lord endured
for many who rose up against Him. When the Lord Jesus Christ
The scripture said, now here's what this verse says, many there
be that say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. There's no help, no help. And
then the spirit of God said, now you pause right there and
think about that lie. You think about that lie that's
being told. That same lie that Satan will
come and insinuate to God's people. Just whatever. When the Lord
Jesus Christ, Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27 verse 39 to 43. Matthew 27 verse 39. They that passed by reviled Him, wagging
their heads. It amazes me. distinctiveness
of the Spirit of God. In their hearts, this is what
they were thinking, but look, the Spirit of God said, you can
write down, they were wagging their heads. You ever see, you
know, I remember, you know, I'd do something my dad would think
was just, you know, hideous, which was often. And look, when
he'd do this, I'd think, man, I've displeased him, you know. They that pass by reviled him,
wagging their heads, and saying, thou that destroyest the temple,
and buildest it in three days. Can you imagine that? They'd
heard him say that. The temple he was talking about
was himself. You destroy this temple, I'll build it in three
days. I'll rise from the graves, what do you say? Save thyself,
if thou be the Son of God, Come down from the cross. Likewise
also the chief priest mocking him with the scribes and elders
said, he saved others himself. He cannot save. If he be the
king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will
believe him. He trusted in God. Let him deliver
him now if you'll have him. For he said, I am the son of
God, the thieves also. which were crucified with him,
cast the same in his teeth. Oh, many there be which say of
my soul, you don't have any help. You have no help in God. God Almighty will not save you. Now, you can say that about David,
but there, you know, Be no help for you, God's not even going
to help you, but you contemplate that lie, as I said, that lie
of Satan, that there would be a possibility that God would
forsake us. They can say there's no help
for Him and God, but the Lord said, I will never leave you. I'm not going to leave you. Now
who are you going to believe? Who are you going to believe?
Are you going to believe myself, my deceitful heart? Are you going
to believe somebody else that doesn't know God? Or are you
going to believe God? And the Spirit of God said, now you think
about that. You think about that trial, that
temptation to stop and think right now. If the Lord would
not sustain me, if the Lord would not uphold me, I would have no help. I love
you, but you can't do anything for my soul. You can't do anything
to keep me. You would probably love to be
able to keep me from straying away and going off, but you can't
control my mind, my heart. That there's no help. You just
stop and meditate on the horror of that vicious lie that is laid
down by the enemies of our souls against the faithfulness and
the promise of Almighty God. We're just frail creatures and
we find ourselves stumbling often. I know that under the weight
of the temptations, but you hear these glorious words of comfort
and truth. David says, verse three and four,
but thou, O Lord, art a shield for me. My glory, the lifter
up of mine head, I cried unto the Lord with my voice and he
heard me out of his holy hill. Pause right there, just pause. They're gonna lie to you, they're
gonna lie to you. You mean to tell me that you
are trusting? You're trusting now. You're going
to tell me you're trusting your eternal son. You mean to tell
me that you are going to stand before God and you don't believe
that there's anything that you can do. You're saying that you
don't think that there's anything that a man or a woman does or
can do. Now we're saying if all you'll
do, all you'll have to do is this. I'm telling you, there's
no help for you. If you listen to that lie, that
salvation is totally Totally, by the grace of God. I know I
didn't do much, but at least I walked down the aisle. I didn't
do much, but I rededicated. I got in the baptismal pool. I
know I didn't do much, but I prayed through. I'm faithful. There's no help for you from
God. I can tell you that if that's all you're going to do. In fact,
that kind of message that you're preaching right there will just
lead to nothing but sin and rebellion. You think you can do anything
you want to do. I am doing what I want to do. And I grieve over
the things that I do, Mark, that I wish I didn't do. But thanks
being to God, I cried to the Lord with my voice. And He heard
me out of the holy hill. Selah. Here's a blessed Blessed promise. That God's people shall never
fall away. Because God keeps them. God loves
them. God sustains them. And He keeps
them through faith. Ready to be revealed in the last
days. And I know we struggle because of another law that's
in our members. That's what the Apostle Paul
says. Bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members. But by the grace of
God, according to the Word of God, being kept by the power
of God, God's people know that I won't stray. I won't stray
everlastingly, eternally. I know even with the frailties
I see in myself, God's greater than my frailties. And it's able. We don't disbelieve Him. Now
the Spirit of God says, now you just pause and think on that. Pause on that. Think. I cried
to the Lord with my voice. He heard me out of His holy hill. That holy hill which the Spirit
of God speaks of is that place where God has been pleased to
establish his presence when the Holy Ghost said in Psalm 2 6,
Yet have I said, I have anointed my king upon my holy hill Zion,
upon the holy hill of his holiness. He spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ
being seated as the head, priest, and redeemer, and savior of his
bride, the church. So David sat as king over Israel,
but the picture and type here is the Lord Jesus Christ ruling
and reigning over his church. So Zion, a picture of a church
over which Christ sits, that place from which Jehovah hears. I'm going to tell you something.
When we cry unto the Lord, do you know why He hears? David
said, I cried and He heard me out of His holy hill. He heard
me for Christ's sake. He heard me for the intercession
of my great high priest. The one that sits over the church
and reigns. He said in verse 5, I laid me
down and slept. I awaked, for the Lord sustained
me. Now, here David, confident in
the Lord God, related how he laid down and slept. He's in
exile, he's fleeing, He laid down peacefully, no doubt, in
the assurance that the Lord God who rules in heaven and earth
would not allow any danger to come to him except that which
would be for God's glory and the good of David. Nothing's
going to happen to me unless God allows it. Somebody said,
you know, well, I got sick. Well, we all get sick. I'm going through this trial.
We all go through trials. But nothing comes our way that
is going to be apart from the everlasting eternal purpose and
will of Almighty God. David said, I laid me down, I
slept, I awaked, for the Lord sustained me. Oh, but keeping
in context, beholding the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord himself in beholding his work of redemption and salvation
for his people. Do we not behold the Lord laying
down his own life that his sheep might live? Think about this
verse as the Lord giving of himself. why God hears us. The Lord has
paid our debt. He's put away the guilt of our
sin. And God the Father hears us as
the Spirit of God directs our hearts to call upon the Lord
for the sake of Christ. And so He gave Himself upon Calvary,
being made sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. But what was due us He bore,
he suffered and died that the justice of the law, that sin
might be paid. Three days later he rose from
the dead. Why? For the Lord sustained him.
Now thinking about the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ
dying on the cross, buried, and rising again that third day.
Now read this verse five. I laid me down I lay down my
sheep. Nobody takes my life from me,
as we said. I lay it down, of myself. I laid
me down and I slept. God's people, when they die in
the Lord, what are they said to do? They're sleeping. And
I wait. Three days later, he came out
of that grave. Why? The Lord sustained him. He said,
you will not suffer your beloved to seek corruption. I came out. It was prophesied
in Psalm 1610, for thou will not leave my soul in hell, the
grave, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to seek corruption.
The Lord God did not allow his son to see corruption of this
flesh. He sustained him and raised him
from the dead. victoriously. And then verse
six and seven, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord,
save me, O my God, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon
the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. Oh, what a joy, what a comfort
to hear the voice of Christ as he speaks unwavering peace in
the midst of such opposition to this world. I'm afraid of
my own shadow. I told you, Glenda gets on to
me all the time. She says, Marvin, you worry about things that nobody
else even thinks about. I know it. I know it. I am. But all the enemies of
Christ are truly the enemies of his people. And the sin, Satan,
the world, me, he conquered. He conquered by the shedding
of his own blood. And now truly, we don't have
anything to fear. I know that. And I still find
myself fearful. But here's what I know. The Lord has put away my sin.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which be in Christ Jesus. Not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. There is no condemnation. If I know Him, if I have truly
been regenerated by the grace of God, I don't have anything
to fear of my eternal soul. I know that. I'm getting older
and I know it. I can't do what I want to do
or could do or used to do. But I know this, I'm going to
die. I know that. But He's promised
to be absent from the body. He's going to be present with
Him. I know that. Well, what do I have to fear? You say, well, what if you get killed?
I'll be with the Lord. I'll not be afraid of 10,000
of people that set themselves against me round about. Arise,
O Lord, save me, O my God. I'll smitten all mine enemies
on the cheekbone, broken the teeth of the ungodly. Why do we have nothing to fear?
Last verse. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. You know, just, if God's blessing, if salvation
belongs to the Lord and it does, and if His blessing is upon His
people, we don't have a problem. We have
no problem whatsoever. The world can say what it will,
that God's done His part, man must do his part, but listen,
salvation, belongs to the Lord. If he'd given me a heart to trust
him. And so Lord, you're gonna send
exactly what you've purposed to send, that's what's coming.
If salvation, or since salvation is yours, and your blessing is
upon thy people, if you've covenanted with yourself Father, Son, Spirit,
to save your own. Lord, I have everything. All the truths that we have to
just stop and don't get ahead of yourself, just stop and pause
and muse upon. Consider this blessed truth. Lord, let me just think on this
for a minute. And Lord, would you bless it
to my heart? And would you give me some understanding? And Lord,
would you comfort my heart with it? I know, I know that all my
enemies, all my enemies, he's just He said, you've taken, you
smitten them on the cheek. You slapped them in the face.
You know, that's always an insult. Somebody slaps you in the face.
He just, Lord save me. For your namesake. Amen.