Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms, chapter 116. Psalms 116. This is actually the passage
of scripture I spoke from for Glenn's funeral. And it was a
blessing to me then. I pray it will be to all of us. Today I've entitled this message,
The Confession of a Believer. I know that truly we all see
in part, we know in part, but that part that we see and know,
we truly see and we truly know. We do see through a glass darkly,
but again we do see. David, or the psalmist, let me
say this, I think it was the psalm of David, but the psalmist
himself, started this and he made this statement under the
inspiration of God's Spirit. I love the Lord. because he hath heard my voice
and my supplications." Now, many people say that. They say those
words. I love the Lord. But do you know it takes a new
heart to say that? No man calleth Jesus Lord except
by the Holy Spirit. And only the Holy Spirit is given
to those that God has everlastingly loved and regenerated. Called out of darkness, gave
them a new heart to know Him. But again, I bring this up often,
but the wording of the Spirit of God is significant. I love
the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. I love Jehovah. It's what the psalmist is saying. I love the Father. I love the
Son. I love the Holy Spirit. I love
electing grace. I love Him who elected a people. I love Him who redeemed His people. I love Him who called them out
of darkness and unbelief. And it's been given as the earnest
of their inheritance. I love the gospel of God. I love Him who keeps His people. God's people love the Lord. We know the foundation of why
they love the Lord is because the Lord first loved them. Nobody
loves the Lord that God didn't love first, but Almighty God
has given them. with love for his people. So
those words are heart words. They rejoice in Christ Jesus. And they have no confidence whatsoever
in the flesh. They love the Lord. Do you love
me, Peter? Lord, you know all things. You
know I love you. Feed my sheep. I love the Lord because he hath
heard my voice and my supplications. has heard me cry unto Him as
a beggar. I cry unto the Lord. I'm convinced God Almighty hears
me. You know how great a comfort
that is. When we assemble ourselves together,
Scripture says in Malachi, when God's people speak one to another
concerning the Lord, the Lord hearkens. He hears. They love Him and He hears them.
He heard my supplication and David said, I love the Lord because
He hath inclined His ear unto me. Therefore will I call upon
Him as long as I live. I love the Lord who condescended
who is bowed and stretched out and applied his ear to hear my
plea for help. He's been gracious to me. He's
been merciful to me. And I'll call upon Him as long
as I live because I'm convinced He that's called me out of darkness
is going to keep me. He promised He would. He said,
I'll never, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you.
I'll never cast those out that come to me. Verse three and four,
the sorrows of death encompassed me, and the pains of hell got
hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow, then
called I upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee,
deliver my soul. The psalmist is saying I was found by sorrow. It found
me, and I found it too. I found something of trouble.
And God's people, being regenerated, they actually experience the
effects of sin. in this world. They feel the
pain. They feel the grief. Paul said,
O wretched man that I am. And they know something of trouble
and sorrow. And they're moved in their heart
to continually cry unto the Lord who alone can help them. That's
what he said. The sorrows of death. The sorrows
of the effects of sin. That's what the psalmist is saying.
The sorrows of it. I see in me, that is in my flesh,
there dwelleth no good thing. Oh, wretched man that I am! The
will is present with me, but how to accomplish that which
I would if I none? Why? Because the sorrows of death
accomplished me. The pains of hell got hold on
me. Oh, and then I found trouble
and sorrow. What did you do? Oh, I called upon the name of
the Lord. Oh, Lord, deliver my soul. Lord, if you don't, I'm going
to perish. I called. Why? Because I didn't
have any other place to go. Like Peter, where are we going
to go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We're sure you're
the Christ. You're the refuge. And that one that the Lord has
shown mercy and given a heart of confession, listen to what
he says in verse 5 and 6 concerning the Lord that he called upon
and the Lord heard him and beseeched him, save, deliver my soul, gracious
is the Lord and righteous. Our God is merciful. The Lord
preserveth. Keeps on preserving. never stops
preserving. The simple. I was brought low
and He helped me. One that's been given a heart
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's His only hope for
life and salvation knows. The Lord must preserve me. He must He must guard me. He
must keep me safe. Why? Because I know and I admit,
I'm just simple. What does that mean? Just simple.
Easily enticed. Easily persuaded in a wrong way. If the Lord doesn't preserve
me, if the Lord doesn't keep me, guess which way I'm going?
the wrong way. I've just got an old man in me
and I'm going to choose the wrong way every time. Psalmist says,
oh the Lord is so gracious, He's so faithful, so truthful. He will do that which is right
according to His good will, pleasure. I was afflicted. I was tried,
He said. And He helped me. He restored
me from danger. Delivered me. And that one that
has been given a new heart to cry unto the Lord knows that
the Scripture bears out that no one has ever been appealing
to the Lord and ever been turned away. Never. I love this Scripture. I read it all the time. John
6.37. that the Father giveth me, shall
come to me. Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. So believing that mercy has already
been granted to those that call upon the Lord, well, the needy
are going to say this. Verse 7 and 8. Return unto thy
rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. Thou has delivered my soul from
death, mine eyes from tears, my feet from falling. I realize, I know this. I love
the Lord. He inclined His ear to me. I
could see the sorrows of death and hell. They had me and I called
on Him. He gave me a heart to call on
Him graciously. Graciously. Mercifully, He's
preserved and He's preserving, keeping this simple sinner. Brought down, He saved me. Therefore,
speaking to Himself by the grace of God, He tells Himself, return
unto Thy rest, my soul. Return from that fear, turmoil. has dealt bountifully with you. He's given you some peace. Be joyful. Oh my soul, calm. Be calm. Be free from alarm. Why? Because verse 8, you delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, My feet from falling,
what you did, Lord you saved me. You saved me. You saved me. You kept my eyes from tears.
Lord, there's tears now, but I know this, there will be no
more tears. And my feet from falling, what
you did, you put me on a rock. And if you didn't tell me that
you had, I wouldn't even know it. Lord, I'm so thankful. And with
a settled and convinced heart, that rescued sinner saved by
the grace of God speaks the resolve of his heart. This is what he
says in verse 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of
the living. He's promised me. He's promised
me. I won't turn you away. I'm not
going to leave you to yourself. He has promised me that I'm going
to live with Him forever. He's given me life. I'm not afraid
that all of my sin that He's put away, His blood cleanseth
me from all sin. So I can rest. I'm going to walk
with the Lord. And then he doesn't say this
out of pride or arrogance, believing in himself that he's never going
to forsake the Lord, but he believes it because he knows that God
keeps His own. And the believer though afflicted,
he confesses with his mouth what he believes in his heart. That's
what he says in verse 10. I believed, therefore have I
spoken. I know where I came from. I know
something of where I came from. Afflicted. Everything that I
thought before, everything that I found in myself to trust in,
I realized this. I was so afflicted. I know that
Almighty God has called me out of darkness. Before He saved
me, I was in danger of death and I didn't know it. I didn't
care. I was in imminent danger because
of sin and unbelief and Almighty God showed mercy. Now I realize something that
I didn't know before. I've been brought to a knowledge
of what salvation is. I realize now you can't trust
what man says. Here's what I know to be a fact. Verse 11. All men are liars. Let God be true and let every
man be a liar. All men lie on God because the
truth is not in them. But when the truth Himself has
taught me of Himself and of His mercy, I realize everything else
that's ever been said concerning Him that's not found in this
book is a lie. And so out of a heart made thankful
for His mercy and compassion not to leave me, here's what
the psalmist says, or asks, verse 12 to 14. What shall I render
unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I'll take the cup
of salvation. I'll call upon the name of the
Lord. I'll pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all of His people. I know this now. I know that salvation is totally
by the grace of God. Therefore, how can I, a rescued
sinner, repay Him for all that He's done for me? I can't. How
can I repay Him? But I'll tell you what a delivered
sinner can do, not for his salvation, but because of it. When he says,
I will take in verse 13, I'm going to lift up. I'm going
to lift up in praise and adoration the cup of salvation. This is
what I'm going to say. Salvation is of the Lord. That's
what I'm going to do. What can I do for Him that's
done all for me? I will extol everybody to everybody
I know. I'll say this. The Lord saved
me without my help, without my work. And I'll call upon the
name of the Lord, confessing that all of the benefits from
His hand, those benefits that He's bestowed upon me, is all
I need for life now and life then. He holds me. And the glorious blessing from
the Lord, that blessing to save His people from their sins, it
was costly. I've spoken out of this passage
of Scripture, verse 15, before precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints. But there was something that
I saw when I was looking over this passage of Scripture the
other day concerning one word in that passage that I'd never
considered before. And it's the word precious. What it means. That word means
costly, costly. You know, you talk about a precious
gem, a precious stone, a precious ring. Well, you're talking about
costly. That's what it is, costly. And
the cost of Almighty God saving His people. precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His saints. What did it cost? It was His own precious Son. What did it cost? The life, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What did it cost? God humbled
Himself. Humility. We talk about this
and I don't even know how to say it. The cost, the high cost
of what we call free grace. Precious. He humbled himself,
made himself of no reputation. This thing of the life of God's
people is not a light thing to the Lord. He would not have His
people perish. So what He did was God so loved
the world, Jew, Gentile, male, female, bond-free, His elect,
He so loved that He gave His only begotten Son, God came in
the person of Christ to live for and die for His elect. And those given a new heart to
know something of what He's done, of the costliness, precious,
costly in the sight of the Lord, is the death. Precious, yes.
Costly, yes. Oh, but to bring them unto Himself.
When the Lord receives one of His own, unto Himself. What did that cost? We talk of
salvation, not for me. I think about how little I think. When the Lord talks about, I'll
never forsake you, I'll never cast you out, Him that cometh
to me, I read that pastor's scripture all the time. You know, Father
I will, Those that You've given me be with me where I am that
they may behold my glory. What did that cost? What was
the cost of that? For the Lord to show mercy and
compassion. What did it cost for God to be
gracious? He's a just God. What did it
cost? It cost Him everything. Everything. The psalmist says in verse 16, With some understanding, the
Spirit of God moved upon him to say this, O Lord, truly, I
am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son
of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. Lord, by your grace, I am a bond
slave. I am your servant, I am made
willing in the day of your power. And I don't want to go anywhere
else. You know the story of the bond slave and had their ear
bored with it all. I don't want to leave. I am your
servant and the son of thine handmaid. the adopted son of
your grace, your handmaid, the bride, your church, the beloved
of the Lord. Lord, you've made me to be so.
And I don't know how to thank you. The first service I preached
on this morning was giving thanks unto the Lord. And how little
we know concerning giving thanks. unto the Lord. Lord, I know this. I'm your servant. You've loosed my bonds. Verse 17 to 19, I will offer
to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of
the Lord. I'm going to read something that
I did preach out of the first service. Calling on the name
of the Lord. Hold your place there. Turn to
105 verse 1. I thought this was fitting and
I want to say something about it. Psalm 105 verse 1. I preached out of the first six
verses here the first time. Oh give thanks unto the Lord.
Call upon His name. name, call upon his name, and
what it meant was address him properly. Address him properly. I've told you this before, and
I know when I first moved here, Glenda told me, she said, well
we just don't always say it like that, and we don't always say
that. I've told you though about being taught In the South, there's
a rule, and it's etched in stone. Whenever you address your mother,
it's always ma'am. And when you address your dad,
it's always sir. Yes sir. If you're asked a question, sir
or ma'am better be in that answer somewhere. Believe me. When we
call, upon the name of the Lord, what it means is to call upon
Him properly. I told the first group, I hear
these disrespectful ways that the Lord is spoken of. They talk
about Him in ways that, as I said the first time, I don't even
want to say it. I don't like the way anybody addresses Him
disrespectfully. He told Moses, at the burning
bush. He said, I am the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. What does that mean? I'm the
covenant God. And when we address the Lord,
we address the Lord like that. We address Him as, Lord, You're
the Lord. You're the electing God, redeeming,
regenerated God. Moses said, who shall I say sent
me? When I go into Egypt, He said, you tell them that I am.
You tell them that I am the all-sufficient, eternal God. I am. You tell them
I am. No beginning. No ending. Almighty
God. Who is He? He's the wonderful,
counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. You call His name Jesus. And
when you say that, you speak that respectfully. Because He's
the Savior. of His people. King of kings
and Lord of lords. Go back to Psalm 116. The psalmist said, I will offer
to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of
the Lord. I'll call upon Him. May the Lord
help us to call upon Him respectfully. When our Lord was going to teach
His disciples to pray, that's what they... Lord teach us to
pray, as John taught His disciples to pray. How did He start that?
Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Lord, You're
holy. The Lord taught His disciples,
when you call upon Him, you call upon Him respectfully. I think
I said, I might have said it Wednesday. I don't even remember
when I said it right now. We don't talk to Him like we talk
to each other. We don't talk to Him in a flippant
way, in a casual way. We speak respectfully unto Him. I will offer to thee the sacrifice
of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord. I
will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all His
people. How is that? He's dead. Thank you. Thank you. You just have to listen to the
first message to understand why I preached on thanks. I don't
want to go back and preach it again. But, thank you. You remember those ten lepers?
The ten lepers. And the Lord said, go show yourselves.
And while they were going, they were all healed. How many of
them came back? What did the Lord say? Weren't
there ten of you? And only one has come back to
what? Give Him thanks. Give Him thanks. I'll pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all His people. That's what we say, don't
we? Lord, we don't know how to thank
You as we ought. We want to. We want to. We don't
thank You as we will. But Lord, we do thank You. In
the courts of the Lord's house in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem,
praise ye the Lord." Address Him. Call upon His name properly. The psalmist said, I love the
Lord. Devils have a fear of Him because of
judgment. Devils can be said to fear Him.
All men, all men, all men, all mankind are His servants in the
sense that everybody, everybody, they're either going to manifest
His mercy and compassion or they're going to manifest His wrath and
judgment. They all serve a purpose. Everybody
serves a purpose. But only God's people love Him,
love Him. I love the Lord. I pray that
God bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.