I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Psalms. Psalms
143. 143. Before we begin, let's have a
word of prayer. Our Father, we call upon You in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who is the only way unto you. We thank you for a
time that we have to meet together. Lord, I ask you this evening,
bless your word. Lord, it is your word that is
the power of God unto salvation. Have mercy. Lord, we look to
you and expect that which you have eternally purposed shall
be accomplished. Help us to worship tonight for
Christ's sake. Amen. You're there at 143 Psalms and
I'd like to read a scripture out of Luke 11 verse 1. It came to pass that as he was
praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples
said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his
disciples. Lord, teach us to supplicate
to you. Teach us to earnestly with humility,
speak to and ask from the Father. Prayer is the communion of a
believer with God. Prayer is actually speaking from
the heart of a believer. to God. Remember Saul of Tarsus,
he was a Pharisee. He raised up in religion. And after the Lord converted
him on the road to Damascus, the Lord told Ananias, he said,
you go to one Simon's house. There's one there, Saul, Saul
of Tarsus. Behold, he prayeth. Almighty
God gives a new heart. and God's people pray. Prayer is what every believer
does. When the disciples asked the
Lord, that one disciple said, Lord, teach us to pray. The Lord
said, when you pray, say, and he taught them. So believers
pray. And prayer is a private matter. We have public prayer. The men read and at the end of
the service, that man that read, I ask him to lead in prayer.
That is a very weighty issue because you know that everybody's
listening. And you want to sound and say
the right thing, and it's just a weighty thing. But prayer,
really, for the believer, is a very private thing. The Lord
said in Matthew 6, 6, But thou, when thou prayest, enter into
thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, Pray to thy father
which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly. There are some things that a
believer wants to talk about to the Lord, wants to express,
wants to ask. And it's very private. It's between
that believer and the Lord. So prayer is that which a believer
does It's very private. And thirdly, prayer absolutely
requires God. God's Spirit. Romans 8.26 says,
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know
not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
So a believer knows, I know something of my frailty, my inability to
pray. But a believer prays. He must
pray. His heart is drawn to pray. And the Lord who teaches, Lord
teach us to pray, the Lord who teaches His people to pray wisely,
powerfully, lovingly, moves upon them to cry out unto Him. In Psalm 86.7, I know that these
Psalms, most of them were penned by David. Not all of them, but
most of them were penned by David. And this Psalm right here, under
the inspiration of God's Spirit, gives us instruction on when
a believer will truly pray. Psalm 86.7, In the day of my
trouble will I call, upon thee in the day of my trouble." Sadly
to say, when things are not as trying as they maybe have
been, do you ever notice how easily our meditation, our cry,
our prayer, is so empty. Can I say that? In the day of my trouble I will
call upon Thee and here's the expectation in the day of my
trouble for Thou wilt answer me. Now I know that those words
from Psalm 86 7 were really prophetic words for the words of our Lord. Hebrews 5-7, who in the days
of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplication with
strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him
from death and was heard in that He feared. As our representative, as the
God-man, He reverenced God. Isn't that amazing? God manifest
in the flesh, and God in the flesh, the God-man, the Son of
Man, reverenced His Father, reverenced. But let me ask you this, knowing
that those are the words of our Lord, cannot we enter in to that
truth right there, in the day of my trouble I'll call upon
thee. Being one with Him and union
with Him, do not we make those same petitions in the day of
our trouble? And knowing that the Lord is
the one that sends the adversity, that prompts us, that moves us
by His Spirit to call upon Him. Hebrews 12.5 says, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him for whom the Lord loveth. He chasteneth and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. So here's what I know about prayer. A believer prays. He must pray. Private matter. moved and prompted
by the Spirit of God, who helpeth our infirmities. And that moving
cause, the first cause, God Himself, who moves upon His people, rebuking
them, chastening them for sin that dwells within them. He lovingly
chastens His people that they might call upon Him, and He'll
answer. David said in Psalm 119.71, it's
good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes,
thy will, thy rule. It's good. It's good. It's good
that I have to call on the Lord. It's good that I am made to call
on the Lord. It's his love to his people that
prompts them. I know the scripture reveals
that we do not know what to pray. I'm aware of that. But in Psalm
143, and this is not the only Psalm of David's prayer in the
time of adversity. But I can tell you this, though
I admit, and you will too, you that know Him will admit it,
you don't know what to pray either. But the Spirit of God that moved
upon this man to pray, I can truthfully say this is
the desire of my heart. I don't, of myself, I wouldn't
have the capability to word it like this. I wouldn't know what
to say. These words are divinely inspired. This is the word of God. This
is God's word moving upon David to pin these holy men moved. as they were moved upon by God's
Spirit. These words are God-breathed.
So I can truthfully say the Spirit of God caused David to write
these words in a way that the Spirit of God moved him to write
them. But I agree with this. And I know you know him well
too. Listen to this prayer. Listen to this prayer. Written
at the hand of a sinner. but one that knew God and one
that, obviously, the Lord loved. Psalm 143, verse 1. Here's the petition. Hear my
prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications.
In thy faithfulness, answer me. And in thy righteousness, Lord,
hear me and give regard to. Hear me. Oh Lord, give ear, regard,
hear my supplication, hear my prayer, Lord, with a regard for
what I ask. Lord, I don't plead my faithfulness. I don't plead my faithfulness,
Lord, in thy faithfulness, answer me. I want you to hold your place
there. Turn over to Psalm 86. Psalm
86. Psalm 86 verse 6 and 7. Psalm 86 verse 6 and 7, Give
ear, O Lord, unto my prayer, and attend to the voice of my
supplication. In the day of my trouble I will
call upon Thee, for Thou wilt answer me. Now I'm going to tell
you something, David wasn't making a statement there presumptuously. Again, the Spirit of God moved
upon David to write that. It was the Spirit of God that
says, In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee, for thou
wilt answer me. David, back in 143 verse 1, Hear
my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my supplications in thy faithfulness. Lord, according to your word,
according to what you said, Lord, give ear and answer me, not according,
Lord, to my faithfulness, but according to your faithfulness
to your Word. Your Word is not going to go
forth and return void unto you, Lord. You said that you'd answer. Lord, hear my prayer and in thy
faithfulness answer me and in thy righteousness, not in mine,
What righteousness do I have that would move God to answer
me? But Lord, in Thy righteousness,
for Christ's sake, who is the righteousness of God? He is the
righteousness of His people. Lord, according to Your faithfulness
and in Thy righteousness, Hear my prayer and give ear, O Lord,
and enter not into judgment with thy servant. For in thy sight
shall no man living be justified. Lord, I know this. All men, all
women, all mankind is going to stand before you in judgment.
And Lord, I know this, that all men born in Adam deserve in themselves. I know what we all deserve. We all deserve condemnation. No man in himself is just. But Lord, have mercy upon me. According to your everlasting
covenant of grace, David said, this is all my salvation. This
is all my self. He has made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Lord, my only hope
is that you, according to your will and your purpose and for
Christ's sake, pardon me, Lord, accept me In the Lord Jesus Christ,
I know that by the deeds of the law shall no man be justified. Lord, for Christ's sake, enter
not into judgment with thy servant. Lord, keep me. Help me. Lord, save me. Look at verse
3 and 4. For the enemy hath persecuted
my soul, He has smitten my life down to the ground. He has made
me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Therefore
is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. Let me ask you this. The enemy
that has persecuted my soul, what enemy is that? Sin. Sin. By one man's disobedience, sin
entered into this world. And death by sin. Sin. The enemy has persecuted
my soul. I died. In Adam, I died. In Adam, I rebelled. And this
enemy has smitten my life down to the ground, made me to dwell
in darkness as those that have been long dead. The enemy has
beat me to pieces. I'm a sinner. I am a sinner. And Lord, I'm asking you to hear
my prayer and give ear to my supplications. Lord, not up for
my righteousness, but in your righteousness and your faithfulness.
Lord, don't judge me. Lord, look upon me in Christ.
Have mercy upon this sinner. He said, I'm one that has long
since been as if I was in the grave, one who's abode is gloom. I'm walking around right now
in a body of death. Who shall separate me from the
body of this death? He will. He will. Verse 5, I
remember the days of old, I meditate on all thy works, I muse on the
work of thy hands. David is now going through and
some writers said this was when Absalom was after him and some
said this was this and some said this. I'm going to tell you this,
every believer, When the Lord, by his loving chastisement, brings
that believer to whatever, or by whatever means, the Lord is
pleased, a believer prays. And he prayed just like this.
He read these words. That's why when we read these
words, I was telling some of the ladies a while ago, I remember
Brother Henry saying one time, he said, a believer may be asked
by someone, well, what do you believe? And they said, And he
said they'll stammer and stutter and try to think of everything
that they've ever heard. And they just have a hard time
setting it forth. What I believe. How do you set
forth in two or three sentences what you've listened to for years
and years and years? But when somebody stands up and
takes God's word and just goes line by line, verse by verse,
says this is what the Lord has to say, they say that's what
I believe right there. That's what I believe. I can't verbalize
these words as the Spirit of God moved upon David to verbalize
these words, but this is the prayer of my heart. I want the
Lord to hear me. I don't want God to judge me.
I don't want God to enter into judgment against me. I want the
Lord. I want the Lord to save me, to
keep me. I want God Almighty to have mercy
upon me. David said, I remember the days
of old. Now whether or not he was talking
about younger, when he was delivered from the lion and the bear, Goliath
or something. But he said, I remember, I remember
the days of old. I meditate on all thy works. I muse on the work of thy hands. Lord, what you've done, how you've
delivered. I remember those things. But
then he could have been talking about the works of God's hands
in providence, in creation, in salvation. Lord, you're sovereign. I'm mused upon these things.
I'm speaking to God. I am pouring out my heart to
Him who knows and who cares for His people. Casting their cares
upon Him because He careth for you. And then David said in verse
six, I stretch forth my hands unto thee. My soul thirsteth
after thee as a thirsty land. See law. Lord, you're the fountain
of life. The fountain of life is not in
a work, in a baptism, in a walking down the aisle. Lord, I stretch
forth my hands unto Thee. My soul thirsteth after Thee
as a thirsty land. Lord, I thirst for You in a land
that offers no refreshment. God's people are in this world,
but they're not of it. And they know that there's nothing
in this world that gives them any refreshment. Let me tell
you where refreshment is, where refreshment for a believer is. It's in Him. I stretch forth
my hands unto Thee. Lord, whom do I have in heaven
but You? Lord, you are my life, you are
my hope. I know, I know that there is
none other. Lord, communion and fellowship
with you is the only relief for a thirsty soul. Those made so
by grace. Matthew 5, 6, Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled. I was going over these notes
today and I was thinking to myself, Lord, if you did not give me
a thirst for you, I'd perish. I'd perish. Lord, I would find satisfaction
in the fleeting things of this world. Lord, I stretch forth
my hands unto Thee, my soul thirsteth after Thee as a thirsty land. Meditate on that. Verse 7. Hear
me speedily, O Lord. My spirit faileth. Hide not thy
face from me, lest I be likened to them that go down into the
pit. In verse 1, he said, hear my
prayer, O Lord. Verse 7, he says, hear me speedily,
O Lord. Lord, answer me quickly. Lord, help me now. Help me now. I need you now. And you know what? He will. He will. I want you to hold your
place there. Turn to Daniel 9.20. Daniel,
that's right after the book of Ezekiel. Daniel chapter 9, verse
20. Daniel 9.20 and 21, Daniel says,
and whilst I was speaking and praying, Daniel 9.20, whilst
I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin, and the sin
of my people, Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord
my God for the holy mountain of my God. Yea, whilst I was
speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen
in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly touched
me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me,
and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth
to give thee skill and understanding. I want you to notice, I have
in the margin of my Bible, in verse 21, it said, I've seen
in the vision beginning being caused to fly swiftly. My margin says, with weariness. This angel, this man, the man
Gabriel, came flying swiftly with weariness. I think upon that, I think about
the truthfulness of Scripture. He came flying with weariness
swiftly to inform me. of what God had to say. David
said, hear me speedily, O Lord. Listen to Isaiah, Isaiah 65. This is Isaiah 65, verse 24. Listen to the blessedness of
this word. Here's the promise of God. It shall come to pass
that before they call, I will answer. And while they're yet
speaking, I will hear. Before they call, the Lord, who
prompts the prayer, knows what they're going to ask. Because
he's the one that moved upon them to ask for it. And he says,
before they ask, I'll hear. I'll hear. Hear me speedily. My spirit faileth. Lord, here I am without strength
except for you. When the Lord who is our strength,
Lord, my spirit fails. Lord, hear me quickly. Hear me
swiftly, speedily. Hide not thy face from me. Lord, don't delay. to look upon
me favorably. Don't fail, Lord, for your sake,
the sake of Christ, for my eternal good. Lord, don't hide your face
from me. Lift up the light of your countenance
upon me. Lord, lest I be like them that
go down to the pit. Lord, unless you help me, I have
no hope. Lord, unless you look upon me
in favor, Lord, if you hide your face from me, your countenance
from me, I'm gone. Cause me to hear the loving kindness
in the morning, for in thee do I trust. Cause me to know the
way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto thee. Permit me to hear from you in
the language of your favor speedily early. Lord, give me the assurance
of your mercy. Lord, speak to me and cause me
to hear with new ears that you've given. Cause me to hear thy loving
kindness in the morning early. For in thee do I trust. I have no other confidence. I
can't trust myself. And you know that you can't trust
me. I'll fail you. What can I do?
Lord, in you I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein
I should walk. Guide me by thy spirit. Lord,
direct me according to your word, and your will, and your purpose,
and your pleasure. For I lift up my soul unto you
in prayer. Listen to this promise, Matthew
7, 7. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. He that seeketh, findeth. To him that knocketh, it shall
be opened." I don't know what to ask for, or seek for, or knock
for. But I can tell you this, the
prayer of this sinner, moved upon by the Spirit of God, gives
me some great hope and things to ask. You know, I can ask Him,
Lord, hear me speedily. Hear me quickly. Cause me, Lord,
to hear of your loving kindness in the morning. I trust in you.
I lift up my soul under you. Verse nine, deliver me, O Lord,
from mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me.
Psalm 69, 14 says, deliver me out of the mire. Let me not sink. You know, I think upon that and
I think, Lord, in the mire of this world, the things of this
world, the cares of this world, Lord, deliver me. Deliver me
from myself, from this world. Deliver me from the bondage of
Satan. Let me be delivered from them
that hate me. out of the deep waters. I flee
unto thee to hide me." The margin says, when it says, I flee unto
thee, it says, hide me with thee. Hide me with yourself. If I can be found hidden in my
refuge, I'm hidden. Verse 10, teach me to do thy
will for thou art my God. Thy spirit is good. Lead me into the land of uprightness. Teach me to do thy will. John 6, 38. John 6, 38. Teach me to do thy
will. The Lord speaking John 6, 38
to 40 says, for I came down from heaven, not to do mine own
will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will, which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing, which should raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day." David prayed Verse 10, 143, Teach me to do thy will,
for thou art my God. This is the will of God, according
to John 6, that Christ is the surety and the salvation of God's
elect. That's the will of God. I came
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the will of Him that sent me. Of all which He has
given me, I should lose nothing. That's His will. I know that's
the will of God. But I know this, this is the
will of God that I believe on Him for life. And this is the
will of God that you believe, that you believe. Lord, teach
me to do Thy will. Teach me to believe You. Guide
me, direct me, keep me. Quicken me, verse 11, O Lord,
for Thy name's sake. For thy righteousness sake, bring
my soul out of trouble. Lord, I know this. Being born
again, I know, according to Ephesians 2.1, you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sin. I know this. I know that the
Lord has made me alive. If I'm alive, the Lord made me
alive. The Lord quickened me. But I'm
telling you that not only does a believer pray, quicken me,
O Lord, because of what the Lord has done. That word also means
revive. Revive. Revive your work of grace. Cheer my drooping spirit. Lord, I'm in a world that plagues
me on all sides. Sin without, sin within. Lord,
quicken me, revive me, lift me up, Lord, by your word, through
the hearing of the gospel, through the searching of scriptures,
through crying out upon you, quicken me, quicken me for thy
name's sake. Lord, for your honor, Lord, that
you might be glorified, quicken me. For thy righteousness' sake,
bring my soul out of trouble. Unbelief so easily besets me. Temptation of Satan is ever with
me. I'm always filled with doubts
and fears. Someone will say, well, I'm never
filled with doubts and fears. Well, I am. I just find myself wavering and
I just, Lord, Revive me for thy name's sake, for thy righteousness'
sake, bring my soul out of trouble. And then the scripture says in
verse 12, And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy
all them that afflict my soul, for I am thy servant. The literal
of that is in your mercy. In your mercy to me cut off mine
enemies, and destroy them that afflict my soul. Christ was made
sin, the scripture says, for his people, for us. He who knew
no sin, he was made sin. Suffered the penalty of God's
justice, justice of the law, soul that sinneth, and he knew
no sin but was made sin. And where sin was found, The
law demanded justice. Justice. And God Almighty slew
His Son, forsook His Son, and He died. He died. The scripture says,
no man takes my life from me, I lay it down. He gave up the
ghost. But here is an amazing thought,
and I can't explain this. One God. One God. God-Man. God-Man. The Christ. And God who cannot
die. The scripture said, He gave up
the ghost. Now, these things are too high
for me, but I can tell you this. He being made sin for his people,
put away the debt that his people owed to the law. And now, for
God's people, sin shall not have dominion over them. He was made
sin and paid the penalty of it for his sheep. Satan's head and
power has been crushed. The Lord's people have been delivered
from the captivity of Satan, and in regenerating grace, they
know it. And then 1 Corinthians 15, 25,
26, For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his
feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. And then 1 Corinthians 15, 55,
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Last Tuesday noon, I preached
Brother Maurice Montgomery's funeral and I spoke to the people
and I told them, I said, every time we come to a funeral, I
know that As far as people are concerned, nobody ever leaves
this world not knowing God. Everybody knows God. But I can
tell you this, for a believer we have God's Word on this. Blessed in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints. But why do we have that hope?
Why? And I looked over and Book of
Luke, and there was a story about a funeral procession that was
taking place in a city called Nain. I may preach on this here,
but the Lord came up to that funeral procession and he touched
the beer, B-I-E-R, the board that the coffin was sitting on.
He touched it and they stopped. This boy's mama, scripture says,
was a widow woman. Her husband had died, now her
only son had died. And the Lord touched that beer. You know, the Lord forbid that
you touch anything concerning death. You'd be ceremonially
unclean. Our Lord touched that, which
was forbidden by the law. He was made sin, associated himself
with that boy's death, right there. That boy was a picture
of every object of God's mercy. And he stopped that funeral procession.
And I said, you want to know the hope that a believer has? I said, here it is set forth
in this story of a funeral. He touched that beer and he said,
young man, He was talking to a dead boy. That boy was dead. He said, young man, I say unto
thee, arise. And the boy arose and began to
speak. You want to know the hope that
a believer has is that the Lord Jesus Christ would cross his
path and speak to him in power and call him out of darkness
Ezekiel, can these bones live? Lord, you know. He said, you
preach to them, and I'll cause life to come. Of thy mercy, cut off mine enemies. He's dealt with sin, Satan, death,
grave. And destroy all them that afflict
my soul. And here's the reason. Lord,
I'm your servant. Lord, you made me. Lord, you chose me in Christ. I fell in Adam. Lord, you redeemed
me. You regenerated me, made me willing
in the day of your power. I'm your bond slave. I'm your
servant. Lord, have mercy. This is the
prayer of a needy sinner. Lord, for Christ's sake, hear
my prayer.