Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms. Psalms chapter 65. Psalm 65. I would like to read verses 1 to
4. Psalm 65 verses 1 to 4. says praise, waiteth for thee,
O God, in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O
thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Iniquities prevail against me. As for our transgressions, thou
shalt purge them away. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causeth to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple." Let's pray
together. Our Father, it is so good to
call upon you, and Lord, to want to call on you. to need to call
on you. I pray this morning, Lord, would
you bless the gospel. Would you bless it to the salvation
of sinners. Lord, have mercy. Lord, save
your people. Encourage us. Help us. We need
you this day for Christ's sake. There is no doubt that the Lord
of glory is worthy of praise. We talk about praise. Praise. I looked that word up. It means to boast. To have thanksgiving and adoration. Now, Psalm 717 says, I will praise
the Lord according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the name
of the Lord Most High. Psalm 71 8, Let my mouth be filled
with thy praise and with thy honor all the day. But this passage of Scripture
deals with something that is wonderful. It deals with the
proper way and the proper time that we praise the Lord. We trust Almighty God. The Scripture sets forth in verse
1, When it says, waiteth, you may have it in your margin there,
it says, silent. Praise, silent for thee. Or one of the writers wrote this,
to thee, silence is praise, O God. as your servants according to
your word. Lord, may we be in silence. Silence, peaceful, ready before
you in heart to know the beauty of praise. Silence. Now, I know by experience
And you do too. Those that know Him know by experience
something of the struggles of our flesh that wars against our
true desire. Now, there's two men, there's
two natures. You know this. There's two natures
in a believer. And in a believer, there's that
new man that is given, that is imparted, that is put within. It's a new mind, a new heart,
new spirit, born from above, a new nature. And that new nature,
created in righteousness, the Scripture says, does not sin. That new nature does not sin. And there's an old nature. The nature that we were born
with. Born in Adam. And as we go through
this world, regenerated by the grace of God, we war and strive
and struggle. That old nature. While the new
nature truly loves God. It's born of God. It seeks God. It praises God. It hears from
God. It sees God by faith. And that old nature is ever ready
to war against that new man, struggling against him, striving
against him, fighting against him. That new nature that says,
hey, by the way, hey, you remember when Oh, I'll tell you something
we hadn't thought about in a long time. Listen, that's the old
nature. Forgetful. Forget about it. Struggling. Striving. We know
by experience something of the struggles in our new man against the old
man. You try and see how easy it is
to pray without any obstructions. Why am I thus? As Newton said, why this dull
and lifeless frame? Striving against myself, struggling,
and the new man We'll pray for forgiveness. Remember this, it
was that rebellion of the old man that Christ died for. Not the new man. That old man, that rebel, that
almighty God, everlasting beloved, put away the debt. And here's the new man. Forgive me. Forgive me. It's all about praying for your
enemies. Lord, help me. Lord, have mercy
on me. Struggling. Striving. The highest praise that can be
put forth in our frailty because of the presence of sin His soul
beneath that which is deserving to Him, it is as if in ourselves
we said nothing. Thanks be unto Him. Praise, the
scripture says. Praise waiteth for thee. Praise is silent before thee. Praise is in the heart. Praise,
true praise, true adoration. How the believing struggles with
that. But here's what it says. Praise
waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion. Zion. The church. The bride. Zion. The blessed bride of the Lord
Jesus Christ as she's found in Him. We do praise. God's people praise Him, adore
Him, thank Him, bless Him. Because they have a heart to
now. They want to. They long to. They wait for Him
in silence. Silence? Not... Settleness. Settleness. A settled
heart. Quiet. looking unto him who is
the glorious head of Sion, the church. Hebrews 12.22 said, But
ye are come unto Mount Sion, unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. You know, Babylon, mystery Babylon,
all false religion, What it adores, what it loves, what it seeks
for is everything that is anti-Christ. Brother Henry, I heard Brother
Henry said, he said, false religion is not anti-morality. It's anti-Christ. It's anti-grace. It's anti-God's sovereignty. That's what it's anti. Anti against
him. But in Sion, praise is silence
in the heart. Not outwardly. I know what people
set forth as being praise. And I've said before, if you
watch television and if you try to assume what praise is, it's
always going to be loud. It's going to be self-seeking. I heard someone say one time
there was somebody that was visiting in their congregation. And for
a while, he tried to tolerate it, you know, but somebody would
say something or he'd say something from the pulpit. And he finally went and he said,
listen, would you not do that? Well, I'm just praising the Lord. He said, no, uh-uh. No, you're
drawing attention to yourself. That's what you're doing. You
want everybody to look at you and talk about how spiritual
you are. Oh, look how wonderful. Praise
is silent before God in the church, in the heart, blessing him. In Mount Sinai, there we speak
of Mount Sinai, and we speak of the exact opposite of Mount
Sinai. Sinai speaks of the law, the
covenant of works. Zion speaks of the covenant of
grace. Now Sinai speaks of trying to
approach God based upon my ability, my works of self-righteousness,
my will, my decision. Now Zion is the blessed bride
of the Lord Jesus Christ who approaches Almighty God and accept
it in the Beloved, and she approaches. Waiting on Him. Silent before
Him. Praise waiteth for Thee, O God,
in Zion. That's the only place praise
is found. Quietly. Silently. Waiting. I have no idea. I can't see what
goes on in that new heart. I can't see what's going on.
But Almighty God does. And the scripture says, praise
waiteth, is silent, is settled, is quiet, is not self-seeking
for thee, O God, in Sion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. Unto thee. I looked up. I got to thinking
about that vow unto thee. Vows were something that were
made back in the Old Testament. They would make a vow before
the Lord. It was a vow. It was a promise.
Lord, you do this, I'll do this. Lord, I promise this if you'll
do this. Lord, you get me out of this, I promise I'll do a
vow. And when these vows were made, they were obligated. It didn't take that lightly.
But let me ask you this, what creature can claim to have, and
here's the word where it says, unto thee shall the vow be performed? The word is completed. What creature? What created what? can perform
a vow, complete a vow, a vow that promises God something.
The scripture says, Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion, and
unto thee shall the vow be performed. I can think of one vow that was
made before Almighty God. My man, I can think of one vow
that was made that I'd say, yep, that would be a vow that a man
made and say, that's true, that's true. One vow. It was Jonah,
Jonah that listened to what he said. Jonah 2, 9-10, he said,
I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I
will pay that that I have vowed, and here is what his vow was,
salvations of the Lord. And the scripture says, And the
Lord spake unto the fish that wail, and it vomited out Jonah
upon the dry land. Yes, here's a vow that is absolutely
true. One that in myself or Jonah or
anybody else could never in ourselves perform. Here's what it is. Salvation is all of grace. Salvation
is of the Lord. This is what I vow before Him. Lord, if You don't save me, I'm
doomed. I'm lost. I'm gone. Salvation's
not in a church. Salvation's not in your ability,
your decision. Here's the vow. I'm going to
pay this Lord. Salvation's of you. Delivered. Hall of Grace. But I'll tell you this. Let me
tell you of the one who absolutely, it says, unto thee shall the
vow be performed, absolutely, ultimately, completely, it speaks
of our blessed Savior, Him. The vow promised and performed
can be no other than the vow of the Lord Jesus Christ as the
everlasting surety of God's sheep. The one in whom all of God's
people were chosen, placed the responsibility of their redemption
and salvation and final deliverance unto Almighty God. That was His
work. It was God's command. It was
God's desire. John 4.34, Jesus saith unto them,
My meat, My food, My desire, My want is to do the will of
Him that sent Me. And to finish His word. Paul
the Apostle says, The desire is pleasant with me. I'll be
honest with you. In my new man, and yours too,
Paul says, to will is present with me. To will is present with
me. I desire, I desire, I would long
to walk after Him. I would, I would. Oh, but I see
in me, If that is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. The
desire is present with me, but how to perform that which I would? I find not. I cannot. I cannot not sin. I don't like it. I don't like
it. Oh, wretched man, Paul says that
I am. Here he is, the two men. Here's
a man that loves, desires, and seeks after God's honor. And
here's the same me. Here I am. Oh, wretched man,
I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Well, you know, he will. He will. when we are gloriously separated
from the presence of sin. But I know this. Praise waiteth
for thee, silent before thee, O God in Zion, and unto thee
shall the vow be performed. And I'll tell you, at Calvary,
when our blessed Savior cried forth, It is finished. What, Lord? The vow. I will deliver. I will make good. I and the children
that thou hast given me." Sin was put away. The law was honored. The Father satisfied with the
vow of the Lord Jesus Christ being performed with His blessed
righteousness, His obedience imputed to us Three things I'd
like to say in closing. Three things concerning salvation by grace. The reason of our praise. The
reason of our thanksgiving. The reason of our boasting in
Him. Not in ourselves. Praise. Man by nature is going to praise
himself. This is what I've done. This
is why I'm saved. Jonah, that royal salvation of
the Lord. Praise is the three things in
these last three verses, 2, 3, 4. Here's the first one. We praise Him that His ears are
open unto the cry of His people. Verse 2 says, O thou that hearest
prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. We praise and bless your
holy name that you hear prayer. A believer feeling the weight
of himself, feeling the weight of the presence of sin, feeling
the weight of that body of death, how he praises, thanks, honors,
and boasts him. The Lord of glory Because He
will hear. You know, if you've got somebody
and they just don't want to listen to you. You'd like to make reconciliation. Somebody's been offended. I'd
like to make good on this. I'm sorry. I just want them to
hear me. If I've got to apologize, man,
during the night, Think of something and I think, man, I'll be glad
when 9 o'clock gets here in the morning, 8 o'clock. I just want
to call them. I just want them to hear me. But with Him, oh,
while I'm on my bed, while I'm in the study, while I'm on the
road, while I'm... Oh, thou that hearest prayer,
Lord, that I can speak to you right now, in heart, outwardly,
by myself. Lord, you that hear, you who
never changes, you who ever hears the prayers of needy sinners.
Daniel said, Daniel 9.18, Oh my God, incline thine ear and
hear. Open thine eyes and behold our
desolations and the city which is called by thy name. But we
do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses,
but for thy great mercies. O thou that hearest prayer, Lord,
thank you. Thank you that you would hear
this needy sinner. Thank you. Thank you. Unto thee
shall all flesh come. Now you know. You know. that
that is not setting forth that every individual, without distinction, every individual
is going to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, you know that
because Scripture does not bear that out. You can't prove that
by Scripture. But all those that are weak flesh,
all that the Father has given me, shall come. All flesh, every kindred and
tongue and people and nation. He's the only one that flesh
can come to. What else is a needy sinner going
to approach except God's Lamb? Unto Thee. Coming to rituals, coming to
ordinances, coming to unto thee, unto thee, unto thee shall all
the settledness of God's Word, God's salvation. Lord, I praise
You, thank You, bless You, that all flesh, Jew, Gentile, male,
female, bond-free, all that Almighty God is everlastingly loved, all
needy. Let me ask you this. Do you need to come? Do you desire
to come? If you desire to come, I'll tell
you why. Because He made you willing in
the day of His power. I've said before, you know why
men don't come? They don't want to. They don't
want to. They just don't want to come.
We praise Him, bless Him, Wait for Him. I know this is His prayer. Secondly, we praise Him and bless
Him that He's redeemed us, particularly by grace. Those three iniquities prevail
against me. Words. That's what the word iniquity
is. Words. Iniquities prevail against
me. As for our transgression, thou
shalt purge them away." Words. When confronted with sin in the
Garden of Eden, man fell. Satan's words. Iniquities. prevailed. The Lord had told Adam, in the
day that you eat, and you will, in the day you eat, you're going
to surely die. The words of Satan in the garden
prevailed against mankind. Man fell. My own sins, my own words prevail,
rise up in accusation. and caused me great grief. I
said a while ago when I would praise Him, I find myself so
beaten down because of my frailty. But if it was not for the remembrance
of the atonement which covers all of my iniquities, what would
I do? Iniquities prevail against me. As for our transgressions, thou
shalt purge them away, thou shalt." There's that, the subtleness,
the surety. Oh, that sweet remembrance. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And remember
this, walking after the Spirit, here's what it is. You believe
God. walking after the Spirit. He
believed God. I believe God. Do I see in me,
that is in my flesh, any good thing? No. No. But I know this,
by the grace of God, our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them. All of them. Purge them. Put
them away. And shall never bring them up
again in judgment. Cast them as far as the east
is from the west. His praise waits for thee. And
lastly, we praise Him for electing grace, preserving grace, sure
grace. Verse 4, Blessed is the man whom
thou choosest, causeth to approach unto thee that he may dwell in
thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Here, no doubt,
it's just not up for debate. No question. No. Does God Almighty
choose to show mercy to whomsoever He would? Does He? Blessed. Lord, we thank You and praise
You and bless You. If left to ourselves, What would
we do? What could we do? Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest. Blessed. Accepted in Christ. And causeth to approach unto
thee. Giving a man a new heart, a new
desire, a new longing. I want to. Lord, I want to hear. Lord, I want to pray. I want
to seek You in Your Scriptures. I desire, Lord, causeth, to approach
unto Him with full assurance that we're accepted in the Beloved. Lord, I believe this. Oh, help
me to believe this. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. that I would thank you and praise
you? That you chose to show mercy?
Lord, I know. I know. There's no doubt. There's no doubt, Lord, that
you chose a people. What will you do? Lord, you're
going to cause them to approach unto you. How? How is that? I know this. He's going to put
them under the sound of the gospel. I know that. I know that. I know
that. Does it matter? Does it matter
what a man hears? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel. I wrote an article. It was in the paper. Yesterday,
I started the article off and I said, would you go get your
Bible before you read any more of this article. And I just asked
about five questions. Look in the Scriptures. What
does the Scripture say? Causeth, day of His power, causeth
to approach unto Him. Why? That He may dwell in thy
courts, satisfied, with the goodness of our house, even of our holy
temple. Almighty God works effectually
in His people, causing us to come unto Him in the day of His
power, and accepts them upon the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ,
not because of their righteousnesses, Do you think that Almighty God
is going to accept a man or a woman because they decided to join
a church? Or they decided to walk an aisle? You remember this. Anything that
you think you started to merit salvation, you better finish
it. And you better never deviate
from it. You do and you live. But you can't. You can't. Man approaching Almighty God.
Accepted in the Beloved. Lord, unto Thee, we give all
honor and glory and praise, Lord, that You called us. You chose
us. You drew us. You accepted us. How? In Christ. He calls us. Be satisfied with the goodness
of thy house. I don't even know what that is.
The goodness of thy house. I can tell you this. I know that
it's all in Christ. The goodness of His house, even
in thy holy temple, found in Him. All that He has is ours
being chosen in Him, placed in Him, accepted in Him. that we shall be satisfied. Oh, I think about how satisfied
we are. Really, right now. Believers. Believers truly are satisfied
as we're able to hear the gospel right now. We're thankful. Lord,
it's so good. It's so good just to hear you.
It's so good. It's good to not have to listen
to something that gives man glory. Lord, that we can bask in the
wonder of your grace. It's good to hear. That we're
able to eat and drink of Christ's body and His blood, His life
and His death. Lord, we enjoy the fellowship
of God's people. It's wonderful to be where God
has raised up the gospel. and given a heart that's settled
and thankful. I'm glad I can be here with you.
I'm glad that Almighty God gave me a heart to want to be where
He's honored. But in that day, we shall be
satisfied with the goodness of thy heart. All that Almighty
God has prepared for those things that I hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, that which
God has prepared. What shall it be like? I'll tell
you this, more than you ever thought of, more than I ever
thought of. Lord, help me today. Lord, as I praise and honor and
bless Your holy name, Lord, against the presence of sin and old flesh,
but Lord, I praise you and thank you. I'm not wanting to draw
any attention to myself. And my flesh does. It does. My flesh does. Even right now, trying to find
something to boast in. Well, at least I'm here. At least
I showed up. By the grace of God, you did.
Lord, help us today, for Christ's sake.