It's an amazing time sometimes,
I think when it's interesting, because in preparation for the
Bulletin this week, I look back into John 8, I don't know, you
know, as much as I've thought into John 19. And in both those chapters, we
see a very, very graphic display of the enmity that lies in there,
especially religiously, especially the pinnacle of world religion,
against the most holy God. Seems ridiculous, doesn't it?
Anyway, the utter viciousness that I saw in this scene, and no matter who the victim
is, that shocked them, that should shock us, that made me sick,
that should make us sick. How much more if that particular
victim is the King of Glory? How much more to think that this
was in substitution of His people, of ourselves? How much more when we realize
that spiritually This is just how we are, even
believers. We treat our great King and Savior
the same way, spiritually, every day, and even in our best attempts. You see, these men, as with all
of us, rise up. They rise up into They're aided by their manipulation
of this world and the heathen. They're further strengthened
by their numbers. And in outright rebellion, they
act against the sovereignty of their God. It's ridiculous, isn't
it? And yet it comes naturally to
all of us. James tells us that even the devils have the good
sense to tremble before our Most Holy God. Yet man, in his religious blindness,
he actually resists the Most High. He rebels against Him,
and he even attacks Him both physically and spiritually. And yet what is man really before
this great God of ours? Well, in 1 Peter 1.24 we're told,
for all flesh is as grass. Before him, we're as grass. And the glory of man, our strength,
our pinnacle of religion, our things to boast in, our pride,
as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falls away. So Lord willing, this psalm will
remind us of the futility of men, especially in opposition
to the Most High God. and of the incredible security
that believers have in our Lord Jesus Christ. So let's read Psalm
9. It's a psalm to the chief musician,
upon Mother Labbein. It's a psalm of David. I will praise thee, O Lord, with
my whole heart. I will show forth all thy marvellous
works. I will be glad and rejoice in
thee. I will sing praise to thy name,
thou most high. When mine enemies are turned
back, they shall fall and perish in mine, at thy presence. It's amazing, there's such confidence
of faith here as this psalm begins. Such expectation of victory. Now God promised us suffering
in our lives for the sake of the gospel, and yet confident
in our favour, could we just declare his praises despite the That's what evangelism's about.
That's what sermons are about. That's what mutual encouragement
of one another is all about. It's reminding each other from
our own personal experience that our God reigns. And why such
confidence? Well, these witnesses or these
testimonies, they have very real foundations, don't they? They're
built on the Ebenezers of our own relationship with our great
God in our Lord Jesus Christ. And our God inhabits the praises
of his people. So in the midst of our testimonies,
men are actually confronted by the holy presence of God himself. and they're also confronted by
his advocacy on behalf of his people. Now, what a dangerous
place for our enemies to stand in. And yet again, why such confidence? Look at verse four. For, or because,
thou hast maintained my right and my cause. Thou saidst, in
the throne, judging right. All right, well, naturally, all
we have a right to is hell and eternal suffering. That's just
how it is. But in Christ, our Saviour, by
His subjection to the law and His substitution on our behalf
of the cross, we actually have the right now. to enter the holy
presence of our gracious God, and also into the care, protection,
and the guidance of God, the Holy Spirit. And what's our cause? The new
man that's created within us, he just has one cause, doesn't
he? It's a cause given, sustained, The chief cause of a believer
is the glory of our God in the salvation of his people according
to the eternal covenant of God. Brothers and sisters, our cause
is the gospel, isn't it? Because the gospel is the only
way our God can judge rightly regarding sinners like us. And he does so for the sake of
his precious son and who we are in him. In our Lord Jesus Christ,
we fulfill the law of God perfectly. And that means that the law of
God is also our advocate. Paul says in Romans 8, if God
be for us, who can be against us? Look at verse 5. Thou hast rebuked the evil. Thou hast destroyed the wicked. Thou hast called out their name
forever and ever. Now how God does this, and he
has done it throughout this world and history, over and over again,
physically. But this is written in past tangents. All the enemies of God, all those
that aren't in the Lord Jesus Christ, have been determined
by our sovereign God. From before the foundation of
the world, to be vessels of eternal condemnation. So all their attacks
on our God, all their attacks on our Church, will result in
eternal consequences. And why? Because their offences
against an eternal O thou enemy, destructions are
come to a perpetual end. And thou hast destroyed cities,
their memorial is perished with them. So it's no doubt that these enemies
have a painful impact on us. But our Lord Jesus Christ So we need to remember that as
bad as these attacks are, they are just temporary victories. And even more than that, each
of them has been perfectly ordered in the everlasting covenant for
our good, and even more importantly, for our great God's glory. So verse 7, it begins with but,
it's a comparison. In a sense, it's a comparison
between the perpetual end of our enemies and the mischief
and our Lord Jesus Christ. But the laws shall endure forever. He has prepared his throne for
judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to
the people in uprightness. This frame was prepared before
the foundation of the world. John 3 says that men stand condemned
already. and is being judged in perfect
righteousness. Because God's judgment itself
is based on his own holiness. And his judgment is always right. Also, every single individual
will be and is being judged according to their own words. And our God's doing that judging
in perfect uprightness. Now that's just a reference to
the state of an individual, where in this case it's God, regarding
his righteous judgments. That's the outworkings of that
judgment, if you like. Our God is holy, both in his
salvation of his people and in the destruction of the wicked,
eternally in hell. He will judge and does judge
his own people in our Lord Jesus Christ, and no matter what the
trial is, Verse nine, the Lord also, now
this is in and on top of the judgment of this world. The Lord
also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times
of trouble. And they that know thy name. an intimate experience. Those
that have a personal relationship with our God will put their trust
in Him. And the reason for that is because
our Lord has not forsaken them. Why do we seek Him? Because He
first draws us, John 6. And look at the wills there. They're promises from God, aren't they? And why? Because, number
four, our Lord will not leave us nor
forsake us. No, not the trial. And it's a
great reason for us to sing praises to him, isn't it? Look at verse
11 and 12. Sing praises to the Lord, which
dwelleth in Zion. Declare amongst the people his
doings. That's what we're doing here
today. That's what our testimonies are all about. When he maketh
inquisition for blood, he remembereth them. He remembers them in Christ. He forgeteth not the cry of the
hungry. And what's the outworkings of
such amazing grace in our lives? We just pray and we lean harder. Verse 13, have mercy on me, O
LORD. Consider my trouble, which I
suffer, of them that hate me. This is a hatred of the gospel. Consider my trouble, which I
suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from
the gates of hell. What a wonderful description
of our Saviour and his activities in our salvation. Again and again
and again in this world. You see, grace just promotes
a further witness. And what really does that look
like? Is it in religious works? Is
it in morality? Is it in the pomp and ceremony
of religion? No, look at the next line, five
words. I will rejoice in thy salvation. And there's enough power in that
to move earth itself. You see, this is the great confidence
and the expectation of faith that met us in the beginning
of the psalm. And here, the simple God-given
faith is contrasted directly with man's Genesis 3 religious
work and wisdom, by trying to approach our most holy God in
our own righteousness. 15. But who then are sunk down in
the pit that they made? In the net which they hid is
their own foot taken. sunken in the pit of their own
Genesis 3 choice to be as God. In the blindness and the deception
of the net of trying to establish their own righteousness, when
sin is ever present and can only ever be a trap to both ourselves
and also to anyone we influence, in the trap of their own legalism,
they say. Look at verse 16. The Lord is known by the judgment
which He executes. He's known in perfect holiness. The wicked, however, is snared
in the word of His own hands. His own wisdom and words will
never, ever satisfy the consuming fire of God's perfect Oneness. And then we have this word Higeion
and then Selah. We know what Selah is. Higeion
seems to be a musical tone that in a sense instructs even deeper
contemplation. So this is a place of serious
contemplation for us and it's by a two followed encouragement. We've just seen the workings
of the religion of Satan, the religion of the flesh. According
to God, it's the religion of the wicked. We've also seen a
direct and very, very alarming comparison made between the infinite,
holy judgment of God and the self-righteous religion of men. So as we contemplate these things,
what's the result of that legalism, of that rebellion against God
and against His Church? Verse 7, the wicked shall return
to their hell. But amazingly, look at why that
happens. Look at the next verse, verse
18, 4. Because the needy shall not always
be forgotten. The expectation of the poor shall
not perish forever. See, 4 denotes a reason, doesn't
it? The reason that the wicked shall
return to hell and all the nations that forgot God is because the
needy shall not be always forgotten. Our God vindicates His people
in our Lord Jesus Christ. He never ever forgets the offence. Now the world our testimonies, but not our
great God. Look at verse 9. Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the heathen be judged in
thy sight. Now, as I said, this has been
happening throughout the world, and we've seen it. We've seen
it throughout history. But look at verse 20. Put them
in fear, O Lord, And as opposed to that, that the nations might
know themselves to believe but me. Pathetic, weak, insignificant
sinners before an infinitely holy God. Sinner. May our gracious God
continue to remind us in every single circumstance that he alone
is sovereign over all things. May he also remind us that in
our Lord Jesus Christ we are always safe from every enemy. May he continually be pleased
to remind just seen a sight like that. And most of all, may He fill
us with Godly fear and reverence in all things that concern Himself. Heavenly Father, I'm so ashamed
and so embarrassed that again and again and again, we just
reject your grace like we do when we're dead in the garden. Father, I'm sorry that this world
is full of consequences for our sin. But Father, I pray to you that
your God of all, all circumstances and all things are upheld by
your will and your word. All things are directed by your
eternal faithfulness and love for your people. Father, this
world seems ridiculously scary to us in so many ways and so
many times, and so much comes out of left field, but we pray
that you grow that mustard seed of faith that you give us, that
you would strengthen it, and use even the trials and attacks
that come against us for the sake of the gospel, the difficulties
and frailties of our own flesh, In faith, Father, cause us to
cling to you in your Son. Cause us to look to him and study
him and absorb as much as you would allow of him that we might
know our salvation in him as a personal experience. Father,
thank you that you've stood in this church and continue to protect
it and strengthen it. I pray you unite us in the gospel.
I pray for those that can't be here, and I pray even they would
be longing to be here with us in fellowship, and in our hearts
they are. So Father, bring them back to
us. Strengthen us all in our faith, and bless us again and
again by your Spirit, who works so freely in both of you as well.
And Father, cause us to always know that we come into your presence
by one means, in and by, Our precious King and Saviour, our
Lord Jesus Christ. Father, our prayers are always
for your glory. Amen.