I'd like to go back and look
at the God that Elisha saw represented around about him. It's a remarkable thing to consider
who's we are and what is going on. What is going on right now? The Lord says, you don't dare,
you people of God, to despise the day of small things. Elisha
was just one man with one servant. Elijah before him was one man
with one servant. And Elisha despaired of the fact
that he was the only one left. And God says, don't you worry,
Elisha. I have reserved for myself 7,000 who haven't bowed the knee
to Baal. Why didn't I bow the knee to
Baal? Because I've reserved them. Psalm 57 speaks wonderfully of
who our God is. And our God is declared in His
character and His work, isn't it? It's the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. It's the Lamb of God who was
slain from the foundation of the world. And my prayer this
week is that we would now be given once again the opportunity
to see God with the eyes of faith eyes that see and should see
all the things of God. If the Lord would just give us
eyes to see like that blind man in John chapter 9, they'd see.
What's going on right now? God, God that we'll read about
in Psalm 57, has ordained from the foundation of the world that
we would be gathered here and others wouldn't be gathered here.
This is God's ordained gathering for this day. And who else is here? Ben read about those angels that
were encamped about Elisha. God says the angels are encamped
around the gathering of his people. I don't have to see them to know
that they're there. God says the angels are in attendance. The Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty
Himself, has promised to be where He gathers His people together
and He proclaims, He is proclaimed in the preaching of the Gospel
by the power of the Holy Spirit, taking the Word of God and taking
the Word who is the Word of God and taking the things of the
Lord Jesus Christ and revealing them to people. I don't know
what's on your heart, I don't know what's on the heart of people
that come here. All I know is that God's promised to speak
to his people through his word. And speak to them, and when he
does speak to them, he's gonna speak to them of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's gonna speak to them of our husband and our redeemer
and our friend and our God. The one that is above all things
and rules all things. The one who is God of gods. The one who is our savior. Also,
when we gather here, where God gathers his people together,
we're in the presence of the blood-born children of God. God honors them. God watches
over them. God protects them. The most dangerous
place you can be on this planet is between arms and he carries them through
this world. The Holy Spirit has promised
to be the revealer. He has written these words that
we read in this book. He's written them for us, for
our understanding, for our knowledge, so that we would simply find
ourselves hiding under the shadow of his wings. That is something of what is
to be seen, which is why it's so glorious to come to a psalm
like Psalm 57, and I'll just briefly explain the verses, and
I want you to pray with me, that the Lord would open your eyes,
that you would see him as he's declared here, because this is
who he is. And these are the cries of David when he fled from
Saul and he hid in the cave. You remember that David was hunted
for the best part of 20 years by Saul, like a rabid dog, wasn't
he? He was hunted here and he was hunted there. And he hid
in a cave, and it's remarkable, you can read about it in 1 Samuel
22, he was hidden in that cave. And who was in the cave with
him? Who came to him in the cave?
This is a great description of the Lord gathering his people
together. You can read it in 1 Samuel 22. It says, those that
were in distress came to him. Those that were in debt came
to him. Those that were discontented,
they gathered themselves unto him, and he became the captain
of them. That was what was going on. Anyone
here in distress? Anyone here in debt? We owe God
a debt of perfect holiness. in this world, distressed and
discontented. It's a great picture of the shepherd
gathering his people together. He was a king who had no throne. Was he still a king? Would you
have rather been David hiding a cave or Saul sitting in a palace
back in Jerusalem? I know where I'd rather be every
single time. Why was David better off? Because God was with him. Saul eventually goes mad and
commits suicide. But this is the cry of that man,
surrounded by those who came to him in that cave. And he had
every reason to fear for his life. Saul was persecuting him
and Saul was determined that he'd kill him. And if you read
the story of Saul, you see that he becomes more and more mad
and more and more irrational as time goes on. And so he's
liable to do anything. So David had every reason to
be hiding in a cave, but he wasn't one. You're never alone. You can't be alone, brothers
and sisters in Christ. And this is the cry. This is
just a glorious cry, isn't it? Be merciful unto me, our God. Be merciful unto me. When things
are repeated in Hebrew, it's to express the gravity of it
and the urgency of it. Be merciful. Be merciful. That's the cry of all the children
of God, isn't it? Be merciful. Be merciful to me. Be merciful to those I love.
Be merciful. Our God delights to show mercy. But look what his mercy's done
in the heart of David. Because, for, My soul trusteth in thee. His trust was a soul trust, wasn't
it? His trust came from his very
heart. His very heart was bound up with
the life of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. My soul trusteth in thee
to know him. To know him is to trust him. To know Him is to cry out to
Him. To know Him is to call out for
Him to be merciful to me. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge. And there are many references
to the shadow of the wings. And I love to picture the fact
that when Solomon built that temple and they built the Holy
of Holies, which is a cube, and those angels which overshadowed
them, as you see, were fixed with their eyes looking down
on the blood of the eternal covenant and their wings. You couldn't
be of the wings because the wings touched the wall touched each
other and touched the wall so to be in the holy of holies is
to be under the wings if you go i'll just read it from you
but you can read the story of ruth and ruth's just a glorious
picture of the gospel Boaz has Ruth in his field by the providence
of God and he says to her, the Lord recompensed thy work and
a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel under
whose wings thou art come to trust. Ruth chapter two, verse
12, under whose wings. I'm going to make my refuge,
my hiding place, I'm going to make my hiding place under your
wings, under your wings, until, until these calamities are over
past. Faith cries to the Lord. Faith hives under the Lord, and
a child of faith lives in a world where there are calamities. You
will have troubles, brothers and sisters. In this world, you're
either coming out of trouble, or you're in them, or you're
going into them. It is just the life of God's
people in this world. But what a glorious God we have
in the midst of all those things, under those calamities. And don't
forget what he says, they will pass. They are just for a season. They will pass, I'll hide myself. I'll hide myself under the shadow
of your wings. Verse two, I will cry unto God
most high. I will cry unto God most high. Our God, I just love that. I
love that description of our God most high. It means, To be
above and to be in control of absolutely everything. He controls the thoughts that
you have. And some might object to that.
And he controls that thought as well. Our God is absolutely
and utterly sovereign, and he's absolutely and utterly sovereign
over the free and uncoerced actions of all men. Our God is absolutely
sovereign. He cannot possibly be working
all things for the good of those who love him and those who are
according to his purpose, unless he absolutely controls everything. I just love to think of that,
all the circumstances of David's life, from his calling when he
was a rejected shepherd boy, his father didn't even bring
him in to be presented to Samuel, if you remember, to his defeating
of Goliath, to his covenant with Jonathan, to his extraordinary
victories, God was with him all the time. I will cry unto God
most high, but listen to this. This is what the most high God
does. It's a glorious comfort for the
children of God. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth, that word performeth, for me. Blessed is the man that
God chooses and causes to come to Him. Our God, all that the
Father gives me will come to me and all that come to me I'll
never cast them out, I've got no reason to ever cast them out.
Our God, our God performs all things for me. There are so many
references to this in the book of God that I'm happy to come
and share them with you. God says in Ephesians chapter
two verse seven, for we are his workmanship, that means masterpiece,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. We should walk in them. You know that verse in Philippians
chapter two, isn't it? He says, Work out, Philippians 2.12, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. You're in the
presence of Almighty God with fear and trembling because it
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure. There's no salvation It's the gift of God. There's
no faith, there's no real saving faith unless there is a revelation
of God to you, because you must see him as he is to have saving
faith in him. He's the revealer, isn't he?
Where does that come? Does that come because you've
done something and done some study, or has it become because
God has come in power and revealed himself? Back over in Philippians
chapter one, verse six, it says, this is Paul's confidence. that
he which began good work in you, who began the good work? God
began the good work. If there's a good work in you,
God began it. There has to be. There's nothing good in us. He
that began a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. God works in the hearts of all
of his people. He works, doesn't he? And the
sign of his working is that he brings his people together. He
brings his people to a place where they hear the gospel. He
brings them to a place of saving faith in them. The God of peace,
I love it, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 22, and the very God
of peace sanctify you, which means to make you holy, sanctify
you wholly, sanctify you completely. I pray, God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. God performs it. Listen to what
he says. Faithful is he that calls you,
and keeps on calling you to himself. How faithful he that calls you,
who also will do it. Oh brothers and sisters, if you're
a mercy beggar, if you're a mercy beggar and you're crying out
to God, He will cause you to see him as he is. I'll cry unto
God most high. What a glorious verse of scripture.
Verse three, he shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach
of him that would swallow me up, Thiela. God shall send forth
his mercy and truth. is how he performs all things
for me this is how he perfects all things for me doesn't he
he sends from heaven who does he send from heaven he sends
his son and he and the father and the son send the holy spirit
he sends him to us he shall send Christ coming down from heaven
is God performing all things for me. And he shall save me
from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. There are
so many things that will swallow us up, isn't it? Satan walks
around this world like a roaring lion, seeking those whom he made
avow. There are evil men in positions
of great power, and there are so many things that we feel could
just swallow us up. The greatest fear I have is not
any of those things external to me. The greatest thing that
I fear might swallow me up is me. The sin that's in me all
the time, the sin that I see, the weakness and the frailty
I see in myself. But He will save me. He will
save me. He's going to save you. He's
going to save you from himself. He's going to save you from Satan.
He's going to save you from this world. He's going to save you
from evil men. And He'll save you from himself.
And He's going to perform all things for you. God shall send,
he'll send from heaven, but he shall send his mercy and truth. He shall send his mercy and truth. There is no salvation without
mercy and without truth. Listen to what our God says in
Psalm 85 verse 10. This is a glorious, glorious
verse of scripture. Mercy and truth are met together. This is His glorious goal. Mercy
and truth meet on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Righteousness and truth have
kissed each other. The mercy of God is the truth
of who God is. God delights to show mercy. He
delights to show mercy. There is no mercy without the
truth. He who is the truth revealed.
Truth shall spring out of the earth. That's the Lord Jesus
Christ and his resurrection. And righteousness shall look
down from heaven. God shall send forth his Son
from heaven. He'll send forth his merciful
one. He'll send forth the one who
is the truth. and he'll save me. He's gonna save you by mercy
and truth. His iniquity, a purge. Verse
four, my soul is among lions. I lie even among them that are
set on fire, even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and
arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. Satan is a roaring lion,
as I said earlier, seeking whom he may devour. in all of this
work, isn't it? The focus of all of Satan's activities
is to take your eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ, to take your
eyes off the perfection of his sacrifice, to take your eyes
off the Lord Jesus Christ and the glory of what he achieved
on the cross of Calvary. You go to a false religion in
this world that's inspired and controlled by Satan, you'll find
that common denominator over every single little bit of it.
They will want to say something that denies the deity, the successful
substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That somehow they'll
believe, and they'll say to all over, they'll believe they have
a right to say out to people in this world that God loves
you and Jesus died for you. If God loves you, you're saved.
If Jesus died for you, you are saved. It cannot possibly be
that God Almighty could put the sins of you on His Son and punish
those sins and ever punish those sins again. You must be saved. Everyone that the Lord Jesus
Christ died for is saved. That is what salvation is. That's
mercy and truth. My soul, I lie. I lie. In the midst of all of these
lies, I lie. You would think he'd be running
away. That word lie means to be in his safety and in his protection. He makes his people to lie down
in the forest, doesn't he? He makes his people to lie down
in this valley of the shadow of death, and he leads them by
those rivers of living water to see who he is. Even among
the sons of men, and this is what hurts most, isn't it? People
say words don't hurt me. Rubbish. Absolute rubbish. Words hurt. Words hurt. Words hurt long, long, long into
your life. And if you were able to examine
some of the deepest hurts you've ever felt and feel for years
and years and years, it was things that might have been said to
you when you were very, very small. They hurt. Words hurt. Words hurt. And we don't forget
them. But, in the midst of all that, our
God will save us. Our God will save us, we're in,
we lie in the midst of that, we're in a place of safety. His
safety and His protection is what that word lie means. Verse
five, and in the midst of all of this, he says, be thou exalted,
O God, above the heavens. Isn't that your desire? Isn't
that your desire that God would be exalted above the heavens,
that God would be seen as glorious? Let thy glory be above all the
earth. As I said earlier, to know Him
in His absolute sovereignty, to know Him in His holiness,
to know Him in His powerfulness, to know Him in His grace, in
His salvation, to know Him is to cry out to Him, to know Him
is to look to Him to perform all things, to know Him is to
look. And know that He will protect you from the reproach of those
that swallow you up. This is our God. that our God will be exalted.
His name will be glorious. If you go to the last days and
hours of the Lord Jesus on this cross, and especially on this
earth, before he went to the cross, you will see in John 17
and in other passages, John 12, continually the Lord Jesus Christ
is saying, Father glorify your Son. your glory. God the Father will
glorify the Son. Verse 6. They have prepared a
net for my step, my soul is bowed down, they have digged a pit
before me. In the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. You
just have to read the story of the rest of Saul's life and you'll
know what has happened to all of those who are still opposed You be warned, brothers and sisters,
you will see it. You will see that those who treat
God and his people with lightness and with contempt will fall into
a pit. They dig a pit to entrap the
people of God. Think of the Lord Jesus Christ
as he walked through this. Those Pharisees, they were setting
a trap and setting a trap. Those brilliant men in Jerusalem
spent three years trying to set a trap for the Lord Jesus Christ,
who fell into the trap. Who fell into trouble? Our God's
bigger than all this. Our God's bigger than all this.
My heart is fixed. Oh my God, may God allow this
to be our portion. My heart is fixed, our God. That
word fixed means founded. My heart is founded. This is
the foundation upon which I live in this world, my heart is fixed.
I will sing and give praise. This is the foundation, this
is the sure foundation for your soul in the midst of this world
of trial and trouble and enemies without and within. They'll say,
Awake my glory. Awake. I love how the Psalmist
keeps repeating this, isn't it? My heart is fixed, my hunt is
fixed. Awake my glory, awake. That word awake means to rise
up. It's speaking of the resurrection. Who is my glory? The Lord Jesus
Christ is the glory of all of his people. He's the glory of
heaven. psaltery and harp. Wake those
instruments that sing of his praises. I myself will wake early. This is not about you getting
out of bed early. Good thing if you do. Good thing if you
don't. These days I love the opportunities
and the very rare mornings that I get to sleep in. I rejoice. I just rejoice in late mornings.
If you do get up early, and it's a wonderful thing, I enjoy it
very, very much. I just don't tell anyone about
it. I will praise Thee. I will praise Thee, O Lord, among
the people. I will praise Thee, O Lord. What a blessing of mercy, and
what a blessing of grace to be able to praise this particular
God who performs all things for me, this God who sends mercy
and truth. I will praise Thee, O Lord. Not anything else, I'll just
praise the earth. One point of praise, one point of glory, isn't
it? No glory in anything else, I'll
just pray. I will sing unto thee among the nations. We have a
glorious gospel of a glorious God. What a glorious privilege
it is to be able to proclaim, what a glorious privilege it
is to be able to hear it in this world. And the reason, verse
10, for thy mercy is great, unto the heavens, and thy truth unto
the clouds. Our God, as I said earlier, delights
to show mercy. Our God is a God of mercy. Mercy
is God not giving you what you deserve. Grace is giving you
what Christ has earned for you. what is and how it operates.
The mercy of God is obviously revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ
and him crucified when mercy and truth kissed each other on
the cross. The truth of God is God's saving mercy. There is
no salvation where there is no truth. There is no salvation
in a lie. Your mercy is great. Be thou
exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all. I will cry unto God last High,
unto God that performeth all things for me. Amen.