I think those songs will go well
with the message because this psalm really shows us how the
Lord does abide with His people, how He is our shepherd, and how
He's continually saving His people. You know, there's times we quote
from Scripture and we quote the same Scripture often. We don't
apologize for that. This psalm right here is quoted so many times in the New Testament. The Spirit of God records it
over and over. Our Lord quoted it. The apostles
quoted it. A Hebrew writer almost spent
an entire letter dwelling on it. Verse 1 is directly quoted
or referenced at least 11 times. And verse 4, there's a couple
of chapters in Hebrews that deals with it. This is a Psalm of David. Now if anybody wonders if God's
children of old were saved by faith in Christ like we are today,
then just listen to David. By the spirit of God, by the
good news of the gospel that Nathan had declared to him, by
faith David beheld Christ as his king priest. He beheld Christ
as his king priest. He believed him. as his Lord
and his Christ. And he begins here in verse 1.
We'll just take this verse by verse. He begins here in verse
1. The Lord. That's Jehovah, God. There's just one. The Lord. The
Lord said unto my Lord. The Lord said to my Lord. David
here speaking of the Son of God Christ Jesus as my Lord. The Lord said to my Lord. Speaking
of Christ. Sit thou at my right hand until
I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord, the one God, one Jehovah,
God in three persons is one God. The Lord said unto my Lord. He said to my Lord, David said,
to the Lord Jesus, to my God, my Savior, my Redeemer. The Lord
said to my Lord. Let me show you Matthew 22. Go
there with me. Matthew 22, 41. We'll see here not only what
our Lord says, but how David spake this. Look at Matthew 22,
41. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? That's the question right there.
What think ye of Christ? What do you think of Christ?
Whose son is he? They said to him, The son of
David. And he said unto them, How then Does David, in spirit,
one of the Gospels has that as a capital S, or by the Holy Ghost. How does David in spirit call
him Lord, saying, Thee, Lord, said unto my Lord, sit thou on
my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David
then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able
to answer him a word, neither did any man from that day forth
ask him any more question. Christ came through David's lineage
according to the scriptures, but he was before David, and
he's David's Lord, he's David's Redeemer, he's his Savior. Revelation
says the Lord said he's the root and offspring of David. He's
the root of David. He produced David and bore David,
and he's the vine that produced David, the branch. And according
to the flesh, he came through David, And so he's the son of
David, but he is, David said, the sinner, saved by grace, said,
he's my Lord. He's my Lord, he's my king, he's
my redeemer. Now what did God the Father say
to Christ here, his son, in verse one? He said, sit thou at my
right hand. Now we'll look here at two things,
the sitting and the place, the sitting at God's right hand.
What can we learn from him being seated? The Lord said to my Lord,
sit, sit at my right hand. Well, it means he's victorious. It means he accomplished the
work he came to do. It means he accomplished to make
an atonement for the sins of his people. Look down at verse
7. I almost started with the last
verse because here's what he accomplished. Verse 7, he shall
drink of the brook in the way Therefore shall he lift up the
head. The brook Kidron, there was a brook that came out of
Jerusalem, and you know how many sacrifices they sacrificed at
Jerusalem. And this brook Kidron was where
all the blood and the filth of those sacrifices flowed and went
out, went to. It was like a sewer ditch. They
called it the Black Brook. And it says in John 18.1, when
Jesus had spoken, He went forth with his disciples over the brook
Kidron. And there was a garden there
and he entered it and his disciples, you know, when he went into the
garden of Gethsemane, he began to sweat blood, he began to be in
agony, his soul was troubled. And he said, Father, if it's
not possible that this cup pass from me, lest I drink it, thy
will be done. At first Adam sinned in the garden.
brought us under the curse. The last Adam went into a garden,
and that's where he began his soul agony, as he would go to
be made sin for his people and bear our curse. And that's the
bitter cup. That's what's symbolized here
is him drinking of the brook by the way. And so he went there
because he knew Judas knew he went there. And he knew Judas
had betrayed him, and he knew Judas would come there with the
soldiers to arrest him. And Jesus, knowing all things
that should come upon him, went forth and said, whom seek ye."
He went to them and asked, who are you seeking? He knew. He
knew everything that was coming. Christ went forth and permitted
them to arrest him so that the substitute of his people could
go to the cross. He told Peter, put up your sword.
The cup that my father giveth me, shall I not drink it? That's
what's symbolized here by drinking in the brook, by the way, crossing
that creek that sewer ditch, Kedron. He goes to the cross
to drink the bitter cup for his people. Here it is. He hath made
Him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. I pray, I pray with everything
in me. God never lets me get tired of
hearing that and never lets me take that for granted, and you
either. This is the Gospel. We're talking about the heart
here now. Bearing the sin of his people
is the only way God would pour out wrath on him. He's a just
God. He's manifesting God's righteousness. And it's the only way God would
punish him was first for him to lay on him the iniquity of
all his people. And our Lord drank that bitter
cup. He despised the shame of it.
It wasn't God treating him as if he was sin that made him sweat
blood in that garden. He was going there to bear what
his people are. and to stand before God as the
one worthy of God justly pouring out wrath on him. That's what
he was doing. And he declared God just by this. He showed the righteousness of
God by this. He declared how God's justifier
of his people. And by this, He removed the curse
and the condemnation for his people. Isaiah 53, 10 says it
pleased the Lord to bruise him. It satisfied God. He shall see
of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge,
his wisdom shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall
bear their iniquities. And it says here, because he
drank in the brook by the way, therefore he shall lift up the
head. Now, one sense of this is Christ
is the head. He is the head of His people. He is the one representing His
people. And when He did that, because
He satisfied God, because He drank that cup to the dregs and
drained damnation dry for His people, God is pleased and therefore
the Lord lifted up the head. He lifted up Christ. He raised
Him to His right hand. And when He raised Him up, He
told Him to sit down. Now under that old covenant,
no high priest ever sat down in the temple. There was no chairs
in the temple for him to sit down in. Because no high priest
ever accomplished atonement. He never made atonement. He never
fully, finally made atonement. That blood of bulls and goats
never put away sin. But when our Lord Jesus Christ
entered in, the Lord, the Lord, said to my Lord, sit thou here
at my right hand. Go to Hebrews chapter 1. We'll
see why he said it. Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1.3. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He says,
being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His
person and upholding all things by the word of His power, when
he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high." Look at verse 13. He's better than
the angels because to which of the angels said he at any time,
sit on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
That's why he sat down. He finished the work of purging
his people's sins entirely. Believer, Big turn to Hebrews
10. If the Lord Jesus did this for
you, if you really believe He's all your salvation, hear what
that says. Christ Jesus by Himself purged
all your sins. They're gone. They're gone. Look here at Hebrews 10 verse
11. Hebrews 10 verse 11. Every priest standeth daily ministering
and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take
away sins. That's why they didn't have a
chair in the tabernacle, to show that their work's never finished.
But this man, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool for by one
offering he hath perfected, perfected, perfected forever, forever them
that are sanctified. What does that mean? Well, if
the Spirit of God writes this in your heart and makes you hear
this, verse 17, God says, their sins and iniquities will I remember
no more. Now, where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. That's what breaks your
heart. When you're, when you When you're
lost and you don't know Him, that's the message that's going
to break your heart. That's the message that's going to grant
you repentance. And when you're a believer and you're not believing
Him and you're sinning, that's the message that's going to break
your heart. The same message that one dynamite, the power
of God unto salvation is the message that's going to do it.
You see there, He says in Hebrews 10, Till his enemies be made
his footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. I'm going to reference that again.
I just want you to see that. There's some enemies that are
included in that them that are sanctified. They're going to
be made his footstool. Some of his enemies. I'll show
you that in a minute. But now let me go on to the second thing
about this place he's seated. He declares his glory and his
honor. The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand. In
1 Kings 2.19, Solomon is king. And as the king, Bathsheba, his
mother, comes in to speak with him, and the scripture says he
calls the seat to be set for the king's mother, and she sat
at his right hand. That's a place of honor. That's
a place of honor. And also, that right hand of
God is a place of power and dominion and glory. Ephesians 1 20 said
now as son of God he had the power and the dominion and the
glory he's God with the righteous God-man after satisfying God's
justice and accomplishing the work God gave him to do. Thee,
Lord, said to my Lord, sit thou in my right hand. He raised him
from the dead, Paul said, Ephesians 1 20. He raised him from the
dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far
above all principality and power and might and dominion and every
name that is named. Not only in this world, but also
in that which is to come. That means he's the highest.
And he's put all things under his feet and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. This is what Christ used to declare
to his apostles. Now, you can go forth and preach
this gospel and know I'm going to send the Spirit and work in
the hearts of my people. He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. All power. If you knew the richest
man on this earth, if there was a man, you knew he was the richest,
most powerful, most wealthy man on this earth, and you ever had
a problem, and he's your friend, and you ever had a problem, would
you ever worry about a thing? Wouldn't you just go right to
him? Well, here he is. Here he is, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the most powerful in this
world and the world to come. Go to him. Go to Him. You have
a problem? Go to Him. Just go to Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ entered
that holiest of holies, and He sat at God's right hand, and
God declares now He is our great High Priest forever. Look here
in verse 4, Psalm 110, 4. The Lord hath sworn and will
not repent, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. I really think this goes with
verse 3 when he declares that thou hast the due of thy youth.
He's eternal, he never changes. He's got the due of his youth.
He's the everlasting eternal high priest of his people after
the order of Melchizedek. Now by interpretation, let's
go to Hebrews 7, and by interpretation Melchizedek means King of Righteousness
and King of Peace. And I'm not going to go into
looking back at Melchizedek. He was the one who met Abraham
and blessed Abraham and blessed the Most High God. He's without
beginning, without end. He had neither mother nor father.
Now, but look here. Here's what I want you to see
about him. He's King of Righteousness, King of Peace. That's Christ.
He's King of Righteousness. And because he's the King of
Righteousness, he's the King of Peace. And he's our high priest
forever, forever. Look here at Hebrews 7, and I'm
gonna read a lengthy verse, passage here, but this tells you what
this means. This tells you why this is so
important. Hebrews 7, 11. If perfection
were by the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received
the law, what further need was there that another priest should
rise after the order of Melchizedek and not be called after the order
of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, it's changed from
Aaron to Christ now. There's made of necessity a change
also of the law. There's a new covenant. It's
not the old legal covenant. It's a new covenant. For he of
whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe.
He wasn't of that tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the
altar. It's evident our Lord sprang out of Judah. He came
from the tribe of Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning
priesthood. There was never a priest from
the tribe of Judah. And it's yet far more evident,
for after that, the similitude of Melchizedek, there arises
another priest, now watch this, who is made not after the law
of a carnal commandment. A carnal commandment, that's
what Paul calls the rudiments of the world when people try
to go back to the old covenant law. That covenant law has been
fulfilled. But now, he wasn't made after
that covenant. but after the power of an endless
life. This is good news. For he testified
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. There
is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for
the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing
perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did. Christ
did. by the which we draw nigh to
God. Christ fulfilled the law, he's
made his people perfect, he's our high priest, he's the lamb,
he's the mercy seat, he's everything that old covenant typified. And in as much as not without
an oath he was made a priest. He just keeps telling us over
and over, just everything you saw in that old covenant, it
all pictured Christ. They were made a priest with
an oath, so was Christ, look here. Verse 20, not without an
oath he was made a priest, for those priests were made without
an oath, but this with an oath by him that said to him, the
Lord swear and will not repent thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. By so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. All these things he's shown,
and there's a lot more even before where I started reading. By so
much, by all this, Christ is a better surety of a better testament. They truly were many priests
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he's able, here's the
important thing for you and me, he's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
an intercession for him. Such a high priest became us,
who's holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher
than the heavens. That's who you need right there.
That's the holiness you need to be separated unto and come
to God in. He doesn't need daily as those
high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, then
for the people. For this he did one time when
he offered up himself. The law makes men high priests
which have infirmity, but the word of the oath, which was since
the law, made the son who's consecrated forevermore." Now this is the,
of the things we've spoken, this is the son. We have such a high
priest who sat on the right hand of the throne of the majesty
in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true
tabernacle which the Lord pitched to not man. Look down at verse
6. Now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much
also he is the mediator of a better covenant which is established
upon better promises. Here's why it's better. Look
at verse 10. This is the covenant I'll make with the house of Israel
after those days, said the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts. And I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not
teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord. For all shall know me from the
least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness. and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more." That's the importance of God saying
he's a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He's
a better priest, established a better covenant, with better
promises, and he is that better hope that perfected his people
forever. So if you need saving, if you
haven't believed him and you need to be saved, and you do
if you hadn't believed him, Go to Him, and if you're a believer
who needs Him to save you today, just like you did the first hour
He called on you, go to Him. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. How long is he going to be seated
there at God's right hand? Well, Psalm 110.1 says, The Lord
said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. Christ has two kinds of enemies
in this world. Two kinds of enemies. Now all
come into this world enemies. Everybody comes into this world
an enemy. One, there are those who, because of our fallen Adam,
come into this world and by their depraved will, they will not
believe on Christ. They reject Him, they go through
their life rejecting Him. And they will not believe on
it. Some of them are profane out in the world that say they
don't believe God or whatever. And some of them are sitting
in churches claiming they believe God and speaking of grace and
everything else. But they not believe in Christ.
They trust in themselves in some way. And they're enemies. If
they believe this world that way, they prove they were his
enemies. But there's another kind of enemy. Everyone that
God elected to save come into the world the exact same way. Enemies in our minds by wicked
works. And here's the truth of it. Everybody
is going to be made his footstool. Every enemy is going to bow and
confess he's Lord and he's the Christ to the praise and glory
of God. Everybody is. Everybody is. all shall bow and confess him
to be Lord. He says there, I won't read it,
but in verses four and five, or verse five and six, that he's
gonna strike through kings in the day of his wrath, and the
heathen, he's gonna fill the place with dead bodies and wound
the heads over many country. Those that think they're kings
and they got some strength and they got some might to save themselves,
they're gonna end up slain. That's all that's gonna happen.
But his elect, we think that too. We go a long time thinking
that. We saw Saul of Tarsus, he was
thinking that too. They going to be made his footstool
by his grace. His elect, his redeemed, his
called church, his Christ's footstool. Let me show you this. 1 Chronicles
28 verse 2. David wanted to build a house
for the Lord. Listen to what he said. 1 Chronicles
28.2. It says, Then David the king stood
up on his feet and he said, Hear me, my brethren and my people.
As for me, I had in my heart to build a house of rest for
the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of
our God and made ready for the building. He was going to build
a footstool for God, a house of the Lord. But the Lord told
him, David, you're not going to build that house. My son's
coming through you, Christ Jesus the Lord, my son, and he shall
build my footstool. He's going to build my house.
The Lord's house is not a church building. It's a spiritual building. You, as lively stones, have built
up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. And the church
is the place of Christ's feet. Listen to Isaiah 60, verse 13. Christ shall beautify the place
of my sanctuary. He says he shall beautify the
place of my sanctuary. I will make the place of my feet
glorious. It's the place of his feet. It's
where he walks. Psalm 99.5 says, exalt you the Lord our God and
worship at his footstool for he's holy. Solomon had a golden
footstool attached to his throne. That's what his church is. It's
his golden footstool attached to his throne. Well some proud
sinner would say, well I'm not going to bow to him at his feet.
Judas didn't, he kissed his cheek. But that woman who was a notorious
sinner, She came with that box of ointment, and she poured it
out on his feet, and she bowed down, and she kissed his feet.
She kissed his feet. And all are going to kiss his
feet. We're going to all bow in our
heart to our Lord and confess Him our Lord, my Lord, and my
high praise, my Savior. How are we going to be made willing
to do that? Going to have to take some mighty
power to get us little proud sinners to do that. Well, there's
mighty power that's going to do it. The gospel and the spirit
of God, that's the rod of Christ's strength. Verse 2, the Lord shall
send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the
midst of thy enemies. The rod of Christ's strength
is this gospel of Christ him crucified that we delight in,
by which he saved us. It's blessed by the Spirit of
God. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of God. It is the
power of God unto salvation, everyone that believe it, to
the Jew first and also through the Gentile. It's through this
gospel, our Lord from Zion, from heaven, Zion. Heaven, Zion is
the church in heaven and in earth made up of the elect called redeemed
people of his. Some are in heaven with Him where
He's seated. You're not coming to Mount Sinai.
You came to Mount Zion, to heavenly Jerusalem, to the church of the
firstborn, to Jesus Christ, the mediator of the new covenant.
And the Lord Jesus sends the rod of His strength. He sends
the gospel of Christ and Him crucified through His church.
He began in literal Zion sending His apostles to preach the gospel
from Jerusalem. But He didn't continue sending
His church, you and me, just like we're doing here today.
And through this rod of His strength, comes in spirit and in power
and gives his people a willing heart to believe him and trust
him. He's ruling in the midst of his
enemies. Ruling in the midst of his enemies.
This same gospel to those he said he's going to leave slain
dead, This same gospel is a saver of death to death. They don't
hear any good news in this. You know, sinners by nature don't
want to hear they're sinners. Sinners by nature don't want
to be told you can't save yourself. Sinners by nature don't want
to be told good works are important, but your good works don't count.
Sinners don't want to be told that. And our Lord Jesus Christ
is going to make us see it's his work by which we're made
righteous. So he slays some with this gospel,
but this same rod of his strength is also a saver of life and the
life to his people. What does he do with it? Verse
3, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. In the beauties of holiness from
the womb of the morning, thou hast the due of thy youth. Natural man hears that, the first
thing he wants to do is he's thinking in his heart, all right,
now you're going to talk about my holiness. Now tell me about
my holiness. God's speaking to his son right
here. He's speaking to his son. He drank in the brook by the
way, and therefore he lifteth up the head. The Lord, because
He represented His people on the cross and justified His people
and did it with a perfectly holy heart, our Lord, by the Spirit,
enters His child through the preaching of this gospel. And
for each of His people, He lifts your head. He lifts it from all
your works and all your sins and all your doings, and He lifts
it up so you can look to Christ on the cross. And He lifts your
head so you can look to Christ seated at God's right hand. And
when he does that, you see Christ in the beauties of His holiness.
You see God the Father's holiness. You see God the Son's holiness.
You see the Spirit of God's holiness. And you know then, when you behold
Him and He makes you to see what He's done for you, Then He begins
to open these scriptures to you and He begins to show you how
the Father blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places according as He chose us in Christ Jesus before the
foundation of the world that in Christ and by Christ we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. And we behold our
holy high priest that we were in Him. We were in Him. You know, put all these eggs
in a basket and you carry those baskets across this room, those
eggs get carried across the room, they're all in the basket. When
Noah was in that ark and the judgment came down on that ark,
the family was safe inside that ark and they got carried right
on through the flood, right out of the flood. And He makes you
see all His people were in Him on that cross. And He bore the
rain and the flood of God's justice. And by His blood made us righteous.
And by His blood purged our sin. And justified us in Him. And
that's when for the first time when He makes you to know this
is the only way. The only way you could be saved.
He makes you see something of God's holiness. The beauties. of God's holiness. And that gospel
distills like the dew. It distills like the dew. And
it enters in, and that is the womb of the morning. That is
when, by the Spirit of God, by this incorruptible seed, by the
Word, Christ by Himself, without your help, without the sinner
doing anything, just like a baby is conceived in its mother's
womb, a new man, by that holy seed, is conceived in you, and
that is a holy man, created in the righteousness and holiness,
all of Christ by Himself. all of Christ by Himself. Now
I know that intellectual theologians are going to say I'm confounding
holiness with righteousness and what have you. But I tell you
this, when of God Christ is made unto you wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that's when you see in everything
He is to you the beauties of holiness. And that's when you fall down
at his feet and you start saying of him, how beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publishes
salvation, that said and designed, thy God reigneth. What happened? The Lord sent the rod of His
strength out of Zion, just like He did at the Day of Pentecost.
Peter stood up and preached this psalm on the Day of Pentecost.
And when he did that, men began to be pricked in their heart.
And they said, what shall we do? And Peter said, repent and
be baptized. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's washed away the sins of His people. Go to Him. Cast it
all upon Him. Rest in Him. And that's what
they did. They couldn't do anything else.
And I'll tell you how it worked in them. They sold everything
they had. And divided it amongst themselves so that the brethren
could have things they needed. And they continued together with
their brethren to the end. Doing whatever they needed to
do to help their brethren. Just like Christ laid down his
rights and was made poor for us that we may be made rich.
This newness of spirit makes you lay down your rights. Take the fall and do whatever
you have to do to keep peace, to keep having this gospel. If you hadn't experienced the
power of the arm of the spirit and the gospel of God and been
saved that way, if you were saved some other way, if you searched
him out and you did it and you got you some knowledge and you
didn't have to have God send you a preacher and doing it.
I'm talking about a faithful preacher that preached the gospel
to you, not a heretic. If you didn't have that attitude,
you won't value this. You can take it or leave it,
because that's not how it happened to me. But Paul said, seeing
as how we received this mercy, by the same mercy we don't faint.
We don't faint. You behold in him all the beauties
of holiness, and by the Spirit in that new man, he's holy, he's
separated, he's made a partaker of Christ's holiness. And you'll
go along a little while, and you'll start thinking you stand, You don't need Christ quite so
much to grow it. So you'll start trying to stand, and you'll fall
flat on your face. And the Lord lets you do it,
and he just pulls you back. That rod, that shepherd we sang
about, that rod is a staff. That's a shepherd's staff. He
takes that staff, and he pulls them sheep to himself. And he
numbers his sheep with that rod. That's how he numbers them. That's
how he's going to call them out and number them. That's what
scripture means when they pass under the rod. And he also used
that staff to ward off the wolf. That rod's the gospel. And so
when you start trying to stand on your own and you fall and
you're in sin and you're tangled up in bondage, The Lord sends
the rod of his spirit. He sends somebody preaching the
message of the gospel of God's grace that Christ is the only
holiness and righteousness of his people and the spirit enters
into your heart and he breaks your heart again and he pulls
you with this rod of his strength right to his breast and he makes
you say, you can't walk without me. You can't do anything without
me. And he keeps you. And he keeps
doing this over and over and over until the end. Now remember
this, brethren, one more thing. He stands at the right hand of
the poor to save him from those that would condemn his soul.
Remember that from last week, from Thursday, over there in
Psalm 109, last verse. He stands at the right hand of
the poor to save him from those that condemn his soul. All the
enemies that we have, we have a bunch of them. He's going to
save you. He's going to keep saving you
so that you'll be able to say, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. It's this gospel. Feed thy
people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage which dwells
solitarily in the wood." And because he drank of that, when
he drank of that brook, he's going to keep lifting your head.
Every time you're down, every time your hands hang down and
your knees are feeble and you can't hardly walk because you've
turned out of the way, He's going to send this gospel and He's
going to turn you back into the way. He's going to make you put
off the sins that so easily beset you and He's going to make you
partake of His holiness, run this race looking to Him. That's
what true holiness is. That's how He keeps you from
boasting in your holiness and boasting in His. And it's really
holding it. There's a new man that delights
in it, that loves Him, that wants to serve Him, that wants to be
with Him and hates what we are in ourselves. Now if he's worked
that in you, you'll say with David, Thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head. That's what
he said because he drank in that brook. He's got the glory. He's
the only one that gets the glory for lifting up the head. In time of trouble, he'll set
me up on a rock. Now shall mine head be lifted
up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore, I'll offer in
his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I'll sing, I'll praise the
Lord for what he's done for me. Is he your Lord? Is he your high
priest? Is he your redeemer? Is he your
salvation, your sanctification, your all, and nothing else? Here's what he says. You know
where you are right now, child of God? When he said, when the
Lord said to my Lord, sit down at my right hand, till I make
you enemies your footstool, he raised us up together and he
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. So every
time he comes and lifts up your head, From everything you're looking
at down below, He lifts it up again to Him. Remember the message? He said, I must be lifted up,
like the serpent of wilderness, so they can look and live. Just
look, that's all. It's just a look. And He lifts
your head up again, and you look. And this is what He said. If
you're risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. where Christ sits
there. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of this earth. For you're dead, and your
life is hid with Christ in God, and when Christ who is our life
shall appear, then shall you appear with Him in glory. That's
how the flesh is mortified. When you're treating it like
a dead thing, looking to Christ and knowing, there's my life.
There's my life. And also knowing, that's my brother's
life. That's my brother's life. That's what he keeps working.
He's going to do it until the last enemy has made his footstool.
Alright, let's remember him. Brother Adam and Brother Ben,
we're going to observe our Lord.