Alright brethren, let's turn
to Psalm 56. We live in a world of trouble. We're sinners and we live in
the midst of sinners and therefore We live in a troublesome place. Nobody knew that better than
David. David experienced trials and
troubles all his life in his own house, amongst his own countrymen. And we have a message here from
David in Psalm 56 when he was in the middle of trouble. Being
chased by Saul and him trying to kill him and slandering him. King Achish, the king of Gath
had him in his midst and just trouble. And David said this,
Psalm 56, 12, he says, Thy vows are upon me, O God. I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death. Will not thou deliver my feet
from falling? That I may walk before God in
the light of the living. I would suggest that you mark
Psalm 56.13 and refer to it anytime that you have trouble. And the
reason I say that is this gives us the preeminent reason why
believers have assurance that God will keep us. These are reasons
why we shall continue praising God. What does he mean there
when he says, I will render praise unto God? Well, to render praise
unto God is to mainly persevere in faith, trusting Christ, giving
God all the glory, and submitting to God's will. Of course we praise
God with our lips and we praise God in song and we praise God
in the words we speak, but the tenor and the overall of a believer's
life, he praises God by trusting the Son. By giving God all the
glory for His salvation. And in every moment of providence submitting
to God's will. The reasons David's resolve to
render praises to God are given here in three parts. And these
are the assurances we have that God will keep us in this life. First of all, He says, verse
13, for thou hast delivered my soul from death. When I think
of the great death God's already delivered me from, I know I'm
going to continue to praise God. Here's the second reason, verse
13, will not thou deliver my feet from falling? Seeing what
a great death He's already delivered me from, I know He's going to
deliver me in whatever trial I'm in right now and keep my
feet from falling. So that gives me assurance I
will keep praising God. And then I'll give Him all praise
because of the reason He's delivered me and continues to deliver me.
Verse 13 says that I may walk before God in the light of the
living. God delivers His people for a
far greater reason than for our own salvation. He delivers His
people so that His people walk before Him. So that it's for
His pleasure and for His glory, His people walk before Him, praising
Him in everything He's done for them. And because of these three
reasons, the great death He's delivered me from, the present
death I know He shall deliver me from and the reason being
that it's for God's own pleasure, for God's own glory, I can be
assured God will keep me. I will praise God because God
will keep me. Now my first reason that I can
be assured that I'll continue praising God and that I'll particularly
do that by trusting Christ and bowing to God's will, is this. It's that thou hast delivered
my soul from death. Now we're going to spend the
majority of our time on this. What is death? What is death? Our text shows us here that only
God can deliver us from death. So what is death? What is this
death from which God delivers His people? Well, we know where
it came from. Romans 5.12 says, As by one man
sin entered the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sin. God made one man, Adam, The first
head to represent everybody that would be born of Adam. And when
Adam sinned in the garden and disobeyed God, immediately Adam
died. And his death was passed on to
every one of his children because in him we all sin. We all sin. But what is death? What is death? Is death only the separation
of the eternal soul from the temporal body? You have an eternal
soul. One day it's going to be separated
from our temporal body. Is that all death is? Is it merely what we see when
we look at a corpse in a coffin? Is that what death is? That's
all that a worldly man sees. He thinks that's all death is.
But what is death? Is death wider and more extensive
in its meaning? Death by sin consists of three
things. Death by sin consists of three
things. Number one, spiritual death.
Number two, natural death. And number three, eternal death. Spiritual death comes because
we're conceived in sin. We're conceived in sin and so
we're spiritually dead from our mother's womb. The moment Adam
disobeyed God, he became spiritually dead. Dead in trespasses and
in sin. No desire to receive spiritual
things and no ability to receive spiritual things. love what God
hates and hate what God loves. We walk in the lust of the flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We're
children of wrath even as others as we come into this world. But
God, but God, who's rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us
together with Christ by grace, are you saying? God chose that
some sinners in this world, He would give them spiritual life. From among this whole sea of
spiritually dead sinners, God chose freely by grace to give
some sinners spiritual life. And so the Spirit of God comes
and it creates within us a new man. And that new man is created
in the image of God. That's what spiritual death is
involved with. When Adam sinned, he lost the
image of God. And he died spiritually. He comes
and he creates us, recreates his child in the image of God. Not our flesh, just the new man
within us. He creates us in the righteousness
and holiness of Christ. And this new man cannot sin because
he's born of the incorruptible seed of God. There's a new man
in you that can't stop believing on Christ and can't stop loving
your brethren. Now if you can give God all the
glory, for giving you spiritual life and bringing you to faith
in Christ, if you can give Him all the glory for this and take
none for yourself, you have spiritual life. God's given you spiritual
life. Now secondly, a part of this
death is natural death. Natural death. This is what most
people, this is the only thing most people think death is. All
of us have a terminal illness called sin. and it's terminal. We have a very short time to
live and we're going to die. It is appointed unto men wants
to die. It's appointed. I heard a newscaster
speaking on the death of Kobe Bryant recently and he said he
was speaking about Kobe being young and how he was just beginning
his new career and he said this was such an untimely death. No
such thing. no such thing as an untimely
death. God appointed before the world
began that that helicopter would crash into that hillside on that
Sunday morning on a way to that girls basketball game from eternity. It's appointed unto men once
to die. But for those that's been born
anew by the Spirit of God, when you've been given spiritual life
by the Spirit of God, Scripture says this, that when we die,
when our bodies die, that's just going to be the beginning of
a brand new, sinless, perfect life with Christ, conformed to
His image forever. Our Lord Jesus said, Whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? We're looking at, there's some
brethren in here. If you're sitting there and you're
not a believer, you look around at some of these folks that profess
faith in Christ, you're looking at immortal people. You're looking
at people that will not die. We shall be changed. Paul said,
in a moment, in the twinkling of the eye, we'll be changed. Scripture says, O death, where
is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. We're not going to die. That's
why death of the saints in scripture in the New Testament is not called
death. You won't find it called death.
What is it? It's called sleep. What happens
when you lay down and go to sleep at night? If you're really tired,
you lay down and you close your eyes and you go to sleep and
it just seems like it was a moment and that alarm clock is going
off and it's time to wake up. God's people are going to close
our eyes in death and that fast open our eyes and be perfect
with Christ. No natural death. If you're a
child of God, born of His Spirit, you have spiritual life, you
shall not die when your body dies. You shall not die. And
then there is eternal death. Now, for you who don't believe,
do not imagine that the death of your body is the end. Oh no. You have a soul. You have
an eternal soul. And after this death, there's
going to be a judgment. And we're going to all stand
before God. And if you stand there outside
of Christ, all the things that you hid from men, All the things
you hid from mom and daddy, all the things that were, some of
the things that were even hidden from you, you didn't even know
it was sin. God's going to bring it all to
light. And He's going to declare you
guilty. And He's going to cast you out
into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. No amount of good works are going
to prevent it. You can work and work and do
benevolent deeds and try to do for humanity all you want to.
That's not going to prevent this. No amount of pleading for mercy
in that day will do. You can plead for mercy before
God all you want to. It won't do any good. Today is
the day of grace. Then it will be too late. If
we meet God outside of Christ, God shall cast us out to suffer
what scripture calls the worm that never dies. But for God's elect, what did
Christ do on this earth? In a nutshell, let me tell you
what He did. He died that death for His people. That's what He was doing on the
cross. He died that eternal death for each of His elect. In doing
so, He loved God and His people with all His heart so that He
fulfilled all the righteousness of the law in perfection. And
at the same time, justified His people from all our sin. The
law says, satisfied, they're dead. They've been crucified.
And so when we stand before God in Christ, We're not going to be judged
like people standing there outside of Christ because our judgment
took place over 2,000 years ago on the cross. That was our judgment. We're going to stand there in
the Beloved, in Christ Jesus, without spot and without blemish. robed in the righteousness of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And the King shall say unto them
on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. So brethren, each
of you who believe on Christ, you've been delivered from death.
You've been delivered from spiritual death, you've been delivered
from natural death, and you've been delivered from eternal death.
Right now. Right there where you sit. You're
delivered. You're delivered. So remember,
anytime you come into trouble, and you think, is God going to
keep me? Remember these past mercies right
here. That He's already delivered you
from death. Remember that. That's the greatest
mercies that we can ever be given. He delivered us from spiritual
death, natural death, and eternal death. We have life. Now secondly,
here's another reason to be resolved that I'm going to give God all
praise and all glory. I'm going to keep praising God.
I'm not going to fall away like unbelievers. I'm going to keep
praising God and keep loving my brethren. How do you know
that? Verse 13. Wilt thou not deliver
my feet from falling? He delivered me from that great
death. Wilt thou not deliver my feet
from falling? Now, let's say there was a big
giant rock out there in the parking lot. Big rock. And nobody here can move that
rock. And some big dude comes along,
and he picks up that big rock. And we're just standing there
amazed that he could carry this rock. And he carries this rock
down there to the creek, and he throws it in the creek. He
turns around, he comes back up to the parking lot, and there's
another rock there. It's just a little rock about
this big. You're going to be worried that he can't pick that
rock up and move it. You just watched him carry that
giant rock down there to the creek, throw it in the creek.
You think he's going to have any problem with that little
bitty rock? God has already, in Christ, delivered us from
so great a death. You think he's going to have
any problem keeping your feet from falling in this much lesser
danger of this temporal world? It's far less. It's very easy
for God to do. He's already done the hard part. God's justice and His mercy and
His glory is on the side of every believer. His mercy, His justice,
His glory is on the side of every believer. Will He give His only begotten
Son and then turn around and let one perish for whom Christ
died? And that by a weak world? God forbid. Will Christ pour
out His life's blood and justify His people from all our sins?
And then God leave me to perish by a lesser danger? Romans 8.32 says, He that spared
not his own son. but delivered him up for all
his elect, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? We are regenerated. We have spiritual
life. You know why? God spared not
his own son. We've been delivered from natural
death. Why? God spared not His own Son. We've
been delivered from eternal death. Why? God spared not His own Son. Well then, in all my worldly
tribulations that I face, will not thou deliver my feet from
falling? How shall He not? He's saying
it's an impossibility for Him to not. With Christ also. It's not just that God's doing
it without His Son. God the Father and His Son are
freely giving His people all things. He gave us justification
because He spared not His Son. He gave us life because He spared
not His Son. He gave us holiness because He
spared not His Son. He's going to keep our feet from
falling. How do I know? He spared not
His Son. He delivered Him up to the jaws
of death for His people. Justice, mercy, and the glory
of God itself is on my side. In this world, you're going to
have tribulation. Hold on loosely. Don't get too
attached to anything. And don't be surprised when the
trouble comes. Our Lord Jesus said this though,
be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Sometimes in
trouble, it's hard to be of good cheer. But you got this right
here. Christ said, I have overcome
the world. I have overcome the world. That's the peace Christ
gives. What does He mean by that when
He says, I've overcome the world? How will I not keep your feet
from falling? Now here's our third. reason
for giving God all glory, for knowing that we're going to continue
doing this, we're going to be assured, I'm going to praise
God. Here's how I know, because God
has done all this for me, verse 13, that I may walk before God
in the light of the living. The light of the living is a
person. I know it's a condition that God's people are in. We're
walking in the light of the living. But it's a person we're walking
in. John 8, 12, Then spake Jesus
again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. He that followeth me. You are
not walking in darkness. What are you walking in? The
light of life. Christ is the light. And Christ
said, I am the life. The light of the living, the
light is Christ and the life is from Christ. And this is the
one in whom His people walk. It's walking by faith in Christ. While you have the light, Christ
said, believe in the light that you may be children of light. How do I become a child of light?
Christ said, believe in the light. He said, I'm the light. Believe
in the light and you will be children of light. See, this
light is through faith in Christ. It's walking as children of light,
approving of what God approves. Look at Ephesians 5. Ephesians
chapter 5 and verse 8. You were sometime darkness, but
now are ye light in the Lord. Ain't that what we just said?
That's what I just said. You're light in the Lord. It's
through faith in the Lord, you are light now. That's how one
we are with Christ the light. He says you are light. Now watch. Walk as children of light. What
does that mean? The fruit of the Spirit is in
all goodness and righteousness and truth. He's saying the fruit
of the Spirit makes us walk in all goodness and righteousness
and truth. Proving or discerning what is
acceptable unto the Lord. We have some discernment now.
We know what's not acceptable to the Lord. as far as our walk
is concerned. We know what he accepts, we know
what he doesn't accept. Because we have some spiritual
discernment. And so he says, have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them. For it's a shame even to speak
of those things which are done of them in secret. But remember
this now, don't just try to reprove people by pointing the finger
at them and exposing all their sins and railing on them and
casting all your venom on them. Don't do that. Well, what should
I do? All things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light. By Christ the light. You want
to expose darkness? Preach Christ the light. You
want to help a sinner turn from darkness and see that what he's
walking in is darkness? Declare Christ the light to him. You won't declare light to him,
manifest light to him by walking in darkness to that one who's
walking in darkness. That's why the scripture says,
don't return railing for railing. For whatsoever doth make manifest
his light, wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and
arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Now go
to Colossians 1. This walk that I'm talking about
here is for God's glory. This is for God's glory, this
is for His own pleasure, so that His people give God all the praise
and all the glory for bringing us into this light, the light
of Christ's kingdom. Look here, Colossians 1.9, For
this cause we also, since the day we heard, do not cease to
pray for you. and to desire that you might
be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding, that you might walk worthy of the
Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work,
and increasing in the knowledge of God. Why did they pray to
God for that? Because He's the only one that
can give it. He's the only one that can make you walk. Walk. worthy of the Lord, unto all
pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in
the knowledge of God. Strengthen with all might, according
to His glorious power, unto all patients and long-suffering with
joyfulness. Why did they pray to God for
that for their brethren at Colossae? Because it's only in the power
of God that you can do it. Watch this. But they didn't just
ask God for something, they gave God something. giving thanks
unto the Father. which hath made us meet. He's fully made us fit. He's provided everything for
us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. He's made us fit right now to
enter into glory with those saints that have already been made perfect
and nothing has to be done to our spirit for us to enter into
that glory. We're fit for it. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sin. Now see there, they gave God
thanks for this. He did it all. They asked God
to continue doing it in their brethren, and they gave Him thanks
for making them meet, for making them fit to go into and receive
the eternal inheritance. You see, everything God's done,
everything He's doing to bring His child to walk before Him. Notice there in our text, Psalm
56. He says, He's done all this deliverance for me that I may
walk before God. That I might walk before God.
That God might see me walking before Him. And He brought us
to walk before Him to bring glory to Him, to bring praise to Him
for doing all of this to make us walk before Him. Do you understand
what I'm saying? Just like they gave thanks, they
were given all the praise, all the glory to God because He did
everything to make these brethren walk before the Lord. And that's
why I say God did all of this for His own pleasure. and for
His own glory. That's why He delivered me from
so great a death. That's why I know He's going
to deliver my feet from falling. Because the purpose in all this
is to bring glory to Himself for His own good pleasure. One of the first things we teach
our children as toddlers is to walk before us. We spend their
younger years teaching them to walk before us in a way that's
approved of by us and approved by God. and then they get older
and they leave home and they walk before us doing what they
learned from us and in every one of these stages it brings
us great pleasure and great glory because we taught them that. I've been watching the joy on
Johnny Kelsey's face and Christine in Scott's face to see Elias
taking his first steps. They've taught him. They've worked
with him. He's beginning to do one of the
first things they've taught him. Walk before them. God's done
all the work of saving His people, all the teaching He's given us,
all the enabling He's done for us, all the power He's bestowed
upon us, to bring Him the pleasure of beholding us walk before Him. He brought us from death to life. He brought us to faith in Christ
and robed us in the righteousness of His Son. He made us desire
in our new holy man to please God and do what's pleasing to
Him, to love Christ and to love our brethren. Now when you see
how we delight to see Elias walk, when you see that, think about
how God takes pleasure seeing what His glory has accomplished
in making His little children walk before Him. When Elias faces
some great obstacle, do you think John and Kelsey are just going
to leave him? Kelsey gave birth to that child. She endured great
pain to have that child. They've stayed up nights with
that child. They've fed him at night and
they're going to spend a lot of nights up with him when he's
sick. You think that having delivered him through all of that, then
they're going to let him just walk over to some steps and just
fall down those steps? No. They're going to keep his
feet from falling. God's delivered us from so great
a death as that spiritual, eternal, natural death. And He's going
to keep delivering our feet from falling because of that very
reason. So that He continues to have
the pleasure of seeing us walk before Him and giving Him all
the praise and glory for doing every bit of it. So therefore, I can be assured,
I'm going to keep praising God. I'm going to keep praising God.
Not because of some idea, but because He's doing everything.
Do you have that assurance? You know when we don't have that
assurance? We're looking at something we've done. That's why we don't
have it. You won't get it there. Look
at what He's done. Then you'll have assurance. Now
let me end with this. Christ prayed to the Father and
He said, I will that those thou has given me be with me where
I am. And therefore, we shall be with
Christ where He is. That's why God's going to keep
us. He's going to deliver us and we're going to be with God
in glory. I can promise you that. And so,
it's for a far greater reason than even our own salvation.
It's for God. It's for His Son. It's for His
glory. And so, in every trial we come
into, here's the purpose of it. Go to 2 Corinthians 1. Here's
the purpose of it. Paul said, our hope of you is
steadfast. Knowing this, 2 Corinthians 1. that as ye are partakers of the
sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. For we would
not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to
us in Asia. We were pressed out of measure,
above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But
we had this sentence of death in ourselves for a purpose. God's
teaching us that we should not trust in ourselves. but that
we should trust in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from
so great a death, and He continues to keep our feet from falling,
and in whom we trust, He will yet deliver us. I go to Revelation
21. Will He yet deliver us? This
is what's going to be true of all His people right here. Because
Christ did all this work and Christ said it's my will that
they be where I am. And so this is what's going to
happen. Revelation 21-23. We read here the city. This is the heavenly Jerusalem.
This is where the glory of God is. The light of Christ sits
right now. The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon
to shine in it. For the glory, the shining glory
of God did lighten it. And the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which
are saved shall walk in the light of it. And the kings of the earth
do bring their glory and honor into it. So you can have assurance,
brethren. He's going to keep you walking
all through this life. till you walk that day in His
light in person. That's going to happen. I pray
He give you grace to believe on Him and pray He give His people
this assurance. Amen.