Did you notice brethren there
in Psalm 1, that the man that walketh not in the counsel, or
the man that is walking in the counsel of the ungodly, the man
who is standing in the way of sinners, and the man in the seat
of the scornful, they're all in the same condition. The scornful
would be like those Pharisees that outwardly appeared righteous
and holy, but who scorned those awful sinners, those publicans
and sinners that Christ ate with. But in reality, they're all sinners. They're all in the same boat
together. The blessed man is Christ. So we can't exalt ourselves over
one another in the least. We have to have Christ to save
us. Now let's go back to Psalm 56. This is a Psalm of David. He
was being pursued daily by King Saul. And by the way, I'm not
trying to become a contemporary preacher. I just was talking
to my mom when I left this morning and I forgot my tie. I didn't
have time to go back. So this is, he was being daily
pursued by King Saul, by his men, and he'd been taken by the
Philistines into Goth, and he was fearful of King Achish. But
these are prophetic words. They're the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ when he walked this earth. I've titled this, God
is Forming. God is for me. When enemies attack us, and there's
nothing, absolutely nothing you can do, and you don't perceive
God's presence, rely upon God's Word. Rely upon
His Word, and the promises of His Word, because in this Word,
we're assured God is for us. Now, instead of an outline, I
want to just go verse by verse tonight, and I'm going to start
here in verse 4. He says, In God I will praise
His Word. In God I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. The foundation of David's David's
comfort and his assurance was the Word of God. That was the
foundation of Christ's assurance. When he walked this world as
the servant of God, trusting the Father, he trusted God's
covenant Word. And that's our foundation. That's
our assurance, is what says the Word of God. God doesn't make
His presence known in our hearts. And sometimes He doesn't. We
pray for Him to help and He doesn't take you out of the situation
immediately. And He doesn't make His presence
known like He does at other times. Well, flee to His Word. Flee
to this Word. And read the Word. If you need
comfort, don't go and read the genealogies. Go where there's
comfort and read comfort. If you need instruction, go where
there's instruction and read for instruction. But read the
word of God. Go to God's word. These are His
immutable promises to His people. And this is a word that can be
counted on. Psalm 12 6, the words of the Lord are pure words. as
silver trod in a furnace of earth purified seven times. That's
pure. These are pure words. Now the
enemy's goal is to shake our faith. To shake our faith in
God. That's what men would do who
want to scorn you. They would shake your faith in
God. But God's Word will remind you and I, who are His, that
the battle is not ours. It's God's. They're really not
scorning you. They're scorning God. Listen to this. Turn to 2 Chronicles
20. Just a few pages to your left.
2 Chronicles 20. Now when all Judah and Jerusalem
were facing a whole host of enemies, That's what's taking place here.
They're facing a whole host of enemies. And the Spirit of God
entered the God's prophet and this is what the Lord told them.
Listen to this. 2 Chronicles 20 and verse 15. He says, He says, he said, Hearken ye
all Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat. Thus saith the Lord unto you,
be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude,
for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down
against them. Behold, they come up by the cliff
of Zis, and you shall find them at the end of the brook before
the wilderness of Jeruel." God knew exactly where they were
and where the battle was going to be and where they were going
to be tomorrow. Nothing's out of God's control. And look at
this. You shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves,
stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah
and Jerusalem, fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out
against them, for the Lord will be with you. That's our word. That promise is to you and me
too, brethren. If you're His, God is with you
and He's for you. And the weapons with which we
fight are not carnal. We don't have to take up the
sword. God is on the side of His people. Now this word is
immutable. His promises cannot be changed.
They're sure and they're steadfast. They're sure to Christ. And because
they're unchangeable to Christ, they're unchangeable to you and
me who are in Christ. And Psalm 89, look there to your
right, Psalm 89, this was God's promise to David, but David was
a type of Christ. This is God's covenant promise
to our Lord Jesus Christ, right here. You hear us preach about
the everlasting covenant of God? Well that everlasting covenant
first and foremost is between God the Father and God the Son.
And here it is right here, listen. Psalm 89, 34. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn
by my holiness. You want to talk about sure?
God said, I've sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. That's Christ. He's the king
we're talking about here. His seed, that's God's elect,
that's Christ's seed, His redeemed, shall endure forever in His throne
as the sun before me. It shall be established forever
as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. And brethren,
we have that faithful witness in heaven. Christ has come, He's
accomplished the work that God the Father sent Him to do, He's
redeemed each of His people, and now He's arisen and He's
seated on that everlasting throne. And God's Word, we can see, was
sure with Christ. He raised Him, and He's seated
at God's right hand. And so this Word concerning David's
seed, that's not all David's children. That's God's elect. That's who David's true children
were, and that's who Christ's true children were. God's elect.
That's the Word of you and me. They're going to remain forever.
remain forever. We have that faithful witness
in heaven. And so turn to Hebrews 13. God's
chosen his people freely by his grace. Christ has redeemed us
from the law's curse by his precious blood. God's justice has been
satisfied toward us. We've been regenerated by the
Spirit of God, and we have the sure promise from God our Father
and our Lord Jesus Christ. And here it is, listen. Hebrews
13, 5. Let your conversation be without covetousness, and
be content with such things as ye have. For he hath said, I
will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. so that we may boldly say,
confidently say, the Lord is my helper and I will not fear
what man shall do unto me. Where did he get that word? Go
back to Psalm 56. Look there again at verse 4 at
the end. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. A Hebrew
writer is quoting from our text. We have that promise from God. Whenever the scripture is holding
man in utter contempt for our weakness and our unprofitability
and our lack of power, our impotence, when the scripture is speaking
of us in that way, he calls us flesh. That's why he says here,
I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. What can flesh do
to you? Believer, what can flesh do to
you? Which is greater, flesh Man's flesh or God's Word? The voice said, Cry. And he said,
What shall I cry? All flesh is grass. And all the goodliness thereof
is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. Now listen to this. Which is
more powerful? Man who is just flesh, just grass, are the Word
of God. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. And so that's
why he says here, in God I will praise His Word. In God I've
put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. All God's promises in His Word
are everlasting. And in Christ, I have everlasting
life. I have no need to fear flesh.
Now look, here's what we see. Proud, self-righteous flesh.
This is what proud, self-righteous flesh did to our Savior when
He walked this earth. Right here. Verse 5. Psalm 56,
5. Every day they rest my words. All their thoughts are against
me for evil. They gather themselves together,
they hide themselves, they mark my steps when they wait for my
soul." The Pharisees and the scribes and the Sadducees and
the Nicolaitans and all these proud, self-righteous religionists
who appeared so perfect outwardly. They took every word Christ spoke
and distorted it. They rested it to make it mean
something that he never intended. And when that happens, there's
nothing you can do about it. You just can't stop it. But listen
to this. Then went the Pharisees and took
counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. John 2.19 says,
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and
in three days I will raise it up. Talk about resting his words. Then said the Jews, Forty and
six years was this temple in building. Wilt thou rear it up
in three days? But he spake of the temple of
his body. But then sure enough, at last
there came two false witnesses and they said, this fellow said,
I'm able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three
days. They distorted his words. They
didn't even understand what he meant and they just distorted
his words. They wrested his words. All their
thoughts were against Christ. All of them. Every thought in
man is against God until He gives us a new heart. And all their
thoughts were against Christ. They gathered together and they
consulted and they schemed on how they would do the most hurt
to our Lord Jesus. Matthew 26.3 says, Then assembled
together. Our text says, Every day there
rest my words. All their thoughts are against
me for evil. They gather themselves together. Then assembled together
the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people
unto the palace of the high priest, who is called Caiaphas, and they
consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety and kill him. Can you imagine if we came together
here into a place that was normally used, supposed to be used for
the worship of God, And what we did here was consult together
on how we were going to kill somebody. That's what they were
doing. Says Matthew 26.59, Now the chief
priests and elders and all the council sought false witness
against Jesus so they could put him to death. He says there in
our text, they hid They hide themselves and they
mark my steps and they wait for my soul. Luke 11, verse 54 says,
laying wait for him and seeking to catch something out of his
mouth that they might accuse him. Luke 20, verse 20 says,
and they watched him and they sent forth spies which should
feign themselves just men. They had a disguise. They pretended
they were just men. That they might take hold of
his words. That so they might deliver him
unto the power and authority of the governor. Men come in
and acting like they're truly seeking an understanding of the
scriptures. And all they wanted was to just
catch him in his words so they could accuse him. Yet, here's
the truth. Men did nothing They consult,
they scheme, they make their plans, and yet man did nothing
but what God purposed to be done. Acts 4.27, Of a truth against
thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. I pray God will help me to get
this. I pray He'll help you to get
this. Whatever is happening to you right now, whatever is happening
to you right now, whatever is happening to me right now, God
purposed it before this world was made. And it's coming to
pass exactly as God purposed it. And it's coming to pass under
His direct dominion. That's right. And I know this, flesh can only
wound flesh. That's all. They can't hurt the
children of God because your spirit, your new man is spiritual. They can't hurt you. They can't. Flesh can only hurt flesh, but
they can't do you any harm. Leave it to God. Leave it all
to God. Don't take vengeance. Leave it
to God to take vengeance. Look at verse 7. Shall they escape
by iniquity? All this that we're talking about
here, that's iniquity. It's inequitable to twist man's
words and accuse him of false motives. That's just iniquity. That's being the scorner. If
you're scorning somebody for their sin, What did Romans 2
say? You do the same thing. You're
putting yourself right in the same camp with them. The sinner
and the scornful. They're right together. But shall
men who commit iniquity escape? In thine anger cast down the
people, O God. Now listen carefully. If it's
a child of God, and He everlastingly loved, and they're overcoming
their flesh, then you can mark it down. God is going to bring
them down, and bring their flesh down, and He's going to save
them from iniquity. But if they're not His, there's
coming a day when they're going to face judgment, and God will
take vengeance for the sake of His people. That's so. They might escape the condemnation
of this world and this world never even know the truth. But
there's coming a day when the God who knows the truth is going
to pass sentence. So leave it in His hands. Paul
said, Judge, nothing before the time. Now take comfort, believer,
in this right here. God knows every step we take. He knows every step we take. He knows every affliction we
suffer. Every one of them. Look here
in verse 8. Thou tellest my wanderings, put
thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book? Brethren,
David's life was full of wandering. He was in the sheepfold. First
place we come in contact with Him, He's in the sheepfold. And
He's called out by the Lord. And He's called up to His Father's
house. And then He goes from His Father's house to the palace
of Saul. And then to the camp of Israel. And then He goes to the wilderness.
And then He's in the cave of Dullam. Then He's taken by the
Philistines. Eventually he goes to the throne
of Israel. Men count twelve great changes
in David's life that occurred. His life was not just static. It was constantly in trouble
and then in more trouble and he was either going into trouble
or coming out of trouble. And that's every child of God.
But God knew all his wanderings. God knew them all, and God knows
all yours. God knew every tear, and God
knew every heartache. Look here, He says, Thou tellest
my wanderings, put thou my tears into thy bottle, are they not
in thy book? Brethren, God knows all our wanderings,
and all our trouble. He knows it all. And concerning
the children of Israel's wanderings, listen to Psalm 105. Go there
with me. Listen to this. You know how
much they were, they went down into Egypt and then they came
out of Egypt and they went across the wilderness and they ended
up going into Canaan. They went through different kingdoms
and faced different enemies, and listen to this, Psalm 105,
12. When they were but a few men in number, yea, very few,
and strangers in it, strangers in the land, when they went from
one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, there
was their wanderings, but he suffered no man to do them wrong. saying, touch not mine anointed
and do my prophets no harm. You know what you are believer?
You're God's anointed. And God's going to protect His
people and say, touch not mine anointed. You look at the ocean,
the ocean just keeps coming and it looks so powerful, it looks
like it could just... and it comes right up just so
far and then it goes back out. It can't go past those bounds.
And God set the bounds of what anybody in this world can do
toward his people, and they can't go any further. And all the tears
of his saints are in his bottle. And all the afflictions of his
people are in his book of purpose and providence. Malachi 3.16
says, Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another,
And the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance
was written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that
thought upon His name. You ever think about that when
you're talking with your brethren concerning the Lord and in reverence
for Him and His promises that the Lord hearkens and hears what
you're saying? And He's got us written in His
book of remembrance. We've been written in the Lamb's
book of life, that Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And all our trouble is in His book of purpose and His book
of providence. The day hasn't come yet when
Christ shall wipe away all tears from our eyes and there'll be
no more. That day's coming, but it's not here yet. But the day
is present right now when our tears awaken the sympathy of
our Redeemer's heart and He comes to our defense. Mary Magdalene
anointed Christ's feet with some precious ointment. 300 pence,
over 300 pence. I don't know how many days was
in a Jewish calendar, but it wasn't 365, but it was somewhere
close to that. But basically what that means
is because they made a pence a day, that was a year's wages. Imagine spending your whole year's
salary on some ointment and go dump it on the Lord Jesus. That's
what she did. And that was precious ointment.
But I'll tell you something else, those tears with which she washed
his feet, they were far more precious than that ointment was.
Far more precious than that ointment. Turn over to Matthew chapter
10. What does this have to do with me? Look here. Our Lord put it in real easy
to understand words. God knows everything that's happening
to you. And it's all according to God's
purpose. It's all governed by God's hand. He knows every tear. And He is providing in sympathy
for His people in everything we face. Look at Matthew 10,
28. Fear not them which kill the
body, David said, I won't fear what man can do to me. God says
here, standing in human flesh, He says, fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Have
reverence for Christ. Sanctify the Lord of glory. Let
Him be your fear. Let Him be your dread. Don't
sanctify man. He's a worm. He's nothing. William
Gurnall said, when we don't sanctify God, when we sanctify a little
pitiful weak worm, God considers that reproach to Him. Sanctify
the Lord. He's all powerful. Not little
wormy men. But look at this. He says, Are
not two sparrows sold for a farthing? They are not worth anything.
And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not,
therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. That's what
our Lord's teaching us. That's what He's teaching us
in that Psalm, brethren. We were precious enough to Him
that He sent His only begotten Son into this world to lay down
His life for His people. We were precious enough to Him
that He come and shed His own blood to redeem His people and
satisfy His justice and make us righteous. We're precious
to Him and He's going to provide. He's going to protect His people. So instead of fearing man, what
should we do? Cry unto our Savior. Cry unto our Savior. Look at
the next verse. This is true of every sanctified
child of God. Verse 9, Psalm 56, 9. When I
cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know,
for God is for me. God is for me. This I know, brethren. By God's grace, this I know.
God is for me. Can you say that? If you believe
Him, if He's all your confidence, all your hope, all your salvation,
you can make that statement. God is for me. He was for me when He chose me
freely by His grace, not based on anything in me. He was for
me when He was shedding His own blood on Calvary's cross and
redeeming me from the curse. He was for me all those days
when I was in my blind rebellion, my blind unbelief and didn't
even know God and He knew me and was protecting me. You can
say that believer. And He was for me when He crossed
my path with the gospel and regenerated me and gave me
faith in Christ. And He's been for me every step
of the way, preserving me and keeping me. And right now, whatever
trial you're in, believer, He's for you right now. God is for me. Next time you're
being slandered and scorned and all manner of wickedness is being
spoken against you and there's nothing you can do to defend
yourself. I cry unto Him and know God is for me. God is for
me. I don't know how it's going to
turn out, but I know it's going to be for me. I know that. So what are we to do? I cry unto
Thee. I cry unto Thee. The effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. What did our Lord teach Peter?
Peter drew that sword out. Don't we tend to want to first
thing we do is draw out the sword? We want to fight our way out.
Our Lord said, Peter put your sword up. Thinkest thou that
I cannot now pray to my Father? Thinkest thou that I cannot now
cry to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve
legions of angels? A legion is a hundred. He'll
give me twelve legions of angels. Prayer to God is twelve legions
of angels strong for His child. So cry unto Him. We don't need
to draw the carnal sword. And this tongue is usually our
sword. If you're going to use the tongue,
use it to cry unto the Lord. What does God do for me when
I cry unto Him? Mine enemies turn back. Mine enemies turn back. It might
not be immediately, But God's going to turn them back. What's he telling me? If God
be for us, who can be against us? If God's for me, who can
be against me? O Gamaliel, he told the Pharisees
something true. It's one thing he told the Pharisees
that was absolutely so. He said, refrain from these men.
Let them alone. For if this counsel or this work
be of men, it will come to nothing. But if it be of God, you cannot
overthrow it, lest happily you be found even to fight against
God. That's what our enemies have
to do, brethren. They've got to fight against
God before they can get to you. They've got to fight against
God and overcome God before they can get to me and you. So once
again, when we know all this, where are we brought? We're brought
to praise God. Listen. And notice the difference
in the names here. Look here in verse 10. In God,
that's Elohim, will I praise His Word. In the Lord, Jehovah,
will I praise His Word. Now, God and Lord, Elohim and
Jehovah, it's the same God. Same God, just two different
names. Why is that? Elohim denotes justice. Jehovah denotes mercy. It was to make justice and mercy
meet in harmony in the salvation of His people that God sent His
only begotten Son into this world. to make His justice honored and
satisfied, killing everybody that He purposed to save when
Christ was crucified. And also making His mercy meet
in perfect harmony with that justice by saving everybody He
purposed to save when Christ was crucified. Both met in harmony
in Christ the Lord. And so brethren, here's what
I'm praising God for in His Word. This is what His Word teaches
me. It teaches me that in justice and in mercy, God is for me. God is for me. That justice that
once wanted to condemn me is for me now. It says I must be
saved because it's already been satisfied. And that mercy that's
for me, it's for me always saying, oh, have mercy on me. And so
what he's saying there is what he said over in Psalm 101. Let
me just read this. I will sing of mercy and judgment
unto thee, O Lord, will I sing. That's what he's saying in our
text. And therefore, look at verse 11. In God have I put my
trust. I will not be afraid what man
can do unto me. Martin Luther. They brought him
word one time and they said, the Emperor and the Pope have
threatened your ruin. That's two powerful, powerful
men, the Emperor and the Pope. They threatened they're going
to ruin you, Martin Luther. And he answered, I care for neither
of them. I'm not anxious over either one
of them. I know whom I have trusted. And you can say that, brethren.
You read this word, and it's what this word's telling us.
And we can say bravely, I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him
against that day. I've put my trust in the Lord.
I will not be afraid of what man can do to me. Amen. Amen.