Prayer of the Poor

Q: What does the Bible say about the intercession of Christ?

The Bible teaches that Christ intercedes for His people before the Father, serving as our advocate and high priest. According to Scripture, Jesus Christ acts as our high priest, making intercession for us to God. In 1 John 2:1, it states, 'If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' He is the propitiation for our sins, meaning He not only pleads for our case but has also satisfied God's justice on our behalf. The book of Romans confirms that Christ's resurrection and ascension enable Him to continuously intercede for us: 'Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us' (Romans 8:34). This intercession is rooted in His understanding and shared experience of our suffering, making Him a compassionate and sympathetic advocate who knows our weaknesses.

Q: How do we know that God's justice is satisfied?

God's justice is satisfied through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, who bore the penalty for our sins. God's justice requires that sin be punished, and Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ took upon Himself the iniquities of His people. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we read, 'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' When Christ died on the cross, He satisfied the demands of divine justice by paying the penalty for sin. This means that believers can stand before God justified, not because of their own righteousness, but because Christ's perfect righteousness is credited to them. His resurrection serves as a confirmation that God accepted His sacrifice, thereby establishing the basis of reconciliation between God and humanity.

Q: Why is humility important for Christians?

Humility is essential for Christians as it aligns us with Christ's character and prepares our hearts to receive His grace. Humility is a vital aspect of the Christian faith, reflecting the character of Christ, who exemplified ultimate humility in His life and death. Philippians 2:5-8 encourages believers, saying, 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.' Christ's humility leads us to recognize our own need for grace and redemption. Without humility, we risk relying on our own merits, which Scripture warns is futile. True humility opens our hearts to God's grace, as James 4:6 states, 'But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.' Thus, humility is fundamental to the Christian walk, fostering a reliance on Christ and the work He has completed for us.

Q: What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

Being poor in spirit refers to a recognition of one's utter spiritual need and dependence on God for salvation. The concept of being 'poor in spirit' comes from the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3, where Jesus says, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' This phrase denotes an acknowledgment of our spiritual poverty and need for God's grace. It reflects a heart that humbly submits to God, recognizing that we cannot earn salvation through our own efforts. The poor in spirit understand the fullness of Christ’s redemption; they see their weaknesses and failures and rely solely on His righteousness. By fully embracing our poverty of spirit, we open ourselves to the transformative work of the Gospel, allowing God to fill us with His grace and truth. Such humility leads to the assurance of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven, as emphasized in Scripture.

Okay, now let's turn back there
to Psalm 10. Psalm 10. It begins with a question. And the question is, Why standest
thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest thou thyself in times
of trouble? Ever feel like that? The Lord
is hiding Himself in times when we suffer trouble. I think I
have an answer to that question. But to get to that question,
we're going to have to see these other things that are revealed
here. So I want you to stay with me. Pay attention to what we
see here, and I think you'll find it a blessing when we see
the answer to that question. Now, when I looked at that question
in verse 1, the first thing I thought about was our Savior on the cross. In Psalm 22, verse 1, he said,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so
far from helping me from the words of my roaring? So he says
there in verse 1, Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest
thou thyself in times of trouble? So we're going to look at this
as Christ on the cross. Then another thing that made
me think of Christ on the cross is at the end of this psalm,
if you look at verse 16, we read, the Lord is King forever and
ever. The heathen are perished out
of His land. So from the beginning of this
psalm to the end, we see a suffering Savior on the cross and then
we see a triumphant King raised from death. So we're going to
first look at this as our Savior on the cross, crying out. And
then we're going to see here that the believer made one with
Christ suffers as Christ suffers in this world. The servant is
like the master. So that's what we're going to
see first. Now secondly, we have here a description of the wicked. Look at verse 2. The wicked in
his pride doth persecute the poor. The majority of this psalm
is a description of the heart and of the ways of the wicked.
And we're going to see Christ here giving us a description
of the very heart, the heart He knows, the very heart in ways
that He knows of the wicked, particularly as He experienced
it at Calvary on the cross by those that surrounded Him and
crucified Him on the cross. So that's the second thing we're
gonna see, the wicked, the wicked, the heart and ways of the wicked.
And then thirdly, we hear the prayer of our Savior concerning
the wicked and concerning the poor. Verse two there at the
second part, he says, concerning the wicked, let them be taken
in the devices that they have imagined. And then in verse 12,
arise, O Lord, O God, lift up thine hand, forget not the humble. So the third thing we'll focus
our attention on is the intercession of our Savior for His people.
So you get those three things? That's our three points. The
first one is we're going to consider the poor. Secondly, we're going
to consider the wicked. And thirdly, we're going to see
the intercession of our Savior. Title this, Prayer of the Poor. Prayer of the Poor. Now who is
the poor? That's the first thing. Who's
the poor? Psalm 10.2 says the wicked in his pride does persecute
the poor. Turn over to Philippians chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2. Now you
know as Christ walked this earth, and then finally willingly went
to the cursed tree, our Savior was the poor. Our Savior was
the humble. He was the obedient child of
God the Father. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. In
Philippians, Paul says there in chapter 2 and verse 1, if
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, If any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies
fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same
love being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through
strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
the other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. In other
words, help one another. Help one another. Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now here's the
mind that was in Christ, who being in the form of God, that
is, he being God, equal with God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, but when he came into this earth, he made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." Now hold your place here just
for a minute and get this. You remember when the disciples
asked the Lord and they said, who is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven? And he took a little child and
set a little child in their midst. And he said, Verily I say unto
you, except you be converted and become as this little child,
you shall not enter into the kingdom of God. He said, Whosoever
therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same
as greatest in the kingdom of heaven, And whoso shall receive
one such little child in my name, receive with me." He said, now
whoso receives, humbles himself like this little child, the same
is greatest in heaven. And whenever Christ came into
this earth, we read here what Paul is saying is he became that
little child. He humbled himself. He became
poor in spirit, contrite, humble, humble in spirit. And by his
work as he walked this earth, that's the essence of the law.
The essence of the law, love toward God and love toward our
brethren, is to make ourselves of no reputation. is to take
the form of a servant. It's to humble ourselves and
become obedient unto the Father, even unto death. And we see with
Christ, He did it unto the death of the cross. He is the fulfillment
of the law. He is the perfect righteousness
of the law. He completely fulfilled it for
His people. And by doing so, He highly exalted
God. And because he highly exalted
God in declaring God just and the justifier and redeeming his
children from all our iniquity and establishing the law for
us, God also highly exalted him. And he's now the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. Look at verse 9, Philippians
2.9. Wherefore God also highly exalted him, and has given him
a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. That's
how our psalm ends. The Lord is King forever and
ever. The heathen are perished out
of his land. He's accomplished the work God sent him to do.
So he's the poor. You see, first and foremost,
Christ is the poor. He's the humble. He's the one
who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now turn over to Galatians
chapter 4. Turn back to the left there to
Galatians chapter 4. Those in whom Christ is formed
are made like unto Christ in spirit. Paul said, let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And he said in
1 Corinthians 2, those born of the Spirit of God, he said, we
have the mind of Christ. We have the mind of Christ. by
God's grace, by making us partakers of the divine nature. He's humbled
us. He's made us contrite. He's made
us the poor so that we see the poverty that's in us, in our
works, and in our will, and in our way, and we see all our riches
to be in Christ Jesus. So we're poor too and we walk
after Christ's faith which works by love. Our rule, our ruler
is Christ and our rule is faith and our rule is love and that
it ceases to be in the letter and it becomes in the spirit.
We see what Christ has accomplished, what he's done. So we walk after
him endeavoring to walk as he walked. Now whenever Paul gave
the allegory of Sarah and Hagar, showing the old covenant in Hagar
and the new everlasting covenant in Sarah, he declared that the
children born of God, believers, are born of that new everlasting
covenant. We elect children of God, children
of promise, that God promised before the world began to save,
that Christ promised to save. That everlasting covenant was
ordered in all things when God gave it all to Christ to perform.
And it was made sure in all things when Christ came and finished
the work. And he says here now in Galatians 4.28, Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But, now here's what's
this, as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him
that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. Even so it
is now. Christ said the servant's not
going to be above his master. Christ was persecuted by those
who were walking according to the flesh, those who were seeking
to be justified by their works of righteousness which they had
done. they thought they had done. And he says, and the servant,
those born of Christ, following Christ, are not going to be any
different. If they persecuted the master,
they're going to persecute you. Those who think they're righteous
after the flesh will reject and despise those who believe we're
complete in Christ, just like they despised and rejected Christ.
Now, We're being taught in this psalm that Christ knows exactly
what we suffer. He suffered it. He knows. He
suffered it. And He often waits, Christ our
King, our Judge, He often waits to help us in times of trouble
in order to prepare our hearts to really cry unto Him. And that
way he hears our cry and he establishes our hearts. He really does establish
our hearts. But he does it so that we see
the wickedness that we got to be saved from. And he brings
us to truly cry upon him with a true need. And then he answers
that cry that he's put into our heart. Okay, so first of all,
we see Christ is the poor one we're looking at here, and his
saints, his saints. Now, let's go and let's look
at the wicked. Let's go see the wicked. Turn
back now to Psalm 10, look at verse 2. The wicked and his pride doth
persecute the poor. Now we see who the poor are.
Persecuted Christ, He's the poor. Persecute Christ's brethren,
those born of His Spirit. The wicked, in His pride, doth
persecute the poor. Let them be taken in the devices
they have imagined. Now, I want you to think on the
cross. I want you to have your mind
focused on it. We learn everything best at the
cross. That's where we learn everything
best, at the cross. If we could stay at the cross,
Stay at the cross. That's where we learn everything
best. On that cross, Christ was surrounded by wicked men. He
was surrounded by men who were wicked. And He knew what was
in their hearts. And He's telling us here exactly
what was in their hearts. And He knows the ways of the
wicked, the devices of the wicked. Now when we hear these descriptions
of the wicked, immediately your thoughts are going to be like
my thoughts were when I first began reading this. You think
of murderers, and adulterers, and drunkards, and all manner
of lewd, wicked sinners in this world. And they are included.
They are the wicked. Any but without Christ are the
wicked. But this word here that's describing these wicked is secrets
of the heart. They describe that innocent,
sincere, sweet little grandma who's in the church pew every
time the door opens and sitting there appearing outwardly to
worship God. who if she hears in her heart
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for all who
believe, if she hears in her heart that there's nothing she
can do to save herself, she's wicked, she's an enemy of God,
she's enmity against God in the heart, and she says in her heart,
no, that's not me, that's not me. She's just as wicked as this
description right here, just as wicked, just as wicked. Remember, this is what remains
in our old fleshly nature too. Everything we hear described
here, this is what makes up our fleshly nature. Right here. This is what we have to be saved
from. Alright? First of all, he tells
us this wickedness comes from the natural heart. Look at verse
3. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire. He boasts
of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth. This last part could also be
read, the covetous man blesses himself. They do, birds of a
feather, do flock together. Men who boast of what they have
accomplished by their own, their heart's desire, they also praise
others just like them. But this is speaking of one man.
They're speaking of one man. This is what men in their natural
state do. The desire of the natural man's
heart is that which he covets after. He covets and he desires
the power and the praise that belongs to God. That's what natural
fallen man is doing. He wants to be God. He wants
to be God. He wants to be able to do what
only God can do by his power. And because he thinks he has
done and boasts of what he's done, thinks he's done it by
his power, he praises himself for having done it. All this
covetous desire that's in his heart, that's what he's praising.
He's boasting and he's praising himself for his self-wisdom.
He brought himself to Christ. He brought himself to find out
who God is. He praises himself for his self-will. He did this by his will. He did
this according to his will. He praises himself for his self-righteousness. Praises himself for his self-holiness.
Brags about how good he succeeded in mortifying his flesh. You
ever had anybody tell you that? You ever had anybody tell you
how they're not nearly as bad today as they were ten years
ago? You know what to do with it?
He's boasting of his heart's desire. He's boasting of that
power which only God can work. And he's praising himself for
his covetous, for coveting that power that belongs to God alone.
And it says, whom the Lord abhors. That man abhors God and God abhors
him. That's right. any and all who
oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that
is worshiped, so that he, as God, sits in the temple of God,
in God's own house, in God's own church building, trying to
show himself that he is God, God abhors him. God abhors him. Hates him. I remember one time
when I was in college, we read Sinners in the Hands of an Angry
God. And everybody in that class, everybody in that class said,
God doesn't abhor anybody. God doesn't hate anybody. Well, here's what it says, the
Lord abhoreth this man. He hates such a man. And it's
a righteous hatred because it's taking away and would take away
the glory that belongs to God only. Do you understand that?
God says that no flesh should glory in his presence. He says,
but he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that shows mercy. You
see that? So we boast in Christ, we don't
boast in ourselves. And the fact of the matter is,
if a man doesn't need Christ for all, all salvation, beginning
to end, A to Z, in his heart of hearts, he doesn't believe
he needs Christ at all. If you don't need Christ for
all, you don't need Christ at all. It's time to start telling
sinners the truth and be honest with sinners. We either have
to be saved completely by God, or we're going to have to come
to God ourselves, trying to save ourselves. And any man that comes
to God trying to save himself, he's opposing and exalting himself
above all that's called God. He's anti-Christ. Anti-Christ. Anti-Christ. This is the heart of those who
surrounded Christ on the cross. They were calling upon God. They
were calling upon God and crucifying God, the Prince of Life, as they
did it. You see that? You see the deceitfulness
of the wicked heart? Alright, this wickedness is due
to pride. Verse 4. The wicked, through
the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. That last phrase can be read,
he's constantly saying, no God, no, no. The way that unregenerate
man sees himself swells him with pride. We see it all around. You look at the wicked in the
world. all around. Right now we live
in a world that is more like this description than it's ever
been. We live in a world right now
where men hate anything that has to do with God. It doesn't
matter if it's true or not. If it just has to do with God,
politics and this worldly way is to deny it and reject it and
hate it. I hate it. Hate it. Absolutely
hate it. But it's so too with those who
are trying to bring themselves to God by what they have done.
Man does a few works and he does some things and he begins to
look at what he's done and look back on how far he's come and
it swells a man with pride. You know what pride is. Pride's
what makes you go to the mirror and look in the mirror. Pride's
what makes you go back a second time and look in the mirror,
and a third time and look in the mirror, and conclude, man,
I look pretty good. This looks pretty good on me.
Pride's what makes you want to say, how are the other people
going to see me in there? What's this going to look like?
Are they going to brag on me when they see this? It's pride.
What man sees when he looks at what he's done in religion, it
swells him with pride, the pride of his countenance. what he sees
in himself. And he won't seek after God because
of it. God's not in his thoughts until
God creates a new heart and humbles the proud sinner. Romans 3, which
deals with all of this, is just declaring this plainly in Romans
3. But until God gives a proud sinner a new heart and humbles
him and brings him down, this is the case. There is none that
understandeth and there's none that seeks after God. None Absolutely
not. The fool has said in his heart,
no God. Not just there is no God. The
fool will say, all right, I'll consent that there is a God.
And he looks like outwardly he's seeking after God, but he's not
seeking after God because when he hears the truth, he's saying,
no, that's not God. That's not my God. No God. If
that's how God says, no God, I won't come that way. and therefore
he's not seeking after God. He's not seeking after God. If
he's not, if God's not in his thoughts, then what is in his
thoughts? God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. You see the only way, this is
how Christ, this is the heart He knows. This is the ways of
the wicked that He knows. This is how God sees us who,
if we're not just resting in Christ. This is how He sees us.
Alright, look now next we see the ways of the wicked. Verse
5. His ways are always grievous. His ways are always grievous.
Verse 5, thy judgments are far above out of his sight. He can't
hear God's law. He can't hear it. He can't enter
into the fact that he can't do God's law. And the wicked man
thinks he can. The wicked man thinks he can.
I think I've used this illustration for you before, but the Pharisees
basically were doing the old trick of, I can jump over a barn
if you let me build the barn. And they would say this is what
God's law says and bring it down here to a level that they could
jump over, that they could do. God's judgments are way above
out of natural man's understanding. Until the commandment comes,
sin won't revive. Until the commandment comes in
the hand of the Redeemer and shows us what we are, we'll think
we can come to God by our works of righteousness that we've done.
We've got to be brought down. I mean down, down. Charles Spurgeon
said, A swine, a pig, may sooner look through a telescope at the
stars than this man study the Word of God to understand the
righteousness of the Lord. Verse 5, he says, As for all
his enemies, he puffeth at them. He said in his heart, I shall
not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity. The natural
man either tries to convince himself that he'll never have
to face God, or he thinks by his works, God will receive him.
God will receive him. Thomas Brooks said, a carnal,
settled security will let in a whole army of lusts into the
soul. He thinks, I'm not going to be
moved. I'm not going to come into adversity. Verse 7, His
mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud. Under His tongue
is mischief and vanity. This is where Paul is quoting
from in Romans 3, where he said, under His tongue is the poison
of asps, is vipers, is snakes under His tongue. You think of
that, you think, don't you think of, you think of like some awful,
awful, blasphemous, God-hating language? Some awful, awful,
way of treating others and what have you. It's as simple as something
that sounds so sweet as this. Well, if grandma's not saved,
there's not anybody saved, because that woman, oh, she was a good
woman. That's a snake's venom, speaking
right there. That's blasphemy against God. is what that is. Blasphemy against
God. Somebody saying, well, I was
saved because God saved me because he saw that there was a little
bit of good in me. There was something in me about
that that caused him to he looked down through time and he saw
I believe so that's why he chose me. Blasphemous against God. It's snake venom is what that
is. Blasphemous against God. And not only that, but this wicked
man seeks to accuse God's sheep. He seeks to lay charge to God's
sheep. Look now, verse 8. He sitteth in the lurking places
of the villages. In the secret places does he
murder the innocent. His eyes are privileged set against
the poor. You get the picture here. The
natural man is described here like a murderer. who's waiting
in a dark alley somewhere and he's hiding and he's waiting
on some poor, strengthless person to come walking along the street
so he can jump out and murder him and steal from him and rob
him. But this is the innocent are those that Christ has washed
in his blood. That's who the poor, the innocent
are, those that Christ has washed in his blood. And this one he's
described here as secretly being set against the believer. He's
looking for something to accuse him. For something. He's got
his eyes set looking for something to accuse him. Christ experienced
every bit of this. He experienced every bit of this.
As he walked this earth, the Pharisees sat and thought, how
can we find something to accuse him with. How can we find something?
Their eyes were privileged, said like murderers waiting in dark
alleys to they waited on Christ innocent to charge him with something. Why? Why? That they could justify
themselves in the sight of men for not believing on Christ in
believing the gospel he came and preached. That's exactly
why. Now this is what God is saying. Christ said he's telling
us what the heart was and what the ways were and what they were
doing. And this is the heart of the wicked. Verse 9. He lieth
and wait secretly as a lion in his den. He lieth and wait to
catch the poor. He doth catch the poor when he
draweth him into his net. Remember what scripture says
as the Pharisees came? And they said, good master, could
master. And it asked him some questions.
You know why? Trying to lay a net to entangle
him in his words. Trying to entangle him. Verse
10. He crouches and he humbled himself that the poor may fall
by his strong ones, by his power. He crouches like a lion He humbles
himself to appear like a lamb, but his goal is to bring down
Christ and bring down Christ's poor saint. That's his goal.
That's his goal. Verse 11. He said in his heart,
God has forgotten. He hideth his face. He'll never
see it. And you remember, wicked men either think that God doesn't
see what they do, or think they're pleasing God by what they are
doing. You remember at the cross, the scripture says, Isaiah 53,
4, Surely He's borne our sorrows and carried our griefs, yet we
did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Man, as
self-righteous men called on the name of God and crucified
our Savior, they thought God was actually pleased with them
for what they were doing, for crucifying Christ. That's what
self-righteous men who reject Christ today think. What do you
mean by rejecting Christ? I mean trying to say that you
add one thing to the finished work of Christ. Not in justification
and not in sanctification. Christ is our righteousness and
He's our sanctification. That means He's everything. That
means Christ is all. A man hasn't been set apart.
He hasn't been made holy. He hasn't been sanctified until
he comes to understand Christ is the fullness of everything
God requires of His people. Everything. He'll hear that in
the secret lurking places of His heart. He'll say, no God. No God. God's going to get all
the glory. all the glory. Now you who are
without Christ sitting here, this is God's description of
your heart. You may think that you're pretty
good, you may think you measure up pretty good compared to somebody
else and all those kinds of things, but this is God's description
of your heart. God's description. Come to God
without just absolutely, thoroughly resting in Christ only. And this
is where you're going to be found. When God opens up the books and
begins to judge men according to the secrets of the heart,
this is what God's going to say about all who come to Him outside
of Christ. Paul's desire was this. I want
to be found in Him. Not having mine own righteousness,
which is after the law. I don't want to come boasting
of anything I've done, period. I want to come be found in Christ
Jesus, be complete in Him, be justified by Him, made holy by
Him, washed by Him, presented to Himself as a spotless, chaste
virgin, completely the work of Christ alone. That's where I
want to be found. That's where I want to be found. And this
is a description of our old nature, believer. It's still there. What we have to be saved from
is us. What we have to be saved from
is us. As much as it's true that all
that our country's promoting right now and all over this world's
promoting homosexuality and all of those things, brethren, I'm
telling you, the thing we got to be saved from is us. It is
us. And we got to be kept from the
evil. And just like the Lord left some
nations in that land when He delivered Israel into the Canaan,
He's left us in this land right here where there is wickedness,
wicked nations in this body of flesh. And we've got to be kept
from evil, kept from ourselves, and saved from ourselves. Alright,
now let's see the prayer of the poor. The prayer of the poor. Now, as we look at this, I want
you to see here the intercession of Christ before the Father.
I've been trying to show you this is what was going on when
Christ was on the cross, right here. He saw this wickedness,
He's describing that wickedness that's going on all around Him.
And here now we see Him making intercession before the Father. And we also see here the Lord
declaring to His child how that His intercession for us is how
we're going to be saved. Isn't that what a high priest
does? A high priest does those two things. He makes intercession
for us to God, making reconciliation for our sins. If any man sins,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
He's the propitiation for our sins. That word means mercy seat.
Robert just read that text. He sits between the cherubim.
You know what was between the cherubim? The mercy seat. He's
the mercy seat. That's where he is. And he also,
the high priest also, is able to comfort them because he knows
the feelings his brethren suffer. He knows what they suffer. He
knows what they go through. So as he's making intercession
for us with the Father, he's at the same time comforting us
who are here below. Here he is now. Watch. Watch.
Let me show you what I mean. First, let's see him speaking
with the Father. Verse 12. Arise, O Lord, O God. Lift up thine hand. Forget not
the humble. He's surrounded by strong bulls
of Bashan, by all this wickedness he just described. And Christ
here is asking God to lift up God's own hand of power, that
power and glory by which He raised Him from the dead. Lift up in
that power. Also, to lift up His hand, as
a token of that oath that he made before the world was made
in that everlasting covenant where he said he wouldn't leave
his soul in hell, he wouldn't suffer him to see corruption.
And he's saying, now Father, lift up your hand. Fulfill that
covenant promise that you fulfilled. And also he's praying for himself.
Christ himself is the hand of God. So when he says, O Lord,
lift up thy hand, he's saying, lift up your son, lift me up,
your right hand, the arm of the Lord, the right hand of the Lord,
lift me up, lift me up. and forget not the humble. He's
that humble, that one, as we saw before. And as he prays this,
his petitions to God to not forget him is also his petition for
God to remember them that are in him for whom he's suffering.
So that as God's raising him, he's also raising us for whom
he suffered. Now we saw that question back
in verse 1. It said, Why standest thou far off, O Lord? Why hidest
thou thyself in times of trouble? Well, here's the first reason. Why did God hide His face from
the Savior on the cross? Christ answered it in Psalm 22.
He said, because thou art holy. Thou art holy. Look at 1 Peter
2. 1 Peter 2. He made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Now, here's Christ described here in 1 Peter 2.22. He's telling us, when you're
surrounded by these bulls, obeisance. Verse 20, he says, what glory
is it if when you're buffeted for your faults, you take it
patiently, but if when you should do well and suffer, you take
it patiently? This is acceptable with God. Now look, he says here,
for even here unto where you're called, because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that you should follow after
His steps. Now look at what Christ did, who did no sin. We can't say that, can we? But
we see him. He did no sin. Neither was guile
found in his mouth. He didn't do anything for spite
at all. Who when he was reviled, reviled
not again. Hmm. You let a man start boasting
of that covetous desire to say that he's here. Well, I've loved
my neighbors myself. Have you? Have you? Even that
one that's reviled you, even that one that's spit in your
face, even that one that's right back and punched you square in
the nose, that one, you loved him as yourself? Christ did. When he was reviled, he didn't
revile again. He knew the thoughts of the heart of all those around
him. He didn't revile again. Look
at this. When he suffered, he threatened not. but committed
himself to him that judgeth righteously. That's what we see in this intercession.
He's committing himself to the Father. He's saying, Father,
arise, O Lord. You see, the fulfillment of the
law is not only to justify us from our sins, it's to faithfully
keep that law, faithfully obey it. And here he is, in perfect
faithfulness, committing himself to the Father so that he is the
complete end of the law for us, brethren. He commits Him to Him
who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sins, how did we become dead to sin? Because
God hid His face from Him. God poured out wrath on Him.
God poured out justice upon Him and satisfied it that we became
dead to sin. All whom He represented became
dead to sins when He died. Paul said, I, through the law,
have become dead to the law. I, through Christ perfecting
the law for me, have become dead to the law that I might live
to God. And he says that we being dead to sin should live unto
righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. Righteousness
is a person. It's Christ by whom striped you
were healed. That's why he turned his back.
That's why he didn't answer him. He was perfecting obedience for
His people. He was making His people perfect
by His suffering. And being made perfect, having
finished the work, He became the author of eternal salvation
to all them that obey Him. All them that obey Him. Now look
at our Savior's intercession, verse 13. Back in Psalm 10, 13.
Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? Hear Christ saying this
first. Hear Christ saying this first to the Father. Wherefore
doth the wicked contemn God? This was his main concern. He
didn't want God's holy name to be blasphemed, to be contemned. He hath said in his heart, thou
wilt not require it. That's what the wicked man has
said. That's what man in unbelief ultimately believes. God will
not require this at my hand. But look at now what he says.
And see, he praises the God and then he comforts us with this
word. Look, thou hast seen it. Christ says you have seen it.
For thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy
hand. You will make a recompense with
your hand. And then in verse 15 he says,
Now break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man, and
seek out his wickedness till thou find none. That's a righteous
prayer of our Savior. That's a righteous prayer of
our Savior. Now, I want you to see Christ our substitute as
he's committing himself unto him that judges righteously.
Now, stay with me. I want you to see this. I want
you to get this. We're answering this question,
why does God appear to hide himself in the times of trouble? Alright? Now, here's Christ our substitute.
He's committing himself unto him that judges righteously.
Verse 14, the second part. The poor committeth himself unto
thee. Now, do you remember what Christ
cried out at the end in Luke 23, verse 46? It says, when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. That word commend and this word commit are the
same thing. The whole time he was, here's
the poor Christ who has emptied himself of all his riches to
glorify God and save his people. And he said, and I've committed
myself to you, Father. And at the very end, he commended
his spirit, committed his spirit to the Father. Now hear Christ
speaking to you, believer, by His own experience, speaking
to you, having been raised from the dead, He's assuring us of
His Father's faithfulness. Watch. Thou art the helper of
the fatherless. Thou art the helper of the fatherless. See, he committed it to the Father,
and the Father helped him. And he says, the poor are committing
to you, Father. My children are committing to
you, Father. And then he turns to us and he tells us, and he
is the helper of the fatherless. He's the helper of the fatherless.
Christ can speak from experience, having walked where we walked
as the righteous servant of the Father. Being our great high
priest, He can pray for us to the Father on our behalf, make
intercession for us, and at the same time, comfort us with the
faithfulness of the Father that He Himself has experienced, so
He can comfort us in our hearts and assure us He will hear. He will hear us when we pray.
We're helpless. We're like fatherless orphans.
Whenever we come into this world, Adam was our first father and
he left us as orphans. He sinned against God and left
us as orphans. But Christ is our everlasting
Father. And before as yet we ever knew
anything about it, God has made His children His sons and daughters
by divine election. God had done this for His people.
not based on anything in us, by His sovereign divine electing
grace. Now He's going to save His children.
He's a faithful Father in His house. He's going to save His
children. Now, behold Christ risen. Verse 16. The Lord is
king forever and ever. The heathen are perished out
of his land. He's finished the work. He's put down, he's broken
the arm of the wicked. He's accomplished this for his
people. And he's sitting now on the throne of judgment. And
he says this, verse 17. Lord, thou hast heard the desire
of the humble. It's the same as if Christ would
say, Lord, Father, you've heard me. You've heard all my desire.
You've heard my heart's prayer to you. My desire. Thou wilt
establish their heart. Thou wilt cause thine ear to
hear. Now, why does God sometimes appear
to stand afar off in our times of trouble? Why? Well, He stood
afar off, it appeared, when Christ was suffering. And we see that
by what he did, it resulted in nothing but good for his people.
Christ perfected his people thereby. He justified his false sin. So
we know, first of all, that if he stands afar off in times of
trouble, it's going to be for our good. It's going to be for
our good. God knows the heart and the ways of the wicked. Christ
is the one who is doing this for us. All judgment is committed
to him. And this one's walk where we
walk. He knows the heart of the wicked. He knows the ways of
the wicked. God sees and God will recompense. God our Savior, Christ Jesus.
Now it may appear for a while that he's hidden his face from
us in times of trouble. But get this verse. Verse 17. Lord, thou hast heard the desire
of the humble. Thou wilt prepare their heart.
Thou wilt cause thine ear to hear. Let me ask you a question.
Look at this. Thou hast and thou wilt. What
God's done, He'll do it again. He'll do it again. What He's
done what? He'll do it again. Thou hast and thou wilt. He did
it for our Savior. He will do it for us. He did
it for our Savior. He will do it for us. He says
He'll hear the desire of the heart. Now let me... These words I'm saying to you
here, some of you, no doubt, probably sitting here thinking,
I'm not buying this, that this is Christ's Word, because I don't
read anywhere that He said this. You sure don't. Nor do you read
anywhere that Christ said those things recorded in Psalm 22,
when He said, Many bulls have compassed me, strong bulls of
Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their
mouths as a ravening, roaring lion. Just what He described
here for us. I'm poured out like water, all my bones are out of
joint. And he said, but be not thou far from me, O Lord, all
my strength hates thee to help me. We didn't hear, we don't
have any word recorded in scripture, he ever audibly said any of that
stuff. But those were the words of the desire of his heart. That was the desire of his heart. The prayer of Christ's heart,
and God heard him. God heard him. God's waiting. His waiting does for you and
me what needs to be done for you and me. He shows us that
we're helpless. He shows us we're poor. He shows
us we're like little orphan children who cannot save ourselves. And
he brings us by that to truly desire in our heart for him to
save us. And that's when we pray. That's
when we pray. That's when we pray. You ever
been there to where you just so sorrowful and just desire
his presence so much that it's just a desire. Christ knows he suffered it on
Calvary Street. Well, He hears the desire of
his humble child. It's the cry that comes up the
loudest to God without a word being spoken. And God loves to
fill empty vessels. That's when we're poor. That's
when we're empty. That's when we're empty. And
we're not praying and thinking as we're praying how pretty this
prairie is. When we're praying and we're
not thinking as we're praying how good we're sounding and trying
to sound good. when we're alone with God and
our hearts desire for God to save us. That prayer comes up
to God. That prayer He hears loud and
clear. He will fulfill the desire of
them that fear Him. He also will hear their cry and
will save them. Just like He heard the desire
of Christ from the cross, He hears the desire for us now.
Christ makes intercession for us now. And He causes His ear
to hear you, believer. And He hears that heart. And
just as God arose and set Christ in safety from them that puffed
at Him, so He does the same for us right now. Verse 9-18, to
judge the fatherless and the oppressed. Everything He's doing
in this world is for us poor, fatherless, oppressed sinners,
made poor by His grace. That the man of the earth may
no more oppress. May no more oppress. Do you get
it? You see how we learn everything
at the cross? Everything is learned at the
cross. We see there God's glory, Christ Jesus who came and where
we see the mercy and the love and the grace and the justifying
holiness of God for His people there at the cross. We see there,
we learn there the best about our wickedness, our own heart's
wickedness and the wickedness of natural men. That's where
we learn it best, at the cross. And there at the cross is where
we learn that our triumphant intercessor, who was heard of
the Father and teaches us everything that he's experienced by himself,
whereby he comforts us, that's where we see it all at the cross.
He's the poor one who knows what it is when you feel poor. He
knows the hearts of the wicked, so he knows the way of the wicked
and the heart of the wicked when they've come around. You and
I don't know it. We don't know it. It's such a good facade and
such a good costume. We don't know it. He knows it.
He knows it. And He's making intercession
for us with the Father and teaching us in our hearts these things.
Let's go to one last scripture, Romans 8. Verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall it be tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Look down
at the end. Know in all these things we're
more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I'm persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Prayer of the Poor

What does the Bible say about the intercession of Christ?

How do we know that God's justice is satisfied?

Why is humility important for Christians?

What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

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Prayer of the Poor

What does the Bible say about the intercession of Christ?

How do we know that God's justice is satisfied?

Why is humility important for Christians?

What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

Sermon Transcript

About Clay Curtis

Comments

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