May it please Almighty God to bless us together this morning as we meditate in his holy word. Let's turn to the book of Psalms and Psalm 35. and we'll read the last clause in verse 3. Psalm 35, verse 3, and the last clause. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

This 35th psalm is a psalm of David, as many of the psalms of course are psalms of David. And as we read many of his psalms, we find explained to us the concern of his soul. And it's a good testimony and it's a good example for us today as it's our turn now to walk upon the earth. And here, in this verse, he tells us very clearly, he says, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

Really what he needed was for God to confirm to him that he was a true believer. and that is something that really all of us need to follow as an example and desire that you and I might have the evidence and again the evidence renewed from time to time because sometimes our evidences of spiritual life become rather dim

and as we read through this psalm we realize that David went through times of much opposition and You and I won't be devoid of that as well in our lives because the great aim of our great enemy the devil is to convince us that there's no hope for our soul that we've been deceived and that we're on the wrong track perhaps and therefore you and I will need in our spiritual life, as we journey on through life, confirmation that we are indeed on the right way, in the right way, and that God is dealing with us as he does with his sons and with his daughters.

And the Lord brings us into situations of spiritual warfare that make us pray to God. Left to ourselves, we would very quickly become prayerless. We would very quickly settle down into a life of ease. Concerned really only about natural things in our life?

What a blessing when the Holy Spirit comes and causes us to consider the state and the condition of our never-dying soul. Sometimes it's very gently, sometimes it's quite dramatically. We might remember the case of Jonah, who was disobedient to God. God told him to go to Nineveh and to preach the gospel, to preach the preaching that he would be told and Jonah rebelled. He didn't want to do it because he thought it might be a difficult path.

Well, my friends, we're not promised an easy path. We're promised a difficult path. And we shouldn't therefore just think, well, I'm not going to do what God commands me to do. That was what Jonah did. He was told quite clearly what to do, and he decided not to do it. And he decided to go a different route. In fact, he went down, as you well know, in the founder's ship, going to Tarshish, and he got aboard, paid the fare, and was so content with what he was doing, he went to sleep.

Well, the Lord knew where Jonah was. And the Lord knows where you and I are, naturally and in our spiritual life. He knows exactly what we're thinking and whether we are determined to have our own will, to do our own way. Well, Jonah was concerned and Jonah was determined. to have his own will. He wasn't going to obey God. He wasn't going to do God's will. And there he was, therefore, on this boat.

And then, of course, you know the account, I'm sure. It was a great storm, and there was a great fear of it being wrecked. And the mariners realized, and eventually they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea. but again you see God knew what he'd planned for Jonah and God had prepared a great fish or we're told it's a whale and to swallow Jonah and he swallowed Jonah and again we're told he was there in that whale's stomach for three days and three nights and it would seem that he was so hard-hearted and so rebellious that although he was in that terrible state he didn't really pray until those three days and then he did and he said this, I will look again towards thy holy mount.

He would look again to the God which he did know and then it brought him to this position to be able to come and say Salvation is of the Lord. He confessed the reality of that. Salvation is of the Lord. It took a lot to bring him there, didn't it? It took a lot to bring him there. And sometimes it may take a lot to bring you and me there. We may be rebellious. We don't want to go the way that God's ordained for us. And we may find it's a hard work walking in opposition to God and trying to change the direction which God has placed us in.

Well here was David in this situation and with opposition, great opposition from the devil and it would seem also perhaps from his friends and yet you see he comes to that position where He recognises his great need and it's a blessing if you and I come to positions where we recognise our great need and we come to our God. David came to his God and he prayed and he said, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

Religion was personal to him and it was vital to him He needed God to say to him in a personal way and personal words to have it rehearsed that God was his salvation. God was his saviour. God was his deliverer. Well, my friends, all of us stand before God and you and I will know whether such a statement comes to us and perhaps meets our need and meets our case and causes us to stop perhaps and consider the health of our soul you see he tells us here say unto my soul his innermost being that which lived forever that's what he wanted God to deal with my soul and what a blessing my friends if you and I have that concern and no one knows apart from you and God no one knows we can look at people and we can form a judgment and we can misjudge them we can come to A right, a wrong conclusion rather.

But God knows. And He knows about you and He knows about me. And He brings us into situations where we are brought to a time of great need. Here was David in a time of great need. And his prayer was very direct, saying to my soul, I am thy salvation. It wasn't long, was it? There wasn't a lot of repetition. He didn't keep on repeating it. He spoke it. He said it.

My friends, it's good for you and me today if we come to a position where we are in need. Our soul is in need. Well, we all have a never-dying soul. We have a never-dying soul, which says that it will never die. And that is a very powerful and very important consideration. You see, our natural lives are just for a very short time. However long we live, a very short time. but our soul lives forever. And how vital it is that God comes and deals with our soul in love and causes us to truly seek that thou would have mercy upon us.

You see David, as he went down this psalm, as you read it, in the 17th verse, he comes and says, Lord, how long wilt thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. You see, he'd come to recognise that he needed God to speak. He wasn't, he prayed to God and he was content with just uttering words and saying what he probably thought or felt was his duty to do. But no, he needed God to appear. He needed God to appear. And my friends, that's necessary for all of us.

So it might be indeed like, you remember I expect the wonderful account of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus. He wanted to see physically the Lord Jesus. He was only a little man. So he climbed up into a sycamore tree that he might be able to see Jesus when he passed by. Well, he probably thought he was up there and Jesus, he could see Jesus, but Jesus wouldn't notice him. But Jesus knew where he was. And that's exactly the same with you and me. Jesus knows where we are.

And therefore Jesus stopped. And he said to him, Zacchaeus, come down. For today I must abide at thy house. What a wonderful thing that is, isn't it? If God comes and stops, and looks at us where we are in our spiritual life and gives us a great word of encouragement. He didn't say tomorrow or in a week's time or a year's time. He said today I must abide at thy house. Is that something that you and I would look forward to? Is that something that you and I want? that God will come where we are and abide with us in our house.

And he said something very wonderful to Zacchaeus. He said this, this day is salvation come to this house. What a wonderful thing, wasn't it? He probably hadn't got any, perhaps, real desire for that. We don't know, we're not told. And yet the Lord knew and he gave him that wonderful promise. And of course we know that he did come down and the Lord did go with him and dine with him and it was a time of blessing. So what a mercy.

Therefore if you and I are concerned about the health and the life of our soul, You and I don't want to pass out of time without the positive evidence that it is well with our soul. say unto my soul I am thy salvation. Well we know of course that David was blessed he had that personal knowledge because we have that wonderful 23rd Psalm where he commences by saying the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want So it was a very different experience, wasn't it? To that which we read of in this 35th Psalm.

But what it indicates to us is, as you and I journey on through life, we pass through different phases. We're not always, we might say, on the mountaintop. We're not always in the valley. God deals with us in accordance with his divine will and purpose, to show forth his praise, to show forth his love, to show forth his mercy toward us. What a blessing it is, therefore, to have such a kind and gracious God as that. A God who's dealing with our soul and brings us into these situations and in this again this same psalm we read he says David says he says let destruction come upon him and unawares and let his net that he has hid catch himself into that very destruction let him fall those who were seeking after his soul's destruction and then he said with the evidence and my soul personal, and my soul shall be joyful in the Lord. It shall rejoice in thy salvation.'

Gracious anticipation. So if we come like this, and if we say, saying to my soul, I am thy salvation, be a great blessing if you and I can look forward and believe that our soul will be joyful in the Lord and it shall rejoice in thy salvation. The devil doesn't want us to believe that we come to a God who hears and answers prayer. He will try and convince us The door of his mercy is shut against us and it will never open again. Well remember again the hymn writer says the door of thy mercy stands open all day. It's always there to the poor and the needy that knock by the way.

Well my friends let us never therefore give up. Let us never be surprised that we are attacked by the devil, because that's the devil's great concern, to cause us to give up and to call no more on Jesus' name.

Well, what a mercy it is that we have a God who knows exactly what we need. So David here, what did he need? He needed an assurance. from God himself, that it was well with his soul. He wanted a positive, personal evidence.

My friends, it's good when you and I come there, when our religion takes on perhaps a different form, a form where we do need to know that God is with us. I remember when I was a boy in London we had a godly deacon at the church I was at and I used to come round sometimes and see my dad and talk to him and we as youngsters often used to sit and listen and he used to sometimes say, I must hear from the Lord It was something very important with him. He didn't want to just drag on day by day. He wanted to hear from the Lord, just like David did here.

And what a good thing it is in our lives, whether we come to that place where we say, I must hear from the Lord. I want Him to look upon me. I want Him to encourage me. I want Him to strengthen me. I want to know that my name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We all need that. We all need to know that. And it's a good thing if we do know it.

The devil will say, you don't need to worry about that. Any event, there's plenty of time, just take it easy and in due time. Well, the true believer is hungry and thirsty. after the knowledge of Christ. And what a blessing it is, therefore, if we have that concern to know that our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

You know, it's no good knowing about the Lamb's Book of Life if our name's not there, is it? We don't want to just know, well, I believe there is a Lamb's Book of Life, but what we want to know is that our name's there. And, you know, a beggar might be hungry. A beggar might smell food. But, you know, a beggar needs to partake of that food. And that's just like we are, in a spiritual way.

What a blessing if we are hungry after spiritual food. And it's a great need for us. And we come in these words and are able to say, sound of my soul, I am thy salvation.

Well, it's a great blessing, isn't it, to have a God who deals with us in love to our souls. My friends, don't give up. Don't think the door of God's mercy is shut against us. My friends, pray on. Pray on. We have many occasions in the Word of God where prayer was heard and prayer was answered.

I remember I quoted last week the case of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was in a time of natural need. natural need and he came and he confessed. What did he say? He said neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. What did that mean? It meant that he was looking unto Jesus and that's what you and I need to do. Be found looking unto Jesus, that great and glorious Savior. who deals with his people in love.

He will be inquired of. We will have to pray. But what a mercy when God hears and answers our prayer. And what does that bring? It brings relief, doesn't it? It brings comfort. It brings hope. It strengthens us with might in our inner man to realize that God is Gracious to us and not dealing with us as our sins deserve. What does it do? My friends I believe it leads us to the Savior Leads us to the Savior and sometimes it brings us to that position Where we appear to be far off and we need God to come where we are and And God does know where we are, because God's brought us there. And God's leading us. And therefore we shouldn't be disappointed, but we should be thankful that God is dealing with us in love to our soul.

What is he doing? He's showing us our real need. And what's he also doing? He's bringing us into that path of fellowship with his sufferings. Sometimes we tend to pass over the life of the Saviour and we think it doesn't have any application to us today. Well, the Apostle Paul knew the blessing of it when he wrote to the Philippians and said that he might be blessed with that fellowship with Christ, that fellowship with his sufferings. He knew the blessing of it.

My friends, you and I are not brought into that time if everything is nice and rosy and smooth and there's no opposition. It's when there's opposition, it's when the devil gets hold of us and we realize the Savior walked this way. The Savior was left, you think of that, on that cross at Calvary. My God, my God. Why has thou forsaken me? It was desperate, wasn't it? Desperate. But you see, it was a perfect example for you and me today.

So you see, the Lord wasn't left. It appeared he was left. And God came and indeed, of course, strengthened him. What a mercy it is of God in our time of need. God comes and strengthens us. Strengthens us, which enables us to continue. Enables us to pursue. We don't always get answers that we want. We don't always get answers that we expect. But it's good if God comes and draws near to us and enables us to press on.

The journey of life is one of opposition. Journey of life is not easy. And that's why we have so many examples. Great example of Israel of old is they had so much opposition. Sometimes they gave in to the opposition. But other times the Lord graciously and gloriously appeared for them. And you can follow through, can't you? The life of David, we see how much opposition he had in his life. You read the account in Samuel, you read what he had to pass through. And yet you see God was with him. And it was all that enabled him therefore to come and to write those great truths which he did, which are recorded in the Psalms, and the spiritual warfare.

And it brings us into that position where we recognize this earth is not our home. We're passing through. We're passing through. We keep on thinking it's going to get easy. We keep on thinking it's going to be a pleasant, easy journey. We're not promised that in the Word of God. But we are promised God's help. We are promised God's support. We are promised God's strength. And as Isaiah says, look unto me. look unto me and be ye saved o'er the ends of the earth for I am God and there's none else

what a mercy my friends if God gives us therefore that grace to be found looking unto him and not keep on complaining the Lord tells us your time is always we're impatient we're impatient and yet you see God makes us and gives us patience to wait for His appearing. Gives us patience. We complain, we complain God's not hearing and answering our prayer. God does hear our prayer. Just because He doesn't seem fit to answer it, we get impatient and we get downcast and we think God's forsaken us and forgotten us. No, He's bringing us in that right way, that right way, to make us dependent upon Him. And then, when the Lord does come, we appreciate it all the more. We realise God's dealt with us in love, in love. Yes, perhaps we've been impatient. David was really impatient, but God dealt with him. And God came to him. And God strengthened him.

It is in the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. How true it is. How faithful is our God. And so we have this glorious statement here. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. What a blessing, therefore, if you and I today I'm truly concerned about our spiritual health. That's a blessing, you know. If you and I know that we're not what we would be, we can recognise that God is dealing with us in love to our souls.

He led them forth by the right way. so that they might go to a city of habitation. And that's the same today. It leads you and me in the right way so that eventually we shall be brought safe home to glory. He doesn't dump us. He doesn't ditch us. He's dealing with us so that we appreciate His goodness and His love and His mercy and His faithfulness.

If everything went smoothly, you and I wouldn't pray. We'd be prayerless. But it's a mercy when God deals with us in love to our soul, just like He was dealing with David, just like he dealt with Jonah, just like he dealt with Zacchaeus. It was God's love, wasn't it? Towards them. What does it do? It makes us appreciate the goodness of God. It makes us turn ourselves to truly seek unto God. And as we see something of His love toward us, in not casting us off, which we deserve. But looking upon us in love to our souls, it gives us that love in return to Him. It's not that we loved God, but that He loved us.

Oh, it's a wonderful blessing, isn't it? As you and I are able to, in our perhaps downcast state, to look at ourselves and realise what we deserve. And then realise how God has been gracious to us, long-suffering, merciful. Yes, and the mercies of the Lord on you every morning, as Jeremiah said in the Lamentations, great is thy faithfulness. Isn't that humbling? Our God is gracious, our God is merciful and so my friends may we today go on our way rejoicing and thank God that we have testimonies in his word to encourage us don't be distraught but my friends if you find you seem to be far off read the word of God study the word of God you'll find something there which will fit your case You won't find that there's nothing there.

You may perhaps have a little plan and you may want God to work to that plan. But God has a plan that's often different to ours. But I'll tell you this, God's plan does this. He brings honour and glory to himself. And we should never lose sight of that. That you and I are on this earth for that one purpose, to bring honour and glory to God. That puts so much in a right perspective. That puts everything right in our little life. And we're willing to submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt us in due time, casting all our care upon him. for he careth for us.

Well may God be with us and bless us indeed and encourage us and strengthen us and enable us to say in every time of need, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. And I have faith to believe in God's time he will show that to us. Amen.