May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the book of Psalms in Psalm 102 and we'll read verse
13. Psalm 102 and reading verse 13. For thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion. For the time to favour her, yea,
the set time is come. I'm aware that perhaps some of
our young people may think, well, that's not a very exciting text. And in actual fact, the words
in the 102nd Psalm really haven't meant very much to me. But we
all need to realize that the Bible is written for the church
of God. is written for the souls of the
children of God and is written to trace out their pathway as
it follows the pathway of those who have gone before. And of
course in the case of the Word of God, hundreds and thousands
of years the people of God pass this way and the Word of God
is written therefore for our encouragement as we pass now
on this earth and pass through this earth to realize that by
the grace of God, we can find that the things that we are passing
through today is not something which is strange, not something
which is unusual, but it's that which the Church of God had passed
through so many years ago. And therefore, may words from
the Bible be encouraging to us as we read them. Now this 13th
verse is a word really of encouragement because in this psalm the psalmist
and we think it's David but we're not absolutely sure and he gives
some little account of his concern and his spiritual state and then
there is that confidence really that faith in God looking forward
What a good thing that is in our lives if God gives us grace
to believe his word and then to look forward. And so the psalmist
tells us, thou shalt arise. that all will hear and answer
prayer. He will arise and have mercy
upon Zion, which means of course today have mercy upon the Church
of God, have mercy upon the individuals in the Church of God. For the
time to favour her, that means the time to bless the Church,
yea the set time is come. God has a set time in all of
our lives. A set time to bless, what a mercy
it is therefore that we come tonight before a God who is gracious,
a God who does not deal with us as our sins deserve. God has not cut us off, as the
Word of God tells us, as a cumbra of the ground, something which
is of no value. But by the grace of God, we are
still on the earth. So may we thank God for it. Well,
the psalmist commences with some very important and necessary
words. He says, hear my prayer. Lord
and let my cry come unto thee. Now quite clearly the psalmist
had a real desire, a real prayer. It wasn't just a mere few words
that he perhaps learned to say. just a few words which he thought
would satisfy his conscience, just a very few words which he,
as it were, gaveled off before God, and thinking well I've done
my duty today. But here were words which came
from his heart, and when I say that I mean from his very innermost
being, his soul, This was the earnest concern, the real desire
as he came to his God. He says, hear my prayer, oh Lord. He didn't want God to not hear
his prayer. And it's good you know sometimes
if when we pray, we are concerned that God does hear and answer
our prayers. Our prayers don't just stop,
as it were, at the ceiling of the building or wherever we might
be, but they enter in to the holy place, the heaven itself. Hear my prayer, O Lord. And then it seems as though he
increases his concern, his desire. He says, let my cry come unto
thee. We think of a cry, normally you
think of a baby, can't we? A cry emanates when there is
a real need. Maybe it doesn't cry unless there
is a real need. And so that is the same really
with the true Church of God. They don't truly cry and cry
until they have a real need. What a blessing it is. Therefore,
if we read these words, we recognize that it is the true expression
of our heart that we do want God to hear our prayers. We do want God to let our cry
come unto him. We don't want to have just a
religion of mere words and no concern as to whether our prayers
are answered or not. And he goes on and then he says,
hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble.
Incline thine ear unto me in the day when I call. Answer me
speedily. He didn't want God, did he, to
hide from him. He wanted God to hear his prayer. He didn't want God to turn his
back upon him. Hide not thy face from me in
the day when I am in trouble. Now the reality is that the Church
of God do have to face many times, many difficulties, many troubles
in their life. we're not exempt from walking
a path of difficulty and a path of trouble. These difficulties
and these paths can sometimes be wonderfully eased when we
recognize that the Lord is with us in these trials. The Lord
is bringing us into these situations to bring us more into conformity
of His image. And such a recognition will be
a strength and a support and a blessing to us. So then we
realize what the Lord is doing. He's bringing us through that
right way, just like He did Israel of old. He brought them to the
right way that they might go to a city of habitation. And
so we don't want God to hide his face from us when we're in
trouble. We want the Lord to incline thine
hand to me in a day when I call, answer me speedily. Well, the
Lord has a time to answer us. No doubt we wish the Lord always
answered us speedily, but the Lord doesn't always do that.
The Word of God tells us, your time is always, but my time is
not yet. Now we should recognize that
we are dealing not with a mere man, we are dealing with the
great God, the ruler of the universe, that one who knows the end from
the beginning, and that one who has a right time. God's timing
is often different from our timing. But be assured of this, God's
timing is always right. God never makes an error. God
never makes a mistake. God always does things perfectly. And so may we be encouraged by
that. And if the Lord sees fit not to answer us speedily, although
perhaps we desire he might, to realise the Lord has an appointed
time appointed time to favour us indeed and appointed time
to favour Zion and appointed time to bless Zion and so we
should not be disappointed and we should not be impatient. Sometimes we do become impatient
because we don't receive the answers that we expected, we
don't receive the answers that we wanted and therefore we can
be sometimes impatient. But it's a very solemn thing
really to be impatient with God. God has made us, God has formed
us, God leads and directs us and therefore we should not be
impatient with our God. The Word of God tells us, as
for God, His way is perfect. And I often like to remind you
of the words of David in the 40th Psalm, which is very instructive
to us as to how he reacted, what his position was. And he tells
us from verse one, he says, I waited patiently for the Lord. He didn't wait impatiently. He
waited patiently for the Lord. And he climbed unto me and heard
my crying. God hears our cries. God doesn't
turn them away. But we need sometimes to wait
patiently. And so he tells us, he brought
me up also out of a horrible pit. David had got himself into
a horrible pit and out of the Maori clay. Sometimes we may
have got ourselves into a horrible pit, we may have done foolish
things, silly things, and we find ourselves in a pit and when
we want to get out it's not quite that easy. It wasn't easy for
David, he had to wait patiently, but in the end the Lord did bring
him up. He brought him up also out of
this horrible pit and out of the Maori clay. You know, Mahari
clay is difficult to walk in. It's very difficult. You slip
and we slide around. But then he says, and set my
feet upon a rock and established my goings. Well, it's a mercy,
isn't it? If as we consider this situation
in this psalm, and cry down to me in the day when I call, answer
me speedily. Sometimes we have to wait. for
the Lord to answer. Because what he did to David
was, when the Lord's work had been done in enabling David to
wait, then he came and delivered him, and it was a wonderful deliverance. He didn't just bring him out
of the pit and dump him there and leave him there. He tells
us, he set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." So
it was very worthwhile David being found in this pit and in
this miry clay because the Lord then brought him out and set
his feet upon a rock and that rock can be none other than the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well that surely is worth waiting
for. Have our feet set upon the Saviour
the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no slipping then on the
rock. It's solid. It doesn't move.
And to establish my goings, to be established in the truth of
God. That's a great blessing, isn't
it? What a wonderful thing. And it had a good effect upon
him. And he tells us, and he's put
a new song in my mouth. What was it? He even prays unto
our God, many shall see it and fear. and shall trust in the
Lord." So it had a gracious and a glorious effect and a good
end. Let us not be impatient if we
find that the Lord isn't answering us as speedily as we expected. We can easily expect God to hear
our prayers and answer it immediately. He waits to be gracious. The
Lord has a perfect time. Let us not be impatient. Thou
shalt arise. Yes, the Lord will arise in his
time, in his way and hear and answer our prayers. and the effect
will be for our spiritual good and it will be also for the honour
and glory of our God. This goes on, for my days are
consumed like smoke and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten and withered
like grass so that I forget to eat my bread. Now the Siamese
was in a low state, wasn't he? He was in a low place. And the
blessing is this, we have a record of such situations. So we can
never think, well, because no one understands my path. No one
understands the position I'm in. No one realizes. that my heart is smitten with
it. Well, the Lord has granted for
us a companion in the Word of God, to realize the path that
we walk perhaps is not so strange as we might think. We might think
we have a very unusual path, a very strange path, or would
you may, but the Word of God is so comprehensive It's so wonderfully,
gloriously true that you will find your case described in the
Word of God. Sometimes the reason we don't
is because we're ignorant of the Word of God. But you know,
if you are in a low place, you won't dispense with the Bible.
You won't say, well, it's no good reading that because you'll
be hungry and you'll be concerned. to receive some spiritual benefit,
some spiritual food. So as he says here, I forget
to eat my bread. It may be a direction that we
forget perhaps to read the Bible. We're so taken up with ourselves
and we're so sorry for ourselves that we go on and forget the
great blessing that God has given us in the Word of God. And so
never forsake reading the word of God. Well, thou shalt arise. That's the promise of God. Thou
shalt arise, the Lord will arise. And he says, and have mercy upon
Zion. The church of God does need mercy.
You and I need mercy. And the promise is here. in the
Word of God, thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion." Well
that's a great comfort surely to think that the Word of God
is true just because we don't necessarily recognize and feel
and know the blessed application of it when we think we need it
most. Remember the Lord waits to be
gracious And what will occur is this, the Lord waits to be
gracious, he leads us like he did David, and put his feet upon
a rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the great benefit
to us today. the Lord will arise and have
mercy upon Zion and have mercy upon us. What a great blessing
that is if through our present situation we find that we are
established in the things of God, we are established in the
knowledge of God and we are blessed with that union and communion
with the Lord Jesus Christ. We may think, well of course
the Lord doesn't know, he doesn't understand. In my case, well,
you only have to read the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. to
realise how he passed through many difficult and trying times,
times of temptation, times of difficulty, and especially as
he came near towards the end of his life. And we find the
Lord having gloriously and wonderfully preached that sermon to his disciples
in the upper room after having introduced the Lord's Supper
and having partaken of the Passover for that last time. There he
was in the garden of Gethsemane praying to his Father, if it
be possible let this cut pass from me, nevertheless not my
will but thine be done. perhaps we might feel in our
case, well I wish I didn't have to walk this path, I wish I didn't
have to endure this situation, but what a wonderful thing it
is if the Lord comes to us and draws near to us and has mercy
upon us and shows us in this position that we are favoured
to know something of the fellowship of his sufferings. That's a great
blessing. That will put everything straight
in your life. It'll show you the Lord is not
casting you away, but in love to your soul. He's very graciously dealing
with you. See we do need to understand
that God is dealing with us. in love to our soul. We haven't
been cast off, we haven't been forgotten, sometimes it may seem
like that. The Lord tells us he will never,
never forsake his people, never. And so the psalmist goes on,
leading up to this 13th verse really, by reason of the voice
of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. Yes, there are groanings
to God, not well formed prayer, not wonderful words, but groanings. The Lord understands. the groaning. Other people don't, the Lord
does and therefore a groan is not despised by Almighty God
and that should be an encouragement to us as we think of this mercy
which God brings to his church. by reason of the voice of my
groaning, my bones cleave to my skin." Then he goes on and
gives a description, again we're not familiar really with pelicans
in the wilderness, we're only normally familiar with pelicans
with water, but here we have a pelican in the wilderness and
an owl in the desert, but clearly what it means is these two birds
are indeed lonely, and it's therefore confirmed by the seventh verse
where we read, I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop. Yes, sometimes God's people had
to walk a lonely path. No, we read about Moses, don't
we? and the wonderful blessings and
things that he enjoyed and how the Lord was with him. But you
know Moses really walked quite a lonely path for all those years
as he brought Israel safely through the wilderness. God's people's
path is often a lonely path. What it does, it directs them
to the friend of sinners. the Lord Jesus Christ. As the
bride of Christ tells us, when she was asked to describe why
was her beloved more than another beloved, she gave a wonderful
description and came down to the end of that description and
said, this is my friend. You see, Jesus is a friend, a
friend of sinners. Jesus is that great and glorious
friend. And therefore to think that he
draws near to us in what we might think is our lonely condition. The Lord knows where we are. You see, when you and I are perhaps
lonely, That indeed is the time when
the Lord draws near, because we appreciate it so much more
if we were in a great crowd. We wouldn't really notice that
when the Lord brings us into these spiritually lonely positions,
and to then be blessed with that union with our friend. It's very
humbling to think that Lord Jesus Christ is the friend of sinners. Yes, what a mercy then if we
have the favour to be blessed with that situation. What a wonderful favour. Then
he goes on, my enemies reproach me all the day and they that
are mad against me are sworn against me. For I have eaten
ashes like bread and mingled my thy indignation and thy wrath,
for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down. The Lord does lift
us up and then if it is his will and purpose he casts us down. The Lord knows what you and I
need in our spiritual life. We love being lifted up don't
we? We'd like as it were to be on the mountaintop, everything
going smoothly, but the Lord knows what we need. And all those
times, therefore, when we're cast down and cast me down, down
the reason to make us perhaps once again cry to God. So if we're blessed with wonderful
favours, We tend to forget God. What a mercy then to realize
we have a God who understands us and understands therefore
really what we need and cast me down. God was in both these
situations. He was in the lifting up, he
was in the casting down. Sometimes we think he's only
in the one and not in the other. The Lord leads his people by a right way to bring them alas
safely to their holy habitation of glory. So let us not be despondent,
for sometimes we find ourselves cast down. The Lord has told
us, I will not leave you comfortless, No, He will not leave us, but
He brings us to situations to make us more dependent upon Him. Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion. You see, the Lord does have mercy
upon Zion. And it just goes on, really this
verse flows together, doesn't it? For the time to favor her,
the set time has come. The time came, didn't it, with
David when he was in that horrible pit? The time came, the set time,
the time to favour her. Yeah, the set time has come.
God has a set time, a set time in our lives to lift us up, a
set time to cast us down. What a blessing it is then that
we have such a great and glorious God. We only have to look at
the history of the children of Israel, the various examples
in the word of God, to see how there were those set times. You
think of Israel in Egypt, there was a set time to deliver them. It was a long time, wasn't it?
400 or so years it was, but there was that set time which came
to deliver them. and at the set time the Lord
graciously and gloriously brought them out of Egypt, a vast multitude,
and in bringing them out there was that wonderful revelation
of the slain lamb and the salvation under the blood. So nothing was
late, The Lord didn't wait too long. He didn't wait to be gracious.
And he was gracious. And therefore, the set time had
occurred. 400 odd years. Long time, wasn't it? Nonetheless,
the Lord wasn't too late. The set time came and he brought
Israel out of Egypt. And then you think of perhaps
another situation. You think of Joseph. The set
time came for him to be delivered from that prison
house. What a day you've done. Naturally,
there's nothing really that he'd done wrong. He'd be very gracious. He'd done that which is right.
but the Lord had permitted him to be cast into prison. And he hoped he might get out
when he managed to, by the grace of God, to give the answer to
the dreams that the butler and the baker had. And he did ask
the butler specifically to remember him. What are we told? The butler
forgot. Don't put confidence in man. Let us have confidence in God. But again, the set time did come
in Joseph's life. What a wonderful deliverance. And when it occurred, it was
a very hasty deliverance. He was called to come into the
Father's presence quickly. He did. The Lord gave him that
wisdom to be able to tell Pharaoh what the dreams meant that he
had, and therefore he was elevated into a position which he could
never have anticipated. Yes, the set time had occurred
to favour him And of course, not only him, he had a gloriously
knock-on effect with all his brothers and his father. Wonderful blessing, wasn't it?
The set time had come. Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion for the time to favour her. Yea, the set time is come. So don't be despondent in your
life if you feel that the Lord has forgotten you. Joseph was
tried. The word of God which he'd received
so many years ago in those dreams was tried. My friends, the Lord
does try his people, he tests us. And you know the reason for
that? So that that which is of the
flesh is burnt up, that which is the flesh is lost. Sometimes
we make a wrong assessment. Sometimes we think God gives
us a word for some deliverance, and it may be very suitable,
and it may be very lovely. We think, oh, that's good. The
Lord's going to come. Well, you see, we may have applied
that word. It may not have been applied
by God. Because when God works, he is
accomplished. We can easily find ourselves
finding words which suit our situation. And we think that's
a wonderful case when it may be, but we need to have all those
words tested, tested and tried. Just like poor old Joseph then,
his dreams were tried, no doubt again and again, as he was chained
up in that prison house wasn't an easy existence was it? Don't
complain therefore, sometimes you and I might find ourselves
in prison houses, not because that which we've done wrong,
but because the Lord tests the reality perhaps of our religion
and tests the reality of the Word of God which we are relying
upon. We don't want to rely upon a
false word do we? you want to rely upon God's Word,
what a mercy it is. When we do receive the answer
and the working out of the Word of God, thou shalt arise and
have mercy upon Zion for the time to favour her, yea the set
time is come. Well it's a great blessing if
there is a set time in our life and in Jeremiah You know, there
was a set time to deliver Judah. They disobeyed God. so grossly
and the result was they'd gone down into Babylon. But you know prior to going down
into Babylon, Jeremiah had been instructed by God to speak to
them and to tell them what would happen. This is what he said
in Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse 10, it says this, for thus saith
the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I
will visit you and perform my good words toward you in causing
you to return to this place." Well, I shall think Judah must
have often considered that word. As the years ticked by, was it
going to be fulfilled? Was it true that Jeremiah said?
We should have realized that what Jeremiah prophesied previously
with regards to their captivity had come to pass, and now God
has very graciously given them this word to rely upon. There would be a time of deliverance,
so perhaps the Lord may have spoken to us with regards to
a time of deliverance. Well, if that is so, wait on,
pray on, don't be impatient, because the Lord will come and
he will deliver. But you see, in this way, in
this blessing, the Lord will teach us. As the Lord taught
Judah, they were different people when they came back from Babylon. My friends, what a mercy it is
when the Lord deals with our soul, graciously and lovingly,
to lead us where? To Christ. That's a great blessing,
isn't it? In our pilgrimage, in our journey
through life, our great concern should be the Lord is leading
us. You know, we read in Psalm 107,
He led them forth by the right way, they might go to a city
of habitation. The Lord leads his people today
in the right way. They might go to a city of habitation,
and that right way may not be a way which they planned, but
it is a right way that God has planned. God was gracious to
his ancient people, he was with them, he didn't leave them, he
didn't forsake them, and God is the same today. He's gracious
to his people, he leads us in the right way, and that is to
walk with the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a right
way if you and I are walking without Christ. It's not a right
way if we are just wandering on aimlessly through life and
hoping it'll be alright at the end. Now what is that? I'll tell you what it is. It's
a vain hope. It's not a good hope. A good
hope is established upon the evidence that Christ is with
us. And so may we have the blessed
evidence of that. The Lord is wonderfully and mercifully
arising. Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion. For the time to favour her gave
the set time. He is come. He is come. You know this chapter, the next
verse goes on to just encourage us for thy servants take pleasure
in her stones and favor the dust thereof. You see we may feel
just to be dust on the earth, well that's not a bad thing.
It's a good thing to be low and not high in our own estimation. And yet you see, if we are amongst
the true dust of the earth, which God has blessed, and we are indeed
lively stones, spiritual stones, and therefore for the time to
favour her, yea, the set time is come. Think of those glorious
words in the chapter in Peter, the first epistle of Peter, and
the second chapter where We read these words, ye also, ye also,
these that we've been explaining here in this 102nd Psalm, ye
also, then as lively stones, because somebody that walks this
path is a lively stone. They're not dead, there's life,
because they long after spiritual blessings. Ye also, as lively
stones, built up a spiritual house. This is not a natural
house. A spiritual house will not collapse
because a spiritual house is founded upon the rock. He may
have meant some deep digging to bless God to know that we
are founded upon a rock. He also, as lively stones, built
up a spiritual house and holy priesthood What's this for? Just to please ourselves? To
offer up spiritual sacrifices. Spiritual sacrifices. A sacrifice
is something which costs us. It was in Old Testament times
that sacrifices cost the individual something because they had to
give that which was valuable to them. Offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. There is a settled rest, is it
not? Nor Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone,
What a mercy tonight, if you and I have received grace to
believe on him as our all sufficient saviour. There's no one else
that can redeem our souls. There's no one else who was able
to redeem our souls. It was the Blessed Saviour in
his sin atoning death when he died upon that cross at Calvary
to take away all our sins. And the cost was very great. It was very great. He gave his
life. He shed his precious blood to redeem us from all our sins. Let us remember, as we press
on through life, we may perhaps just think sometimes the Lord
has forgotten us, the Lord has forsaken us. Rest assured, the
Lord never forgets. He never forsakes those for whom
he died. Oh, we are valuable. What a mercy
that is to think that we are indeed a precious stone. Also,
What a mercy it is to think that our glorious Saviour has gone
to the end of the earth to redeem our souls. He didn't give up,
bad as we were, rebellious as we were, hard-hearted. No, He
came and He deals with us and causes us to walk a path like
this in the 102nd Psalm. You know there's much more, we
haven't got time tonight, but you can look at the verses which
follow this verse. And again, there are encouraging
words, just to pick out one, and that's the verse 20. To hear
the groanings of the prisoner, and to loose those that are appointed
to death. Because the devil would make
us prisoners, and he would appoint us to death. He would tell us
there's no hope for you, you're beyond hope. To hear the groanings
of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death.
Yes, what a mercy it is. And he goes on to declare the
name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem, in the
Church of God. Well, what a mercy then for us
tonight to be able to trace out something of the work of God,
the work of grace in our hearts, and to have the evidence and
the confirmation that we are not alone, well that may seem
so, because God is with us and God is teaching us and God is
instructing us and therefore to realise God will arise and
have mercy upon us and the time hastens on for the time to favour
her, yea the set time is come. Well may we bless God that we
have in his word such great truths to encourage us and to strengthen
us and to believe that although we perhaps thought we were out
of the way to now realize that rather in fact we are in the
way and as I said he led them forth by the right way they might
go to a city of habitation. Well, what a mercy it is to have
a God who leads us in the right way and will bring us at last
home to glory, to be with the Saviour eternally. Thou shalt
arise and have mercy upon Zion for the time to favour her, yea,
the set time is come. Amen.