Let us turn to God's Word. I want to turn with you tonight
to words that we find in the 123rd Psalm. Psalm 123. The Song
of Degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes,
O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants
look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maid look
unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord
our God, until that He have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us,
O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with
contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled
with the scorning of those authorities and with the contempt of the
proud. I want to say something then
from the content of this short psalm on the subject of true
faith. It is a psalm that clearly speaks
to us concerning faith. And we know that whatsoever is
not of faith is sin. Romans 14, 23. And we often make
reference to those words in the 11th chapter of the epistle to
the Hebrews. Without faith it is impossible
to please Him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of all that diligently
seek Him. Whatsoever then is not of faith
is sin, and how we need faith if we would come and have dealings
and commune with the only living and true God. And that's the
purpose of our coming together tonight, of course, that we might
know again something of that gracious presence of the Lord
God. And we should, of course, be those who would desire that
we might have the full assurance of faith. We know that there
are different degrees of faith. We've often said it's not the
greatness of our faith that saves. The Savior is the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. But surely we should desire that
we might know that full assurance that we were reading of just
now in that portion in Hebrews chapter 10. Remember there at
verse 22, let us draw near with a true heart, says Paul, in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful. I promised we'd deal with a faithful
God, therefore surely we should come with great faith before
him. He goes on to say later at verse
35, cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great
recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience
or endurance, that after ye have done the will of God ye might
receive the promise. Oh, we should come then with
great confidence, the confidence of faith, as we come to address
God with our prayers. However whilst we would desire
that full assurance of faith we need also to be aware that
there is a great danger of course of presumption and it's interesting
because in that same portion that we were reading we see how
the Apostle also speaks of those who are presumptuous There in
Hebrews 10.26, if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but
a certain fearful looking forward of judgment and fiery indignation
which shall devour the adversaries. Oh, we must beware then of sin.
and any presumptions that we might make with the Lord God,
and it's solemn, isn't it, that in the epistle to the Hebrews
we not only have those words that we've just read in chapter
10 and verses 26 and 27, but previously remember what Paul
says in chapter 6 and verse 40, it is impossible for those who
were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and
were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good
word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall
fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they
crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to
an open shame." How awful it is to think that
those who appeared initially to be Men and women of faith
can fall away and apostatize and deny the Lord Jesus. It is
impossible that such should ever be restored. That's what Paul
is saying. There are strange passages there
in Hebrews 6 and 10, but they're left on record, of course, for
a purpose. They're solemn words of warning.
We need than to beware of any presumption with God. And in this psalm that I want
us to look at, Psalm 123, we do have a contrast at the beginning
of the psalm and at the end of the psalm. There at the beginning
we see faith, but then at the end he speaks really of presumption.
The opening verse, Unto thee lift up mine eyes, O thou that
dwellest in the heavens. Isn't that the language of faith?
But then at the end we read of the scorning of those that are
at ease and the contempt of the proud. And I want us, as you
were, to observe something of the contrast that's being drawn,
but the principal subject really is that of true faith, and to
begin with this confidence of faith, and I'm speaking of course
not of merely natural faith, a general faith, a belief in
God. but that faith that is true faith
that faith that is saving we know that there are various types
of faith spoken of in scripture there's even a faith of the demons
and James speaks of them and the fear that they have but it's
not that sort of faith that we should desire but that's true
faith that is saving and speaking of the confidence of such a faith. I mention two things. First of
all, we need to be aware of the great object of our faith. Faith
looks to God. That is the business of faith.
It looks to God. More than that, in a sense, faith
is that that also waits upon God. He is the object. the important thing with regards
to our faith surely is the object and there are two aspects that
we see here with regards to the object it is looking to God and
trusting in God as the one who is sovereign God is sovereign
and isn't that in a sense emphasized in the language that we have
here in the opening verse where is it God dwells although that
dwellest in the heavens. Unto thee lift up mine eyes,
O thou that dwellest in the heavens. We know that the heaven of heavens
cannot contain God. He is everywhere, but of course
He has that special dwelling place, which we know as paradise,
the heaven of heavens, the third heavens, outside of space, outside
of time. But as God dwells in such a high
place, so God is at one who is sovereign over all His creatures. Psalm 115 and verse 3, Our God
is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He pleased. The fact that He is in that high
place is indicative that He is ruling over all His creation. He is outside of time. He is that one who sits, doesn't
he, upon the circle of the earth. Remember the words that we have
there in Isaiah 14 verse 22, which is, He that sitteth upon
the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as
grasshoppers, that stretcheth out their heavens as a curtain,
and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. always sits on the
circle of the earth. He sees all of his creation,
the vastness of the universe. He sees in one moment of time. God's eye, of course, is always
ever on his people and so our eyes are to look towards him.
Unto thee lift I up mine eyes. His eyes are running to and fro
through all the earth. He beholds all things. And He
is sovereign, I say, over all things. Again, the language,
the familiar words that that haughty man, Nebuchadnezzar,
in his pride, how he was brought down and humbled to the very
dust and was behaving like a brute beast. And then God, in His goodness,
restores reason to him and He makes that confession concerning
the God of Israel. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. and nothing to him. He doeth
according to his will among the armies of heaven and the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What
doest thou? O thou that dwellest in the heavens. The object of our faith, then,
is God, and God, if He is God, must be sovereign. Otherwise,
how can He be God? Or do we really believe that?
The sovereignty of God, what a comfort it is. Or that God
would grant to us such a confidence of faith as to believe the truth
concerning God. But then, not only trusting in
a sovereign God, but trusting here in a Saviour God. He's a Saviour God. Unto thee
lift I up mine eyes. Remember what God himself declares
back at the end of Isaiah 45, look unto me, he says, look unto
me and be saved. All the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else. There is, as it were, the response
to that word. God says look unto me, and what
is the language of faith? Unto thee lift I up mine eyes."
We're to look to this God. And what is it to look to God
as the Saviour? Well, it's looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the only Saviour of sinners.
We're to be those who are looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. He is the one who gives faith.
He is the one who preserves faith. He is the one who enables his
people to endure to the end in the good fight of faith. It's
looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and he sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God. Oh, this is the man the man Christ Jesus, God, manifest
in the flesh, who lived the life of faith and endured to the end,
despising the shame, enduring all the contradiction of sinners
against himself, bearing in his own person the wrath of God as
he accomplished that work that the Father had given to him in
the covenant. Oh, were to look then, and you
know the force of the word there, looking away, onto Jesus, taking
the eye off every other object, one object only, looking onto
Jesus. And that looking also implies
waiting. Do we not see that at the end
of verse 2? So our eyes wait upon the Lord
our God until that He have mercy upon us. Oh, we're to wait upon Him. He
goes on to say, doesn't he, the psalmist, this is one of the
songs of degrees, and of course we have this whole series of
the songs of degrees. Another one there in Psalm 130,
verse 5, I wait for the Lord's, my soul doth wait, and in His
word do I hope, my soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that
watch for the morning I say more than they that watch for the
morning. How it is when we're troubled
and our sleep is taken from us and we're filled maybe in the
night season with many anxious thoughts and of course you know
what it's like at that time that matter that is troubling us seems
to grow and grow and grow and we long and wait for the morning. Or are we those who are ready
to wait upon God to the same degree. This waiting upon God,
it's not something passive. When we read, and we time and
again of course read throughout the book of Psalms, how the man
of God will wait upon the Lord. You look up the words, the verb
to wait in the concordance and numerous references to verses
in the Psalms. And this waiting, I say, it's
not passive. It doesn't mean you do nothing.
Where there is waiting, there's a great deal of activity in the
soul. The activity of faith. Waiting. Waiting in hope. Waiting
in expectation. We see it there in that 5th verse
of Psalm 130. In His Word do I hope. I wait
for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His Word. Do I hope? We wait in hope and expectation. There's crying where there's
that waiting, there's calling upon the name of the Lord. There's
coming to the Lord. Doesn't the Lord Jesus himself
say, come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and
I will give you rest. Or there's a saviour to come
to, a saviour to rest in. And what does Christ say? He
that cometh to me, I shall in no wise cast out. The importance then of the object,
the one that we look to, and we know, don't we, that the eye,
our natural eye, doesn't really look itself. We can't see our
own faces, we only see a reflection. No, the one we're to look to
is God. And we see the God of salvation
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. The object then, the object,
the sovereign God, the Saviour God. But also, to try to say
something with regards to the nature of this true faith. We read that passage from chapter
10 of Hebrews, but I read it through to the first verse of
chapter 11, because there we have the definition, don't we?
What faith is. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The substance of things
hoped for, the evidence. of things not seen. And I think
that's the only definition, the only definition I can readily
recollect in scripture. That's the only definition. And
I think the reason is because what the scripture does really,
more than define faith, it reminds us continually of the object.
The object of faith. Think of the language of the
Lord Jesus. in John 5.39, search the scriptures, for in them you
think that ye have eternal life, he says, and these are they that
testify of me. All scripture bears testimony
to the Lord Jesus. He's the object of faith. He's the object of faith. Again,
Remember the language here in the 121st Psalm, another song
of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from
the Lords which made heaven and earth. Always to lift up our
eyes. we have it of course here in
the opening verse of this 123rd Psalm unto thee lift I up mine
eyes we lift up our eyes, we lift up our hands to the Lord
as it were but it's not enough is it to lift up our natural
eyes or to raise our hands we must lift up our hearts to the
Lord we must have that religion that is the religion of the heart
It's man who looks on the outward appearance. It's the Lord God
Himself who looks upon the hearts of men. And it's not enough just
to lift up our eyes, to lift up our voices. Remember the words of Isaiah
29.13 where God is rebuking the children of Israel for their
formalistic prayers. These people draw near me with
their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed
their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught
by the precept of men." And how the Lord Jesus repeats those
words in rebuking the scribes and the Pharisees. That's what
they were doing. They might draw near with their
mouth, they might make many long prayers. But how far do their
prayers go when the Lord speaks of those two men in the temple? When he speaks of the Pharisee
and the publican? What does he say of the Pharisee,
the man prayed thus with himself? His prayer really went no further
than himself. All were to be those whose eye
then is upon the Lord. And as our eye is upon the Lord,
so our trust is in the Lord. And the illustration, the example
that the psalmist uses here is that of servants. In verse 2,
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters,
and as the eyes of a maiden look unto the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that He have mercy
upon us. servants slaves and remember
the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of the duties of those servants
doesn't he right in there in the sixth chapter of Ephesians
we know the chapter well really in the previous fifth chapter
he's speaking of duties again wives and husbands but really
runs over into chapter six where he speaks also of duties of children
and fathers then he speaks of servants and or slaves really
the word is a bond slave not a hired servant a bond slave
and then he goes on to speak of their masters But what does
he say concerning servants? There in Ephesians 6, 5 Servants,
be obedient to them that are your masters, according to the
flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your hearts,
as unto Christ, not with thy service as men pleases, but as
the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Surely the illustration that
we have back in the psalm as those who have the faith of
the slave who look into the hands of their masters well this is
how we are to come to the Lord in singleness of heart not with eye service those who
would look to the Lord and trust in the Lord and desire only to
do the will of the Lord and be obedient to all those commandments
of the Lord That's how we're to come to Him
in faith. If we have that faith, of course,
we will not only embrace all His exceeding great precious
promises, but we'll also love His commandments. We want to
do His will. As the eyes of servants look
unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of maiden look
unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord. But it's interesting, not waiting
so much to do his bidding, but until that he have mercy upon
us. Until that he have mercy upon us. So when doesn't that
remind us of that parable that the Lord told us, I've already
referred to it in Luke 18, those two men going to the temple.
We spoke of the The Pharisee who prays with himself, his prayer
goes no further than himself, it's not a prayer at all, all
he's doing is congratulating himself in the presence of God,
what presumption! But then the Lord speaks also
of the publican, and he would not lift up his
eyes so much as unto heaven. Interesting, unto thee lift up
mine eyes, but here is a man, who feels so ashamed he cannot
lift up his eyes he smites upon his breast but he does pray he
does pray, he does come in faith and what is his request? God
be merciful to me the sinner oh that's true faith is it not?
to come before God and ask for mercy because we feel what we
are before him we're sinners but he's a merciful God What
a glorious God is this God, who is pleased to pardon sinners.
Here then is the faith that's spoken of here in the first part
of the psalm, but let us turn just briefly to the contrast
with what we have at the end of the psalm. Verse 3, Have mercy upon us,
O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with
contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled
with the scorning of those that are at ease and with the contempt
of the proud. How true that is of those who
are presumptuous. That's the faith really, isn't
it, of the Pharisee who would sneer at the Lord Jesus Christ
and scorn him and ridicule him because he was pleased to eat
with sinners. We read here of the contempt
of the proud. The contempt of the proud. The
proud, of course, a proud man does not need God. He has no
need of a God. It's that sin that's there in
the Garden, isn't it? The Garden of Eden, when Satan's
instruments, the serpent says to the woman, you shall be as
gods. When men look to themselves and consider themselves as gods,
they don't need they don't need to look to the Lord. All pride,
how awful a sin is pride. It is pride, accursed pride. That spirit by God abhorred,
do what we will. It haunts us still, it keeps
us from the Lord. That's what pride does. It keeps
us from the Lord's. Again, In another psalm we have
those words, Psalm 138, in verse 6, O the Lord be high,
yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth
afar off. Oh, the prides, they never come
near to God. He knows them. He knows everything
about them, but he knows them afar off. And so Peter gives
that exhortation doesn't he in his in his first epistle be clothed
with humility for God receiveth the proud but giveth grace unto
the humble humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand
of God that he may exalt you in due time God deliver us in
from the proud man the presumptuous man He thinks all
is well with himself, and yet he knows nothing really, he knows
not God. But it's not only the contempt
of the proud here, it's the scorn of those that are at ease. Our
soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are
at ease. This is those who know nothing
of faith, nothing of the exercise of soul. They don't know anything
about what it means to be wrestling with God, with doubts and fears. They don't know anything of these
things because really they have no spiritual life. They are full
of vain self-confidence. Easy-believerism is their religion.
Easy-believerism. And of course we know how it
abounds. It's only the God who made the
world that make a real Christian. And yet how many imagine that
they can make themselves a Christian simply by making a decision,
a commitment? What do they know of the good fight of faith, of laying
hold on eternal life? What sort of life of faith do
they have? They have nothing of changes. The Psalmist again says that,
doesn't he? Psalm 55 and verse 19. They have no changes, therefore
they fear not God. God's sheep go in and out. They
have a life that's somewhat up and down. A strange sort of life
really. That's how the Lord speaks there
in John 10, I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall
be saved. And they'll go in and out and
find pasture. Is there not some spiritual significance
to the going out as well as coming in? There are changes in the
life of faith. we have a word in the book of
Jeremiah in Jeremiah 48 and there at verse 11 concerning Moab the contrast as it were between Israel and the Moabites
Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on
his lease, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
neither hath he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained
in him, and his scent is not changed. Oh, a Moabitish religion,
you see, to be settled, to be at ease. The words again of Amos, Amos
6 and verse 1, Woe to them that are at ease! In Zion, I want
an easy life. That's what I want all the time.
I don't want troubles. I don't want troubles at all.
I'm sure none of us want troubles. We don't court trials and difficulties. And yet, we have to live in this
fallen world. That's the way it is. That's
the way the Lord has ordained things. And the Lord is praying
for His disciples. He doesn't ask the Lord to take
them out of the world, but to keep them. and how we need to
be kept, and kept by the power of God in this world. What a
strange course that the Christian is steering all these days. But
it's the life of faith, and it's so different from those who are
spoken of here at the end of this psalm. Have mercy upon us,
oh Lord, have mercy upon us is the prayer of God's people, for
we are exceedingly filled with contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled
with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt
of the proud. Many a blow that comes to the
people of God. What are we to do unto thee?
Lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold,
as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters,
and as the eyes of a maiden look unto the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. until that He have mercy
upon us. But what a favor when we can
speak of Him as our God. Our eyes wait upon the Lord. That's the Covenant God. He's
Jehovah. The Great I Am that I Am. Our
eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that He have mercy upon
us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord. Have mercy. upon us. May the Lord be pleased to bless
his word to us. Amen. We're going to sing a second
praise in the hymn 1036, the tune Eden 327. Seek him, I face, the Saviour cries. My soul, where canst thou find
supplies? But in the lamp was in a slain.
Who has not shed his blood in vain? Does bitter anguish fill
my heart, And make thee from the promised start? Does Satan
tempt thee to give up, No more in Jesus' name to hope? 1036-327