Well, let us turn to the Word
of God in the portion we were reading in the Psalm, Psalm 34,
and reading again at verse 6 through 7 and 8. Psalm 4, verse 6 through
7 and 8. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The
angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and
delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. The Psalmist David is very much
addressing himself to the Lord. Of course, in each of the verses
we have that word. Jehovah, the God of the Covenant,
and said before us in our authorised version with those capital letters,
LORD. And we know that our God is one
God who subsists in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Here we have mentioned in particular
of the angel of the Lord, that's not a created angel, But that
is Christ in a Theophany. The great Lutheran scholar back
in the 19th century, Engstenberg wrote a book on the Christology
of the Old Testament and deals with these passages. here in
the Psalms and other books of the Old Testament where Christ
is set before us. And this is one of those passages.
He is that angel of the Lord. Think of the language of Stephen
as he makes his great defense at his martyrdom. and recounts
something of the history of the children of Israel and testifies
to them concerning Jesus of Nazareth being the Christ. And he says
there, this is he that was in the church in the wilderness
with the angel which spake to him, that is to Moses, in the
Mount Sinai. The angel who spoke with him
there in the mountain. Of course, we see there in the the history of Moses and the
children of Israel as they come out of the bondage that was Egypt
and as they are about to make progress towards the promised
land in Exodus 23. God says, by way of promise there
at verse 20, Behold, I send an angel before them to keep thee
in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared
Beware of him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will
not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. This is the same one that David
is speaking of, the angel of the Lord, who encompassed round
about them that fear him. And interestingly here, what
the Lord God says to Moses and to the people of Israel, beware
of him, Obey His voice, provoke Him not, for He will not pardon
your transgressions. And we think of those words of
the scribes in the Gospel, who can forgive sins but God only. Remember in Mark chapter 2 when
those men bring their friend, their paralyzed friend, to the
place where Christ is, that He might heal him. And they make
a way, there's a great press of people, but they manage to
make a way and present their paralyzed friends. And the Lord, beholding their
faith, says unto the man, Son, thy sins be forgiven. And then the scribes, they make
their protest. Who can forgive sins but God
alone? And then the Lord answers those
men who would always oppose Him together with the Pharisees,
the scribes and the Pharisees, the great enemies. of the Lord
Jesus. Is it easier to say, Thy sins
be forgotten thee, or to say, Take up thy bed and walk? And
he turns to the young man and says, Arise, take up thy bed
and walk, and the people are amazed. Why, he is that one who
as God can forgive sins. He can forgive sins. Well, let
us come to consider what we read in this portion from verse 6.
through to the end of verse 8. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The
angel of the Lord encompassed round about them that fear him,
and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord
is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. Firstly then, it's in the angel
of the Lord that God is really revealing himself. As we see
there in that 23rd chapter, he speaks of the one who goes before
them. We see previously, of course,
earlier in Exodus in chapter 13 and the end of that chapter,
we're told how the Lord went before them in a pillar of clouds
by day and a pillar of fire by night to lead them in the way. And subsequently, after their folly, their idolatry
in the matter of the golden calf when Moses is in the mount forty
days and forty nights receiving instructions concerning the worship
of God. We come to Exodus chapter 32
and chapter 33 and Moses is sent down from the mount and he breaks
the tables of the Lord at the foot of the mount and God speaks
of disinheriting them. He will not go before them. He
disowns them. He doesn't speak of them as his
own, he speaks of them as Moses' people, thine people, he says.
But Moses stands in the breach and is a mediator on their behalf
and the Lord God is pleased to hear his prayer and the Lord
will restored them yet, and He will take them into that land
of promise. And what does He say there in Exodus 33 and verse
14? My presence shall go with thee,
is the promise. Just as He had said previously
He would lead them in the way, so now again they are restored
to His favor through the prayers of His faithful servant Moses.
My presence, literally My face, my face shall go with thee."
And we think immediately of the language of the New Testament
and what's said concerning Christ himself in 2 Corinthians 4, 6. It's in Christ that we see the
glory of God. The glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ, says Paul there. The glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. He is, of course, that one who
is the image of the invisible God. And this is the one, the
Lord, that is spoken of in these verses that we've announced this
evening for our text. It's in Christ that God reveals
himself. We see him in the face. of the
Lord Jesus. No man hath seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath declared Him. And going back, going back to
those words that we've already referred to in Exodus 23, just
what God is saying here. We see how God speaks. He speaks
of Himself in the first person, of course. Behold I, sent an
angel before thee to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee
into the place which I have prepared. Beware of him, and obey his voice. Provoke him not, for he will
not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in him. But if thou shalt indeed obey
his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy unto
thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. God is
speaking. speaking through Moses, and God
speaks of course of himself in the first person, I and my. I send an angel, my name is in
him. But he speaks of someone else,
he speaks in the third person of the angel. So here we see
that there are these two persons. There's the one who speaks, there's
the one who is spoken of, they are distinct persons. It is the
Father and the Son. And our fellowship is with the
Father and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. We're to recognize
this distinction of persons in the Godhead. There are, of course,
three persons. There's Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost. All the three divine persons
who are but the one living and true God. But it is in the angel
of the Lord that God reveals himself, makes himself known. And then we see also, of course,
how here we read of the favour of God. That is the favour of
protection. The angel of the Lord encompass
round about them that fear him. He is about his people. He is
there to protect them. In another Psalm, Psalm 125,
as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round
about His people forever. Or the presence of God. And oh,
it is by that presence of the Almighty that we're kept and
we're protected, kept by the power of God, through faith,
unto salvation, ready to be revealed, in the last time says Peter. Again we read in the psalm that
none can keep alive his own soul or we cannot preserve our mortal
life, we are creatures, we are dependent all the time upon The
Lord God, it's in Him that we live and move and have our being. Where would we be? But for God,
every time we're drawing a breath, we're sucking in the mercies
of the Lord. Of course we are. Our poor lives in this world,
they lived in complete dependence upon the Lord Himself. Well,
how much more with regards to any spiritual life in our souls?
None can keep alive his own soul. And there we need the Lord to
be that one who will keep us safe. Christ in the pattern prayer
tells us we're to pray, deliver us from evil. We need the Lord
continually to deliver us from all the assaults of Satan who
walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Oh,
there's a favor then of protection, the angel of the Lord. encampeth
round about them, that for him he was about the people of Israel,
in all their wilderness wanderings. And when the Egyptians pursue
them, why we read how the Lord, instead of going before them,
is behind them, protecting them for those who would come and
seek again their utter destruction. But not only in the favor of
protection, there's a favor of provision the Lord provides for
His people. And we see it again here in the
language of the Psalmist. Verse 9, O fear the Lord, ye
saints, for there is no want to them that fear Him. The young
lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing. And so, again, in the pattern
prayer, the Lord teaches us how we're to pray and say, give us
this day our daily bread. There in Matthew 6, or as it
is in the account in Luke 11, give us day by day our daily
bread. Or there's sufficient provision
for a day, but there's sufficient provision for day by day and
day after day. The Lord doth make provision
for His people. How He provided for them in all
those wilderness wanderings. Remember those lovely words that
we have in the 8th chapter of Deuteronomy. And now after the
40 years of wandering on the very borders of the land of promise. And what does the Lord God say? through his servant Moses, thou
shalt remember, all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these
forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove
thee to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest
keep his commandments or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered
thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest
not, neither did thy fathers know. that he might make thee
know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. Oh, we're to be wise, we're to
observe these things, God's kind providences. And he not only
provides for our temple needs, he doesn't just preserve our
bodies, he preserves our souls. And what a provision, what a
wondrous provision, ultimately. I have not seen nor hear heard,
neither hath entered into the hearts of men the things that
God hath laid up in store for them that love Him. We look not
at the things that are seen, says the Apostle, but at the
things which are not seen. The things which are seen are
temple, the unseen things are eternal. How the Lord then favours
His people with protection, with provision. What a remarkable
provision is that of prayer. He favours us by granting to
us prayers. We read here at verse 15, the
eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears are open
unto their cry. If we think of the face of the
Lord, Now, we see God in the face of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think of the face, we
think of eyes and ears. Of course, we know that God is
a spirit. He doesn't have a body such as
we have. The language here is anthropomorphic. It's God, as he was speaking
of himself, as if He was like we are, and He condescends to
speak to us. We have mention of the face of
the Lord there in verse 16, but in verse 15, the eyes of the
Lord. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. His ears
are open unto their cries. Oh, we know that when we seek
to come before Him with our prayers, He will hear us, He will answer
us. It's interesting, because later in Psalm 115, we read of
the idols that men would make. And the psalmist says they have
mouths, but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear not. the noses, but they
smell not. God doesn't have any of those
things and yet this is the one who says that his eyes are upon
his people, those who are the justified ones, the righteous
ones, those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ, his ears always
open to their cry. What wondrous provision God has
made. And who is the God that is being
spoken to and prayed to in this psalm. Who is the God that David
is speaking of? It's the Great Covenant God,
it's the Lord. It's the Lord, it's that name,
Jehovah. This is the one that we're to
trust, you know, taste and see that the Lord is good. How do
we taste and see that the Lord is good? Why, when we come and
present our prayers to Him? Verse 4, He says, I sought the
Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. Verse 6,
this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him
out of all his trouble. Oh, how we taste of that goodness
of God when we come and order our cause before Him at the mercy
seat. God hears prayers. God answers. God delivers His people. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them, it says. Again at verse 17, the righteous
cry, and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their
troubles. Verse 19, Many are the afflictions
of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him as of them all. Why is the God of deliverances? And how Paul in the New Testament
there in the opening chapter of 2 Corinthians reminds us of
those deliverances, who delivered us from so great a death, and
doth deliver, in whom we trust he will yet deliver us. He's
delivered in the past, He'll deliver in the present, He'll
go on and deliver again and again in the future. O taste and see,
says David, that the Lord is good. He is a good God. And how we should desire then
that felt sense of His presence, how we need Him, how we need
Him. And we need Him tonight as we
come before Him to pray the language of dear John Berridge, I cannot
pray and feel thee near, nor can I sing with heavenly cheer
unless the Lord be nigh. We need Him to be near to us,
to come to us that we might then come to Him. And what do we see
here finally? And He speaks of His people as
those that that are God-fearers the outing of the Lord encampeth
round about about who? about them that fear him and
then the exhortation in verse 9 O fear the Lord ye his saints
and you know it's interesting back in that passage in Exodus
23 that we've referred to already a couple of times where God says
that he will indeed be the one who will go before them, to keep
them in the way. He says at verse 27 in that passage,
I will send my fear before them and will destroy all the people
to whom they shall come and I will make all thine enemies turn their
backs unto them. And that fear that is being spoken
of there, why, isn't that the Lord himself? Isn't that one
of the names that belongs to God? It's the name that He gives
to His Word, of course, in the 19th Psalm, amongst those various
synonyms that are used there to describe what God's Word is.
It's His law, it's His judgments, it's His statutes, it's His fear.
Well, fear is also a name that belongs to the person.
of the angel of the Lord. Beware of him. Provoke him not. All we should know then, how
important is that fear of the Lord, especially when we come
before him. To keep thy foot when thou goest
to the house of God, be more ready to hear, than to give the
sacrifice of fools. They consider not what they do,
says the preacher. Be not rash with thy mouth, Let
not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God
is in heaven, thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few. How important is this fear of
the Lord. Where does real religion begin?
It begins when God puts his fear into the hearts of a man. And
all else, all other religion is fleshly religion. or that
we might know something of that fear of the Lord and the promises
that are attached to those who are the God-fearers. The angel
of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth
them, O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is that
man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye his saints. for there is no one to them that
fear him. Oh the Lord help us then to draw
some encouragement from his own word as we would turn to him
and present tonight our prayers, our petitions. God help us to
come with that due awe and reverence as we would again seek his face. Oh the Lord be pleased then.
to bless his word to us. Let us before we pray sing our
second praise in the hymn number 255. Happy the men that fear
the Lord, they from the paths of sin depart, rejoice and tremble
at his word and hide it deep. within their heart. The hymn
255, the tune is Saxby 409.