Let us turn once again to that
psalm we were reading, Psalm 34. I'll read for our text the
passage from verse 6 through 9. 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. O fear the Lord,
ye his saints, for there is no one to them that fear him. Considering then this part of
the psalm and of course it very much concerns that one who is
the help and the saviour of his people who is here spoken of
as the angel of the Lord. In verse 7, the angel of the
Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth
them. Who is this angel? Well, it's not a created angel. There are, of course, angelic beings, the creation
of God, and we read of those angels that rebelled and the
chief of them, Satan himself, they were fallen angels no provision
was made for the fallen angels, no salvation for them but man
who was made in the image of God who also rebelled sins and
fowl yet God has made such a wonderful provision for those of mankind
in the person of the one who is being spoken of here as the
angel of the Lord because this angel is in fact God himself
what we have really is a revelation of Jesus Christ when we read
of the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament it is Christ, it's
what's often referred to as a theophany and it's spoken of there in the
New Testament Scriptures also when we think of the words of
Stephen, that first Christian martyr as he makes his great
defense of faith, his great apology for the truth that is in the
Lord Jesus Christ, that long seventh chapter there in the
book of the Acts of the Apostles and he recounts something of
the history of the children of Israel and there at verse 37
in Acts 7 he says this is that Moses which said unto the children
of Israel a prophet shall the Lord your God rise up unto you
of your brethren like unto me him shall ye hear this is he
that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which
spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received
the lively oracles to give unto us." So he speaks of one who
is spoken of by Moses, a prophet, that one who was with the church
there in the wilderness wanderings, the angel. Stephen is referring
to the same person that we have here in the psalm and of course
we see how that when the Lord God brought the children of Israel
out of Egypt in that portion that we read in Exodus 23 he
speaks quite clearly there of the angel that angel that is
to go before them in the way leading, guiding, directing them.
Verse 20 of that 23rd chapter of Exodus, Behold, I send 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. There Moses, the mouth of God,
speaks of this angel as one who is able to pardon sins. If they do not obey his voice,
if they provoke him, he will not pardon your transgressions. We think of those words that
were spoken to the Lord Jesus. when he healed the lame, man
that was brought by his friends. Remember that portion that we
have in the second chapter of Mark, how they climb onto the
roof of the house and let their friend down where the Lord is. There's a great crush of people
all around him. And now the Lord addresses him
and says, Son, thy sins are forgiven thee and the scribes. Behold,
they say, who can forgive sins but God only? Only God can forgive
sins, and yet this angel is one who is able to forgive sins.
He is God. Psalm 99 and verse 8, thou wast
a God that forgave us them. A God that forgave us them, though
thou tookest vengeance on their inventions. It's the same one
then that's spoken of by Stephen in Acts 7, also the one that
is spoken of by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10. Neither
let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed
of serpents. There in the wilderness they
were tempting gods. by their foolish ways. And who
is it that they were tempting? Why, Paul says it was the Lord
Jesus Christ. The angel of the Lord is Christ. And there again in that 23rd
chapter of Exodus that we read, in the end of verse 21, what
does it say there? My name is in Him. The name of God is in the angel. Because that one who is the angel,
that theophany is none other than the Son of God and the Lord
Jesus Christ himself tells us I am in the Father and the Father
in me and the Father and the Son together with the Holy Spirit
are in the one living and true God three persons in one all-glorious
Godhead Christ can say, I am in the Father and the Father
in me. They are one. I and my Father
are one. And again, the language that
we have in that portion back in Exodus, that 23rd chapter,
in verse 22, if thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do all that
I speak. To obey the voice of the angel
is to do all that God is speaking. that is what's being said there
in that particular verse his voice is the very voice of
God as he speaks well let us come to consider this portion
that we've read here from verse 6 through to verse 9 in the 34th
psalm and I want to mention four particular things this morning
as we see them in this portion of scripture first of all in
the angel of the Lord we have the face of God the face of God it's here that God reveals himself
it says there in Exodus 33 and verse 14 my presence shall go
with them we looked at that passage in chapter 23 well later in chapter
33 after the folly of their idolatry with
the golden calf, and Moses having to plead with them, mediate on
their behalf, God would disinherit them, but Moses fills the breach
and pleads with God, and God gives that promise. Exodus 33,
14, my presence. Literally, it's the Hebrew word
face. My face shall go with And it
reminds us of the experience of Jacob back in Genesis 32 when
at Peniel we see him wrestling with the angel, or the angel
wrestling with Jacob. And why did Jacob call the place
Peniel? Well, we're told Jacob called
the name of the place Peniel for I have seen the face of God
he says in the angel he saw the face of God it's the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ as Paul says there in 2nd Corinthians
4.6 the glory of God in the face or the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ Christ is that one who is the image of the invisible
God it is in and through the person of his son that God reveals
himself why his name is the word of God and it is by word of course
that we communicate and by the word of God God comes to us and
communicates with us and reveals himself to us Christ is the image
of the invisible God no man has seen God at any time the only
begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him." Well, that's true not only in the New Testament,
that was true also throughout the Old Testament Scriptures.
The angel is the Lord Himself. 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. In these two verses we have first
the angel of the Lord and then we have the Lord. They are one
and the same. They are one and the same. Who
is the one who goes before them? It's the angel of the Lord. But
again, when we turn back to the book of Exodus, remember at the
beginning of their wilderness wanderings the words that we
have in Exodus 13. Exodus 13 and verse 21 we're
told the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud
to lead them the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them
light to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of
the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before
the people. The Lord went before. The angel
of the Lord is none other than the Lord God himself. But of course we know that there
are distinctions in the Godhead. Whilst God is one, there are
three distinct persons. There is one person, God the
Father, there is another person, God the Son, there is a third
person, God the Holy Spirit. And again, we clearly see those
distinctions in the language of Exodus 23. And those verses
20 and 21, Behold, It's the Lord God Himself speaking.
Behold, I send an angel before thee to keep thee in the way,
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. Here God speaks. He speaks in
the third person. or speaks first in the first
person, and then speaks of someone in the third person. We read
of I, and my, and he, and him, and his. There are two distinct
persons, and yet each of them are God. And of course, we see
it so wonderfully, don't we, in that great Aaronic blessing,
at the end of the sixth chapter of the book of Numbers. And we
often make use of it as a closing benediction in our worship. We only use part of what is declared
there at the end of number six. It was the Lord who spoke unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel. Rather, speak
unto Aaron. and unto his sons, saying, On
this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto
them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord make his
face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The Lord
lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. So we have it three times, The
Lord, The Lord, The Lord, and then it says, And they shall
put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless them."
There are three Lords, but there is one name. Oh, it is the great doctrine
of God, then, that we see unfolded even here in the Old Testament
Scriptures. And it is the person of the the
Son of God, that One who in the fullness of time will become
incarnate, the Son of Man. But now on occasions He is revealed
even to the children of Israel there in the Old Testament Scriptures. He is the face of the Lord. My
presence, my face shall go with thee in the way, says the Lord
God. And though this one is to be
feared, the angel of the Lord encampeth, it says, round about
them that fear Him. And then again in verse 9, O
fear the Lord, O fear the Lord, ye His saints, for there is no
want to them that fear Him. He is the face of the Lord, he
is also that one who is to be feared he is to be reverenced
we are to stand in awe before this one who is the angel of
the Lord in fact in a sense we can say from what we have there
in Exodus 23 and verse 27 that his name is fear God says I will
send my fear before them there in that 27th verse isn't
there a reference to the same one who is previously spoken
of as the angel that goes before them he is to be feared beware
of him it says provoke him not and we are to be mindful then
of who it is that we come before when we gather to worship we
come to worship the only living and true God Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost. And what does the preacher say
in Ecclesiastes? Keep thy foot when thou goest
to the house of God. Be not ready to give the sacrifice
of fools. They consider not what they do.
Be not rash with thy mouth. Let not thy heart be hasty to
utter anything before God. God is in heaven, thou upon earth. Therefore let thy words be few.
Or what can we say? What can we say before such a
goddess is? We have nothing to say, no words
to commend ourselves, our mouths are stopped. All we can do is
stand in awe and wonder before this great God. And so we see him here in passage. 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. O fear the Lord, ye His saints,
if we have any proper understanding of the wonder of who He is, and the wonder of all that He
has done for poor sinners. If we have tasted anything of
His goodness and His mercy, will we not reverence that night,
Now the Lord has told us even in our prayers as we come before
Him. Here is the first of all our
petitions. Hallowed be thy name, let thy
name be holy. Oh, He is that one, He is three
and we think of the song of the angels there in Isaiah 6. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God of hosts, heaven and
earth are full of thy glory. The thrice holy Jehovah is the
God that we worship. But what is this fear of the
Lord? Well, it's not slavish. It's
not slavish fear that's being spoken of here in our text this
morning. The God who encamps about the
God-fearers. And that exhortation in verse
9 to fear the Lord it's not slavish fear, it's not the fear of the
demons we know how the devils believe and tremble that word
that we have in the epistle of James they believe us there is
one God he says rebuking so they do us well the devils believe
and they tremble how few today tremble at the name of Jehovah
the great God And yet, how we see it in the ministry of the
Lord Jesus, how the devils trembled before Him. Let us alone? What
have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? I know Thee
who Thou art, the Holy One of God. All the demons knew Him. There was a great deal of demon
activity, of course, during the days of His incarnation, whilst
He was here upon the earth, not surprising. How they must have
trembled. they knew not what great work
he was going to accomplish he would vanquish sin and satan
and so he did though the devils were so fearful before him but
that's not the fear that's not the fear that's spoken of that
awful devilish slavish fear it is of course a filial fear it's
a fear of those that know the Lord It's that fear of those
who have known the blessing of adoption, who are the sons of
God. That's the fear that we have
here. Think of the words that we have in the 130th Psalm. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquity, who should stand? But there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be feared. Oh, if we know the forgiveness
of God, we must know something of the fear of the Lord. The
fear of the Lord, it's the beginning of wisdom, we're told. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Life eternal to
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. There are several hymns, of course,
in the book on the fear of the Lord. I think of that lovely
hymn of Heart 852 where he says of this fear, this fear is the
spirit of faith, the confidence that's strong, an unctuous light
to all that's right, a bath to all that's wrong. That's the
fear of the Lord that's being spoken of in our text. There's the face of the Lord
here, There's God revealing himself in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There's the fear of the Lord,
but also here we see something of God's great favor. God's great favor to his people. And it's twofold, isn't it? The
angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and
delivereth them, it says. And then in verse 9, O fear the
Lord, ye his saints, for there is no one to them that fear him. It's a twofold favor. There's
first of all that great favor of protection and that's what
we see in the seventh verse. The Lord Jesus Christ is round
about his people. as they fear Him, and He delivers
them. He delivers them out of all their
troubles. Again, the language that we have
elsewhere in the Psalms, in the 125th Psalm. And verse 2, as the mountains
are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people. from henceforth even for forever. The Lord is there to watch over
them, to protect them, to keep them in the midst of the world
that lies in wickedness, that lies in the wicked one. Now the
devil is ever going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour, but the Lord protects his people. They're kept, and
they're kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. or they cannot keep themselves
we cannot keep ourselves again the language in another Psalm
Psalm 22 and verse 29 none can keep alive his own soul or left
to ourselves how quickly we would descend again descending to all the death of
sin but we need God to keep us and we need God to keep us moment
by moment, hour by hour but this is a promise that the Lord is
about his people and though he was there of course in the wilderness
to keep the children of Israel how that fiery presence of the Lord would come
between Israel and the Egyptians and it was light to the children
of Israel but it was darkness to all the Egyptians. The Lord
is that one then who favours his people as he protects them,
keeps them safe from all danger and even protects us at times
and must protect us from our very selves from that old nature
that is yet within us. But it's not only a question
of the Lord's protection He also makes provision. He makes wonderful
provision. As we see it here in verse 9,
there is no want to them that fear Him. Or they need no good
thing. It goes on, doesn't it? Verse
10, the young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that
seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. The Lord makes every provision
for His people. His hand is ever open to them
crying. Why we are to pray aren't we
as the Lord teaches us the petitions of prayer, give us this day our
daily bread. Or as it is in Luke's account,
give us day by day our daily bread. In a sense It's a striking
difference that we have in the two accounts. There in Matthew
6, give us this day, it's provision for the day. But in Luke 11,
it's day by day, and we know that as He gives provision this
day, He will give provision the next day, and the day after that.
But we're to live by faith and we're to live therefore one day
at a time. We're to be those who are continually
looking to Him. He will make every provision. David says, I have been young
and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread. The Lord's will provide. there is no want to them that
fear him. But it's not only that he makes
every temporal provision, but of course, more than that, every
spiritual provision, every spiritual blessing. These God-fearers, why the secret
of the Lord is with them. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him. He will show them His covenant. Remember those words that we
have in Psalm 25, 14. He shows them His covenant. Oh, we're not worthy of the least
of His favors and all the truth that He has shown us. Oh, when
God reveals to us something of those great mysteries of the
faith all that mystery of godliness all that secret of the Lord all
that's laid up in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and
to think upon him and to meditate upon the wonder of that lovely
man even him who is ever the friend of sinners and all that
great work that he accomplished when the Lord opens our eyes
and we come to behold wondrous things out of his law come to
understand The wonder of that revelation that God has given
to us here in Holy Scripture. Not just provision for the body
then, but that blessed provision for our souls when we're able
to eat the flesh and to drink the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is that what we desire? that
we might have a greater knowledge of Him. We want a better capacity
to take in the wonder of who Jesus of Nazareth really is. He is God, manifest in the flesh. But then all that is laid up
in store for us, I have not seen or heard, says Paul, neither
hath entered into the hearts of men the things that God hath
prepared for them that love Him. all that blessed abode, even
heaven itself. We look not at the things that
are seen, but the things that are not seen, the things that
are seen in our temple, the unseen things, the unseen things, the
heavenly things, they are the eternal things. And this is the
favour of the Lord, the angel of the Lord encamping round about
them, that fear Him, and deliver us of all taste and see that
the Lord is good. And blessed is that man that
trusts us in Him." Well, we've said something with regards to
the face of the Lord, that revelation that we have in the person of
the Lord Jesus. He is the very face of God to
us. We've tried to say something with regards to what it is to
have that true feel of the Lord in our hearts, that holy reverence,
and to know His favours and His blessings. But finally this morning,
to notice the vital necessity of faith. All we walk by faith
and not by sight. What does it say here in verse
8? The blessed man. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in Him. Are we those who are trusting in
Him? Are we those who possess a real faith in Him? Maybe at times we're made to
question the reality of our faith. How can we know if ours is a
genuine faith, that we really are those who are leaning upon
the Lord God Himself? Well, isn't such trust seen in
prayer that's the evidence of it really and of course the first
verse that I read as our text verse 6 this poor man cried and
the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles there
is the evidence of faith to be that poor man and that man who
must be crying to the Lord calling upon the Lord Again, previously to that in
verse 4, I sought the Lord, says David. I sought the Lord and
He heard me and delivered me from all my fears, all my slavish
fears. All those doubts that the devil
had implanted in my soul. All those evil, atheistic, blasphemous
thoughts, the Lord delivers. That's what David's saying there
in verse 4. But now, throughout the psalm,
we see David giving himself to prayer. Again, at verse 15, the
eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous. Who is that righteous
man? Why, that's the justified sinner.
His righteousness is Christ's righteousness. It is His. The ears of the Lord are open
unto the cry of those who come looking to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Paul himself can say there in Philippians, not having his
own righteousness which is of the Lord, but that which is through
the faith of Christ. That righteousness which is of
God by faith. all the eyes of the Lord are
upon the righteous, his ears are open unto their cry. Again at verse 17, the righteous
cry, and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their
troubles. We see then the evidence, the
evidence of trust, the evidence of faith in these prayers. And what does God do with prayers?
Why God hears. God answers and God delivers we see that time and again verse
7 the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him
and delivereth them there's deliverance 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 out of them all all this is that God who has
revealed himself to us in the person of the Lord Jesus who
delivered us from so great a death says the Apostle and doth deliver
and will yet deliver there in the opening chapter of 2nd Corinthians
He speaks of that threefold deliverance. It's in the past, it's in the
present, it's in the future. He is a God of deliverances. Well, is this the God that we
come to feed on this morning? Do we have an appetite for such
a religion as this? A religion that centers very
much in this person. Spoken of in the Old Testament
of the angel of the Lord. But that's a theophany, that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, taste and see, says David. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. Or do we have an appetite? How
John knew something of it. That beloved apostle of the Lord,
there leaning upon his bosom. What does he say as he begins
that first general epistle of his? That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, which our hands have handled, of the
word of life. This is what we want to be taking
hold of the Lord Jesus. nourishing our souls with all
that he is, his blessed person, and all that he has accomplished,
that great work of redemption and salvation. For 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. O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no one to
them that fear him. The Lord be pleased then to bless
to us his own truth, for his name's sake. Amen.