Complete dependence upon the
Lord for all needed help this evening. I wish for a time to
direct your very prayerful attention to Psalm 57. Psalm 57. And by
way of text, verse 2. Psalm 57. and verse 2. I'll read the first two verses
though that we may ascertain the immediate sense. Be merciful
unto me O God, be merciful unto me for my soul trusteth in thee,
yea in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge. Until these calamities be overpassed,
I will cry unto God Most High, unto God that performeth all
things for me. I will cry unto God Most High,
unto God that performeth all things for me." For those of us who are engaged
in the supply ministry, it can be a real snare to become what
some might determine a hobby horse preacher or simply to preach
those things which are easy or those things which we find most
palatable. But what we really must do of
course is preach those things that the Lord bids us to preach.
And inevitably there are some themes that reappear time, after
time, after time, after time in the Scripture. And this is a fundamental doctrine,
which you may have already gained from the hymns. The doctrine
of Providence is a central theme of the Gospel. It's a central theme. Now, we either believe that the Lord
is sovereign over all things, or in essence, He's sovereign
over nothing at all. What most try to do is mix the
two. They say that the Lord is sovereign
in creation or is sovereign as far as it goes but nothing more
than that. And of course most people really
believe that their life is simply a random jumble of situations
almost like a gamble if you like. You throw balls down a hole and
you come up one place or another. Well, what does the Psalmist
say here? He says, he cries unto the God
who performeth all things for me. Now that word performeth
My Bible here has the Oxford references. Slightly different
here in the pulpit Bibles, the Cambridge. But it states, completeth. That word performeth could also
be translated from the Hebrew completeth. He completes. He completes all things for me. Now, again, You'll notice that
those words, all things, are in the italics. They were put
in there by the translators to assist us and to help us gain
the sense of what the Hebrew is saying. But we might say,
God that performeth for me. He performeth for me. Now, Before we venture upon our subject experientially, we must consider
the context in which these words are written. Now, I read very
deliberately from the first book of Samuel, in chapter 22. In essence, I could have read
chapters 22, 23, or 24. The title, as the psalm gives it,
states that David was in the cave. But there is some debate
amongst commentators whether this was the cave of Adullam,
found in chapter 22, and at that very point, or David in the wilderness
of Engidae at that point in chapter 24. But really, the point is that the circumstances
were David fleeing from Saul. Now, we can see from that very situation
that this was real prayer. This was real living, a real
living understanding of who the Lord was in extreme circumstances. You know, it's all very well
having a sound theology and a sound creed and our articles of faith
and all those things are good when things are all in our favour.
But consider David here. He had the weight of true Israel on his shoulders. Fleeing! Fleeing! this despotic individual. And we can see, even from the
narrative, the way that Saul carries on in this respect. We read that he, in verse 6 of
1 Samuel 22, he gathered under the tree, he was on the hill
of Rama, having his spear in his hand, and his servants standing
about him, and he's carrying on. Notice
this. Here now, ye Benjaminites, will
the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards? Notice, his attempt was not an
honorable one. The attempt was really a bribe. And thus, this is how men are
when they're dishonourable. They'll use whatever means they
can in order to curry favour. And Saul, particularly, was attempting
to curry favour with the tribe of Benjamin in this way. He'd been good to them in a measure
in the past and he attempts here to make them feel guilty in some
way. Will the son of Jesse give every
one of you fields and vineyards and make you all captains of
thousands and captains of hundreds? That all of you have conspired
against me And there is none that showeth me that my son hath
made a league with the son of Jesse." Notice he doesn't name
David. He just describes him as the
son of Jesse. Oh, and he really pours it on
now, doesn't he? When he says, and there is none
of you that is sorry for me. Pathetic, isn't it? Pathetic. This is how men are, you see.
Me, me, me. Me, myself and I. very different to having an eye
for the Lord's honour and the Lord's glory. You see, the problem
that we have, and this generation is worse than ever at indulging
people in this respect, is people think that the world exists for
their benefit. How often do we hear Somebody's
left a husband or they've left a wife and they say, well I'm
not happy anymore. As though things existed for
their indulgence. Well, the world does not exist
for our indulgence. The world continues for the glory
of God and for the saving. of his people. We'll come to
that in a moment. But here he is with raising his
complaints his soul in this respect and he goes on in this respect
complaining burning with this anger against
David. You know, we would all do well
to heed the Scripture. Make no friendship with an angry
man lest thou learn his ways and become like him. If we surround
ourselves with angry and embittered people, we soon find that we
share the same spirit. And here Saul, oh he was angry. Oh he was angry. Now the mercy for Ahimelech was
that he was delivered, wasn't he? In this sense. One of the sons of Ahimelech,
the son of Ahitub, named after Abitur, escaped and fled after
David, and Abitur showed David that Saul had slain the Lord's
priest, Abitur here I should say. This was a deliverance, this
was a deliverance that was very evident of the Lord having his
hand upon David throughout his life. And it goes on. Through chapter
23 and chapter 24 you can read the narrative for yourself in
your own time at home. But you can see here David, his
religion was really put to the test. He was really an exercise of
mind and heart here. Because whilst he's here in the
cave, he raises this petition unto
the Lord. Notice this here. He didn't presume upon the Lord's
mercy and favour. He pleaded it. there's a big
difference between the two. And there's a huge difference
between the spirit of the two. To hear some people speak, they
have the language of those who would say, doubtless we are the
people and wisdom shall die with us. But that was not the spirit
here that David spake. He said, Be merciful unto me,
for my soul trusteth in thee, yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make thy refuge, until these calamities, or as the margin
says, engulfing ruin, everything seem wrong, be overpassed, Notice here he
had faith that these things would be overpassed. Better is the end of a thing
than the beginning, as the wise man said. And thus, it's not how we start
out, is it? but how we finish. Every one of us here was born
forth from the womb speaking lies, the children of nature. And thus there is the necessity
of the work of the Spirit within our souls which brings about
here the new birth. David experienced a spiritual awakening. He also fell and he was restored. He fell and he was restored. He fell and he was restored.
He was a thing throughout his life really. Sometimes in very public ways. But what did he say at the end
of his life? The Lord hath made a covenant
with him, ordered in all things and sure. We have our hymn, don't
we, in our glorious Gadsby's hymn book. We could have sung
that hymn. There's many others that we could
have sung, which ends in every line, in all things ordered well. and thus it was ordered well. But he states here his position. Notice he didn't have this sort
of what you might call Reform Deist sort of view. As though
the Lord has wound everything up and everything is just running
its course. That's the sort of modern evangelical view of what
the Lord is doing. It wasn't anything like that. This was real exercise of heart.
I will cry unto God most high. This was an exercise of mind
and heart. You see, he knew the truth. But
he wasn't satisfied. with a sound theology and a sound
creed. He needed more than that. And
I'm not undermining a sound theology and a sound creed. I wish there
were more of it. I certainly wish there were more
of it within our chapels. Seems to be absolute confusion
reigning these days. David wasn't satisfied with those
things. No. He was in real straits. And thus, the testing of our
religion is when we are brought into real straits. And the denomination
can't help you then. The chapel building can't help
you then. Very often, your own kith and
kin, your own loved ones can't help you then. you are shut up
between yourself and the Lord God of heaven and this is where David came with Saul seeking after him in
the most vengeance form if you have a persecutor you will cry these words I will
cry unto God most high that's the first clause but you'll also
be enabled to say this unto God that performeth all things for
me now in case you think that I'm
some sort of Zealot. Some do. But in case you think
that, you'll find that the Apostle Paul verifies the words of David. What does the Apostle say? In fact, as it comes to mind,
I was going to quote it, but I shall find it. In order to
prove these things, they are what we call prove texts. Are they not? The Apostle speaks of, well he
speaks of the reason why the world continues. 2 Timothy 2,
we'll start with verse 9, wherein I suffer trouble. This is a man
who had some experience. He was nearing the end of his
life. He's writing to Timothy, a young man in his pastorate
at Ephesus, what is now modern Turkey. And he says this, wherein I suffer
trouble as an evildoer, as though he'd done bad, even unto bonds
thrown into jail, shipwrecked, But the Word of God is not bound. Therefore, I endure all things
for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." and that's it. That's it. I endure all things for the elect's
sakes. In other words, the Apostle had
a work to do and his whole ministry was to glorify
God and do good to his people. Now, if we're faithful servants
of the Lord that is what we're about. We had a conversation yesterday
evening on the nature and the purpose of the church and it
seems to me that no matter what label the effort seems to be simply
to get people over the threshold at any cost. We've even had the
life of Brian on, round the corner, well, really. Is anybody fooled
by that? I don't think they are. See here, we've got reality. In this respect, if we desire
to see, if we desire to hear, God honoured, and Christ's name exalted. The
Lord here sends his servants to preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ unto God that performeth all
things for me. Now, think of your own case all these things
are applicable, aren't they? to us and our own circumstances we could have been born anywhere
in the world in any time in any generation in any place amongst
any people but we have no say when we were
born into this world And we should have no say when we leave it. These things are not our prerogative. They are the Lord's prerogative. And throughout this life we are accountable to preserve
life as we can. As we reasonably can. And thus, what can we say? The Lord giveth
and the Lord taketh away. We've been to a funeral only
this week. It's the Jim Brooks. He was 91
and a real character of the old school. Wonderful to hear him pray in
the vestry before you went out to preach. And it struck me when I first
went there, of course, as just an aside I mention this, when
I first went to Braybourne, him and Mr Dawson were both fairly
active, although elderly. And when in the vestry you'd
hear them both praying, you'd think you must appreciate this
while you still have him. You see we are learning in Christ's
school. learning in Christ School. What
I'm saying to you is this, every person you meet, every situation
you come into, whether that be in the workplace or in your personal
life, is no accident. It's no accident. They are foreordained
by the Lord God Himself. And thus, Do we not prove that
truth is stranger than fiction? We don't need science fiction
and novels to amaze us. There are many real things that
are beyond explanation. Here, we find David looking on the tiptoe of faith, as it
were, unto the Lord himself for his help, who performeth all
things for me." In other words, this situation that he'd come
into, although it appeared to go against him, wasn't really against him, was
it? And it would lead onto his eventual deliverance and thus we prove that even in
our lives Saul was a man who fell on his
sword in the end and you know we can find that though we may
at times have enemies and there may be those even like Saul who
would pursue us even unto the very end the Lord brings it about so that
they come to nothing and we don't even have a hand in the matter.
You see that's free grace for you isn't it? That's free grace. That is divine sovereignty. These things are foreign. Foreign
to most people, profess to believe the doctrines of grace and be
Calvinists, but these things are foreign. Meaningless to most people. They
drift along through life. And they have no reason, they
have no idea why they're here. But you see here, even in this
text, we've that the meaning of life is here the Lord is bringing
his people in he's saving his elect now now David here has somewhere to look doesn't
he because Even though he speaks
of the Lord performing these things for him, he's looking with the eye of
faith. And who's he looking to? Who's he looking for? Remember,
this is generations before the Lord Jesus Christ came to the
earth. Do we not speak of the Lord Jesus
as being David's greater son? And here we have it. He says
in verse 3, He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach
of him that would swallow me up. Sealer, consider. Take note. Take heed. God shall
send forth His mercy and His truth. Now, if His mercy and
His truth isn't the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, there
might be many more things as well, I would confess that, but
He's speaking here, as all the Psalms do, of Christ Himself. He shall send forth His mercy
and His truth. Why? Because mercy comes by Jesus
Christ. Truth comes by Jesus Christ. The Lord said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. You see, in the position David
was in, he was brought into communion with the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And as with all true doctrines in the scripture, This is what they will do. Again,
and I must heed this and state this unapologetically. I don't
care who listens either. I take issue with people who
talk about dry doctrine. Doctrine is only dry if it doesn't
mean anything to us. I know what people mean. You
know, we can know all the doctrines of grace and not know the grace
of the doctrines. I know that. I've been there
myself. But you know, doctrine is only
dry if it's immaterial. If it has no effect upon us. If it is but theoretical. The
truth in the letter of it, we might say. But the doctrine of providence
was no dry doctrine to David. And I trust it's not a dry doctrine
to you and to I. Mercy and truth. Mercy, why? Will we find mercy by being brought under the sound
of the gospel? and the Spirit working within
our souls, bringing us into communion with Christ Himself and His truth. His truth which is found in His
Word, in every page of Scripture, in every chapter of the Bible. But you see, the Lord's providence. What is
the Lord doing? What is He doing? He sovereignly
manipulates all the events of life to bring us under the sound
of the truth and to bring us to Christ Himself. In other words, He will turn
events upside down. so that you and I can hear the
gospel and hear the truth. And we find and we see what life
really is all about. David saw it here. He was looking
with the eye of faith for the Messiah that was to come. Yes. But he knew where his hope lied. He knew where his hope was. His
hope was not in simply a promised title, was it? As King. His hope
was in Christ Himself. Now, as we conclude this evening,
let's just take one very real example of how the Lord does
this in the life of a saint. As you know, a famine hit the
land in respect of the Israelitish people. And Jacob was desirous
to go into Egypt. Why? The Scripture doesn't justify
this. It just states Jacob saw there
was corn in Egypt. So he went. He went. Went into Egypt. Egypt, of course,
being a type and a symbol of the world. And consider all the
events that took place in and around that land and in and around
his family and in and around his sons. And we have Joseph
sold as a slave. We have him betrayed by his own
brethren. But what was the end of all this? What was the end of all this?
Well Joseph in the end of his life he was able to say this
They meant it for evil, but the Lord meant it for your good."
In other words, that which originally had an evil intent, the Lord
ruled and overruled to bring a clean thing out of an unclean
thing. And thus, the record is found. They meant it for evil. But the
Lord meant it for your good. Take another example. The prophet Isaiah, preaching
in his day, was preaching in very difficult circumstances.
The children of Israel brought into idolatry of the very worst
type. And the Assyrians thought they'd
got the answer to everything. They were at the height of their
political power. and their civil power and their
economic power. But if you read Isaiah and chapter
10, you can see that they were simply an instrument for the
salvation of the Lord's people and the deliverance of the Israel
people. That's all. Time after time after
time. Unusual things unusual circumstances,
perhaps even those things which we would say, well what good
could come of this? And you know that's what we say
in unbelief, what good can come of this? What good can come of this? But what did the Apostle say?
He said, for we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God and to them who are called according
to His purpose." This is really what matters, isn't it? It is
what the Lord's purpose is and what the Lord's purpose is found. Being predestinated According,
listen to this, according to the purpose of Him who worketh
all things, not just the things we like, all things, after the
counsel of His own will. Now I'm no different from you.
Naturally speaking, I can be very rebellious as well. but we must all submit under
the sovereign hand of God. And if we're able to look to
Christ and see Him going before us, we will be just like David
who said, I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth
all things for me. Now, I was desirous, if you've
heard nothing this evening. It's all concluded here in Mr
Denham's hymn. If any of you don't have a copy
of Denham's hymn book, I would suggest buy one. It will do your
soul good. He says this, The Lord hath his
way in the whirlwind and storm. The clouds are the dust of his
feet. The whole of his pleasure his
hand will perform and all his intentions complete. No foe can
annoy me or friend give a smile unless he permit or constrain.
Though Satan may tempt and false brethren revile, my God will
his purpose explain. False charges against me, though
painful to bear, In truth may be boldly withstood, but since
they afford me fresh matter for prayer, I know they are working
for good. I own I am vile and repent in
the dust, more worthy of hell than of heaven. Yet in the atonement
of Jesus I trust, through whom I am freely forgiven. Since God
is my refuge, I must persevere. My cause I commit to His care. nor will I the tongue of the
slanderer fear, but give myself wholly to prayer. Now prostrate
before thee, my glorious Lord, thy precepts obeying to my heart,
and help me to walk as becometh thy word, nor from its instructions
depart. Amen.