Turn with me to Psalm chapter
5, if you would please, continuing our study in the book of Psalms.
Last time, we finished up in verse 7. And there in verse 7,
David said, but as for me, I will come into the house in the multitude
of thy mercy. And in thy fear will I worship
toward thy holy temple. David knew what is revealed to
every believer. Every child of God knows this. We come into the throne of God
by mercy. His mercy. And we come into the
throne of grace for mercy. We come by God's mercy and we
come for God's mercy. And we come in fear of God. Not
slavish fear of punishment, but a reverential respect for who
God is. Reverence, reverence. When someone
who's offended the law is arrested and judged, they come into the
court of man, the court of this world. and they stand before
a judge. And that judge has the right
as the judge to rule or make a judgment according to the law. And it would be foolish for that
man or that woman who stands in judgment to insult the judge. I've seen news clips and other
things where men have been very disrespectful to the judge and
it didn't help their case any. That just won't help the case.
It would be wise for a man or a woman who stands before the
court to show reverence to the court and to the judge. But one
in this position should fear the judge, they should veer,
they should respect the judge. After all, he's presiding over
their case. After the speaking of man or
this world, his destiny, so to speak, is
in the judge's hand. He's seeking justice for the
offending of the law. Final judgment is in the judge's
hand. Now, according to John 17, verse
two, passage you know all well, God has given Christ power. That word in that text means
power and authority and jurisdiction over all flesh. Well, he's the
judge of all. Christ is the judge of all. God has put all judgment into
his hand. Now listen. It says that he,
Jesus Christ, should give eternal life to as many as thou, speaking
of God, has given him. Christ has the power to condemn
and Christ has the right to pardon. And it would be wise for a sinner
to approach God in humility and respect and reverence if they're
seeking mercy. And it's with fear and respect
and awe and reverence that we worship the God with whom we
have to do. I think about that scripture,
the God with whom we have to do, and all of us will. One day
we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of God and
give accountable for the things that we've done in this body. Every creature who's manifest
in His sight and all things are naked and opened to Him, He's
the God with whom we have to do. Then we come to verse 8 here,
and it says, lead me, O Lord. Now this is the way a sinner
approaches God and reverence. We first acknowledge Him as Lord.
You're Lord. You're Lord of all. You made
the heavens and the earth. You spoke light into existence,
and if I'm going to ever have light spoken into this dark,
dead, void heart of mine, God's going to have to speak it, and
God's going to have to give it. And thank God, Genesis 1 tells
us that God said, let there be light, and there was light. Oh,
I've got a good hope when it's my God who gives me light. Lead me, O Lord. We acknowledge
Him as Lord. We desire to be led of Him. Christ
is the way, the truth, and the life. And no man, no woman, nobody
comes to the Father but by Him. Only God has what I need. And I need a perfect righteousness,
and I need the very righteousness of God. It's got to be a perfect
righteousness. Verse eight again, leave me,
O Lord, in thy righteousness. You see that? That's the only
righteousness that's gonna prevail. Thy righteousness, because of
mine enemies, make thy way straight before my face. Christ is that
way. Christ is that way. The Lord
said, I lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the oaths of
judgment, Proverbs 8, 20. Christ leads his people in the
paths of righteousness. Why? For his namesake, for his
own glory, that's why. God saves sinners for the glory
of his own name. Psalm 31, three, for thou art
my rock and my fortress, therefore, for thy namesake, lead me and
guide me. Do it for your glory, Lord. Do
it for your honor. Quicken me, O Lord, for thy name's
sake. For thy righteousness' sake,
bring my soul out of trouble. Psalm 143, 11. Our Lord said,
for my name's sake will I defer anger and for my praise will
I refrain for thee that I cut thee not off. Isaiah 48, 9. If Christ is the only one who
can provide perfect righteousness for sinners, and He is, then
Christ alone should receive all the glory for providing it. We don't deserve any glory. We
didn't do anything. We did the sinning. God did the
saving. God saves sinners for his own
namesake. After all, that's why God's goodness
and mercy follows his people all the days of their life. That's
why God's children would dwell in the house of the Lord for
how long? Forever. Forever. And this is
why David cries in earnest, make thy way straight before my face. Show me, Lord. Oh, Lord, show
me the way. Make me to see the way. Make
me to travel the way. Make me to see that Christ is
the way. Not everyone sees that, but God's
people do. Make me to see that Christ is
the only way. No man comes to the Father, but
by me. There is no other way. You know,
a little child is led by his father. When I was on my way to Ashland,
or when I got to Ashland, I should say, I saw a young father and
his little son walking in the church and that little boy was
holding on to his daddy's hand with all he had. A little child led by his father,
a blind person was led by a friend. You ever seen a blind person
have their hand on a man or a woman's arm and he's leading them and
guiding them? That's our Lord Jesus. Sheep
are led by their shepherd. Christ is our great shepherd.
He leads us in the path of righteousness. And what a joy, what a joy it
is to walk with God. What a joy. It is. Lead me, O Lord. What a joy it's to walk with
God when it's Christ who leads the way. Lead me, O Lord, in
your righteousness. Make your way straight before
my face. Is salvation of the Lord or is
salvation of man? Well, you know the answer to
that. David tells us plainly we've got to have his righteousness. We've got to follow his way.
This has got to be revealed before my face and your face. This has
got to be made known to my heart and your heart. Not my righteousness,
but his. My righteousness is imperfect.
My righteousness is filthy rags. My righteousness is insufficient,
but Christ's righteousness is perfect righteousness, and it's
sufficient righteousness. And my righteousness must be
perfect to be accepted, so it's not gonna be accepted. Not mine,
it's filthy rags, insufficient, imperfect. God only accepts perfect righteousness,
and that's why I must have Christ's righteousness. I sin, He saves. He leads, I follow. I'm dead,
He gives life. I'm the clay, He's the potter.
God has the right to do what He wills with His own. And if
it's the Lord that God gave me to, and it is, then it must be
the Lord who makes God's way straight. Man has devised another
way. And it's a way that seems right
to him. But the end of that way, Solomon
says, is the way of death. God's guidance is always needed
because by nature, we're lost and we're blind. Solomon said
concerning man, that which is crooked cannot be made straight,
and that which is wanting cannot be numbered. And he also wrote,
consider the work of God, consider his divine providence in the
course of events which God orders and controls, for who can make
straight which he hath made crooked? How do we speak comfort to God's
people? We just talked about that recently.
We speak comfortably and we cry into the church, we cry into
God's bride, we cry into believers, your warfare is accomplished. Boy, that's wonderful news and
that should bring us great joy. Your iniquity has been pardoned. Your sin has been put away. You've
received double of the Lord's hand for all your sins. So, We prepare the way of the
Lord. We make straight in the desert
a highway for our God. How do we do that? Well, we don't.
The Lord does it for us. And every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. God clears
the way for Christ, who is our city of refuge. And that's what
we as preachers do. Just like those men in the Old
Testament who kept that way clear to that city of refuge. That's
what we do in preaching. We point men to Christ and we
do our best to expose the obstacles in our way and follow Christ. Get to that city
of refuge So here, David says, there's no faithfulness
in their mouth. Out of the abundance of man's
heart, his mouth speaks. So when no faithfulness is found
in one's mouth, you can be assured that there's no faith found in
the heart. Here, David reveals to us the
real problem. Our problem is an inward one.
We've all got heart trouble. All got heart troubles in the
inward one. Our problem is wickedness in the heart. And it's out of
the heart that men and women, that precedes evil thoughts and
murders and adulteries and fornications and thefts and false witness,
lying, blasphemies, these are the things which defile a man.
Not what goes into his mouth, but what comes out. And what
comes out of the mouth is what comes from the heart. That's
our problem. The heart is deceitful, desperately
wicked. Deceitful above all things. Who
can know it? God does. God knows the heart. And we are found wanting, found
wanting when it comes to righteousness and obedience to Christ. That word vary there in verse
nine, I found this interesting. In my marginal Bible, it also
means wickedness. So what David is saying here
is my inward part, my heart is wickedness, wicked, wicked, wicked,
wickedness, wicked, wickedness. We are more than wicked, we are
wicked, wicked. More than just evil or morally
wrong, we're by nature depraved. And men don't like to hear that,
but it's nonetheless true. Before a thrice holy God, we're
morally corrupt and we hate God without a cause. There's no cause
for us to hate God, we just hate Him by nature. And the last part
of verse nine says, their throat is an open sepulcher. They flatter
with the tongue. You know a sepulcher is a tomb,
it's a grave. Our throats are graves and tombs
which are full of loathsomeness and pestilence and disease and
death. But worse than that, they're
open graves that expose all these things and it stinks with corruption. And then there's our tongues. I wanted to skip that part. That is an unruly member in all
of us. James wrote, for every kind of
beast, bird, serpents, things in the sea is tamed and has been
tamed by mankind, but the tongue can no man tame. It's an unruly
evil. It's full of deadly poison. Behold, we put bits in the horses'
mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body." It's that little bit of metal in the mouth there. Behold,
also the ships, which though they be so great and are driven
of forced winds, yet they are turned about with a very small
helm, that little rudder in the back, wheresoever the governor listed.
Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasted the great
things. Behold, how great a matter, a
little fire kindled. And the tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members
that it defiles the whole body. and setteth on fire the course
of nature, and it is set on fire of hell." James 3 and 3 through
6. Verse nine says, they flatter
with the tongue. That word flatter there means
to be smooth. It means to speak smooth things. It means also to divide, to separate. I was thinking what a great definition,
or not a great definition, but what a good definition that is
for false teachers who preach smooth things. Oh, men and women
have itching ears. They want to hear smooth things.
Tell me things are good with me and God, but they don't want
to hear about Christ and how we're reconciled to a thrice
holy God with whom we've been alienated. Oh my, all they do in their false
preaching is separate men and women from the truth, the gospel. So concerning men and women by
nature, we see that there's no faithfulness in their mouth.
Their inward parts are wicked, wicked. Their throat is an open
sepulcher, an open tomb, grave. Their tongues speak, excuse me,
smooth things of deceit. And look what David says in verse
10. He says, destroy thou them, O God. Let them fall by their
own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude
of their transgressions, for they've rebelled against thee.
You know, when we hear in the news or whatever of a judge condemning
a murder of a small child or an elderly person or anyone for
that matter, we want justice. However severe the punishment.
And here the psalmist speaks as a judge. He speaks as a God's
mouthpiece. And he gives no excuse for condemning
the wicked. God doesn't. He doesn't have
to. He's God. And God has no reason
for explaining his actions. Everything God does is right. Everything. Even judging and
condemning the wicked. God is the rightful judge of
sin. Since all sin is against him
and him only, that's his right. Justice says in verse 10, cast
them out in the multitude of their transgressions. Why? Because
they've rebelled against thee. God is justified when he speaks
against us. That's what David said there
in Psalm 51. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. All our sin is against
him, all of it. You sin against me, I sin against
you, it's all against God. All against God. God is justified,
God is right, God is just when he speaks against us. He's clear
of any wrongdoing when he judges us. Why? Because all our sin
is against him. The Lord made the heavens and
the earth with all their hosts, the earth and all things therein,
the seas and all that is therein. He preserves them all, Nehemiah
9.6. God made the world and all things
therein, seeing that he's the Lord of heaven and earth. He
dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither does he worship
with men's hands as though he needed anything. And this is
why, seeing that he giveth all life and breath and all things. Again, He's the God with whom
we have to do. The Lord asked in Matthew 22,
verse 17, is it not lawful, is it not right for me to do what
I will with my own? There are some, though, to whom
God is merciful. He's God to all, but He's only
Savior to some. And those, there are some that
He's God to, they don't acknowledge Him as God, but that doesn't
change the fact that He's still their God. But He's only a Savior
to some. God created all men and women,
but God saves only those that He chose in Christ before the
foundation of the world. God saves only those whom He
gave to Christ. And He says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. and all in no wise cast them
out. What certainty and surety there
is in the Lord is our Savior. Christ didn't die for the whole
world. Christ died for those in the world that God gave him
and those Christ died for have eternal life. They had it. If Christ died for all and some
are still lost, then listen, God is a liar and Christ is a
failure. But Christ didn't die in vain.
Christ died for some, and all of them are saved. And He's a
just God, and He's a Savior, and He cannot fail. Okay, look
at verse 11. And my, this is the gospel. But let
all those that put their trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever
shout for joy. because thou defendest them.
Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. And it's in
this verse that we see the true characteristics of a believer,
a child of God. They are those who put their
trust in thee. They put their trust in the Lord
Jesus. That's who a child of God is. And that's what a child
of God does. They put their trust in God. They put their hope in Christ,
who is the hope of glory. And then another characteristic
we see here in verse 11 is that those who put their trust in
God rejoice and are full of joy. Why are they full of joy? Well,
David tells us, because God defends them. God is my defender. In the margin of my Bible, the
word defend means to cover. The child of God is joyful because
their God defends them, their God covers them, their God protects
them. The Lord is a mighty deliverer. He defends all who put their
trust in him. Christ is a sympathizing protector. He that touches us touches him.
Christ is a sure protector. He's our surety to put our sin
away. It's for sure. Christ is a personal
protector. Thomas said, my Lord and my God. Yes, Jesus Christ is Lord and
God, but he must be my Lord and my God in order for me to be
redeemed. God is a loving protector. And we love Him because He first
loved us. We get that cart before the horse
all the time, don't we? Well, I love God and He saved
me because, no, no, no, read your Bible. We love Him because
He first loved us. And Christ is an everlasting
protector. He's loved us with what? An everlasting
love. And it's the believer's pleasure
and joy to trust in Christ. He's sovereign, He's almighty,
He has perfect wisdom, He's eternally good and gracious. And this joy
that I'm talking about is not just in the morning, no, and
then had dreariness in the afternoon, no sir. This is not just an occasional
delight. This is a perpetual joy. Notice
what he says there in verse 11. Let them ever shout. Let them
forever shout. And we also see the kind of joy
that is given to the child of God. This joy is universal to
all who put their trust in him. Not all. This joy is for believers, those
who trust in Christ. Not all the world has this joy,
but all that the Father gave to Christ do. All that put their
trust in Christ have it. Question this morning is, do
you have this joy unspeakable? Do I have it? This joy is not
found only in the healthy, but it's found in the sickly. This
joy is not only found in the successful, this joy is found
also in the disappointed. I asked Moose and Sandy yesterday,
as we visited a little bit, how Dee was doing. You know, we've
been praying for Dee, you know a little bit about that. And
they told me, and we'll talk about that later, but they both
said, but he is just, You know, he's unaffected by
the bad news. He's rejoicing. He's rejoicing
in God as Savior. He knows he's on the throne.
He knows he's in control of all things. He knows he's sent this
disease and this sickness. And we know that the one who
sent it, God Almighty, He does all things well. He works all
things after the counsel of His own will. And He works all things
for the good of them that love the Lord, who are thee called
according to His purpose. Why wouldn't we be joyful? Why, even death is nothing but
a promotion and a departure from this life into the very throne
of God's grace. Did you notice also in verse
11 that this joy comes to them also that love Christ's name?
You know, immediately I thought of Acts 4 too, neither is there
salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven. How many under him? None, no
other. Given among men whereby we must
be saved. If we could fully get a hold
of what God has done for his people and the Lord Jesus Christ,
we would forever shout with joy. And you know, you can shout with
joy in your heart without making an audible noise. There's a lot of folks shouting,
but they don't know what they're shouting about. But the child
of God does. God commended his love toward
us and that while we were yet rotten, wretched sinners, Christ
died for us. Isn't that amazing? You know,
it's easy to be good to good people. And it's easy to be good
to people who treat you good, isn't it? But God loved us while
we were yet sinners. He set his affection upon us.
And Christ died for us. Christ died for those God gave
Him, because that's what the wages of sin demanded. And God
died for the chosen of God, because that's what the justice of a
thrice holy God requires. Do we have any part in it? No. Not according to the Apostle
Paul, we don't. For when we were yet without
strength, we could take that even further, yet without life.
We're dead in trespasses and sin. When we were yet without
strength, without life and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. And He gave them life. And He
took their sin away. And that ought to bring great
joy. Oh, that brings joy to this sinner's
heart. Let them that love Thy name be
joyful in Thee. What are we joyful in? We're
joyful in Him. Whom have ye not seen? ye love,
in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye will rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Salvation is ordained
by God the Father. It was obtained by God the Son. It was applied by God the Spirit,
with sufficient ground for joy and rejoicing, that is. Are you joyful? Did you notice
in the last three words of verse 11 where this joy is found? David said, let them that also
love thy name be joyful in thee. That's where we're joyful in
Christ. And that's where our joy is found, that place where
all heavenly spiritual blessings are found in him, Ephesians 1.3. Now, obviously, this is for those
who have faith. Oh, what joy is found when the
Lord reveals to a sinner that He loves them with an everlasting
love, and therefore with loving kindness, He draws them unto
Himself. We can't take any credit for
any faithfulness that we have when it's God and who in His
loving kindness draws us. He gets the glory for that. God's
everlasting love, a love without beginning, a love without end.
Isn't that what election is? It's then that the one with faith
looks further to find that they're justified. To be justified is
to be accepted in Christ, the beloved. To be justified. is the believer to be just in
the sight of God. It's to be covered with Christ's
perfect righteousness. I can't be justified of my own
doing. Verse 12 gives us the reason
for this joy, this gladness, this happiness that we have in
Christ. For thou, Lord, wilt. Boy, we need to underline that.
Not might, not maybe, not if you do this or do that, but the
Lord will bless the righteous. With favor wilt thou compass
him as with a shield. As you know, righteousness comes
only one way. And that's in and by and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. No other way. Righteousness cannot
be obtained by any other method. The righteousness that makes
us righteous is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's why the Lord will bless His people, because of Christ's
righteousness. It's for sure, it's for certain,
we have the very righteousness of Christ. God made Christ sin
for us. He didn't know any sin. Why did
God do that? It pleased Him to make His people
the righteousness of God in Him, Jesus Christ. It pleased God
to do that. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people. How can a sinner whom God has restored their soul,
how can one whom God leads in the path of righteousness be
anything but joyful? As I walk through this earthly
life, this valley of darkness and death, and that's what it
is all around us, I shall fear no evil. Why is that? For thou,
my just God and Savior, art with me. Oh, surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life. How many? All of
them. And I will dwell, I will, in
the house of the Lord for how long? Forever, forever. Well, I'm out of time, but let
me leave you with one last thing. David, at the end of this joyful
song, says this. He says, with favor, with delight,
with acceptance, with good pleasure, God will compass. That word means
encircle. The Hebrew word means to crown.
He'll crown the righteous as with a shield. You know, a shield
is not for the defense of any particular part of the body as
other pieces of armor are. The armor of the ancient warrior
included a helmet, which was fitted to protect the head. There
was a breastplate that was for protection to the upper body.
There was armor that was called greaves that protected the legs. And there was an armor that protected
the arms. but the shield was for the defense
of the whole body. Isn't that something? That's
what Christ is. The skillful soldier could turn
the shield this way or this way or from behind or from the front
to protect himself. And that's what Christ is to
the Christian soldier. As we saw in our study of Psalm
3, David said, but thou, O Lord, art a shield to me. A shield
for me. O Israel, trust in the Lord.
He's your help and your shield. Psalm 115, nine. The Lord is
my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength
in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation
and my high tower. Psalm 18, two. The Lord Jesus
is all these things. In Psalm chapter 28, verse 7,
the psalmist tells us, the Lord is my strength and my shield,
my heart trusted in him and I'm helped, therefore my heart greatly
rejoiceth. And with my song will I praise
him. That's why we sing, that's why
I encourage you folks to sing. Sing, make a joyful noise. You
don't have to be a good singer. We don't care if it's on key
or not. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Why? Because He's our
shield. He's our salvation. He's done
everything for us that God requires of us. Rejoice. Paul said rejoice in the Lord
always. And then he said, and again, I say rejoice. Rejoice,
and then rejoice again. and then rejoice tomorrow and
rejoice again and just keep right on rejoicing. For the Lord provides
perfectly for us everything that a holy God requires of us. I love saying that. It's substitution,
isn't it? God do it for me what I couldn't
do for myself. And that is why salvation is
of the Lord.