We're going to begin our second
service by standing and singing 283. Yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus is the same. 283. Oh, how sweet the glorious message
simple faith may claim. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. Still he loves to save the sinful,
heal the sick and lame. ? Cheer the mourner, calm the
tempest ? ? Glory to his name ? ? Yesterday, today, forever,
Jesus is the same ? ? All may change, but Jesus never ? ? Glory
to his name ? ? Glory to his name ? ? Glory to his name ?
All may change but Jesus never ? Glory to his name ? He who
pardoned Eric Peter ? Never needs thou fear ? He who came to faithless
Thomas ? All thy doubt will clear He who led the loved disciple
on his bosom breast, bids thee still with love as tender leaning
on his breast. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. Glory to His name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. He who made the raging billows,
walked upon the sea, still can hush our wildest tempests as
on Galilee. He who wept and prayed in anguish
in Gethsemane, Drinks with us, each cup of trembling in our
agony. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never,
glory to his name. ? Glory to his name ? ? Glory
to his name ? ? All may change but Jesus never ? ? Glory to
his name ? ? As of old he walked to Mayas with them to abide ?
So through all life's way he walketh ever near our side. Soon again shall we behold him,
hasten, Lord, the day. But will still be this same Jesus
as he went away. Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus
is the same. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. All may change, but Jesus never. Glory to His name. Thank you. Let's turn to number,
let's see what Just As I Am is. What number is that again? 249.
249, Just As I Am. Just as I am without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come
to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. I come just as I am and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark lot. Thee whose blood can cleanse
each spot, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, of God I come. I come. Just as I am, poor, wretched,
blind, sigh, richest healing of the mind. Yea, all I need
in thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come. I come. ? Just as I am that wilt receive
? ? Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve ? ? Because thy promise
I believe ? ? O Lamb of God, I come ? Thank you. Forgot we were missing
one of those verses on there. I would like to read John 21, starting with verse
1. After these things, Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias. And on
this Y showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter
and Thomas called Didymus and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee
and the sons of Zebedee and two other of his disciples. Simon
Peter saith unto them, I go fishing. They say unto him, we also go
with thee. They went forth and entered into
a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto
them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he
said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship,
and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now
they were not able to draw in for the multitude of fishes.
Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter,
it is the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, for he
was naked, and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples
came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as
it were 200 cubits, dragging the net with fishes. And soon
then, as they were come to the land, they saw a fire of coals
there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them,
Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went
up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred
and fifty and three. And for all there were so many,
yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and
dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord,
Jesus then cometh, and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and
fish likewise. This is now the third time that
Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from
the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith unto him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because
he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, when thou wast young, and thou girdest thyself, and
walkest whither thou wouldest, but when thou shalt be old, thou
shalt stretch forth thine hands, and another shall gird thee,
and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. We'll stop there. Oh, Lord, God Almighty, thou
who are merciful to sinners. Father, we are so grateful that
you have once again this morning given us a place to come to assemble
together as like minded believers. What a great, great blessing
it is, Lord, when we have so much religion that we're surrounded
with and where we ourselves, Lord, for many, many years have
been caught up in religion. and have been caught up in darkness
and would still be there today. But you have had mercy, Lord.
You have made a difference where there was no difference. And
Father, we thank you for giving us this marvelous light of the
gospel, whereby by faith we can rejoice and have rest and hope
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And where we have sang that you
are always the same. What a great comfort it is when
men change and that we can't depend on ourselves. for we are
changeable like the weather. But Lord, you are everlastingly
the same before eternity, and you shall always be the same,
always faithful. Father, remember Brother Eric.
We thank you for him. Continue, Lord, to give him strength
and courage and wisdom. to bring us this word, Lord,
to rightly divide the word and to bring it, that we may also
eat, that he may feed the sheep. Remember his family also, Lord,
be with Michelle, continue to strengthen her and give them
all that they stand in need of as they labor with us. Father,
we think of those that are with us and some are without that
are struggling with their health. Father, all things are perfectly
in your hands. What a comfort that is to know
that all things are possible with you. Remember Brother Scott,
Lord, as he struggles. We are thankful he is here with
us today. And we thank you, Lord, that you continue to allow him
to be in our presence. Father, remember him, continue
to give him strength, and be with all of us, Lord, as we struggle
in this world. Lord, bless us this second time
with this message. For Jesus' sake alone, amen. Good morning. Brethren, turn with me to James
chapter 5. I want to begin there. It's not going to be our primary
text, but I think it's got a relevant word to our text. James chapter 5, and I want to
look at verse 7 and a little bit of verse 8 with you. Be patient, therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord, waiting for the times of refreshing
from your God. Behold, the husbandman waiteth,
for the precious fruit of the earth and have long patience
for it until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient. Establish your hearts. Trust this word. Trust the word
of your Lord. Receive it as a settled thing
in your hearts. What the Lord does in the lives
of His children, in and amongst His people, is He will make situations. He will bring to pass certain
things that are very powerful, very meaningful, very momentous
in our lives. Some things are peaceful things. Some things are the result of
sin. Some things seem easily edifying and some things are
very troubling and destructive. But our Lord uses these moments,
these times, these things that he brings to pass in our lives. Some things that shake and rock
a person or a whole group of people. But your God is patient
for the fruit. that he purposes to bring forth,
and that fruit for his people is truth in the inward parts. He makes his people to truly
know him by the revelation of God in us, the work of the Holy
Spirit. And that means that in these
shaking times, or troublesome times, or very powerfully good
times, that means there's going to be fruit in the early rain,
and there's going to be fruit in the latter rain. Now, we're
going to look at one of those momentous, powerful events that
happened in David's life. It was a grievous sin. It was a very grievous sin. And it was that painful, awful,
terrible sin where David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered
her husband. Murdered her husband. But out
of that, our God brought fruit in the early rain and in the
latter." And that's what he tells us. You be patient. The husband
mend is patient for the fruit in the early and the latter rain.
I've titled this message, Truth in the Inward Parts. Truth in
the Inward Parts. So be turning to 2 Samuel, 2
Samuel 12. And this is gonna be the situation
that the Lord uses in David's life to produce then, in our
second point, to see the early rain, and then our third point,
the latter rain. All right, so Samuel chapter
12. It begins in verse one, and the
Lord sent Nathan unto David. Now Nathan is going to use an
illustration which is going to describe to David his sin with
Bathsheba. Nathan's going to speak of a
rich man, a very wealthy rich man. He's going to talk about
a poor man. There's also a lamb and a wayfaring
man. Now the rich man, having much
abundance. We'll read it together. I just
want to give you these points so that you understand it perfectly
when we're going through it. The rich man that has much substance
is David. The poor man is Uriah. And the little ewe lamb that
the poor man has, that one little ewe lamb is Bathsheba. And the
wayfaring man is the sinful, lustful passions of David's sinful
flesh. And that's for whom the little
ewe lamb would be taken from the poor man, dressed and prepared
to be consumed upon the lusts of the wayfaring man. All right,
let's read the first few verses. And Nathan came unto David and
said unto him, there were two men in one city, the one rich
and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many
flocks and herds. David had many wives, many concubines,
many, plenty to choose from. But the poor man had nothing
save one little ewe lamb. which he had bought and nourished
up, and it grew up together with him and with his children. It
did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay
in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter." Uriah loved his
wife. He loved Bathsheba. She was precious
to him, and he was content and satisfied with her. She was all
that he needed. It was his wife, his beloved
wife. Verse four, there came a traveler
unto the rich man, and the rich man spared to take of his own
flock and his own herd. He didn't want to take one of
his wives. He didn't want to take one of
his concubines, of which he had plenty to choose from. He spared
to take of these to dress for the wayfaring man that was come
unto him, but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man
that was come to him. Now David heard this. David heard
this. And it says to us that his anger
was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as
the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely
die. David recognized that this is
awful. This man deserves to die. You know, it's very easy for
us to recognize, to see in another their sin, even when we don't
see the same or worse sins in ourselves. It's very easy, as
we can see here with David. Now watch what he says in verse
six because he knows the law. He knows exactly what should
be done. And he shall restore the lamb fourfold because he
did this thing and because he had no pity. No pity. Well first the law. He knows the law which is from
Exodus 22. This is literally the law that
he's quoting from here. Exodus 22 verse 1. If a man shall
steal an ox or sheep and kill it or sell it, he shall restore
five oxen for an ox and four for a sheep. That's what David
said. He's going to restore four sheep. He knew the law precisely. And
I would imagine that that's not the only law that David knew. He knew thou shalt not commit
adultery. He knew thou shalt not murder. He knew thou shalt not lie, and
thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. He knew those laws, but
his heart was hardened in sin. He's the man that had no pity
for the poor man. But in the time of God's appointing,
He sent the word of his prophet. The word of the Lord came and
struck the heart of David. Now, I'm sure David had been
going to the services pretty regularly since his sin with
Bathsheba. He was a righteous man. He was a holy man who served
the Lord. And so it wasn't like he was
going to not go to services, though he committed grievous
sins. But in going, he had no pity. His heart was the heart
that was hard. And so the Lord, in the time
of his choosing, sent the word of the prophet Nathan a picture
of the word of our Lord Jesus Christ and that word what to
David was thou art the man you're the man David and in that David
heard the voice of the Lord he heard the voice of Christ and
it came into him it pierced him sore. Much like the Lord is able
to do for his people, it says in Hebrews 4, 12, and 13 that
the word of God is quick, it's living, powerful, and sharper
than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We may think to cover
a thing, but the word of God is able to uncover it, just as
was done for David. Because neither is there any
creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have
to do." All right, your God is able to uncover all things. Now, David hears the rebuke. His heart is softened immediately. It doesn't remain hard, and he
listens to what the Lord is saying to him by his prophet. Verse
11, look at 2 Samuel 12, verse 11. Thus saith the Lord, Behold,
I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house. The Lord's telling him, David,
there's gonna come a point where there's going to be trouble in
your house, and when it stirs, you're gonna know, you're gonna
remember that this is exactly what I told you would come to
pass. But in verse 13, we also see
that God did work repentance in David's heart. David said
unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto
David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not
die. He received forgiveness with
the Lord. In the law David would have put
that man that committed this thing to death. David said that
man is worthy of death. That man needs to die. He needs to be put to death for
this sin. But the Lord says, I've put it away. It's put away
in Christ. Christ has covered your sin. It's put away. so the Lord was
merciful and what the Lord was telling him is you're not going
to die for the sin you're not going to die spiritually as we
see he gives him repentance as will be evidenced in in the fruit
that he bears in this. He's not going to die spiritually,
being hardened in his sin and not being given repentance, nor
will he die physically as a result of this sin. God's not going
to let him die physically as a result of this sin. Now, verse
14, we see there's more in the purpose of God for this, how
be it because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to
the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto
thee shall surely die." It's painful, right? It's painful
to go through difficult experiences. It's painful to go through these
experiences, but there's a purpose in it. And there's a purpose
of God in it to bring about the experience of better things. He's going to produce fruit in
his people. And so he's telling them now,
he's telling David that your works, this baby which you've
created in your sin, it's going to die. Because the works of
man, when the Lord comes, that which can be shaken, that which
is made shall be shaken and fall to the ground. And we see the
fruit of this, of what God works in working repentance to David
in Psalm 51. That's the early rain, and we're
gonna go there in a moment. And then in regards to the trouble
that would arise in his household, that's the latter rain. And we
see the fruit that he works in David in Psalm 3, there in that. All right, so let's go to the
early rain, which is Psalm 51. Psalm 51. We're done there with
2 Samuel. And I'm gonna read the first
four verses, but before I do that, depending on which Bible
you have, a good transcript, a good Bible will have these
little words before the first verse starts. It's just under
the words Psalm 51. They're usually tiny little words,
and it says, to the chief musician, a psalm of David, when Nathan
the prophet came unto him after he had gone into Bathsheba."
So the Lord, right, whether it was David that added it or David
had it added, however it happened, the Lord had it put there so
that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the result
of that sin of David with Bathsheba, all right? Verse 1-4 Have mercy
upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according
unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions,
wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Four, I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. David is saying, David's being
brought to truly acknowledge. He's being given true repentance. He's being turned in calling
out to God and confessing his sin honestly and truly. David was a righteous man. David was a child of God, and
after he committed that sin with Bathsheba and had her husband
murdered, very cruelly had him murdered to cover his own sin,
you can believe that David took steps to cleanse his hands. He would have felt guilt, but
he would have made sure that he went to services. and offered
the sacrifices for sin to the Lord. He would have given of
his riches to the Lord. He would have sung the hymns
that were being sung and trying to worship God to cleanse himself
of the guilt of that sin. In the illustration given, it
says that that poor man with that lamb had children. It's
possible that Uriah was an older man and that his first wife had
passed away, leaving him with the children. And maybe Uriah
saw this young, beautiful woman, maybe got her in battle or received
her in that way and took her to his home and loved her. And
she loved him. of fruitful, blessed marriage.
But David, you know, separating them, maybe he even took care
of any children that were left so that they wouldn't be poor,
trying to do what's right. for what wrong he had done. You can be sure David tried to
pray and tried to do things and thought, all right, it's pretty
quiet now. I think everything's OK with
it. I think I got through that and I've done things. And we've
all been there, haven't we? When we've committed sin and
done that which is unrighteous before our God, we've prayed
and tried to do religious things to make things right, to make
those things right. And yet it's only when the Lord
came in glory and in power to him and spoke that word that
he was given true acknowledgement. to see that all his works, which
he tried to do to cover his sin and make right and perform an
atonement for his wickedness, all fell apart and became worthless
before him. He understood, I can't hide this
from you, Lord. And my little trinkets of things
that I tried to do, my little service there, has been a lie,
and you've exposed it. You know it, Lord, and I acknowledge
that. I still have bloody hands. My hands are still filthy with
blood. I acknowledge my sin. Verse four, against thee, thee
only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Think about that. Every time
I used to read that, I wondered, what is he talking about? Didn't
he sin against Bathsheba? Didn't he sin against Uriah? Didn't he bring evil upon the
city now as a result of his sin? Why does he say, against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this thing in thy sight? It goes back to those religious
works that man tries to do. He tried through religion and
through what he knew to do in the law, he tried to cleanse
himself, to cover that sin. Now that it's exposed, he sees
that that was evil and wicked in your sight. Not only the sin
that I committed with Bathsheba and Uriah, but also the fact
that I thought that by my filthy dead works, I could make up for
it. I could satisfy you and please
you. So that now, by the word of your
prophet to me, Nathan, that by that word, I see that thou art
justified when thou speakest, and you're clear when you judge."
All those works David did couldn't help him when God's wrath was
revealed to him against that sin. David, and David acknowledged
it, Lord, you're just. You would be just to kill me.
I've done nothing to cover my works, to cover my sin by my
works. And that's what the Lord teaches
his people. That's why we hope in Christ.
That's why we glory in him. That's why we need the Lord Jesus
Christ and why he's so precious to us because he's shown us now
to see and to believe, to behold that I have no righteousness. All my religion that I could
do cannot cover any of my sin. Not anything this significant
as adultery and murder but even the least of my sins, even the
smallest, tiniest of my sins. And God makes all his children
to know this. He says, verse five, I was shapen
in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. What he's
confessing there is that this flesh is corrupt, vile in nature. I have no righteousness of my
own and I can't change that. Just as Jeremiah said that the
leopard, if the leopard can change its skin, then so can I. But
the leopard can't, and I can't cleanse my sin. I can't cleanse
my filthy heart. This flesh produces no righteousness
to God. Behold, verse six, thou desirest
truth in the inward parts. Truth in the inward parts. Only the Spirit of God can give
us life. Only the Spirit of God speaks
truth. He seeks it. He seeks true living
faith in the inward parts, that place that you and I can't touch
with our works of the flesh. Only He can do this by His Spirit. And the truth is that what God
desires, that He shall have. for all his children. This is
what God desires is life in you that are his in the inward parts. That which is created and formed
by the Spirit of God. That life that only he can give.
He makes us born again. He gives us life so that we know
him and rejoice in him and confess that he's my covering. not my
works of righteousness which I've done. They don't cleanse
me. I can't make up or whittle down that debt of sin that I
owe. Our Lord only applies the blood of his Son to cover our
sin. He desires truth in the inner
parts and he shall have it. In the hidden part, he says,
in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. That The hidden part, brethren,
is the new man created in us by Christ's seed. What we have
of our God, that fellowship and relationship that we have to
our God now, is not in this flesh. It's not of this flesh. Our God
reveals it to us in the inner man, in the hidden man. the hidden
man. Peter said it's the hidden man
of the heart in that which is not corruptible, because it's
of Christ. And the work of Christ does not
sin. It's not corruptible. It cannot
be destroyed. And in that, that hidden man
of the heart, he makes me to know wisdom. Wisdom is Christ. He makes me
to know Jesus Christ, that He is my life. He gives me to hear
His voice, to be fed of Him, to be taught of Him, to be instructed
of Him. We know wisdom. We know Christ. That's what our God is working
in us. And this is what the Lord brings,
works in David. David knows this. He's made to
know that he, that God desires truth, not dead works religion. He desires truth in his people. And that's exactly what he works
in you, his people. He's working life. He's causing
you to see all your works crumble and fall to the ground. and to
make you alive in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the early reign. He's going to grant repentance. He grants repentance. He grants
faith. He grants you life and hope in
him. He gives you that life, breathing
it into you that you may stand. He brings forth that acknowledgement
of sin and are made alive in him. Let's look now at Psalm
3 at the latter reign. Psalm 3. Just like we did with the last
Psalm, let's look at those little tiny words there after Psalm
3, after that heading before the first verse. It says, A Psalm
of David when he fled from Absalom his son. Absalom was a son in
the household of David. Absalom is a son of David, and
Absalom was moved against David. Absalom rose up in rebellion
to overthrow David, his father, to bring trouble from within
his house against David, just like the Lord told him he would
do. And so Absalom was able to swoon
and woo the heart of the people that David ruled over. When they
came to David to ask him a question, Absalom would stop them along
the way and say, you can give your question to me and I'll
answer your question. I'll take it, all right? And
so Absalom captured, it said, the hearts of the people. He
took them from David. He took the hearts of the people. And so now he's being raised
up. He's begun the rebellion. And
it begins to spread through the kingdom very quickly, very quickly. It moved rapidly. Once Absalom was declared to
be the king, and that all should honor him, many hearts fell with
Absalom. Many people went with Absalom. So it's been now about four years. From my reading and study, it's
been about four years since Nathan came to David and told him this.
It's been about four years. Now this is what David says,
Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they
that rise up against me. That's actually language from
what Nathan said to David. Nathan in 2 Samuel 12 11 said
that the Lord was going to raise up evil against David out of
his own house. And now he's saying many are
they that rise up against me. He's remembering the voice of
the prophet. He's remembering the voice of
God. He's remembering what the Lord
said and he realizes this is that word that you spoke that
where trouble would come out of mine own house. Verse two,
many there be which say. He's hearing the voice of what
these are saying against him that are rising up against him.
Many there be which say of my soul. There's no help for him
in God. God's going to destroy him. God
can't sustain him against these accusations. God can't sustain
him against this rebellion. God can't prevent him from going
down because we're going to kill him. We're going to get him and
take him and put him to death. It's going to be over for them. And David is hearing this. Now
remember, the Lord, by the prophet, said, you shall not die. You shall not die, David, for
this sin. You're not going to die, not
spiritually, I'm not gonna harden your heart, and you just die
off in dead religion and death. I've given you life, right? Because that's what he does for
his children. The only people that, All people are going to
have the truth of God revealed in them at some point. His people
have it revealed in them now. But there are people that are
going to stand before God in the day of judgment, and that's
when they're going to see that all their works were dead, worthless,
vain religion. But bless God, because he's already
made you to know that I'm the sinner. I'm the man. I'm the problem. and God gives
repentance, that we hear that word and see all our works beforehand
were vanity, worthless, unable to do a thing, all right? So
your God is merciful. So David's hearing what they're
saying. They're saying to him, there's
no help for you in God, and I can relate to that. There's times
in my life where I've done sin, grievous sin, And the Lord has
given me repentance for that sin. Turn my heart, show me what
a filthy, dead dog, vile sinner I am. And yet, in time, when something
else arises, some trouble, some pain, some suffering, some difficult
time that I come into, voices that are competing against the
promise of God that you're not going to die for this, right?
They rise up and I start hearing them and thinking, Lord, is this
it? Is this it for me? Am I going
to be swallowed up by as a result of my sin? And so it's coming
against the promise of God, which says you're my child. Don't fear. Don't be afraid. I shall appear
for you. I'm thy salvation. I've given
you my word. You're not going to die for this.
That's what the Lord said to David. You're not going to die
for this. And yet here, in the midst of the trial, that hearkens
back to that trouble from his own house. He's hearing what
these voices from his sin and the others, what he did, that
are saying there's no help for him in God. And so David's struggling. He's suffering. He's going through
that suffering. and wondering, Lord, did I hear
you right? Are you gonna sustain me and
keep me? Are you gonna deliver me from
the death of these things? And so that's what he's hearing.
Now, verse three. What we see here is that when the Lord brings
his word to sustain you, to lift you up, to remind you, hold on,
Though you're suffering, you hold on, trust me, trust me. And this is what David sees there.
But thou, oh Lord, verse three, art a shield for me. You are
my protection. You're all, Lord, you know, you
know, for you're the one who's brought the trial. You're the
one who's brought the proving. You're the one who promised me
life in your son. You're my shield. I believe you,
Lord. He strengthens us when we're
weak, when we're doubting. He gives us his word. Either
as we're musing in the darkness on our bed or in the late hours
of our house, as we're musing upon these things, he provides
his comforting word. Or in the preaching of the gospel
and in ministering his spirit or a timely word to your hearts
to comfort you. to give you peace, to put you
at rest, to know that God has everything in control. You're my glory, right? We're
not going to be able to glory in those dead, filthy works that
we try to glory, that we try to use to cover up and make amends
and to cover the sin or to make things right. Instead, we are
made to glory in our God. or made to glory in him. Now look at the end there. And
the lifter up of mine head. Now, it's right that we understand
that through the process of the trials, through the process of
momentous events and difficult times and things significant
to our minds, as the Lord brings back these things, allows these
things to come back to our minds, that through it, there's going
to come a day when the Lord After we've been bowed down and humbled
and brought low, the Lord will lift up the head of His people. There is a day where the Lord
takes that one who's bowed down and troubled and weighed down
and wearied, and He will lift up their head and cause him to
look to Him and to see His glory, to see His beauty, to know that
He is their God. But understand, The reason why
God is our shield, the reason why he's our glory, and the reason
why God lifts our head is because he first lifted up our head from
the grave. He lifted up Christ, the head
of the body, from the grave, who was in the grave to begin
with for us. He died our death. He died the death of his people
who could not save themselves, who have no covering for themselves
with their works. He provided everything we need. He gave it all for His people. He provided all righteousness
and He went to that cross to sacrifice Himself unto the Father
that God should receive us, having put away our sin and given us
life in Himself. We have him as a shield. We have him to glory him. We
have him to lift up our heads because he lifted up Christ,
our head, from the grave, declaring to us that God is satisfied. He has put away your sin and
he's satisfied and pleased with his son. I cried, verse 4, unto
the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. He hears your cry, child of God,
because he heard the cry of his darling son. He heard him. His son labored, suffered, and
obeyed the voice of his God, did all things that God said,
this is what I need for the people to save them. And Christ did
it all. And he cried out to God and was
heard so that now you and me in our troubles, in our suffering,
for deliverance from our sin, we now are heard by our God. All right, he heard me out of
his holy hill. I said, verse five, or rather, I laid me down
and slept. I awaked, for the Lord sustained
me. When David, when Absalom rose
up in rebellion against David to overthrow him, when that occurred,
David had to get out of Jerusalem quickly. This began in Hebron,
the city of Hebron. It was about 20 miles from Jerusalem.
And so when Absalom was declared that he was the king now, It
didn't take long for him to get to Jerusalem. So David had to
get his house together and what little things they could grab
in their provisions and get out. Get out of the castle, get out
of the stronghold, get out of the whole entire city, flee because
Absalom, if he catches him, is going to put him to death and
those of his family. And anyone that stayed with David
and believed that this is the Lord's anointed and stayed with
them, they would be put to death too. They would also suffer grievously
if Absalom had his way. And so David has to get out.
And there was a counselor, a wise man, a wise counselor who knew
some things and knew how to handle a situation like this to make
sure that it would not fail. That is the rebellion, that the
rebellion would not fail. His name was Ahithophel, and
Ahithophel is a type of the evil one, the accuser, the one who
destroys. And he had wise counsel. He knew
exactly how to put this thing, the reign of David, to death
and to install the reign of Absalom, the usurper, the evil one. And he was going to give counsel
to Absalom. In fact, Absalom asked him what
he should do. And Ahithophel gave the right counsel that would
have ended David's life. But the Lord had another counselor
named Hushai. And Hushai is Christ. He's a picture of Christ who
delivers the soul of his loved one, David, his child, from certain
death and overthrow. Hushai. Hushai was a wise counselor,
and he also was consulted by Absalom and said, no, don't do
that. do this instead." And Absalom
listened to Hushai. He followed Hushai's counsel
instead, and so David was delivered. And so what David's saying here
in verse 5 is, I laid me down and slept, not knowing which
counsel Absalom was going to listen to that night. He didn't
know if he was going to take Ahithophel's counsel and he didn't
know if he was going to take Hushai's counsel. So he didn't
know if he was going to be woken up in the middle of the night
with being thrust through with a sword or being taken captive
by Absalom's army and brought to Absalom to be put to death
in that way. He laid himself down to sleep
and he awoke the next morning. He awaked for the Lord sustained
him. The Lord sustained him. And brethren,
in every trial, up to the very last trial, when we lay on our
deathbed, and these voices come back to haunt us, or try us,
or tell us there's no hope for Him in God, the reality is, because
Christ our Savior laid Himself down, laid His life, His body
down in the grave, and was raised again, so we too, brethren, shall
be raised again by our God." In every trial we go through,
He'll raise us up in Christ. And in that final trial, He shall
raise us up in Christ. So that brethren, seeing this,
seeing the glory of God, trust Him, believe Him. He says in
verse 6, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, When
he brings that home and lifts your head, you know, wow, my
God is able to deliver. It was dark. It seemed I'd be
overtaken and destroyed. But God appeared for me so that
the next time we know, I will not be afraid of 10,000s of people
turning against me that have set themselves against me round
about. because he gives us that experience
and that understanding. He gives that to us, makes us
to know that he is all my glory. He is my shield. He is my protector. He shall lift my head because
he lifted up Christ my head from the grave. And so I am his child. He is pleased with me and he
will bless his people. That's what he gives you to know
in him. Arise, O Lord, verse seven, save
me, O my God, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. All those voices that David was
hearing saying, there is no help for him in God, they were silenced. When it says he broke, He knocked
them in the cheek. He knocked out their teeth. They
couldn't speak. They had nothing more to say.
God silenced the enemies of his people. Salvation belongeth unto
the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. So brethren, in major
shaking situations, the Lord uses those things and he brings
early rain, early fruit, fruits of repentance and mourning and
turning our hearts, bringing us to see the truth that he desires
in the inward part. He strengthens his people. He
gives them the spirit, life and hope and trust and confidence
in him. And in the latter reigns, he
also brings us to see, to bear more fruit, to glory in him,
to see him appear most gloriously through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And so I pray our God bless you because he sustains you. This
is how he sustains you in Christ and how he makes it living in
your hearts. He makes it alive. He's going
to make you live it. That's how we experience it.
He gives that to us. Not for our harm, for our good,
for our joy and our rejoicing. So I pray he bless that word
to you, his people. Amen. Let's pray and then brother,
close us in a prayer. Close us in a hymn. Our glorious
Lord, Father, we thank you. We stand in awe of your glory
and power. When we look at David and what
a grievous and what an awful thing he did. Lord, how awful
it is. But you said to him, you shall
not die for this. You shall not die for it. Lord,
you promised him life, both spiritual and physical. And you sustained
him. You brought forth repentance.
And you brought forth more fruits where he saw great deliverance
and and and repentance or a great deliverance worked in him delivering
him from many enemies and Lord we know and believe that you
do this in the hearts of your people and you are able and the
reason why is our Savior our Lord Jesus Christ who has prevailed
for us like who shy for David Lord you are our shield. You are our glory. You are the lifter of our head
because you have been lifted up and exalted by God and seated
on the right hand of the throne of God where you are ruling and
reigning and interceding for your people. Lord, we ask now
that you would remember us, that you would remember all your people
here, that you would remember our brethren, that you would
remember your body and your work here, Lord, that you would arise
and be glorious and do wonderfully in our midst. Lord, that your
name would be blessed and glorified here in this field, that we would
know that our God is walking and dwelling among us, moving
in the midst of the candlesticks and has the stars in his hand.
and the candlestick, and that you're doing your will and work
in and amongst the hearts of your people. Lord, we bless your
name. We glory in you. Lord, we ask
your blessing, your continued blessing of life upon us. And
Lord, help those who are weak and hurting and suffering. Sustain our brother. Heal his
body. Give him strength. Bless our
sister to be encouraged in you, Lord, whose son is hurting. We pray for them. We thank you
for all your people. We pray that you would enlarge
our hearts with joy and gladness in our Lord and Savior, and that
you would be pleased to pour out your spirit upon this work
and upon us, making us strong, fit, and ready to do the work
that you have for us. It's in the name of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.