All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Psalm 102. Psalm 102. Now, every time I prepare a message,
I desire to give a good title. Sometimes I know it's being spent
a lot of time on titles and I don't have to spend any time on this
title because the Holy Spirit gives us one and we're gonna
look at this title first of all before we see the psalm and the
title of my message is the title of the psalm. It's a prayer of
the afflicted. A prayer of the afflicted when
he is overwhelmed. and poureth out his complaint
before the Lord." This is the title the Holy Spirit has given
this psalm, and we can't add to it. It's good. It's a good
title. It explains the whole psalm right
off the bat. A prayer of the afflicted. Now this word, when he poureth
out his complaint before the Lord. Now I want you to know
this word complaint is not what we normally think of as a word
disapproving or fault finding. When we complain, that's what
we're doing. We're finding fault in something and we're making
a complaint. That's not what that word means. That word means
mourning. He said, the prayer of the afflicted
when he is overwhelmed and poureth out his grief, his sorrow before
the Lord. Now listen this morning, is there
any child of God full of sorrow? Is there anyone afflicted? Is
there anyone humbled and brought low and overwhelmed with darkness? Are you so covered with troubles
and the cares of this life that you're tossed about like that
sailor in Psalm 107 who is tossed to and fro by the waves of trouble,
by the waves of affliction? Are you brought to your wits
end? Are you like Rebecca? carrying
the sons of Isaac. And she says, if I'm carrying
the son of promise, why am I thus? Why is there such a struggle
within me? If you ask that question about
yourself, why is there such a struggle? Why is there such difficulty?
If Gideon said, if the Lord be for us, then why is all this
come upon us? Is that questions you ask? Are
those questions relevant to you? Are you an afflicted man? Then let us do as the title says,
this man, he said, he poureth out his heart. He poureth out,
that word poureth out means to expend all one's sorrow, all
one's grief before the Lord, all your troubles, all your depression,
all this word means to gush out. Are you afflicted? Are you afflicted? Why are you overwhelmed? Then
pour out your sorrow. Gush out your sorrow before the
Lord. All your complaints. Why? What
does Peter say? Cast all your care upon him.
Why? He careth for you. He careth for you. Are you such
a soul? Have you found your sin too heavy? Are the consequences of your
sin too costly? Believer in Christ, are the pains
of life too painful? The circumstances of your lot,
are they so overwhelming your soul that you feel crushed beneath
the weight? Then you pay attention because
this Psalm is for you. This psalm was written by God,
the Holy Spirit, by the prophet for you. Now, how can you tell
that? Look at verse 18. This shall be written for the
generation to come. And the people which shall be
created shall praise the Lord. This Psalm is written for those
who are created. This is talking about those who
are created in a new nature, those who are born again of the
Spirit of God. Now listen, all men suffer affliction,
all men suffer trouble, but this Psalm is to comfort one particular
people. This Psalm was written by the
Holy Spirit that those who are created of God, Those who are
born again of the Spirit of God, they should be comforted for
one purpose, that they should praise the Lord. And hopefully
by the God's grace, by the end of this message, you should be
praising the Lord. You should be praising Him. You
start this Psalm out in affliction, but it should end in praise,
in joy, in peace. And that's my prayer today, is
that all who are afflicted, All believers who are afflicted should
hear this. This is your song written for
you so that you might be comforted.
Now, I want to see the first thing this afflicted man does
is he cries unto the Lord. Isn't that what he does first?
Look at this. Verse one, hear my prayer. Who? Oh, Lord. And let my cry
come unto Who? Thee. Only to God. Now that should be obvious, shouldn't
it? This is the most, it should be
the most obvious thing in the world when you're afflicted,
believer, where should you go? We should cry unto the Lord,
but usually that's not the first place we go. Oh friend, I want to be plain.
As a pastor, there's nothing more I desire than to be as plain
and clear as I possibly can. And I want to be as plain in
the midst of your grief, in the midst of your sorrow, in the
midst of your affliction, is that if there's any true relief
for your soul, if there's to be any true deliverance for your
soul, it will only come from God, listen, through Jesus Christ. No other way. There is no other
place of rest and peace except it come from God through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Surely when we are brought low,
we do find some measure of consultation, some comfort from friends, don't
we? And Scripture tells us that we
have fellowship with one another and we enjoy, when you have a
brethren who has difficulties, other believers desire to take
on some of that burden. We do. It is our responsibility
to bear one another's burdens. It's good to have friends and
you take those troubles and you lay them out to your friends.
And at that moment, we feel some relief. We feel as though the
burden is less when we take it to our friends. And for a moment, we find ourselves
feeling better. But soon after our friends are
gone and we're left alone, what happens? The trouble comes back
and it's heavier than it was before. Now, why is that? Why is that? Because, listen,
friends are good, but they can't help. They can't help. David said, my flesh and my heart
faileth, but where's his strength? He said, but my strength is in
the strength of my heart is God. The strength to sustain my heart
in trouble comes only from God, not from friends. This is because
no man can deliver us from sin. I can confess my sin to you,
but what good is that going to do? I may feel good for a moment,
but yet the sin, if it is not forgiven, if it is not purged,
it will only grow heavier. We understand this, that no matter
what our trouble, what's the root of it? What's the root cause
of all our trouble? Sin. Sin is the root cause of
all our trouble. If not our own sin, the sin of
others. But whether it's the sin of others
or our own sin, what's the problem? It's sin. Sin is the problem. Sin is the problem. Isn't it
strange that when we have sin, what is man's remedy for sin?
More sin. It may be self-righteous sin.
It may be religious sin, but it's sin. His idea is to help
himself. There's no help there. So then
if sin is the root cause of our troubles, the only one who can
help is who? God. Because only God can forgive
sin. Only God. That's what those Jews
recognized when Jesus said, son, be of good cheer, thy sins be
forgiven. You know, they said only God can forgive sin. And
they were right. They just didn't see he was God.
Only God could forgive sins because only God is the offended party. Only God can forgive. Therefore,
you sinful, afflicted man, what are you to do in affliction?
What are you to do? Cry unto the Lord. Cry unto him
in prayer and never be satisfied until it reaches his ear. Listen,
prayer to the wind is vanity. Prayer to men or to saints is
useless. And they'll never bring comfort
even because men and saints are powerless to intercede for us
before God. Listen, I can't intercede for
you before God. You can confess your sin to me
all you want to. I cannot intercede. I myself
need an intercessor. I need someone to intercede for
me. for my sin, we cannot help each other in this matter of
sin that afflicts our souls. Well, then how shall a sinner
be heard of God? If God is holy, how shall a sinner
be accepted? How shall the prayer of the guilty
come before God and be heard with mercy and pity? The psalmist asked that question,
who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord and who shall stand
in the holy place? Listen, the answer is clear.
Only one person, he that hath clean hands and a pure heart. Does that give you any comfort?
Well, it will if you understand who that is. You see, that's
not you. That's not me. We have not clean
hands. We have not a pure heart. There's
only one who had clean hands and a pure heart. And that is
Jesus Christ. Him alone. Him alone. We are surely excluded all who
are afflicted because of sin. We are excluded from this. We
by nature and by practice are sinners and have no right to
come before God in ourselves. No right. So how can we cry to God who
are filthy? The answer of the word of God
is only by a mediator. That's what Job said when he
was in his affliction and his sorrow for sin, oh, that I had
a daismen, one to stand between me and God, one to touch God
and touch me, an intercessor. A mediator. And I know I'm telling
you this, the only mediator between God and men is the man, Christ
Jesus. What Scripture tells us, 1 Timothy
chapter 2 and verse 5, there is one mediator. Now listen,
you want to destroy the Roman Catholic Church, that verse does
it all by itself. I got a whole book of verses
that'll destroy it, but that by itself destroys the whole
foundation of the church, that wicked, blasphemous church. There's
only one mediator, Jesus Christ. Every man that says he's a mediator
is an imposter. An imposter. Jesus Christ is
the only mediator. Why? Because he is both God and
man. The scripture says, without controversy. This is without debate. This
is without argument. We don't debate this. Without
controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was what? manifest in the flesh. To do
what? To be a mediator between God
and men. Jesus Christ. Sinner, behold,
you may cry unto God and your prayers may come into the ears
of the Almighty only if it's through this mediator. Only through
Jesus Christ. Now, you're afflicted. The only
hope for you is through Him. is to come to God by Him. Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. There's another one that destroys
the whole idea of another mediator. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Jesus Christ is the one mediator. You want an illustration of that?
Remember Joshua the high priest. Joshua the high priest was standing
there in those filthy garments. He was standing before God and
he had not a word to say. Satan was at his right hand ready
to accuse him. And you remember, the mediator
spoke, the angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke and
he said, is this not a brand plucked from the burning? You
see, he interceded for the guilty. And what did he say? Take off
those filthy garments and put on my robe. Put the miter, the
crown upon his head. My, he is a chosen vessel. I
have mediated between, he mediated between Joshua and God. And therefore
Joshua was what? Accepted. His worship was accepted. He was accepted into the presence
of God to make those offerings. That's what Christ does. The
Old Testament law, in the Old Testament law, there was only
one place and one way Israel was to meet with God. And that
was through the atonement, the atonement. You know those Northern
tribes, why they were separated? Why they were cast out? Because
they tried to meet God somewhere else. They tried to meet God
in another place. And God said, no, the only place
I will meet with you in peace is on the mercy seat in that
temple, which is a picture of who? Jesus Christ. I will meet
you only through the offering of the atonement and the sprinkling
of blood upon the mercy seat. I will meet with you in peace.
That is a picture of only Jesus Christ. It was not by any other means
or person or place of their choosing. Israel didn't choose a place
or the means, God chose the place and the means. It's not a multitude of ways
to God, is there? That's religion for you. Religion
said you go your way and I'll go mine, we'll both meet in heaven.
I promise you this, either I'll be in hell or you will. We're
not gonna meet in the same place. I'll be in heaven or you will.
There's not two ways to God. There's only one way to God.
It is only through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ
alone without the law. Without the law. Anybody makes
Christ and the law, you're going a different way, friend. We can't
fellowship together. You're going a different way.
You've mingled the blood of Christ with your works. I'm coming to
God only by the offering of a high priest, only by the acceptable
sacrifice, and that priest and sacrifice are one person, Jesus
Christ. I come to God by him, only by
him. This is how the afflicted come.
They must come to God only through the mediator, Jesus Christ. The only way to meet God, the
only way God met with Israel is over that mercy seat, and
the only way God will hear your cry is through Jesus Christ,
no other way. It was by the blood of the atonement
offered by the high priest as a mediator, but all of that was
only a picture of Christ. Let me read this to you in Hebrews. Hebrews explains this most clearly. Hebrews chapter nine and verse
six. The scripture says, now, when
these things were thus ordained, the priest went always in the
first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God, but into
the second went the high priest only once every year, not without
blood, which he offered for himself and for the heirs of the people.
The Holy Ghost was by this signifying that the way into the holiness
was not yet made manifest. while the first tabernacle was
yet standing, which was a figure of the time then present, in
which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not
make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the
conscience, which stood only in meats and drinks and divers
washing and carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time
of reformation." Here it is, but Christ. being common high
priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
entered in once into the holy place, having," listen, "'obtained
eternal redemption for us.'" Having obtained eternal redemption
for us. So if we are afflicted, If you're
afflicted this morning by sin, and you cry unto God, and you
desire to be heard, it must be by faith in this man, in this
mediator. We must behold Jesus Christ,
the mediator who was afflicted himself. He was afflicted himself. He was oppressed and overwhelmed. I tell you this, are you afflicted
this morning? And I know it's hard. I know
it's tough. Our afflictions weigh on us heavy, but I want you to
know this, you were never afflicted as much as He was. No man has ever been more afflicted
than Christ. It would do us good to see that
he above all men was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was acquainted with grief
more than any other man because his affliction was the only acceptable
sacrifice for sin. His affliction was the only acceptable
sacrifice for sin so that we might be heard. Listen, if you're
gonna be heard, it is because of his affliction. Now listen,
you're afflicted. And a lot of times we think,
well, I'm going to be heard because I'm hurting so much. You'll never
be heard by your hurting. That's not merit. That's so sick
of us, isn't it? To think that our hurt is merit
enough to be heard. Will God look on my hurt? No,
look on his hurt so that I might be heard. so that my affliction
might be lifted only through his affliction, his suffering,
his death. You remember him in the garden
as he prepared to be made sin for us. He sweat, as it were,
great drops of blood. You done that? Anybody done that? Anybody that afflicted for sin
that much? No. He was the only righteous and
spotless son of God, yet he was suffering. He was anticipating
being made sin. Jesus was about to suffer more
on Calvary's tree than any man in earth or any man in hell. Jesus Christ was made of God
to bear our sins in his own body on the tree. And when he did,
God poured out his wrath without measure on him, without mercy. So that Christ said, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He poured out his vengeance
so that Christ would say the reproach of them that reproached
thee hath fallen on me. Behold then as you're afflicted,
Behold the Lamb of God, upon whom God said, awake, O sword,
and smite the shepherd, the man that is my fellow. What I want to do is I want to
set Christ before you. I want you to see his affliction.
I want you to see the purpose of his affliction. Paul said,
I evidently set forth Christ crucified among you. That's the
desire of every true preacher of God, is to set forth Christ
among you. who set forth His suffering for
sin. And how it is that you who are
afflicted might be heard of God is only through His affliction,
through His suffering and death. In prophecy, He said in Lamentations
1, He says, is it nothing to you that pass by? This morning, we're passing by.
We're passing by the cross. Is it nothing to you You say,
I've heard that. I don't want to hear that again.
Is it nothing to you? Listen, it was something to God.
I tell you this, it was everything to God. It was His Son that was
crucified. It was His Son that was made
sin. It was His justice that fell on Him. And by His stripes,
what? We are healed. I tell you, only
the wounded pass by this and think much. Why? I need healing. I need mercy. I am the afflicted man and I
need to be heard of God. I think highly of His death. I must think highly of it because
it's the only way God will hear me. It's the only way to be delivered
from my sin. In chapter three of Lamentations,
the Lord Jesus by the prophet said, I am the man that has seen
affliction by the rod of his wrath. Now listen, believer,
we've been chastened by our God, but we've not seen the rod of
his wrath. The only one that has seen the rod of his wrath
in full is Christ. Christ. And yet in Lamentations
chapter three, the Lord, testifies of his faith, his faith. In Lamentations 3, even in the
midst of his afflictions, this is what he said. He said, mine
eye afflicteth mine heart because of all the daughters of my city.
What was he suffering for? Daughters of Jerusalem. He was
suffering for them. My enemies chased me sore like
a bird without cause. They cut off my life in the dungeon
and cast a stone upon me. Waters overflowed my head. Then
said, I am cut off. I called upon thy name, O Lord,
out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice. Hide
not thine ear from my breathing and my cry. Thou drawest near
in the day that I called upon me and said, fear not. You see
the Lord Jesus Christ, he in faith called upon God when he
was cast out, when he suffered. Oh, sinner afflicted and cast
down, behold, your sorrow cannot compare with his. See that His
sorrow, unlike ours, actually accomplished something. You know
that my sorrow don't accomplish anything. It's just sorrow for
sorrow's sake. But His sorrow actually did something. It accomplished the deliverance
of the afflicted. Those who are afflicted with
sin, He is the one that delivered us from sin. As how? As a mediator. As a representative
man. So now, listen. When Christ died,
what happened? In that place where God said,
I will meet with you in peace, that was a tie, a shadow. And
that high priest didn't go in there except once a year with
the blood of goats. But now that Christ has come
in with His own blood, God says, I'm well pleased. And what did
God do? He split that veil from the top
to the bottom, showing this. that now the way
into the holiness is open. You see the wisdom then of crying
to the Lord? even in the teeth of your sin,
in the midst of your grief, in the midst of your sorrow, cry
out to God because the way is open. Because of his affliction,
now the afflicted may come boldly into the presence of God and
find help and mercy and grace and pardon and forgiveness and
love, love so abounding, love so overwhelming, Constant, eternal,
perpetual love of God poured out. You see, that's wisdom then
to cry unto God, isn't it? Why wait to the last? Shouldn't this be the first?
We should cry unto God. Come now. Don't wait. Don't wait. Listen, I'm going
to tell you this. Don't even wait until you feel
like it. Don't wait until you feel like
it. Come now. Why not? The way is open. Come now to God in prayer by
Jesus Christ and only through the high priest and mediator
you are welcome. You remember Esther. Well, she was so nervous. Her
husband was king. And there was no one allowed
in the court of the king except they have the separate scepter
yielded to them. It was death. If she was to come
before her king and her king, her husband, did not yield to
her the scepter, she would be killed. What a fearful thing
it was for her. But she underestimated his love
for her. As soon as she came in, he immediately
yielded the scepter to her. And he said, what do you want?
What is thy petition? Oh, is this not a relief for
the afflicted? What is my petition? Oh God,
deliver me from my sin. Oh God, save me from my sin. Therefore you who are in sorrow,
overwhelmed, come now. Let us come boldly, Paul said.
And you know what God says? I'm gonna read you this in Jeremiah
three. He said this, Jeremiah three in verse three, this is
your promise. I'm sorry, Jeremiah 33. I'm in
the wrong place. Jeremiah 33 in verse three. It says, call unto me and I will
answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou
knowest not. I'll tell you this, if we're
afflicted because of sin, what have we not known that we should
have known? That Christ has removed our sin.
Isn't that the mighty thing that He shows us every time we come
afflicted because of sin? He shows us that Christ has pardoned,
that Christ has removed our sin as far from us as the East is
from the West. So far has He removed our transgression
from us. So come. Make your request known
unto God. Cry unto Him. Cry unto God. He alone can soothe and cheer
the troubled heart like no one else. Like no one else. Therefore,
we who come to God by Jesus Christ will not be content until our
prayers come into His ears. and he has given us his son to
secure our acceptance. Therefore, be confident, you
afflicted saint, be confident that our advocate, Jesus Christ,
ever lives to make intercession for us. Be confident that there
is none to accuse thee, none to condemn thee, and none to
separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus,
none. So the first thing the afflicted
does is cry. But the second thing I want to
see here is that you must be abased. You must be abased. Look at verse two. The psalmist
said this, hide not thy face from me in the day when I am
in trouble, incline not ear to me in the day when I call, answer
me speedily. What's the greatest trouble in
the midst of your affliction? What's the greatest trouble for
a believer? It is the absence of God's presence. There is nothing more troubling
than that. Now, every believer might gladly and boldly suffer
the greatest martyrdom if they know God is near. If their faith
is clear to see Christ as all their hope and standing before
God, if God's presence is near, like it was with Stephen, who
was full of the Holy Ghost when he died, he gladly gave up his
life, didn't he? And while he gave it up, he prayed
for those killing him. What a wonderful testimony. We
would all gladly do that if God were so near. There would be no bed of sickness,
not any rack or stake, nor death could cause any trouble so long
as we could read our title clearly. Now what that song says, when
I read my title clear to mansions in the sky, I'll bid farewell
to every fear and wipe the weeping eyes. If I can see my title clear,
sure. No sickness, no death, no sorrow,
no pain could ever overwhelm me, but let God remove his presence
and the slightest trouble becomes more than we could bear. The
slightest trouble, the slightest grief, the slightest pain. When our exercise of faith and
grace are low, when sin has overwhelmed me and caused me to doubt, My
standing before God, the smallest of troubles will
cast down my soul to despair. John Bunyan, I read this of John
Bunyan. You know, this man of God, used
greatly of God, for a whole year, he thought he was beyond forgiveness. Is there anything of greater
despair? No. The psalmist is praying this,
Lord, hear my cry. This is my cry. Hide not thy
face from me. Answer me speedily. Don't wait,
come now, manifest thy presence. Surely when we cannot see our
interest or hope and the love of God or love for Christ, we
know him, we are surely most miserable. We who know him are
surely most miserable when he is absent. Is there anything
more miserable? Nothing. Therefore, at such a
time, our prayer is surely urgent. Notice this, he says in verse
three, my days are consumed like smoke and my bones are burned
as a heart. He's saying, my days are as darkness. My days are consumed with darkness. Are your days consumed with uncertainty? and ignorance as to what to do? Are you so overwhelmed that you
can't tell which way is up, which way is down? Are you ensnared
so that you cannot see your union with Christ? Are your days fleeting
as a puff of smoke so that there's no substance or foundation for
your soul to stand? Is your soul like a dim, useless
hearth that has gone out? Are your graces such as faith
and hope in Christ and love for Christ as a smoking flax? Are
you as a bruised reed ready to break? See, that's how God brings us.
When we cry unto Him, He humbles us and then He gives us this
word. Listen, it says this, a bruised
reed, He will not break. Smoking flax, He will not quench. What's the cause? Christ shall
bring forth judgment unto truth and He shall not fail nor be
discouraged. In the haze of darkness, Hear
the voice of God. Christ has triumphed over your
sin. Christ has prevailed over all
your afflictions. And thus we have prevailed in
Him. You see that? What He's done, you've done.
What He's accomplished, you've accomplished. This is the voice of our God.
He shall not fail. He shall save His people. They will persevere because salvation,
friends, remember, is not dependent upon us. It's not dependent upon
us. It's dependent upon Christ. So
then God, when God hides His face, when our days are consumed
like smoke and we walk about in the fog of darkness and our
bones and our souls feel that the fire has gone out, Yet what
is our hope? Our hope is Christ. Our hope
is in Him who accomplished our salvation. Look at verse seven. The psalmist says, I watch as
a sparrow alone on the housetop. Mine enemies reproach me all
the day. They that are mad against me have sworn against me. For I've eaten ashes like bread
and mingled my drink with weeping because of thine indignation
and thy wrath. For thou has lifted me up and
cast me down. My days are like a shadow that
declined and I am withered like grass. He said, I'm like a sparrow.
You know, a sparrow loses his mate. He goes into a high place alone.
And you know, the only thing that would give him comfort is
if his spouse came back, if that sparrow came back to him. When
your life is sparrow low, what's the only remedy? Is if God come
to you, if God come and be with you and show you Christ. We are
helpless, surrounded by our enemies. It's just not our... Answer me
speedily. Don't wait. Don't wait. Answer me speedily, Lord, come
quickly. And until you come, everything
I eat is like ashes mingled with tears. You found that to be true
when you're without Christ, when it feels as though His presence
has gone from you. Isn't everything turned to ash?
Everything's miserable without Him. There is nothing that will
suffice the soul and give strength to our souls, but to know that
I am in Christ. For to be in Him is to be safe."
To be in Him is to be safe. In our affliction and humility
we cry, if I have His blood, the justice of God can only smile. If I have His righteousness,
the law can only demand my acceptance. If I have Christ as my foundation,
hell will not swallow me. If I have Christ as my fortress,
No foe can prevail over me or ever conquer my soul. So then the question in my affliction
is this, what? Do I have Christ? When his presence
is gone, what are we lacking? We're lacking assurance that
we have Christ. I know this. That hymn I've quoted
several times before, "'Tis a point I long to know, oft it causes
anxious thoughts. Do I love the Lord or no? Am
I his or what? Am I not?" Now listen, I've quoted
that song so many times because I know that's our hearts in the
midst of our affliction. I know when his presence and
he hides his face, that's how we feel. We feel that we don't
know. One thing I've neglected to read
for you is the answer to that hymn. A brother of Newton who
read that, he answered him in another song. He said, what is
this point you long to know? Methinks I hear you say tis this,
I want to know, am I born of God and heir of everlasting bliss? Is this a point you long to know?
The point is settled in my view, for if you want to love your
God, it proves He first loved you. I want to know Christ died for
me. I want to feel my seal within. I want to know Christ's precious
blood was shed to wash away my sin. I want to feel more love
to Christ. I want more liberty in prayer.
But when I look within my heart, It almost drives me to despair. I want a mind more firmly fixed
on Christ, my everlasting head. I want to feel my soul alive
and not so barren, not so dead. I want more faith, a stronger
faith. I want to feel His power within.
I want to feel more love to God. I want to feel less love to sin. I want to live above the world
and count it trash and toys. I want more tokens of God's grace,
some forecast of eternal joys. I want to know, I know not what. I want that real special good,
yet all my wants are summed up here. I want to love, I want
my God. Is this the point you long to
know? The dead can neither feel nor see. It is a slave that's
bound in chains that knows the worth of liberty. So where a want like this is
found, I think I may be bold to say that God has fixed within
thine heart what hell can never take away. However small thy
grace appears, there's plenty in thy loving head. These wants
you feel, my Christian friend, were never found amongst the
dead. Oh, you afflicted soul. Do you long to know these things?
Why is it that you long to know these things? You long to know
these things because the work of grace has already begun in
your heart. Because you do know Him. You
want to know Him. Because you do love Him, you
want to love Him. Because you do believe Him, you
want to believe Him. This is the assurance. My assurance
is not within, it's without. It's Christ. Christ is all my
hope and standing before God. Is He yours? Are you afflicted? Are you doubtful? You're doubtful
because you look at the wrong place. You're crying to the wrong
person. Cry to God. And notice what God
will do. Look at verse 12. Notice to whom he cries. He says,
but thou, Lord, shall endure forever. Look, my days are as
a shadow and they decline, and I'm like grass, but you, Lord,
shall endure forever, and thy remembrance unto all generations.
You see, we cry unto a sovereign God. We cry unto Him that sits upon
the throne, O afflicted child, you that have suffered because
of your sins. Behold, Christ, who has satisfied
the wrath of God for you, is now seated on the throne of God. Behold, thy Redeemer now is even
interceding for you. The sovereign Lord who works
all things after the counsel of His own will, See this, that
even your affliction was by his hand. He said, look, my days are as
a shadow, but Lord, I know this, you endure forever. You are the
sovereign God. Our afflictions, our troubles
are measured. Look at this, what he says in
verse 13, thou shalt arise. Notice the confidence he has
in his God. Thou shalt arise. and have mercy
upon Zion for the favor of her, yea, the set time is come." Don't
you know this, your reflections have a set time? They have a
set time. They're measured out in the hands
of the Almighty and they're meted out to you in such a way that
you should not fall, that you should not despair. The scripture
says, no temptation has taken you but such as common to man.
But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that which you're able, but will with the temptation
make a way of escape." What's the way of escape? Jesus said,
I am what? The way. I am the way of escape. The way of escape is faith in
Christ, love to Christ, looking to Christ. That's the way of
escape. And he what? He shall arise and
deliver. Does that sound, Questionable? Nothing in God's
word sounds questionable. That's always a rhetorical question.
It's always the same. God is always sure of what he's
going to do. You know what he's going to do?
He's going to deliver you. When? Whenever he pleases. Whenever
the affliction has accomplished its worth, he will deliver you. Cry unto him in your affliction
and he will hear you, not because of your affliction, but because
of Christ. That's how sure you can be that
He's going to hear you. Because of Christ. When will
He not hear Christ? He will always hear Christ. Then
I can be sure of this, if I am in Christ, He will always hear
me. And in the appointed time, He
will, in that set time, He will show favor. And I already have
favor. But in that set time, He will
show favor. He'll manifest it. It is my heart's desire that
every one of you who are afflicted cry to God. Cry unto Him. He will hear you. Not for your sake. Not based
on your merits. But because of your mediator,
because of your high priest, because of his offering and how
perfect it was, God will hear your cry. And though he may hide
his face for a season, this is his promise, I will never
leave thee. Hold for a second. I do not deserve such grace. I deserve only the justice of
God. But instead of that, because
of Christ, I receive all of the blessings of God, all of the
mercies of God, all of the love of God is my So long as I'm in union with
Him, nothing can separate me from God. Nothing. What to God we always had this
faith. What to God we never doubted. May God now give us faith to
cling to Christ in the teeth of our affliction.