Psalm chapter 38. And my title of the message this
evening is, The Cry, Condition, and Consolation of the Chastened. The cry, the condition, and the
consolation of the chastened. Now here in this psalm, we can
clearly see by the first two verses the surrounding situation in
which David wrote this psalm. He said, "...O Lord, rebuke me
not in Thy wrath, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. For Thine arrows stick fast in
me, and thy hand presseth me sore." We can see here that David
is being chastened of God. He is being rebuked of the Father. And this is the first point that
I have tonight is the cry of the chastened. The cry of one
who is chastened or chastised of God. Herein, David's cry is
then the cry of every true believer in Jesus Christ. When we are
chastened of God, when we are rebuked of God, this is the cry,
Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger. It's not that we don't deserve
rebuke. David is not upset that he was
rebuked. He just is praying, God, don't
do it in Thy wrath. Don't do it in Thine anger. Chasten
me not with hot displeasure." Why? Because the arrows of thy
chastisement, they didn't just strike David on the surface,
they stuck in his heart. And every believer that is chastened
of God, do not the arrows of God stick fast when they come. They always hit their mark when
we are chastened of God. And there was a time when we
were lost and dead in our sin, we had no remorse for sin. There
was a time when we were lost, we despised the consequences
of our sin, but surely we despise not our sin. Those who are lost may weep for
our offenses toward others, or we might even weep especially
for the others' offenses toward us. The spiritually dead may even
feel some shame if they are exposed to other men. If our sins are
exposed to others, imagine if your thoughts were exposed. How
shameful would you be in front of everyone? You would not be
able to stick your head outside the door because of the thoughts
of our mind are so vile and corrupt. But for sin against God, by nature,
there is no remorse for sin against God. As a matter of fact, listen,
all sin is against God. Remember when David sinned, what
did he say? Against thee and thee only. Now he killed Uriah. He had Uriah
killed. He committed adultery with Beersheba
and yet he said, my sin was not against them, my sin was against
thee. And so only the true believer
understands that sin is against God. And this when we were born
again of the Spirit. when we were exposed, not before
men, but rather exposed before God. It's then His eyes who are
as a flame of fire. We, like Adam, we felt safe in
our fig leaves until God's voice came. Until God came. And his voice was heard, it's
then we hid in shame and guilt for our sins. It's then we start
to seek out a refuge. It's only when men start to feel
they're exposed before God, they start to seek out... Remember
David, what did he do? He had his fig leaves, but as
soon as he heard the voice of God, the Scripture says he hid
himself in the woods. And this is what is the initial
grace of God. When He comes in grace, our fig
leaves no longer cover us. And so we need more. And we seek
out refuges. in churches, in religion, in
the things of the world. But listen, as God sought out
Adam, He pursued him. Remember, who's chasing who here? Adam ran from God. It was God
that pursued Adam. And that's how He pursued us. We ran from Him. We despised
Him. But He pursued us, not in judgment. Remember, judgment was already
passed on Adam. He was already dead. Why did
God pursue Adam? Because he was an object of mercy.
Because He would save and declare to Adam His gospel. And we, like
Adam, were exposed. And then God revealed to us what?
The Gospel. He revealed us the Gospel of
Christ. That Jesus should come and put
away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself. That's the Gospel.
If you want to know the Gospel, here it is, that Christ should
come and put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Remember, what was the promise?
The seed of the woman should crush the head of the serpent,
and he should bruise his heel. Tonight, let us now, at this
moment, behold the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who has come
to us. Let us lift up His praise and
honor, His glory. Why? Because He who was to come
has come. He has come even as God has promised. He was the seed of the woman
born of the virgin's womb. Our Savior was not of Adam's
fallen seed. That's good news. If He was of
the corrupt seed, we surely could not be saved by a corrupt man.
But Christ came as the seed of the woman so as to escape the
corruption of Adam's seed. And who was this that came? He
was the very Son of God, the eternal Son of God. He said,
Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee. What day? That
eternal day. He is the eternal begotten Son.
And yet our Savior must have been made a man. In order to
be your high priest, in order to offer a sacrifice to God for
you, which was Himself, He Himself, who is God, must become a man. He must take on our nature so
as to put away sin as a representative man. And this He did. When He came into
the world, born of the Virgin, He came as the sinless Son of
God. Now behold His perfection. Behold
the perfection of His person. The Son of God was made the Son
of Man. In order to be a spotless mediator,
He Himself was made flesh. For what purpose? Not to obtain
righteousness for Himself because He Himself was righteousness. What did He came to do? What
did He come to do? He came to merit righteousness,
to earn righteousness for those He represented. That's what the
Savior came to do. Go to Romans chapter 3. Romans
chapter 3. Verse 21, after Paul's already
put down man so low. He said that man by nature is
not good in any measure. By no means can he obtain salvation
by obedience to the law. He's already past that. And so then, he says in verse
21, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. What does the whole Word of God
in the Old Testament, what is its purpose? It is to testify
the righteousness of God that was to be obtained by Jesus Christ. It tells us that the righteousness
of God was never to be merited by the law. Anybody who ever
desires to merit righteousness, go to the law. And you know what
you'll find? You'll find nothing but guilt.
That's all you'll find in the law. The law was never meant
to save anyone. The law of God was only a mirror,
a reflection of what you are by nature, guilty. That's all
the law can do is pronounce you guilty. It can't save you. How many are deceived to believe
like that? To believe in the grace of God,
even in the grace of God in election, the grace of God in redemption,
and yet they are trying to finish their salvation by obedience
to the law. How many are deceived to believe
that way? But all who believe such, Paul
calls them deceived." Isn't that what the whole book of Galatians
is about? The whole book of Galatians is to show you there's no mixture
between law and grace. There's no mixture. It's either
all of law or it's all of grace, and those in Galatia were trying
to mix the two. And Paul said, you're bewitched.
Anybody trying to mix law and grace is bewitched. Paul said,
you believe another gospel, which is not another. But we who are saved, everyone
who is born again, we know and believe this, that all the law
and the prophets did is testify of this, even the righteousness
of God. Paul says in Romans 3.22, even
the righteousness of God, which is by faith of. Jesus Christ. By the faith of. How is righteousness merited?
By the faith of Jesus Christ. Even the righteousness of God.
And this righteousness, Paul said, is unto all and upon all. Those two words mean imputed
and imparted. unto all them that believe."
All of you who believe on Jesus Christ alone, that righteousness
He merited, He merited on your behalf. And that righteousness
is imputed to you, it is imparted to you in the new nature. Behold
then the Savior, not only has He done this, but behold, He
has put away your sin. You who believe, He has put away
your sin. He's put away your sin. Already He has put away your
sin. And not only put away your sin,
He has put away all your sin. All your sin. Go to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. This man, this Savior we're speaking
of, the Savior we are lifting up, beholding, He, being the
brightness of God's glory and the express image of His person,
upholding all things by the word of His power, when, not if, but
when, when He hung upon the tree, when His blood flowed from His
hands, His side, His feet, and His head, when He was stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted, when the Father hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all, when God said, Awake, O sword, and
smite the shepherd, the man that is My fellow. When He did that,
the Apostle says, when He had by Himself purged
our sins. When? When He hung on the tree.
He purged our sins. When God laid our sins on Him
and God's justice fell on Christ, it fell on our sin. It fell. And He by Himself Did you get that? By Himself
purged our sin. How much time do we spend thinking
about purging our own sin? That's the flesh. There's nothing
you say about that. That's just wicked. To think
that you have any ability to purge your sins is nothing but
sin itself. He washed our sins, purified
us by bearing them away forever. So, believer, as we view our
beloved Savior, when He died for our sins, what happened? What happened after he was victorious?
Where is he right now? The apostle said he sat down
on the right hand of the majesty on high. Sat down because the
work was finished. Sat down because there was no
more sacrifice to offer. Sat down because justice was
satisfied. Sat down because he redeemed
his people eternally. Forever. He sat down. There's no more work to be done.
The work is done. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high, and God hath highly exalted him." We
live in such a central, a selfish age. Where man is the center
of everything. That is a lie. We are not the
center of anything. Christ is the center of everything. God hath made Him to be both
Lord and Christ. He is the center of everything.
He is the center of everything. And everything revolves around
Him. expecting until his enemies be
made his footstool, until all his redeemed saints are brought
into the faith. Jesus said this in John 6, he
says, Oh, this is the will of the Father that sent me out of
all he has given me. I should lose nothing. I should
lose nothing. How many will the Savior lose?
How many will fall away? How many will miss His grace?
How many will miss redemption or eternal life? He said, not
one of them will miss it. But all of them will come by
faith to Me. And him that cometh to Me, I
will in no wise cast out. And there he is, our savior sits
in throne with all power and wisdom and dominion. And therefore
all that the father has given him, all he has redeemed, all
he has redeemed, he will call and they will come and not one
of them will miss him. All of them will believe on him. And so you who believe, how blessed
are you? How blessed are you to have such
a Savior as the perfect Son of God? And now, knowing this gospel
to be true, knowing our election, our redemption, our calling of
the Spirit, now, go back to your text, because this is vitally
important. I want you to see that this one
who is speaking in our text is one who is born again of God. He is one of the elect. He is
redeemed of Christ. He was called of the Holy Spirit.
And yet he is in a low condition. He is being chastened by the
hand of God. David in our text cries under chastisement. But isn't this the experience
of every believer in Christ? If you be without chastisement, then are you bastards and not
sons. Chastisement is part of the experience
of grace in us. It's part of what God does to
His people, every one of us. Why do we spend so many days
and years of our life in constant doubt and fear of God's judgment
upon our heads? Why is that? When I just told
you the gospel, I just told you everything is done, and you'll
leave here, and you'll go home, and you'll doubt. So will your pastor. Why would we doubt such a great
Savior? Why would we doubt such a victorious
Lord? Because sin still exists in us. Because we still must contend
with the old man of sin. Because our fleshly nature still
abides in us, we most surely then will be rebuked and chastened
of our Father. We will. So long as we are in
this body, we will receive rebuke and chastisement. And so we like David in these
times say, Lord, rebuke me. Yeah. But not in thy wrath. Surely every child of God..."
Listen, you are given a new nature. You're given a new nature. John
says, "...that which is born of God sinneth not." Paul says
in Ephesians 4 that we are created. I like that word. Created. after God in true holiness. You who are born again of the
Spirit of God, you are created in the very image of Christ,
in His righteousness. I told you His righteousness
was imputed to you, was charged to you, but it was also imparted
to you when you were given a new heart. And so like David, Because
we have this new nature, this righteous nature, we know and
feel our sin to be real. We know what our sins deserve. As children of our Father, we
know what it is like to feel the chastening hand of our Father.
We know this. And all who say they are without
sin, we know them to be liars. You see a man tell me he's without
sin, I'll tell you a man who's a liar. And the truth is not in such
a man. The Holy Spirit is not born again in that man if he
has no sin nature. But we who are born again are
made to see the depravity, the corruption of our fleshly nature. Yet our new birth, which gives
us a new nature, did not destroy the old. Jesus said, that which
is born of flesh is flesh. And that which is born of spirit
is spirit. You don't see the two natures
then. You don't see that they both exist. And neither one affect the other. Neither one change the other. Therefore, Paul said, the flesh
lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh,
and these two are contrary one to the other. So that you cannot
do what you would. You know, see how he brought
two and showed you as one? You! Now these two things exist
in you so that you cannot do what you would. What would the
flesh do? It would sin, defy God, and run away. What would
the Spirit do? It would not sin. It would not
defile God. It would praise Christ. And these
two natures constantly are opposed and struggle within our own souls. And this is clearly pictured
in what David experiences here. And I'm going to read it to you.
Let's read it together. I want you to hold up this because
this is a mirror. I want you to see that this is
a mirror of a true child of God under the chastening hand of
God. This is exactly what every believer sees of himself. Look
at this in verse 2. There is no soundness. Where? In my flesh. Because of thine anger. Neither
is there any rest in my bones. Because of what? Because of my
sin. For mine iniquities, whose mine
iniquities are gone over mine head as a heavy burden, they
are too heavy for who? Me! It's too heavy for me." Listen,
my wounds stink and are corrupt because of what? My foolishness. Is this not a mirror into the
very soul of one who is chastened of God? God rightly then rebukes us and
justly chastens us for our sins. And we begin to see that there
is no good thing in us. So then, believer, when this
occurs, it becomes very grievous to us. It becomes very grievous
to us. David said those arrows, they
stick fast. They stick fast. Paul said that
chastisement is not joyous. Didn't he remind you of that?
He said chastisement is not joyous. At the time you're being chastened,
it's not fun, but grievous. And so often we believe God's
rebuke and chastisement to be wrath, to be His anger. But believer, I want you to see
this. If you're being chastened, I want you to hold on to this
because it's going to help you. God is not punishing your sins. He's not punishing your sins.
Why? What's satisfactory punishment? Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sin. This is the comfort that you
have, believer, though chastened. God is not punishing your sins
because He already punished them in Christ. He cannot and will
not punish your sins in you. Now, what is he doing? He is
chastening you. He is chastening you. Chastisement
is correction. Correction. It is the hand of a loving father
directing his children in a good way. If I were to discipline
my children, am I punishing them as a law would punish a criminal? No. I chasten them in a good
way for the goodness of their bodies. I desire them to be in
a good path. This is what God does for His
children. He desires you to follow a good path, which is not sin. I like this, David said in Psalm
119 verse 67, he said, Before I was afflicted, I went astray. What happens if you're not afflicted? What are you going to do? Listen,
I'll spoil it for you, you'll go astray. But now, because of my affliction,
David says, I have kept thy word. Sin! is our confession. And left to ourselves, we would
confess that we would not worship God. We would go astray because
of our condition. And that's what I want to talk
about next. You see the cry of the believer, the one who is
saved of God, he is chastened of God, and now he sees his condition. His condition is without soundness. His condition is vile. His condition. is wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores. The result then of God's rebuke
is to what? To make you see who you are.
That's what God's doing. Which one of us has come to the
end of ourselves in depravity? Who knows? Who knows the depth
of our depravity yet? I imagine that if any one of
us could ever see the full depth of our depravity, we would end
our life. I don't doubt that. But I tell you this, God, by
grace, shows us in measures our depravity. He shows us our corrupt nature
and our flesh. And if you are born again, you
know something about this. You know something about what
it is to have no soundness. You know what it is to speak
of your wounds and the stench of your sin. And what does this bring us to?
Verse 6, I am troubled. I am bowed down greatly and go
mourning all the day. My loins are filled with loathsome
disease and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and
sore broken. I have roared by reason of my
disquietness of my heart. God by His chastisement shows
us our condition, what we are by nature. He exposes this. He exposes our corruption and
He breaks us. How many times have you been
broken? Can you count? Can you count how many times
you have fallen upon the rock and been broken? He does it constantly
for us in this life. What for? What is this chastisement
for? Well, this is the third point
for consolation. He saves you. He chastens you. He reveals your condition. Why?
So that He might reveal His consolation. Look what this resulted in. Look
at what David said. Verse 9, Lord, all my desire
is before Thee, and my groaning is not hid from Thee. My heart panteth, my strength
faileth. What does this do when a believer
sees who he really is? It exposes our desire. When you're confronted with your
sin, what is your desire? David said, my desire is you. I want Christ. One have I desired. And that
will I seek after." David desired the Lord to deliver him. He said in Psalm 42, "...as the
deer panteth for the water, so my soul panteth for Thee." Is
that not what sin does? Is that not what God does in
chastisement? He causes us to pant for His
mercy, to pant for His forgiveness, to pant for grace, to show me
Christ again. That's what he does. In our affliction,
there is a ray of hope. There's a ray of deliverance. Our vile fleshly condition, but
yet our heart pants for him. This is the true heart of a believer,
one who is converted. And what does David say? I have
no strength. I'm paying for you. I want you.
I desire you, but I have no strength to get you. I have no strength. I've got nothing. And when we are weakest and most
overwhelmed, what happens to everyone around us? They leave
us. That's what happened to David.
He said, my lovers, my friends stand aloft and sore, my kinsmen
stand afar off. They that seek after my life
lay snares for me, and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous
things and imagine deceit all the day long. Isn't this what
happens when God chastens us? It not only affects us on the
heart, but God moves everyone and everything seemingly against
us. He chastens us. This reminds me of Zachariah.
In Zachariah, when Joshua, the high priest, stood before the
Lord in those filthy rags, his silence spoke volumes because
he had no recourse. He stood in the presence of God
and he knew his sin. He knew his guilt before God
and could say nothing. And then what happened? Was that
not enough? No. Satan comes in and accuses Him. Is that not what He does to us
in our chastened condition? Yes. He accuses us. But notice who steps in. Christ
steps in. Christ Himself rebukes Satan. And even so, in our chastisement,
this is the end result, always. The Lord Jesus always comes to
his chastened children and comforts us. Though our flesh and nature are
corrupt and full of sin and stench, yet Christ silences our accusers. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because God justified you. Why? Because Christ died for
you. Christ rose again from the dead. Who then shall separate
you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? Paul said,
I'm persuaded that neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come shall separate
us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. So what's going
to separate you? Is this chastisement going to
separate you? No! It draws you closer. That's what it does. The whole
purpose is to draw us in His arms for refuge and safety. Look what David said. He said
this in verse 15, For in thee, O Lord, do I hope thou wilt hear,
O Lord, my God. David found his consolation not
in himself, but in his God. This is thy comfort, believer,
because even God hath put you in Christ. And to separate you from Christ
means God would have to deny himself. It just ain't gonna happen. Believer, as we groan under the
chastening hand of God, as we are called to see our inward
condition, the two armies struggling in warfare, as we are brought
to the end of ourselves, this is our hope. My hope is in thee,
O Lord. And David here, he was even brought
to the end of his... He even doubted himself, his
own salvation. He said in verse 17, for I am
ready to quit. I am ready to halt. Verse 17.
Have you ever been ready to halt? Have you ever been ready to throw
up your hands in the air and say, it's over for me? Have you
ever said that? Peter did. Peter said, I'll go
fishing. Even if he did rise from the
dead, there's no hope for me. Asaph said that. He said, I know
God's good to Israel, but as for me, it's over. That's what the chastening hand
of God does. It brings us to the end of ourselves. But know this, believer, his
anger endureth but a moment. in His favor is life. Weeping
endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Therefore,
behold, He who is our hope." Look at this, what David finally
concludes. He's not delivered from his chastisement
yet. He's not experienced it. But this is his hope. He said,
forsake me not, O Lord. Oh my God! Be not far from me. Make haste to help me." Here
it is, O Lord, my salvation. See, you might even have consolation
in the midst of your suffering if this is your hope. David, in his final words, he
spoke this and he said, I heard this from God. He said, he that ruleth over
men must be just, ruling in fear of God. And he shall be as a
light of the morning sun that riseth among the clouds, as a
tender grass springing out of the earth by a clear, by shining
after the rain. And he said, well, that's not
me. Who is he talking? He's speaking about Christ. Speaking
about Christ. That's who the one who rules
justly. That's the one who is as the tender herb. Isn't that
how he come to us? As a tender herb. And he said,
although my house be not so with God. Isn't that the way we are? Although
our house be not so. Though we make it not to grow.
What is our hope? He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and what? Sure. How do we know this chastisement
will not last forever? Because of the covenant God made. Because it's ordered in everything. And it's sure. Therefore you who are chastened
of God understand what he's doing He's exposing your conditions
To give you a consolation That's what he's doing and when it's
done you will be more sure of Christ than you were when you
began That's what he's doing May God give you strength in
your chastening and keep your eyes on Christ.
Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.