Psalm 142. The title of my message this evening is, My
Refuge and Portion Now and Forever. My Refuge and Portion Now and
Forever. The psalmist here, we can read
the title of this psalm, a Michel of David, a prayer when he was
in the cave. Now this is a very instructive
psalm in that it teaches us to order our prayers. To order our
prayers. David here begins the psalm and
he cries out. He is alone. He is in the cave.
He is being chased by his enemies as a bird fleeing. from the beasts
of prey. He's alone in the solitude of
his cave. There is no one to help him.
He is surrounded by men who hunt for his life. Therefore, David now, being alone,
cries aloud to God. He says this, I cried unto the
Lord with my voice. With my voice unto the Lord did
I make my supplications. David was in this cave. His heart was full of grief and
sorrow and despair, and he could no longer contain himself. He cried. He not only cried from
within, but he could not contain himself. The sorrows had reached
so high to the brim of his very soul that his lips could no longer
contain themselves. And he burst out with cryings
unto God. Prayer. He could not keep it
in his mind and heart any longer. He says it twice for our learning. He said, I cried unto the Lord
with my voice. And again, he said, with my voice. I made my supplications known.
He says in verse 2, he said, I poured out my complaint before
Him. I showed before Him my trouble
when my spirit was overwhelmed within me." He poured out his
complaint unto God. He laid out his case by voicing
it. to the only One who can deliver
him. Have you ever been in such a
place as where you were so overwhelmed within that you could no longer
contain it? That it was so much bursting
within you that you could do nothing but to cry out unto God. And this surely gives us instruction
as to the direction of prayer, doesn't it? He said, I cried
out when they could no longer contain it. I cried out unto
God. Is that not the only true source
that we can turn to in trouble is to God? But isn't it like
us to always wait to the very end of everything to turn to
God? Surely David had ran, and David
had went to the Philistines, and he had done all sorts of
things to try to escape, but it only turned when he was alone,
when there was no one else. And then he cried out to God. That's just like us, to wait,
to when all other means have failed us. And yet, then and
only then we seem to cry out to the only one that could truly
help us. And David in his cry, he says this, when my soul was
overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. David in his prayer, in his trial,
in his trouble, in his difficulty, acknowledges God's sovereignty. He acknowledges God's understanding
of his path. He acknowledges God knew where
he was. Matter of fact, God was the one
that chose him and set him in this path. It was God that called
David to be king of Israel, that chose him to be king of Israel,
and it was the will of God that David was now being hunted. God knew David's trouble. And
David knew God knew his trouble, even because God ordained it. Believer, is that not something,
when you go to God in your trouble, is that not something that you
should know, that you should take into account, that your
trouble is ordained? There is nothing that escapes
the all-seeing and all-powerful wisdom of God. It has all been
ordained of God. I want to show you this in a
couple of places. Look at Numbers chapter 23. And we'll just flip
to a couple of scriptures and then we'll move on from this.
Not my main point, but it's a good one. It's something we need to
learn. Numbers chapter 23 and verse 19, look at this. God
is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he
should repent. Hath he said and will he not
do it? Or hath he spoken and shall he
not make it good? Do you not see that God is not
ashamed of His ordination? He's not ashamed of His works.
He hath ordained all things. And all things are in His hand.
And God is not like us. When we get into a corner, somebody
backs us into a corner in our logic and reason, we become scared. We become fretful. We kind of
maybe will try to weasel out of it. God said, no, the buck
stops here. I ordained it. I know what's
happening to you. Go to Psalm 33. 33 and verse
9. Verse 8, it said, Let all the earth fear
the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of him, for he spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. I'll tell you, the Lord bringeth,
he said, the Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nothing.
And he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The
counsel of the Lord standeth forever. the thoughts of his
heart to all generations. And over in Isaiah chapter 46,
Isaiah chapter 46 and verse 9, God says, Remember the former
things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God
and there is none like me. Declaring the end when? When did God declare the end
of all things? From the beginning. From the
beginning, from ancient times, the things that were not yet
done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. God does what? All His pleasure. What was happening to David was
God's pleasure, was God's will, and David knew it. David said,
You know my path. You know where I'm at. And as
we come before God and cry out before God, we should acknowledge
this, that all things, all things are ordained of God. Not one
leaf falls from the tree without His permission. Nothing happens
without His direct and sovereign will being accomplished. And
the path This path. David says this about his path.
He brings this before God's attention. He says, my spirit is overwhelmed
within me, but you know my path. In the way wherein I walk, they
have privately laid snares for me. You see, David is laying
out his case. He said, God, you know all things.
God, you have directed me to this path where you are sovereign
in all your ways. But behold, my enemies have laid
snares in this path. The path that you have chosen,
the path that you have ordained. They've laid snares. And he says this, nobody's there
to help. He said, I've looked to the right
hand and I am completely alone. What does it mean that he looked
to the right hand? Well, there was nobody around him on his
right or left or front or back. Why did he say right hand? Well,
that has to do with power. He said, there is no man that
has power to help me. He in his prayer recognized God's
sovereignty. He laid out his complaint about
his enemies, laying the snares before him. And he said, God,
there's no one here. There's no man that can help
me. There's no power at my right hand. Nobody to help me. I'm
alone. And man is powerless. And yet,
despite his sorrow, his despair and loneliness, David now voices
and utters his faith in verse 5. And this would be our text.
He said, I cried unto thee, O Lord, now that I've had nobody else,
there's no one else to help me. I know your sovereign and all
that you've done. but my heart is overwhelmed within
me and I have no place to go. I'm crying out to you and this
is my faith. This is my trust. This is why
I cry to God. Because thou art my refuge and
portion in the land of the living." David trusted God and His promises. David cried out to God because
he trusted God. He believed God and His promises. Let me ask you this, how is it
that a man should be heard of God? How is it that you should
be heard of God when you are so overwhelmed with your troubles
and difficulties? How is it that you should have
an audience with God? Why is it that God should hear
you? No man can merit God's audience. No man can merit God's favor. or deserves audience with God,
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Consider
how many times you and I have shook our fists in the face of
God and said, no, I will have my own way. And now then you're
in trouble. You turn to God. Why is it that
he should answer you? Why is it that he should answer
me? Why is it that he should answer
David? David was a man like we are. He said, in sin did my mother
conceive me. David was like all of Adam's
race. Why should God hear him? Why
should he have such confidence in God? Because God promised
to hear him. And he trusted God's promise. He trusted in his refuge. He said, God, you will hear me
because you are my refuge, my refuge and my inheritance. David was in trouble. When he
was in trouble, he looked to the promise of his refuge, which
was what? What was David's refuge? It was
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his refuge. That was the
promise of God. Remember when David was come
to his deathbed, he said it was his covenant. This is all my
salvation is the covenant promise of God, the covenant that he
had made with me, ordered in all things and sure. And what was the covenant promise?
That David see the Lord Jesus Christ should come and that he
should die for his sin. And so David looked not so much
at the promise of his earthly inheritance, but rather to the
portion that he had with Jesus Christ in the covenant of promise. And notice when David trusted
in this refuge and portion. He said, Thou art my refuge and
my portion. When? in the land of the living. That's when David trusted in
God in the land of the living. How many people are so foolish
as to believe that when they die, everything will just work
out? Now, listen, I want you to be very careful. Listen, if
you believe that, you are a fool. You are a big fool. It's not
going to work, just work out for you. When some lost man dies, some
so-called preacher stands up and tries to give some comfort. Have you ever been to one of
those funerals? That is the most miserable thing I've ever been
to, is a funeral of a lost man, and some guy stands up trying
to come up with some good things to say about this guy. Peace! Peace! When there is no peace! Well, so-and-so is now in heaven,
Sweet Granny Good Works is one of the angels. Those kind of
make me want to throw up. I hear stuff like that. As though they cared for nothing
of the gospel in their life. They cared not to hear the gospel
of Christ. Nor did they love God's people.
They did not trust in Christ alone as their refuge and portion
in the land of the living. And listen, if they've never
trusted in Christ or love Christ here, they'll never love Christ
or trust Christ in eternity. If Christ is not your refuge
in the land of the living, listen, when you die, he will not be
your refuge after your death. If He's not your inheritance
now, if Christ is not your treasure now, He will not become your
treasure in heaven. If a man will not come to Christ
as his only refuge, as a poor sinful soul in this life, he
will not find Christ as a refuge from the wrath of God in death,
nor will he be Nor will Christ be His portion or inheritance,
but His inheritance is only hell. That will be His inheritance.
That will be His portion. In Luke chapter 12, our Lord
Jesus Christ talking to His disciples, He said this, Where a man's treasure
is, there will his heart be also. The Lord preaching of the vanity
of earthly treasures. He spoke earlier in that chapter
of the rich man who had stored up much goods for his soul. And he said, Now, soul, eat,
drink and be merry, for thou hast much goods laid up for thee.
But God said, Thou fool, this night thy soul is required of
thee. And then who shall these things
belong to? He shows the vanity of earthly
treasures But God, when He required His
soul that night, what was His inheritance? Therefore, He says
this to His apostles, seek you first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness. What is that? That's Christ. The kingdom of God and His righteousness
is in Jesus Christ. It is the only hope for sinners.
That should be your treasure. That's what you should seek after.
Isn't it the carnal, natural man to always try to pursue after
earthly things? They say, well, I'm going to
pursue after this, and then when I get this, then I'm going to
be happy. Everything's going to be well
then. And then when I get there, and then that doesn't work out
for you, you say, well, when I get to this point, then I'll
be happy. No, you won't. No. There's nothing in this world
that can satisfy nothing. There's no person. There's no
thing. All is vanity and vexation of
spirit. The only hope is that you find
is to be found in Jesus Christ. And those who profess faith in
Christ. Only those who endure in faith,
waiting for Christ, will enjoy the portion of heaven. He talks about the faithful and
the unfaithful servant. He said, Blessed are those servants
whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching. Verily I
say unto you, He shall gird himself and make them to sit down to
meet, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come
in the second watch or come in the third watch and find them,
so blessed are those servants. Who then is a faithful and wise
steward, Jesus said. Whom when his Lord shall make
him ruler over his household to give them their portion of
meat in due season, blessed is that servant whom the Lord when
he come and find so doing. of a truth I say unto you that
he will make him ruler over all that he hath." This is talking
about a man who believes in Christ unto the end. This is one who
has Christ as both his refuge and his portion now and to the
end of his days. This is a man who is faithful.
This is a man who has the faith which is the gift of God. It's
a man who is born again of the Spirit of God. He will always
wait, looking and hoping to be found only in His Master, Jesus
Christ. But what does God say about the
unfaithful? He said, but and if that servant
say in his heart, my Lord delayeth in his coming and shall begin
to beat his manservants and maidservants and eat and drink and be drunken,
the Lord of that servant will come in the day that he looketh
not for him an hour when he is not aware and will cut him and
sunder and will appoint him his portion. What is his portion? His portion is with the unbelievers. His portion is with the devils.
His portion will be hell. If Jesus Christ and his blood
and righteousness are not your treasure now, if you have not
been born again of the Holy Spirit, if you have not received the
earnest, the down payment of eternal life, which is the Holy
Spirit in you, listen, you have no refuge and you have no portion,
now or in eternity. If you have no hope or claim
of heaven now, you will not have it when you die. If any man have
not the Spirit of Christ, listen, he is none of his. Do you have the Spirit of Christ?
If you have not the Spirit of Christ, you have no claim to
this. You have no right to this. If you are without Christ in
the land of the living, your refuge is one of lies. even because
you've made it up yourself. Every man has a refuge, you know
that? Every man has something they lean on, they trust in for
eternal matters. The problem is most men have
made it themselves, made their own refuge with their hands. God declares this, that all your
righteousness are as filthy rats. And therefore, all we touch is
defiled and full of sin. Do you realize this? That even the perfect offering
of Jesus Christ, even the spotless offering of the Son of God becomes
defiled if you add one thing to it. Do you know that? If you add one thing to the offering
of Christ, you have no refuge. You have no hope. You remember
in the Exodus, when Moses was giving out the law, he gave out
those ten commandments to him, and God said, you've heard me
with your voice. You've heard me with your ears.
I've spoke out of heaven to you. And now, when you make an altar,
and sacrifice. You see, God knew that even before
He gave those commandments, they had already broken them. They
had already molded that golden image. And God said, when you
make an offering, because they needed an offering. They needed
a sacrifice. And He said, when you make an
altar, He said, I don't want you to put your tools to it.
When you make me an altar of stone, I don't want you to put
your hammer and your chisel to the work. I don't want your hands
to touch it. Why? Because you'll defile the
sacrifice if you touch it. If you put your work to it, you
defile the sacrifice. Over in Galatians chapter 5,
the Apostle Paul said this, I, Paul, say unto you, that if you
be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. These people
at the Church of Galatia, what were they doing? They were telling
people to believe on Christ. They were saying, trust in the
sacrifice and sinless offering of Christ. But in order to make
it effectual, you've got to be circumcised. In order to become
part of Christ, you have to make it effectual by your being circumcised. And Paul said, if you be circumcised,
if you add this one thing to the perfect offering of Christ,
listen, Christ will profit you nothing, nothing at all. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised." Listen, if you add one law, if you add
one work to it, you've defiled it, and he says, I testify that
you are a debtor to the whole law. Christ has become of no
effect unto you, whosoever you are. He said, I don't care who
you are. You add one thing to the work of Christ and you've
ruined it. You've defiled it. You are a
debtor now to law. And Christ shall profit you nothing.
Sinner, let me ask you in all sincerity, is Jesus Christ your sole refuge from the wrath of God? Is He your refuge by faith in
His blood alone that has endured the full measure of the wrath
of God for sin and uncleanness? Behold Him by faith when? Now! You should believe Him now! Do you realize that faith in
all of the New Testament, in all the Scriptures is present
tense? It's present tense. Why is that? Because faith 10 minutes ago
is not going to help you and faith 10 minutes from now is
not going to help you. The only hope for you is to believe on
Christ now. Now. And now. And now. All the way until you die. This is the hope. This is this
is true faith. to believe on Jesus Christ now
in the land of the living. For He was made a curse for us,
and He received a just recompense reward under the law of God for
sin. Therefore, all who are in Him,
all who come to God by Him, I surely find Him to be a very safe refuge
from the wrath of God. Listen, I'm preaching to you
as one who is in the refuge. I am one in the refuge. Christ is all my portion. All my life. All my salvation. Though He make it not to grow,
though I don't see the fullness of the evidence of it, I know
this. I will. Christ is all my hope. He's all my portion. I'm one
in the refuge. Saying that you should come and
find refuge and foundation for your souls to stand before God. You know, how do I know I'm going
to stand before God? Because Christ is my refuge.
Christ is my shelter. I'll give you a picture of this. You
remember Noah. Noah in the ark. Noah was in
the ark, and listen, he was not exempt from the flood, was he?
The Lord didn't take him up to heaven. No, he had to endure
the flood like everybody else. How is it that he was saved from
the flood and everyone else perished? He had a refuge. He had something
to stand between him and the wrath of God. It was the ark
that endured the rain, the thunder, the lightning, the waves, the
wind. It was the ark that was smashed.
It was the ark that took the blows. And Noah was saved. His life was saved because the
ark endured the wrath of God. Even so, are we who are in Christ
forever safe from the wrath of God, even because Christ endured
the wrath of God for all our sins. God took all of our sins,
imputed them to His own darling Son, and as a representative
man, He endured the wrath of God in my stead, in my place. Therefore, he is my refuge, my
shelter, my protector. And not only has he been a refuge
for me, he is also the fullness of our inheritance. which inheritance
God has given to us in Christ before the world began. You that
are in Christ, listen, you have a refuge because God put you
in the refuge even from old eternity. He put us in Christ. He gave
us to Christ. And Christ, in a covenant of
mercy, agreed to be our representative, our surety. He agreed to take
responsibility for all our salvation. even before there was ever sin,
even before there was ever a sinner. He agreed. He purposed to take
all that God chose and said, I will be their surety. I guarantee
they shall be saved. God purposed that we should be
holy. For your comfort, read it again
in Ephesians chapter one. It says, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us, hath blessed
us, hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. How many?
All spiritual blessings. Everything that God can give
you, He's already given you. You that are in Christ, listen,
this is yours. This is your portion. This is your inheritance. Everything
God is and everything God can give, He's already given you. Where did he get this? In Christ! He put you in His Son! And even so, we are in union
with Christ. Union. Paul says, He is the head
and His church is His body. We are in union with Him. He
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ according as He hath chosen us. Chosen us. Chosen us in Christ before the
foundation of the world that we should be holy. This is His
purpose for those He chose, that they should be holy and that
they should be without blame before Him. Listen for the motive. In love, having predestinated
us. This is the motive of God's election,
is His love. He predestinated us. He pre-before-destined. He predestinated us. Unto the
adoption of children. How? How should He adopt sinners? How should He make us holy? By
Jesus Christ. By His Son. That's what God purposed. That by Jesus Christ we should
be made righteous. predestinated us unto adoption
by Jesus Christ to Himself. And listen, why? According to
the good pleasure of His will. Why did He choose you? Why did
He save you? Why did He give you to Christ
and put you in that refuge? Why is it that you believe on
Jesus Christ when others have forsaken and heard the same message
that you have? How is it? Are you smarter than
everybody else? Is that it? God, are you just
smarter than everybody else? I mean, Joey, you just smarter.
Is that it? You know, everybody talks about
the intellect of us, right? I mean, we're obviously just
some really. No, no. We have faith in Christ and we
are in Christ because God, by grace, by sovereign mercy, willed
it so. That's the only reason I'm in
Christ. If you're ever in Christ, if
you will ever be in Christ in the land of the living, it is
because God willed it so. Our election unto holiness before
God, surely no man could merit such holiness. Do you suppose that you could
have merited such holiness? It is a vain thing for men to
attempt to merit holiness. They perceive holiness to be
some kind of a strange thing. They say, you can be more holy
or you can be less holy. How can you be more or less holy?
Is that possible? Is it? No, holiness is an all
or none principle. Either you are holy or you are
not holy. You are either righteous or you're
unrighteous. It is an all or nothing principle.
And how vain is it for man to attempt to merit holiness? Impossible. For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. All our righteousnesses
are as filthy wrecks. There is none righteous. No,
not one. None. Therefore, this holiness
This righteousness of God that He determined for us could not
be merited by us, but must be merited by another. Listen, this
is part of our inheritance, that our righteousness should be inherited
and earned, merited by another. Thank God. Praise God for that. Isn't it wonderful? I was reading
this earlier today. They didn't put it in my notes,
but it was good. Do you realize that when Eve ate, you know what
happened? Nothing. She was a representative
of no one. But when Adam ate, their eyes
were open. And consider this, that God put
us in Adam in order to show the goodness of his grace. Because
He put us in Christ before He put us in Adam. He willingly put us in Adam so
that He might display His grace in Christ to us. The mercy of it all. that our
righteousness is merited by Jesus Christ. Behold, the righteousness
of God, Paul says, without the law is manifest. Do you want,
do you need a righteousness like that? Do you need a righteousness
before God without the law? Because I sure do. I do. A righteousness without my meriting
righteousness? Yes. Because I couldn't. I couldn't. The law and the prophets
are witness and testified of one who should come and merit
the righteousness of God. In Isaiah 42, God said, you deaf
and you blind, hear and look. Isn't that something? Doesn't
that sound strange? Hey, deaf man, you should listen
to this. Hey, blind man, look over here.
But that's what He did for us. He told us. You and I, by nature,
are deaf and blind. Yet God, in mercy, called us
to look and to hear. What does He call us to look
and hear? He said, look at My servant. Isaiah 42, He said,
behold My servant who is deaf and blind." What does that mean?
He's deaf to all sin and blind to all iniquity. The Behold My
Servant is not like you. My Servant is sinless. And He
said... Let's go over there and look
at it. I want to read it to you. I don't want to mess it up. Isaiah 42.
Look at it yourself. He says in verse 19, He says,
Who is blind but My Servant? And deaf is My messenger that
I sent. who is blind as he that is perfect
and blind as the Lord's servant, seeing many things, but thou
observest not, opening the ears, but he heareth not." Listen,
the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. You and I rob God. We robbed
God of His glory. But this man, this servant that
God tells you, blind and deaf, you should look and behold. He
said, look at my servant. He obtained the righteousness
of God by his own faith. By his own faith. He should magnify the law and
make it honorable. The law was never given as a
means of salvation by obedience, nor was it given as a rule of
life for the saints. It was not given as a means of
our sanctification, wisdom, redemption, or righteousness. What was the
purpose of the law? The purpose of the law was to
shut our mouths. That's what the law was to do.
It was to shut us up. that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world should become guilty before God. That's what
the law was for. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified in this sight. Paul says, many as are under
the works of the law are under the curse of the law. Curse. For cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things. All things. written in the book
of the law to do them. You that desire to be under the
law, do you not hear the law? The law says curse! The law says
curse! That's what the law says to you
who are under the law. But behold, Jesus Christ was
born under the law and became subject to obey it in every Measure
in every jot and tittle, he said, I came not to destroy the law,
but to what? Fulfill it. Why would he fulfill
the law? What purpose would he gain from
this? He himself was righteous already.
What was he doing this for? He obtained our righteousness
by it. Remember, he is our representative
man. And in order to get our inheritance,
he must have earned it. And he did. This is the gospel
message. Christ has earned and merited
the righteousness of God. How? By his own faith. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. How is a man justified? By the faith of Jesus Christ.
Not by your faith. Now your faith, you who are in
Christ, your faith is in His faith. My faith is in His faith. My faith is not in my faith.
Otherwise, what kind of refuge would I have if that was my refuge?
If your faith was your refuge, what kind of refuge would you
have? What kind of inheritance would you have if you had to
trust in your faith? You wouldn't have any. But I
have a great refuge and I have a great inheritance because my
faith is in His. My faith is in that He has accomplished
my righteousness, satisfied the justice of God. That's my portion. That's my inheritance. That's
my refuge. And we who believe in Christ,
we know Him. That when He was crucified, we
were crucified with Him. And now that he is risen and
ascended unto God, listen, he ever liveth to make intercession
for us. What is he doing in heaven? He's obtained my inheritance,
righteousness and peace with God. And right now he sits on
the throne of God ever living to intercede for me. To intercede for me. Now in the
land of the living, at the appointed time, God in his sovereign free
mercy gave me a heart to believe. And now I believe on Christ and
he is all my hope and stay. God has by grace exposed the
fountain of my sin and uncleanness and showed me Christ, who is
all my righteousness and peace. And when he did that, He didn't
just change my habits. He didn't change this old man
and try to make him better. He gave me a new heart. He gave me a new nature, a new
creation. This is part of that covenant
promise. He said, I will take out that stony heart and give
you a heart of flesh. I will give you a new heart and
put my spirit within you. And so when God in grace removes
the lid of the sewers of our heart. He convinces us of sin,
that that's all we are. Of righteousness, that's what
Christ obtained. Of judgment, that the Prince
of the world is cast out and now no one can condemn me. This
is our inheritance. Listen, don't you know this is
your inheritance, believer? No one can condemn you. That's
your inheritance. That's your portion. When do
you have this portion? You have it right now. Do you
realize that not anyone in heaven or hell can condemn you? Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, is risen again,
whoever liveth to make intercession for us. And so then, Who will believe
on Christ? Who shall have Christ as their
refuge and portion? As many as the Lord our God shall
call. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believe. And how shall they believe? They
shall hear the gospel. Through the preaching of the
gospel, God has ordained this means by which sinners hear and
believe on Christ. Have you believed on the Son
of God? Has God come down and given you
a new nature? Do you now love Christ? Whereas you once despised His
Word, now you embrace it as your only hope and the eternal portion. Is He the treasure of your heart? Have you been made a new creation
in Christ? If you have, then I tell you
this, is your refuge and portion now and forever. You who believe in Christ, let
me ask you this in closing. Is not our way filled with troubles
and trials? Are we not often like David? alone, afraid, confused. Yet, believer, you should know
that this rough and narrow path is the path of all the saints. Our path is a rough and narrow
one and not a pleasant and smooth one. Our God knows the snares
of our enemy that are laid before us as we are following Christ
and bearing the cross of His reproach. Philpott says this,
you that are believers, you have found His path more rough and
thorny than you first anticipated. Isn't that right? We first thought
this would be smooth. We thought, oh, I found Christ.
I've gotten righteousness. He's my refuge and portion. Surely
everything would open up We found it not as first as we anticipated.
He said, I have little opinion of those who have a smooth and
flowery road. The straight and narrow road they've missed. Which
leads to Zion's Hill. There would be little need believer
of God's promises and encouragement. If we were not often brought
into great trials and troubles. On our way to heaven. Isn't this
why he gives us these comforts? This comfort that David found,
thou art my refuge and portion in the land of the living. Is
that not why that's there for us? Because our road is filled
with snares. It's troublesome. It's hard.
But for every trouble, there's a promise. For every difficulty,
there's a word of encouragement that God gives. For all the ifs
and maybes that we experience, God always gives us an I will
and you shall. We must and do confess our hearts
are still filled with unbelief, pride, lust, and presumption.
And as they arise in our hearts, we experience the warfare of
our flesh and the new man. What then is the remedy for such
a warfare? Thou art my refuge and my portion. Now. And when you find more trouble,
you can always come back to this. Thou art my refuge and my portion
now and forever. Do you realize, believer, that
in order for your soul to fail, Christ must first be dethroned? Everything Christ has done must
be undone in order for you to fail. Is that not a strong enough refuge? Because we know that just ain't
gonna happen. Christ does not fail. And He will not fail to bring
us to glory. Why? It's our inheritance. He's
our refuge. Who then should we fear? Why
then should we be afraid? May God give you such strength
and comfort as you have need, because Christ is your portion
and refuge now and forever. Pray God bless you. Standing
will be dismissed in prayer.