Psalm 132. We'll be looking at verses 1 through
11 this morning, the Lord willing. Lord, remember David and all
his afflictions, how he swear unto the Lord and vowed unto
the mighty God of Jacob. Surely I will not come into the
tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed. I will not give
sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find out
a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrathah. We found it in the fields of
the wood. We will go into his tabernacles. We will worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest,
thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with
righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy. For thy servant
David's sake, turn not away the face of thine anointed. The Lord hath sworn in truth
unto David. He will not turn from it. Of
the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. The title of the message this
morning is The Plea of the Saints. The Plea of the Saints. Here
we have the plea of Israel concerning the worship of God. how that
David had promised that he wouldn't give sleep to his eyes, that
he wouldn't rest until he had brought the Ark of the Covenant
that was lost, until he had restored again the worship of God. Now this psalm, no doubt in its
whole, is truly speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. When it says
here, Lord, remember David in all his afflictions, I tell us
that it would be better served to remember David's Lord and
David's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many who would comfort
our souls and remind the people of God of David's great afflictions. And David had many afflictions.
We know that. He was a man of great sorrow.
He was a man of great suffering. He did suffer many things. And truly, we can take comfort
in this in learning of God's saints and how they suffered,
because we know we suffer. We're like the saints of God.
We're like David. Believers also suffer great afflictions. But in this place, we would do
our souls better to consider the greater afflictions of David's
son and Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. This would better serve
us to cry unto the Lord. Lord, remember Christ. Remember Christ and His afflictions,
and His afflictions. Believer, let this be our cry
this morning. When you cry unto the Lord, we
say in Jesus' name. Is that not what we cry when
we pray? I know my children think it's
an incantation. In Jesus' name, amen. They just
think it's something you tack on at the end of a prayer. No,
we pray that God would remember Christ, that He would hear our
prayers for the sake of His Holy Son. And by this we know He hears
us. And so let us cry this morning
this prayer, Lord, remember Christ in all His afflictions. Now,
truly, if we were to remember David, ask the Lord, remember
David and all his afflictions, what good would that do us? What
good would that do us? It would do no man's soul any
good to plead for God to remember David's afflictions. Because
David was a sinner just like we are. He was a sinner, he was
one of Adam's fallen race, He was like God's people in that
He was chosen and redeemed by the blood of Christ. And we may learn that we may
find comfort in this, that this is a truth concerning all of
God's people. You not think you're alone when
you suffer? I do. I think I'm the only one. I think I'm the only one that
suffers. We know that's not true. We know that's not true. God's
people do suffer and Jesus himself said to us, in this world you
shall have tribulation. Is that not a promise? That's
a promise to us. In this world you shall have
tribulation. We do suffer great sorrows and
shed many tears and yet If we were to take all of our afflictions
together, your afflictions, my afflictions, would that avail
us anything before God? Would God hear us because we've
suffered so much? God, I've suffered so much. You
should hear me because I've suffered. No. God won't hear you because
you suffered. Truly, we deserve worse than
we've got. The suffering that we have, we
deserve worse. And so you were to take all the
sufferings of the saints and put them together, you know this
would not remove one sin. Not remove one sin. No man. Jesus. Jesus is the only mediator between
God and men. And he will only hear sinners
through the sufferings of his son. That is the only way that
any sinner could come to God and ask anything. The only grounds
by which a sinner may come to God and plead for God's hearing,
plead for God's mercy, is on the basis of his son. the only way Jesus himself said
no man cometh to me no man cometh to me no I mean no man cometh
to the father but by me behold behold these liars that have
come out and tried to make the Saints mediators Behold these
liars and thieves and murderers of men's souls who declare that
there are many ways to God. Friends, there is only one way
to God. And that is through the Lord
Jesus Christ. There are no other mediators. There are no other grounds by
which God will hear sinners but by Jesus Christ. These men lie. They say that Mary and the apostles
and saints are mediators. This has been the lie of the
Catholic Church for centuries. who proclaim themselves as priests
that stand between men and God. They claim to be the vikers of
Christ. They are nothing but liars. Liars. There are many scriptures that
I can quote that would destroy such men's vain hopes of accessing
God by the saints. And one is 1 Timothy 2.5, for
there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Does that not destroy their whole
religion? One passage of Scripture destroys their whole religion,
and yet the Scriptures are full of this. Full of this. There
is only one way to God. It must be through blood. It
must be by the blood of the Lamb. It must be by the blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ alone. We can access the holy throne
of God and be heard. There's only one mediator. All
sinners. Sinners in need of a Savior. Do I have any sinners in need
of a Savior? I tell you, go to God by Jesus
Christ. You must go to God by Jesus Christ. There is no other way. Forsake
all other ways. Forsake all other thoughts. Let
the wicked forsake his ways. Let the evil man forsake his
thoughts of how to get to God and come to God by Christ. It's
the only way. forsake your works. Is it not constantly our state
believer to cast off the works of the flesh? Constantly having
to cast them off to get rid of them. They're dead. Our works are dead to merit God's
hearing. cast off our works, our ceremony,
our religious exercise, and any other grounds of acceptance and
come as a sinner needing mercy. Needing mercy. We all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. All our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. So then, By what grounds will
you be accepted with God? Do you think so highly of yourself
and so little of God's holiness to think that God should accept
you? That God should accept your works? You know that's thinking very
little of God. If we were to examine our best
deeds, they are full of sin. Full of sin. And how little would
we think of God to accept those on the basis of their merit? Men do this because they thank
God to be much like themselves. Isn't that why men think that
God will accept them based on their works? It's because they
think that God is much like themselves. God said that to Israel. He said,
You thought, thou thoughtest that I was altogether such in
one as thyself. God is nothing like us. God is
absolutely pure and holy. And I'll tell you, any man comes
to God other than the way the scripture here describes. O Lord,
remember Christ and His afflictions. If you do not come by the blood
and righteousness of Christ, a man will be sadly vexed when
he appears before God to find out that all his works and all
his religion and best efforts earned him nothing but the eternal
vengeance of God. Therefore, hear what the psalmist
says concerning the cry of the saints unto God. This is the
cry of all sinners saved by grace. Lord, remember Christ. Remember Christ and His afflictions. Remember Him. He is my only mediator. He is my only hope. of acceptance. The children of God, we can and
do suffer in this world, but the only one whose suffering
that really matters is Christ's. Only his suffering counts before
God, because only his suffering put away sin. This is why we
come to God by Jesus Christ. This is why sinners come to God
by Jesus Christ. We have no works of our own.
We have no righteousness of our own. We come only by His perfect
work. Go over to Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. Look at verse 22. Verse 22 says, And almost all
things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood
is no remission. It was therefore necessary that
the patterns of the things in the heavens should be purified
with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better
sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are a figure of the true,
but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God
for us." I like that. For us. nor yet that he should
offer himself often as the high priest entered into the holy
place every year with the blood of others. For then must he have
suffered often since the foundation of the world, but now once."
in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of Himself." The Lord Jesus Christ, His death,
His suffering speaks so much better than this institution
here that David was putting back into place. He was putting back
the Ark of the Covenant into a place where God could be worshipped
by that Old Covenant. How much better is the Lord Jesus
Christ and his sufferings. They went into that place year
after year after David established the Ark of the Covenant again
in its place. Those priests went in there and
they kept going in year after year offering the same sacrifices
that could never take away sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin, sat down forever henceforth expecting till His
enemies be made His footstool, He hath by His one offering perfected
forever them that are sanctified." He's entered into the very presence
of God for us. Isn't that great we don't have
to enter into God's presence with our own works? That He's
already entered in and been accepted God's accepted his work, God's
accepted his blood, and we can come to God freely. We can come
to God at any moment. Boldly come before the throne
of grace that we might find help. This man Jesus, after he'd offered
that one sacrifice for sin, sat down. Let us therefore cry out
to God for mercy because of His one offering, because of His He put away sins by His affliction,
and God is glorified. God says, come, because every
sinner who comes to God by Jesus Christ, do you know God receives
glory in that? God is glorified by that when
you come in His name, when you come in Christ's name. The Scripture
says, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name. Thy name. give glory for thy
mercy and for thy true sake. Friends, Jesus is the glory of
God. He is the mercy of God. He is
the truth of God. And only by Him can God be just
and justify you. Only by Him. Let us cry unto God because of
His affliction. Second of all, let us cry unto
God because of His oath, because of Christ's oath. Look at this
in verse 2, he says, How he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto
the mighty God of Jacob, Surely I will not come into the tabernacle
of my house, nor grow up into my bed. I will not give sleep
to mine eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, until I find out
a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God. of Jacob. See this as it is meant by the
Spirit. This is Christ's swearing. This is Christ's oath. He says,
I will not rest until I have made inhabitation. Isn't that
what he told his disciples in John chapter 13? My mind is jumbled. I'd quote
it, but I don't want to mess it up. I'm sorry, John chapter 14. He
said, Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go. to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that
where I am you may be also. And whither I go you know, and
the way you know." He is the way. He is the way. He went unto
the Father with His own blood. He prepared a place. He said,
I won't give my eyes rest. I won't rest until I finish the
work. Sinner, he has finished the work.
He has done the work that he swore to do from eternity. He promised to be our surety. He said, I will be their God
and they shall be my people. He swore. He said, I will not
rest until it's done. He swore this oath to God from
eternity. And He will not, He would not
rest until it was done. He swore this in eternity when
the Father gave us to Him. The Father said, These, my son,
are my elect. And He said, Father, I receive
them, and I swear to save them. This is the covenant of grace.
This was the covenant that was struck between the Father and
the Son for us. I tell you what, you want to
make me run away, you want to make me put my hands on my ears,
say something foolish like, well, I've made my peace with God. If you've made your peace with
God, you have no peace with God. My peace with God was made between
the Father and the Son. And it was sealed at the cross
when Jesus Christ actually paid the debt. It was done. He swore
he would not rest. Praise God for his faithfulness.
Praise God for his mercy to become a willing Savior. Praise the Lord for His faithfulness
that He promised. You remember in the book of Ruth,
how that she lay at Boaz's feet, and she was destitute. She had no husband. And Boaz,
loving her, he said, I'll take care of you. He said, I'll be
your kinsman-redeemer. But remember, he must first take
care of that nearer kinsman. He said, there's a nearer kinsman
than me, and I've got to deal with him first. But after I deal
with him, I'll come and redeem you. I'll redeem you to myself. And remember what Naomi told
Ruth. She said, sit still, my daughter,
until thou know how the matter will fall. For the man will not
rest. until he has finished the thing
this day. Sinner, the near kinsman that
we had was the law. It must have been dealt with.
And our kinsman redeemer went before the law. And said, will
you redeem it or will I? And the law said, I cannot redeem
it. I cannot redeem them lest I defile myself. And Jesus, our
Boaz says, I will redeem her. I'll redeem her. I'll buy her. So he became bone of our bone,
flesh of our flesh. so that he might be our near
kinsman redeemer and pay the redemption price. And he did. Sit still, my daughter, till
you see how it'll fall. I tell you how it fell. Jesus
Christ has paid the price. He's paid the price. Look at that in verse 6. Lo,
we heard of it in Ephrathah. What is Ephrathah? Well, that's
Bethlehem. That's Bethlehem. In Micah chapter
5 and verse 2 it says, But thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou
be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
come forth unto me to be a ruler of Israel, whose going forth
have been of old from eternity. When those wise men came, did
they not know where the king would be found? They knew there
was a king, and they were following his star. And Herod even knew
where he'd be found. He told them he'd be found in
Bethlehem. You see, David's Lord was made
David's son in order to establish the worship of God. Man by sin forfeited the rights
and privileges of worship. But Jesus Christ, our Lord, came
into this world to save his people from their sins. He came to be
a man to restore what we destroyed, what we ruined. God who is rich in mercy sent
his son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh. He fulfilled all his work. Oh Lord, remember Christ. Remember him in whom you've trusted
and who set his face steadfastly until the work was accomplished. Jesus who made all things, and
by whom all things consist, set his face like a flint, and
would not be deterred from the work. He would not rest until
the work was accomplished. And it was on the cross that Jesus was made to bear the
sins of his people. It was on that cursed tree that
he prepared a place where God and men could meet together. Christ Jesus made our peace with
God. Is it not just right then for
us to cry, Lord, remember Christ? Hear my prayer because of his
faithful work. Remember. This is where sinners worship
God. Look at this in verse 7. We will go into his tabernacles. We will worship at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest,
Thou and the ark of Thy strength. Let Thy priests be clothed with
righteousness. Let Thy saints shout for joy.
Is this not our determination now of our hearts? I will go to God. Should we not bring every trouble
to His feet? What trouble have you been able
to endure? What problem have you solved?
Have you solved any of your problems? Can you do anything for yourself?
No. I can't do one thing for myself. I was telling somebody just yesterday, I absolutely know nothing. And the more I know, the more
I know I know nothing. And I don't know how much more
nothing I can know. But I'm sure there's a lot more
nothing I can know. I've not come to the end of myself
yet. Have you? I'm thankful God has given us
a place to come. He says, cast all your care upon
me. Why? He careth for you. Is that not the most astounding
thing in the world, that He would care for you? And He does. Go to Him. Don't wait. Go. Go to his tabernacles. And let us see this, that we
are his priests, clothed with his righteousness. We don't come
to offer sacrifice of our works, we come to offer a sacrifice
of praise. This morning you didn't come,
I hope, to present your works to God. I hope you've come to
present your thanks. to present your praise. That's
how we come to God, presenting praise and thanks for the work
of Jesus Christ. Because we've been clothed with
His righteousness, we may shout for joy. When everything in your
body wants to weep and cry in your heart, you can shout for
joy. Why? For thy servant David's
sake. For Jesus Christ's sake. You
may come. Come boldly. To where? The throne of merit? Is that
where we go? The throne of works? No, the
throne of grace. That we might find help in time
of trouble. The Lord has sworn in truth unto
David. He will not turn from it. Is
that not great? When God promised, He cannot
and will not turn from His promises. He will never leave you nor forsake
you. He will never abandon you because
He swore to His Son. He swore. This is why you have
been called. This is why you have faith in
Christ. This is why the Holy Spirit dwells
in you, because God promised from eternity to give it to you.
And what He's promised, He'll never take away. This is our
hope. This is our joy. This is all
our prayer. Lord, remember Christ. Remember
Christ. I pray God give you strength
and grace to do that.