Good evening. If you would, turn
back with me to Psalm 13. Psalm 13, and let's read this
Psalm written by David again. How long wilt thou forget me,
O Lord, forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face
from me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall
mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord
my God, Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest
mine enemies say I have prevailed against him, and those that trouble
me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in thy mercy.
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the
Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. As this psalm was read,
if you're thinking, haven't I heard this recently? You're remembering
correctly. Just three weeks ago, Gabe brought
us a message from this psalm. And before I get to my message,
I want to remind us of what he said. And hopefully I got most
of your points. Gabe first reminded us that David
is a man, a sinful man, a man just like you and I. And he wrote these words. These
were the words that were given to him by the Holy Spirit, by
God. But David wasn't just a typewriter. He wasn't a tool that just recorded
words. He felt and he experienced in
his heart these feelings which enabled him to write this psalm.
David did feel that God had forgotten him. But as we were reminded,
the Lord does not forget his people. It is us and our sin
and unbelief that forget him. And he as a loving father chastises
and corrects us by hiding his face from us that we might feel
our need of him. In verse three, David wrote,
oh Lord, my God. We were reminded that we belong
to him. He is our creator and he is our
redeemer. He has redeemed us to himself. Verse three also reveals our
heart's cry, which summed up as, let me see Christ. For indeed, without him, I sleep
the sleep of death. Verse five, David cries and we
cry with him, but I trusted in thy mercy. We, even in our sins,
having seen Christ, acknowledge he is our only hope that God
will deal mercifully with us. And finally, in verse six, in
Christ alone he hath dealt bountifully with me. Now hold your place
here and turn with me to John 17. As Gabe finished his message
that Sunday evening, my thoughts turned and started considering
how great our Lord's words are in his prayer. Psalm 17, verse
20. John 17, 20. Our Lord is praying to his father
and he says, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also
which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may
be one as thou father art in me and I in thee, that they also
may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me. And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them,
that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And the world
may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou
hast loved me. In these four verses, the word
one appears five times. The theme of these verses is
those that Christ was given by the Father, those that he loved,
and those that he saved will be made one with God the Father
and one with God the Son. How can a sinner such as this
be made one with the Holy God. Our greatest imagining of what
it will be to see Christ, to stand, to be in his presence,
can't come close to what reality's gonna be. But to be joined as
one to the Father of God and to the Son of God. No sinful
mind can even, I can't get it. Although we can't grasp that
union, God has been pleased to give us a glimpse into what he
did to make it possible for us sinners to be made one with God. God Almighty in the person of
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, came down from glory and became,
as Adam said, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Genesis 3.19 says, in the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground
For out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return. The Lord Jesus Christ, God the
Son, became dust. How little do we think of dust? We consider it an annoyance?
Walk into a room that you're going to stay in that hasn't
been dusted. It's a dirty room. Dust is something to be removed
with the swipe of your hand. God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh. The holy God took on our likeness
of dust. Turn back to Psalm 13. This is a psalm of David, as
we've said. He knew, he experienced these
words, and this is the psalm of the Lord Jesus Christ as he
walked this earth. Because he made himself to be
one with those he loves, he felt and he knows by experience the
words of this psalm. I have a very simple three-point
outline for tonight's message. Verses one and two are our Lord's
experience upon the cross. Verses three and four Our Lord
laid in the tomb. Verses five and six is glorious
resurrection. How long, verse one, how long
wilt thou forget me, O Lord, my God? O Lord, forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face
from me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall
mine enemy be exalted over me? When our Lord was made sin for
us, these were some of the words that he experienced in his heart
and soul. Hold your place here and turn
to Mark 15. Mark 15, verse 33. And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani. which is being interpreted, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? As our Lord hung there in darkness,
in our natural condition, being made one with us, bearing the
sin of his beloved bride, God forsook our Redeemer. We read
it just a moment ago, just a matter of hours before this was recorded. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed
to his father and our father that they also may be one in
us. What did it take for his prayer
to be answered? God, manifest in the likeness
of human flesh, was forsaken by God. The triune, holy, one
God, or Suk, God the Son, in whom dwelleth the fullness of
the Godhead bodily. Men have tried to comment on this. and I suppose everyone has failed
throughout all ages. As I wrote my notes, the vastness
and awesomeness of that statement overwhelmed me. There is no comprehending
these words. There is no entering into these
words by a mortal man. I came up with only one possible example. We recently celebrated the marriage
of a couple who are starting their lives together. In a very
short time, life is going to come. And their happiness of
being together is going to be separated. One or the other is
going to go on a trip without the other one. Some of us can remember that
first night after being wed to our beloved, going to bed alone
again. Some of us have entered the age
of knowing in not too long a time, one or the other of us aren't
going to be here if the Lord delays his return. And some of
us have already had to say goodbye to our beloved. This separation of husband and
wife is the only example I could think of. And it doesn't even
come close to the relationship of God the Son and God the Father
and God forsaking God. In the time Christ Jesus hung
in darkness, bearing our wrath, He bore an eternity's worth of
being forgotten by God the Father as he hid his face from God the
Son. Psalm 13, sorry. Back in Psalm 13, verse 1. Our Lord says, how long? Wilt thou forget
me, O Lord, forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face
from me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall
mine enemy be exalted over me? O the sorrow that our Lord bore
on our behalf. a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. The Lord Jesus Christ, who knew
no sin, who Proverbs 8 records, was daily the Lord's delight,
rejoicing always before him, set aside his glory and came
in our likeness. Then there upon Calvary's tree,
His enemies are, at least apparently, exalted over him. Who are these
enemies? Me, myself, and I, first and
foremost. The sin that I am, the sin and
the iniquities that separated me from my God, there in my sin
am I. in all my enmity against him,
binding my Savior to the tree. The other enemy, death, the result
of sin, seems to have exalted itself over our Lord. The serpent
has bruised the seed of woman's heel, and for the moment appears
to be exalted above him." Turn to Luke 23. Luke 23, verse 44. Luke 23, 44. And it was about the sixth hour
and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus. Remember his condition here,
a man beaten, his visage was so marred more than any man,
who has been bleeding from his back, his head, his face, his
hands, his feet, hanging there upon the cross. From Psalm 22,
he described himself, my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou hast brought me
into the dust of death. For all his condition, Luke 23,
verse 46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, not a forsaken, forlorn, feeble, defeated, It is finished. No, he cried
with a loud, victorious, commanding voice. It is finished. Then, in verse 46, he said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Back to Psalm 13. Psalm 13, verse three. It is appointed unto men once
to die. Jesus Christ, God the Son, was
made one with us, and he gave up the ghost. His broken body
was taken down from the tree, and he was laid in a tomb. Verse
3. Consider and hear me. O Lord my God, lighten mine eyes,
lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest mine enemies say I have
prevailed against him, and those that trouble me rejoice when
I am moved. What did it require that our
Lord's prayer that they also may be one in us might be answered. He must first become one with
us. And being one with us, the wages
of sin is death. He laid down his life. He entered
the tomb that was made ready for us. But even there, he pleaded
for us. In the tomb, sealed and in darkness,
his body rested as he, by his own blood, entered once into
the holy place. As our high priest, the Lord
Jesus Christ, entered into the presence of God, not without
blood, but with his own blood, and he paid our sin debt by which
he obtained eternal redemption for us. With his final words
from the tree, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,
the words of God the Son. And can you not hear with those
words the words of the man Jesus contained in this prayer? Consider
and hear me, O Lord my God, Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep
of death. Lest mine enemies say I have
prevailed against him, and those that trouble me rejoice when
I am moved. Verse five. But I have trusted
in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy
salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because
he hath dealt bountifully with me." Our Lord trusted perfectly,
as no sinful man can, and He was confident in the promises
and the commands which were given to Him. One of the promises that
he trusted in is recorded in Psalm 16. For thou wilt not leave
my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to
see corruption. And the command, speaking of
laying down his life in John 10, Our Lord said, no man taketh
it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay
it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received of my Father. Because God first trusted in
Christ. Because from the foundation of
the world, God chose a people and gave them to Christ. And
because Christ loved his people and gave himself for us, that
we might be made one with him and one with the Father. Because
of this and so very much more, God the Son became dust and was
made one with us. And being made one with us, he
fulfilled the law on our behalf. He went to the cross to suffer
and die our death, meeting the demands of holy justice. He went
to the cross, sorry, he went into the tomb to make intercession
for us. And on the third day, he arose
that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. He is exalted
above all. He has conquered every enemy. My sins, which are ever before
me, he has put them away, as far as the east is from the west. The serpent which bruised his
heel, his head has been bruised. Of death, O death, where is thy
sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In his resurrection,
Christ our Savior says, I will sing unto the Lord, because he
hath dealt bountifully with me. And in him, because he was made
one with us, that we might be made one with God, the Father,
God the Son, and God the Spirit, our hearts echo, I will sing
unto the Lord. because he hath dealt bountifully
with me. For our sakes, that this sin
might be made one with God, the Lord Jesus Christ made himself
to be one with us. He bore the wrath for us, he
bore the sentence for us, and he arose for us. I love reading these words as
reading them from our Lord's mouth. How long wilt thou forget
me, O Lord? Forever? How long wilt thou hide
thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel
in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall
mine enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord
my God. Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep
the sleep of death. Lest mine enemy say I have prevailed
against him, and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But
I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy
salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because
he hath dealt bountifully with me.