Good evening. If you have your
Bibles, let's turn back to Psalm 40. Psalm 40. This is a beautiful
psalm, as most of them are. All of them
are, as a matter of fact. I thank God that he has given
me a privilege to be here with my brother. Not necessarily in
his spot, but I thank God that he's enabled me to be here. You
all pray for me. But you know, the text on this
message is going to be the first five verses, and let's go ahead
and read these. It says, I waited patiently for
the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and He heard my cry. He brought me up, also out of
a horrible pit, out of a mirror clay, and he set my feet upon
a rock, and he established my goings, and he hath put a new
song in my mouth, even praising to our God. Many shall see it,
and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust, in respect if not to proud, nor
turn aside as such to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are thou
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thou thoughts which
are to us work. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and to speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. You know, these
are the words of David, for this is a psalm of David, and he has
been inspired by the Holy Spirit, because God's word says in 2
Timothy that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. This is a Messianic psalm because
these are also the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of the
psalms are about, and all the holy scriptures are of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And it says in the scriptures
that if it belongs to Christ, it belongs to the elect. For
the holy scripture says that they are one with Christ. And
what a privilege that is and what a blessing that is. And
we're talking about those that God placed in Christ before the
foundation of the world. And we're talking about those
particular people that our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross
for to save them from their sins. But anyway, it says in John 17,
It says, that they all may be one, as our Father are 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
givest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as
we are one. You know, it says here in this
first Verse, it says, I waited patiently for the Lord. You know, patient waiting on
God was a special characteristic of our Lord Jesus. And patience
never lingered in his heart or in his mouth throughout his agony
in the garden and on his trial, his cruel scourging and beating,
people mocking him. And he endeared the cross. And while he was on that cross,
he hung for hours in pure agony. And our Lord Jesus Christ, he
suffered physically, mentally, and spiritually in a way that
none of us can even comprehend. And just before he gave up the
ghost, he said in the book of John, he said, it is finished. The work of substitution, the
work of redeeming his people from their sins was complete. He was placed in a tomb, and
he waited patiently for the Lord to hear his prayer and to deliver
him out of death. If you will, turn to Philippians
chapter 2. verses 7 and 8. It says, In God's word, speaking
of Jesus Christ, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. If you will now, turn to Hebrews
12. He waited patiently. He was in
that tomb for three days. Hebrews 12, verse 2. He come out of that tomb. It
says here in verse 2, looking unto Jesus, He is the author
and the finisher of our faith. And that faith is a gift of God.
It's not something that comes from us. It's a gift. All spiritual
gifts and all good gifts come from above. That's saving faith
to believe. He says, who for the joy that
was set before him endeared the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. He sat
down. The work of redemption is finished.
You know our Lord Jesus, He was brought low, but He rose to victory. He completely satisfied the law
of God, and the justice of God, to perfection. Why did he do
it? He done it to be obedient to
his Father and for the love of his people. And he shed his blood
for his people. It says in Corinthians that God's
people, we are bought with a price. We are not our own. And what
was that price? The precious lamb, the precious
blood of the Lamb of God. One who knew no sin, did no sin,
and had no sin. But He took in our sins and imputed
His righteousness into His people. And His perfect obedience is
our righteousness, because our righteousness is as filthy rags. You know, our Lord set a good
example for His elect when it comes to prayer. You know, may
God give us patience. and strong faith to realize that
God will always, He will always, the Lord Jesus Christ will always
answer the prayers of His people. Always He will answer them. It will be at a time that is
best suited to His accomplishment of His purposes for our lives. You know, David said, I waited. If you don't care, if you would,
turn to Psalm 27. Sometimes when I pray, I'd like
an answer right then. But God will answer my prayers
if I'm in Christ, one of His elect. He will answer my prayers.
in his time, in his will. It says here in Psalms 27, look
at verse 13. This is David speaking. He said, I have fainted unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living. He says, wait on the Lord. Be
of good courage and he shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I
say, on the Lord. We'll go back to our text in
Psalm 40. We have such a privilege. You
know, Jesus Christ is not only our prophet and our king, but
he's our high priest. And he's experienced what we've
experienced. And we don't, I don't, I don't
at times, I really don't realize what it means that I can call
upon my God through my high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, and go
to the throne of grace. But anyway, it says here in Psalms
40, let's read the first three verses. It says, I waited patiently
for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and He heard my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of a Murray clay, and he set my feet upon
a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. It says here many that many
shall see it, and they shall fear, and shall trust in the
Lord. You know, he delivered us out
of a horrible pit. What was it? I was in that pit,
a pit of sin, the curse of the law, idol worship, self-righteousness,
false religion. But you know, Christ came to
where that I was. He came to where his people was,
and he became what I was, and he paid our sin debt for us.
He took our place in that pit. He come down from the throne
of glory. God Almighty come down from the throne of glory. The
cesspool of sin for his people. It says here in Romans 4, blessed
are those who is blessed. Let's look at that word just
for a minute. What does that mean? Happy. You know, something
that I just don't think a lot about is that my sins has been
forgiven. have been covered by the blood
of Jesus Christ. It says here in Romans, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. How are our sins covered? By
the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then it goes
also, it goes on to say that he set us up on the rock And
we all know that that rock is our Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
our Redeemer's work is finished. He rests on the firm ground,
and he accomplished fully all that he set out to do. He'll
never suffer again, and he will forever reign in glory. What
a comfort to know, what a comfort to know when we meditate upon
the promises of God, to know that Jesus, our Lord and our
Savior, stands on a sure foundation in all that He is and does for
us. He is truly the Rock of Ages. You know, the Word of God says
that the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no
end. In the book of Hebrews, God's
word says, therefore, he is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God. How? By him. The Bible says,
neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven whereby we can be saved. But it is by
him, since he ever liveth to make intercession for them, for
his people. God's people have been set free.
And he alone has set our feet upon that rock. All of God's
people feel as David did when he said in Psalm 62, and think
about this, he only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense
and I shall not be moved because he's got his arms wrapped around
me. And God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength
and my refuge is in God. And you know, he not only brought
us out of that horrible pit, but he set her feet upon that
rock, which is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. But he also
put a new song in her mouth. And that song comes out of her
mouth But it originates in a new heart that the Lord God has given
his people. And what is that new song? It's
a song of praise and worship to our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. I like what Hebrews 13 says.
By Him, speaking of Jesus Christ, and this is talking only to those
that are in Christ, by Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks unto His name. You know, meditation is a real
good thing for the soul, but when you meditate upon the Lord
Jesus Christ and his words and his blessings, it don't get no
better than that. Psalm 115 says, not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us, but in thy name give glory, for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. It says here in this first three
of our texts, it says that many shall see it and fear and shall
trust in the Lord. And when we look at that, how
many is many? It says many. Listen to what
it says in the book of Revelation. It says, there will be a great
multitude which no man could number. Now think about that,
no man could number. Of all nations and kindreds and
people and times stood before the throne and before the Lamb. You know, I stand here by myself
and I look at the sand. I'm full of sand from the top
of my head to the bottom of my feet. And He stood on that cross. He was nailed to that cross.
And he took in the sins of a number that cannot be numbered, of all
of his elect. I can't imagine the pain that
he went through. But anyway, look at verse 4 of
our text here. It says, blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud.
nor such as turn aside to lies. It says, blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust. There's that word again, blessed,
happy. We need to look to Jesus. I need
to look to Christ each and every day of my life. Happy is that
man. Why? We're happy when we look
to Christ because look at 17 in the same chapter here at verse
17, the first part of it. And this reflects upon all of
God's leg. For I am poor and I am needy. We all need Christ. We need him
each and every day. We need his grace. We need his
mercy. We need to know that he is ours. And you know what? He is there.
The Bible says his spirit lives within us. He's never far away.
He's always there. And all of God's people know
this. They know that we're spiritually poor. And when you look at ourselves,
when I look at myself, I know that I have nothing to offer
God. I have nothing to offer Him. We are nothing, we have
nothing, and we can do nothing to save ourselves. And you know,
without Christ, we have nothing. I don't care what a person has
in this world. If they are not in Christ, they
don't have nothing. Or the Bible says over in 1 John,
I think it's chapter five, he that hath the Son hath life.
But he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. You know,
that's about as plain as it gets. But with Christ, we have it all. You know, in the book of Galatians,
God's word says, and this is speaking of Christ, it says,
for in him dwell all the fullnesses of God head bodily, and ye are
complete in him. That's his elect, which is the
head of all principality and power. You know, at verse four
of our text, it goes on to say, and respect if not the proud,
nor such as turn aside to lies. You know, in Christ, God's chosen
people have everything that they need. You know, the Bible says
that his life is a vapor. It appears for a little while,
and it's gone. And that's the truth. And everything
that we see in this world, everything that we see, one day it's going
to be gone. But Christ Jesus, he lives forever
and ever. And he is our prophet and our
priest and our king. You know, as I look around, and
some of you may do this, but as I look around at situations
that our nation is in and problems that we go through at the house
and the trials and the infirmities that we go through, you know
something? There's something that we can
experience as God's people that the world can't experience. And
that is found in John 14 when our Lord Jesus Christ, when he
said, peace, I leave with you. He said, my peace, my peace,
I give unto you. Not as the world give unto you. And then he goes on to say, let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And you know,
when we think about that, he does give us peace. You know,
he says, be anxious for nothing, but by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving, lay you with Christ, be made known unto God.
He's here for prayers. He always will. And you know,
I wish that I could be like Paul was when he was sitting in that
dungeon, just before he was getting ready to be executed. He said,
I have learned that whatsoever state that I am in, therewith
be content. You know why he said that? Lord
Jesus was with him, and he knew that. He knew that. If you will,
look at verse five of our text here in Psalm 40. It says, many,
O Lord my God, are thou wonderful works which thou hast done, and
thou thoughts which are to us worth. They cannot be reckoned
up in order unto thee. If I would declare unto thee,
if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can
be numbered. You know, as this verse says
of God's wonderful works and his thoughts, which are to us
worth, that's his people. He's talking, as I said, he's
talking to his elect here. And his wonderful works are more
than can be numbered. But we're going to look at a
few of God's greatest blessings in Christ. You know, in Ephesians
1, 7, it says, in whom we have redemption through his blood,
but forgiveness of sins. according to the riches of His
grace. Our sins have been forgiven,
past, present, and future. And I thank God for that. And
God's word says, and you shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free. But what is truth? Truth is when God opens the eyes
and the heart of the person to the work and to the sacrifice
and to the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. What does
a believer, what do they want more than anything? A true believer,
when we're worshiping God, we have so many blessings. You know,
He has saved us. He has saved us from the curse
of the law and the power of sin. But one of these days, He's going
to save us from the presence of sin. In 1 John 3, verses 1
and 2, and may we enter into this, he says, behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. Listen to this. Enter into this. I wish I could enter into this.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doeth not yet
appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, that we shall be like him, for we shall see him as
he is. We see him now by faith. But
one day, we're literally going to be in his presence. And I
thank God for that. You know, the Bible speaks of
God's church. And I'm talking about those whom
God placed in Christ for the foundation of the world as the
bride of Christ. And he is our groom. Now, what
does a bride want more than anything? To be with the groom. I want
you to turn one more place. Revelation 19. This is our future,
brothers and sisters. Revelation 19, verse 6. Revelation 19, verse 6. The Word of God says, And I heard,
as it were, the voice of a great multitude And as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord
God Omnipotent rangeth, let us be glad and rejoice, and give
honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of saints. You know, in Christ,
His people are saints because we have His righteousness. Verse
9 here, listen to this. And He said unto me, Write, Blessed
are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And he said unto me, listen to these words. These are the true
sayings of God. They're written in stone, and
we stand on that stone. And that stone is our Lord Jesus
Christ. And we need him each and every
day of our lives. Not only are we His, but He belongs
to us. And what a blessing that is.
And it will help us to get through this life, regardless of what
we think. The Bible says that we're to set our affections on
things above, not on things of this world. What is that? That's
the Lord Jesus Christ, and He's always there. I pray that someone
may have received a blessing out of that, and that God be
the glory.