Go with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 28. Psalm 28, we're going to focus
on one verse in this Psalm, but let's read these nine verses
again. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord,
my rock. Be not silent to me, lest if
thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the
pit. Hear the voice of my supplications
when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity. which speak peace to their neighbors,
but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their
deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them
after the work of their hands, render to them their desert. That means what they deserve
because they regard not the works of the Lord nor the operation
of his hands. He shall destroy them and not
build them up. Blessed be the Lord because he
hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my
shield. My heart trusted in him and I
am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices
and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength
and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people
and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them
up forever. I was thinking Monday about life. I was thinking Monday, I was
sitting there reading and thinking about this life. I know you do that. Think about this life. I was
thinking about the beginning of it, and I was thinking about
people, young people. I was thinking about the beginning
of it, and I was thinking about the middle of it, and I was thinking
about the end of it. I was thinking about how far
we have come. You know all of these different
stages in life that you've been through, and you can look back
on them and say, well, that stage is over. And I was thinking about how
far we've come, and I was thinking about how far we still have to
go. Sometimes it really occurs to me that we have an end goal.
Sometimes I really enter into the fact that there is a destination.
There is a mark pressed toward the mark. Um, and there's a,
for each one of us, it's different, but there's a space of time that
we still have to go to get to the end of this mark. And I was
thinking about the fact that especially for those who have
a true hope, You know, most people, if they
don't have a true hope in Christ, they don't really want to go
there. They want to end up there. When
they have to go somewhere, they'd rather go there, but they're
not really ready to go there. And especially for those who
have a true hope, a healthy, sincere hope, of glory with Christ,
those who are looking forward to being there with him. For
God's people in that case, life here on this earth at times can
be very heavy, very heavy. Thinking about how
much farther we have to go. You know, it can feel like you're
wading through water, waste deep water against the current. It feels like everything's going
against you. It feels like you're just, you know, struggling along. That we know is all because of
sin. We know that sin is our problem. Sin is attached to everything
that we have to do and go through in this life. Sin is the reason
we have to go through everything we have to go through in this
life. But knowing that we have to trudge
through the rest of our life, bearing the burden and the effects
and the results of sin, when you stop and think about that,
and you think about all the sin that is still to come, It can get a little heavy. You
can start to think about life and it just is weighty. It's
just heavy. We all want health, wealth, and
happiness. We all do, no buts about it. We all want health, wealth, and
happiness. That's what everybody would prefer.
Nobody would prefer to be sick if they had their choice. Nobody
would prefer to be poor and nobody would prefer to be
sad. Nobody would. Sadly though, that
is the lot in life for most people. Most people, usually people are
dealing with one of those three things at a time. May be rich,
but they may be sick, or they may be dealing with two of those
things at a time, or quite often three, all three of those things
at a time, including God's people. And I might even say, especially
God's people. Because our Lord said, in the
world, you are going to have tribulation. You're gonna have
persecution, you're gonna have trouble. Because of our sin, God's people
are not exempt from those things. They're not exempt from sickness,
they're not exempt from poverty, and they're not exempt from sorrow.
But this is what occurred to me as I thought on the life of
a true believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean somebody who is
truly looking to, trusting in, hoping in, longing for the Lord
Jesus Christ. Thinking specifically on God's
people. For God's people, even though
they still have to deal with these things, in Christ, Because of Christ, all because
of Christ, deep in their soul, deep down in the depths of their
soul, they are happy. They really are. Even though
their flesh may be dealing with sickness, we have some brethren
who are enduring some real sickness right now in different places. And even though their flesh may
be dealing with absolute sickness, horrible sickness, deep down
in their soul, if you go cut all the way to the heart of the
soul, they're happy. Even though they may have virtually
nothing more than food and raiment, maybe about all they have, they're
happy. Deep down in their soul, they're
happy. Even though in their mind, in their heart, in their physical
life on this earth, at times they're sad. Not always, it's
not all the time. But at times in their flesh,
God's people can be desperately, helplessly sad. You try to help
them. I mean, sad. But for God's people, even though
those moments come deep down in their soul because of Christ. And it's this one reason only in Christ, every time that he
comes to the mind and being found in him comes to the mind for
Christ's sake, they're happy. They're happy. They are happy
even when they're sad. And you know what I'm talking
about? Even when they're sad, even in the moments that they're
sad, when you go all the way down to the bottom of the sadness,
you will always find a foundation of happiness in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Happiness for Christ's sake.
And this is the reason why. Christ is their health. A well body is not their health. That's not their health. Christ
is their health. Christ is their wealth. A large bank account is not their
wealth. When they look at Christ and
they see all that He is and all that they have in Him, He's their
wealth. You know, everybody wants to
know, what am I gonna have in the end? Or what am I gonna,
you know, end up with, be left with? Well, when you look at
Christ, it's everything. And when you look at everything
here, as soon as you leave this world, it's nothing. He is their health, Christ is
their wealth, and Christ is their happiness. What happens in this
world doesn't determine whether or not they're happy. That's
not the determining factor of their happiness. Christ is their
happiness. Now don't turn to these, but
in Psalm 42, David said, why art thou cast down, O my soul,
And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. He is my health. He is my help. I may not physically
have it here on this earth, but I have an eternity of it coming
with Him. You know, Psalm 103 says, He
heals all your diseases. We got some brethren right now
dealing with cancer. My mother, the Lord was pleased
to take my mother through cancer. And you could say, well, you
know, she died. She died of cancer. No, she was
healed of cancer. Her hope was in Christ and she's
still alive and well, and she's rid of it. He healed her of that
disease. He may heal us temporarily on
this earth, but something is still going to take us to be
with him. But once we're with him, he heals us. He is our health. He is our health. Don't turn to this, but Ephesians
3 verse 8, the apostle Paul said, oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. Peter is the one who said it's
precious, more precious than gold. It's more precious than
gold. He is our eternal riches. You think about eternity with
him, glory with him, having everything you need. an endless fountain of supply, never lacking, never doing without,
never going hungry. He said, you have an inheritance
waiting on you. It's all the inheritance that
God the Father gave to him. Said, it's sitting right there,
your name on it. He is our eternal riches. And
Psalm 146 verse five says, happy is he that hath the God of Jacob
for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, the God of
Jacob. Jacob means center, the God of
the center, the center who has the God of the center for his
help. That's a happy center. A very
happy sinner. And that's what David is saying
right here in this Psalm. In verse one, he said, Psalm
28, verse one, he said, unto thee will I cry, oh Lord, my
rock, be not silent to me, lest if thou be silent to me, I become
like them that go down into the pit. He said, I'll sink down. He said, I'm crying and if you're
silent to me and you don't speak to me and I don't hear your voice,
he said, I'm gonna go down. I'm gonna be like those that
sink down into the pit. Verse two, he said, hear the
voice of my supplications. When I cry unto thee, when I
lift up my hands toward the holy oracle, and then he goes on down
to express his sorrow and his pain over everything that he
sees. But he says in verse seven, the
Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him and I
am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoiceth
for that reason. My heart greatly rejoiceth and
with my song will I praise him. That's something that every child
of God can relate to. He said, even though my heart
is heavy in this world. My soul greatly rejoices in thee,
greatly rejoices in thee. That makes me think of what the
apostle Paul said in Acts 26. He was in prison for preaching
the gospel. And you know, you know, the,
travels and the events and the details of the apostle Paul and
everything he went through. That man was beaten. That man
was stoned. That man was tortured. That man
endured so much. And he, here he is in prison
and he's brought before King Agrippa, this, this King Agrippa
on his own said, I'm gonna interrogate him. He'll have to answer to
me. I want you to bring him to me. So they bring Paul before
Agrippa and Agrippa says to him, what do you have to say for yourself?
And the apostle Paul said, King Agrippa, I think myself happy. He said, that's what I have to
say for myself. I'm happy. I am happy because I'm suffering
for the sake of preaching the name and the glory of my Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Even though I'm in a physically
miserable condition right now, that man was in a physically
miserable condition. But he said, oh, because of Christ.
When I dwell on Christ, when I dwell on what he has done for
me and secured for me, I'm happy. I'm happy. Hold your place right
here and turn over to second Corinthians four. Second Corinthians chapter four, verse 15, it says, for all things
are for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving
of many redound to the glory of God, for which cause we faint
not. But though our outward man perish,
Yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things
which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal. But the things which are not
seen are eternal. He said, we're not looking to
all of these temporary things around us. We're looking to eternal
things. That's what makes us happy. These
light afflictions are but for a moment. Just remember that.
Just remember that these light afflictions are but for a moment.
You think about three score and 10, 70 years. Oh, that's a long
time. Compare that to never ending
eternity. That's, you can't, I mean, the
blink of an eye is way too long. It's a small fraction of a blink
of an eye compared to eternity. These light afflictions are just
for a minute, just for a little minute. And He said, there's
an eternal weight of glory right around the corner. And that's
what makes us happy. That'll lift our spirits up.
You dwell on that and that'll lift the spirits up. Go back
to Psalm 28, entering into that. Knowing that the things of this
flesh are not what determines the happiness and the fulfillment
of a child of God on this earth. The things of this flesh, that's
not it. And knowing that the quality of our life here is determined
by the health, wealth, and happiness of our relationship with Christ.
That's what determines the quality of of our life here, knowing
that I believe we'll all agree that this right here is the ultimate
cry of a believer's heart. In the last verse of this Psalm,
David requested four things. Four things from God. And seeing
this, I believe all of us are gonna be able to say that even
if the Lord is pleased to remove our physical health, and I pray
that if He's willing, He won't. You know, Moses had his strength
all the way to the end. And I pray if He's willing, He'll
keep it with us. But even if the Lord is pleased
to remove our physical health, in our physical wealth, in our
physical worldly happiness. As long as the Lord will grant
us this and give us this, we'll have everything we need to get
us through the rest of this life. We will have everything we need.
Here are the four requests David made. Verse nine, he said, save
thy people and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them
up forever. David said, Lord, if you'll do
that, we'll think ourselves happy. Our hearts will greatly rejoice.
And our song of praise will be only unto you. This is what he
requested first. He said, Lord, save thy people. Can we not say that if the Lord
would just save us? You think about all the needs
of life. And can we not say that if God
would just save us and if he would save our children, You
think about everything that you may want for your children in
life. If God would just save our children, and if God would just save our
families, you think about your brothers and your sisters and
your cousins and your aunts and your uncles and your, if God
would just save our families, If God would just save our friends,
we've got some friends and acquaintances who mean so much to us. And if the Lord would just do
that, would we all not have everything we need? Everything we need. Our children
may suffer some of the most horrible ailments this world ever knows.
But if God would just save them. So I see different people of
all ages in different situations and my heart just breaks for
them. But if God would just save them right around the corner,
none of that will matter. If God would just save them,
our greatest desire would be fulfilled. If God would save
all of us. Our greatest desire would be
fulfilled. God has a particular people that
He has chosen to save. A particular people that He chose
to save and He's going to save them. He's gonna save all of
them. Our prayer is, Lord, let us be
among them. That's the evidence of those
who are among them. Lord, save us, send salvation
to us. Send salvation to us, please. How many times in the scripture
have you seen stories of men who cried out to God begging
and God heard them and said, I'll do it. Please save us, please
save all of us. Please save these ones that we're
so burdened about that haven't heard your truth yet. Break them
like you broke us. Have mercy on them like you had
mercy on us. Give salvation to them like you
gave it to us. Well, they're not healthy, so
what? Well, they're not wealthy, so what? They're real sad. Well, he can
make them glad. Give us, save thy people, give
salvation. What is salvation? What is salvation? It's the covering of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Cover us in your blood. Just
cover us in your blood. Cover what we are in your blood.
Save us with your blood. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. If the Lord our God would blot
out our transgressions, we have transgressions, our kids have
transgressions. If the Lord would blot out our
transgressions with his own blood, we would have all the health,
all the wealth, and all the happiness we'll ever need for all eternity.
That's the truth. That is absolutely the truth.
Save us with your blood. Let us be among the ones that
you chose to make a payment of blood for. I don't need physical
health, but I need your blood. I need
the covering of your blood. I don't need physical wealth,
but I need the payment of your blood. I don't need worldly happiness. But I need the joy of knowing
that all of my sin has been washed away by the blood of the Lamb. Lord, save us, save thy people,
save us with your blood. And then he said in verse nine,
bless thine inheritance. Bless your own inheritance. What is Christ's inheritance? What does Christ get? What is
His inheritance? Over in Psalm 2, God the Father
said to God the Son, if you ask of me, I'll give you the heathen
for your inheritance. We heathen sinners are His inheritance. We got Him, He's our inheritance,
and He got us. And David said, for that reason,
bless us. Bless us with your spirit. Bless
us with your presence. Meet with us. Be near to us. Draw us near to you. Call us
by your grace. Is there any greater blessing
that a sinner could receive in this life? David said, save us
with your blood. Bless us with your spirit. Verse
nine says, save thy people. and bless thine inheritance,
feed them also. What do God's people feed on?
What are they fed by? Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Lord,
feed us with your word. Now you think about life. Just
think about life, the remainder of the life that we're gonna
have to live on this earth. If our Lord will save us with
His blood, bless us with His Spirit, and feed us with His
Word, what more do we need? You know, the Lord feeds our
hearts with His Word from time to time. He lets us enter into
it and we feed on it. Would you want to go the rest
of your days knowing that we could no longer feed on the Word? Oh, Lord, take anything, but
don't take that. Please, if you'll just do that. Take anything,
but don't take your blood from us. Don't take your spirit from
us, your blessing, your presence from us. And don't take your
word from us. If you'll give us this, what
more do we need? If he gives us some physical
health along the way, we will be thankful. I'll be thankful,
you'll be thankful. If he does give us a little bit
of money so we can pay our bills, we'll be thankful. And if He
does give us a little bit of happiness in this world from
time to time, I like happiness in this world. If He does give
us that, we will be thankful. But if He will just save us with
His blood, bless us with the presence of His Spirit, and feed
us with the comfort and the nourishment of His Word, we will be happy,
happy in Christ. We'll have all we need. And we'll
have everything we need to fulfill that last request. Here's the
fourth one, verse nine. David said, save thy people and
bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them
up forever. Lord, give us the hope of being
with you. Save us with your blood. Bless
us with your spirit. Feed us with your word. and lift
us up forever to be with you. That is true health, wealth,
and happiness. That really is. May the Lord
give that to us. I pray he will. All right, let's
all stand together.