Kind of curious if Brandon had
looked through my notes. I'd ask you to turn to Psalm
73. Verse 1, Psalm 73. Here we read, God is good to Israel. Now you can turn the TV on or
you can drive down the road and you can look at signs out in
front of so-called church buildings. You could likely walk into any
church of any denomination and you could say, God is good. And
you wouldn't have anybody raise a fuss over that. Everybody would
agree. But there's a difference. There's
a difference. God is good. Question that for
a moment. But some religious folks, when
they say God is good, they mean this. They mean this. We raised
enough money to build a new gymnasium. Therefore, God's good. We've worked hard to do this
or that and it's happened so God's good. We prayed enough
about something and it come to pass. God's good. Here's the problem. They make
a connection between what they're doing and God's goodness. I know that's the case because
when things don't go their way, they come up with another reason
for why that happened. When trial comes, when sickness
comes, when death comes, there's always another explanation for
what's going on. They treat God's goodness like
they treat salvation. They make it dependent upon themselves,
upon what they've done. But I'm going to tell you something
that I believe you already know. God's goodness is not the result
of any man's actions. It's who he is. It's who he is. And not only is he good, all
that he does is good and just and right. and that which he
does is for our good. We read that. We read that. We
know, we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Consider this, in all that happened
to Job, in all that happened to Job, he said this. And I can't
imagine a man tried more than Joe. He said this, the Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed, blessed be the name
of the Lord. In 2 Samuel, David and his men,
they came to a place called Bahiram. And a man named Shimei came out
and he started throwing rocks at the king. Started throwing
rocks and cussing at David. And one of his servants, and
David's surrounded, I just get this picture in my mind, here's
David surrounded by these servants and these mighty men. And this
Abishai, one of David's servants, he said, He said, just say the
word. He said, who's this dead dog?
Who's this dead dog to curse the king? Let me go over and
take off his head. And David said, don't do it. Let him curse. Let him curse. The Lord sent him. The Lord sent
him. This is of the Lord's hand. This
is for my good. So whatever the situation, whatever
the circumstance, times of trial, times of blessing, times of heartache,
times of joy, let this be said, truly, truly God is good. And listen to what else is being
said in here, our text. This just gets better. Truly,
God's good to Israel. Truly, God's good to Israel.
Israel to a particular people to his church to his sheep now
this this infuriates man this this goes against our our self-righteous
hearts look over in Luke chapter 4 does this anger men that truly God is good to Israel. Some things never change. Look
at Luke chapter 4 verse 25. Our Lord is speaking here. He
said, I tell you the truth. Many widows were in Israel on
the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six
months, when great famine was throughout the land. But unto
none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, the city of
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow, that one woman. And
many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elias the prophet,
and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. And when the people in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, they were filled with wrath.
And they rose up and they thrust him out of the city and led him
to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they
might cast him down headlong. Do you think these people were
upset? They were filled with wrath.
They were filled with wrath. They wanted to throw the Lord
over a cliff, and it wasn't good enough to throw him feet first.
They were going to throw him head first over the cliff. They
were upset. But I'll tell you, I'll tell
you who's not upset. I'll tell you who wasn't upset
then and isn't upset now. He doesn't upset his sheep. We
rejoice in that, don't we? That God would be merciful to
anybody. But he'd be merciful to me. That widow woman wasn't upset.
Naming the leopard after he got it over himself, over his pride,
he wasn't upset. It doesn't upset God's sheep.
In the book of Exodus, Moses said, he said, I beseech thee,
show me your glory. And God said, I'll make all my
goodness. I'll make all my goodness pass before thee, and I'll proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee, and I'll be gracious to whom
I'll be gracious, and I'll show mercy on whom I'll show mercy. Truly, truly, God is good to
Israel. And that's pretty amazing in
and of itself. But consider this. Consider this. Consider who Israel is. Consider
who Israel is. You know, the children of Israel,
they continually broke God's law. They rebelled against God. They rebelled against his servant
Moses. They worshiped false gods. They
constantly murmured and complained against God's providence. Yet he delivered them. He brought
them up out from the Red Sea. He led them by day and night,
continually providing for their needs. That water that flowed
from the rock, the manna that was out there laying on the grass,
the quail, and all this for a stiff-necked people. All this he did. Truly God's good to Israel. What
about What about spiritual Israel? What about us? What about God's
elect? We've broken God's law. We're guilty of sin. We're guilty
of original sin in Adam. We're guilty of actual sin in
ourselves, deserving of God's judgment and God's wrath. Yet God, God the Father, God
the Father chose us and set his love upon us from all eternity. God the Son redeemed us. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem, to redeem them that were under the law. And by his
life and by his death, he satisfied God's wrath and presents us holy
before almighty God. We're justified in the sight
of God. And then God the Holy Spirit, God the Holy Spirit quickens
and gives life to his sheep. I hope we can enter into this
together. I hope we can, as we look at this chapter 73 of the
psalmist, we can enter into truly, truly God is good to Israel. Let that be, let that be established.
And let's read on back here in our text. Even, even to such
are as of a clean heart. Now by nature, I don't have a
clean heart. I don't have a clean anything
by nature. Psalm 53 verse 3 we read this.
Every one of them is going back. They're all together become filthy. Filthy. We read there's none
that doeth good. No, not one. David prayed this. He said, create in me a clean
heart. O God, and renew a right spirit
within me. Truly, if a man has a clean heart,
it's not because he cleansed it, it's because Almighty God
gave it to him. He said this, he said, a new
heart, a new heart I'll give you. Truly, God is good to Israel. He's good to his people. To such
there is a clean heart. Now back to our text here in
verse two, but as for me, God's good to Israel, but as
for me, that's a whole different can of worms. That's a whole
different story. As for me, we're not so good,
are we? That's an understatement. As
for me, he said, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well
nigh slipped. Why didn't they? Why didn't my
feet slip? Why weren't they completely gone?
Spurgeon said this. He said, if ever it should come
to pass, the sheep of Christ might fall away. My fickle, feeble
soul, alas, would fall a thousand times a day. We're kept by the
power of God. We're kept by his grace. We read
over in the book of Jude earlier in our Sunday school, unto him
that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. He keeps us. He keeps his people.
That's why we don't fall. He keeps us. Verse three. I was envious at the foolish. When I saw the prosperity of
the wicked, the psalmist here, he said, I envied the foolish. I desired to have what the foolish
man had, what the godless man had. Now, we could probably read
that and think, how could he think that way? But if we look
at ourselves, isn't that us? It, I was envious of the foolish. I was, it's comforting for me
when I see men in God's word struggle, struggle like I do,
to see things and, and to think he's, he's no different. That, that is me. He thinks,
he thinks like I do sometimes, more often than we would probably,
we'd like to admit. You ever been envious of the
foolish? Envious of what the wicked man has? Well, verse four,
there are no bands in their death. There's no pain. Outwardly, we
don't see these things. Their strength is firm. They
are not troubled. They're not in sorrow as other
men. Neither are they plagued like
other men. Therefore, pride compassed them
about as a chain. Violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have, not only do they have
enough, they've got more than they could ever wish for. They're
corrupt. They speak wickedly concerning
oppression. They speak loftily. That's how
the self-righteous man speaks. He speaks loftily. Lofty to themselves,
speaking pride. They raise themselves as equal
with God. They have low thoughts of God
and high thoughts of themselves. Verse 9, they set their mouths
against the heavens. Their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore his people return hither
as water of a full cup is wrung out to them. And they say, how
does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most
High? They question God's sovereignty. These are the ungodly who prosper
in the world. You see that? The ungodly. They
prosper in the world. They increase in riches. They
increase in riches and strength. I've traveled a little bit the
last couple weeks and as a result been stuck in a hotel room flipping
through channels. Sometimes I stop on a channel
just to see how long it is before a man will mention a verse of
scripture. In three days I think all I heard
was this, God wants to bless you and right now if you'll write
a check to me, He'll bless you. He's told me that. And you just
sit there and you just scratch your head. Listen to this. The ungodly, they prosper in
the world. They increase in riches. That's
counter to what these, I don't even, I think Henry used to call
them hucksters. That explains them right there.
These are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in
riches. And keep in mind, that prospering,
they may prosper. They may have a nice jet to fly
back and forth from here to there, or a home that's, you'd confuse
with a five-star hotel, but they're prospering. It's in this world. And that's the end of it. They
prosper in this world. Our Lord said this. He said,
what's a man profit if he gained the whole world and he loses
his own soul? Let's read on here. Verily, I've
cleansed my heart in vain. I've washed my hands in innocency.
All day long I've been plagued, chastened every morning. I say,
I'll speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation
of thy children. If I said how I really felt, if you knew who
I really was, you'd be offended. You'd be offended. And he said,
when I thought to know this, in verse 16, it was too painful
for me. But verse 17. until I went into the sanctuary
of God, then understood I their end." You know, times of trouble
and times of despair sometimes, I think, push us away from the
worship service. He said, when I went into the
sanctuary of God, then I understood their end. This sanctuary of God, What is
it? It's a place where God's glorified,
one. When we read in the scriptures,
it's the place where he's pleased to meet with his people. He said,
where two or three are gathered in my name, I'm in the midst
of you. I'm in the midst of you. It's
a place where Christ is revealed through the preaching of the
word. It's where the believer is fed. We come here hungry,
desiring a blessing, desiring a word from him. It's for the perfecting of the
saints. And listen, it's a place that's not to be forsaken, whether
it's a time of prosperity or a time of hardship. We come into the sanctuary. We
come to hear of God's holiness. We come to hear God's Word preached
faithfully. He said, when I went into the
sanctuary, I understood their end. What is the end of the wicked? The wicked that prosper in this
world? Well, it's ruin, it's destruction,
and it's death. That's the end of the wicked.
What about the righteous? What about the righteous, those
who are righteous in Christ? It's peace, it's rest, it's salvation,
it's eternal life in, by, and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read on in our text here.
Surely thou didst set them in slippery places, Cast them down
into destruction. How are they brought into desolation?
As in a moment. They're utterly consumed with
tears. As a dream, when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when thou awakest,
thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved. I
was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee.
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden my
right hand. He said, I'll never leave thee.
I'll never forsake thee. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
with thee? and there is none upon the earth
that I should desire beside thee. Not the things of the wicked,
Christ desire him. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 62 verse six, just turn
over a couple of pages there to Psalm 62 verse six. He's the strength of my heart. Here in verse six of Psalm 62,
we read, he only, he alone, is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. Verse 27, for lo, they that are far from thee shall
perish. thou hast destroyed all them
that go whoring from thee." Look at this summary in verse 28. But it is good for me to draw
near to God. I've put my trust in the Lord
God that I may declare all thy works. I remember when I was a kid and
Abby and I had done this to our kids. We'll say, eat this, it's
good for you. No explanation, just eat this,
it's good for you. It's usually a vegetable that
you really don't want to eat or you know they don't want to
eat, but we say that. I think we've all heard that
at one point in time. It's good for you. Well, I'm
not a nutritionist, so I can't tell you how good a green bean
is for you, but I do know what's written right here in God's Word.
You see this? He said, It's good for me. This is personal. It's good for
me. If Brandon's reading this, it's
good for Brandon. Look, it's good for me when I
read it. It's good for me. And what is
that? It's good for me to draw near to God. We draw near in the worship service. When we gather together, We're
here not to hear the words of a man. We desire a message from
Almighty God that he'd be pleased to dwell among us and be amongst
his people. We draw near to him in the worship.
We draw near when we wait on him, when we wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage for he shall strengthen thy heart We draw near to him,
we draw near to him in his word. Throughout the scriptures, these
things speak of Christ. We draw near to him. We draw
near in prayer. We draw near in prayer. When
we come before the throne of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ,
to ask his blessing or give thanks, we draw near to him. We draw
near in faith. We draw near in faith, believing
God. He said, I put my trust in the
Lord. Not all these things. not the things of this world.
He said, I've put my trust in the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my righteousness. He's all. I draw near to him and I draw
near by faith. He said, I put my trust in the
Lord that I may declare all thy works. See, there's nothing else
worth repeating except for what he's done, what he's done. And
finally, we draw near in Christ. That's the only way we can approach
unto God. There's one mediator between
man and God, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's good for me. It's good for each one of us.
It's good for me to draw near to God. Now I want you to look
at just one more scripture with me and I'll close. Look at Hebrews
10. Turn over to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 beginning with verse
19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
having liberty, having freedom, having confidence to enter into
the holiest, to enter into the presence of God himself by the
blood of Jesus, the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, by
a new and living way, That's Christ, which he hath consecrated
for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near. We just read that a minute ago.
It's good to draw near. It's good to draw near to God
with a true heart, with a new heart. We read in verse one,
truly God is good to Israel even to such or as of a clean heart. In full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering. For he's faithful. He's faithful
that promised. It's good to draw near to God.
I've put my trust in the Lord God that I might declare all
thy works. And it's all of him. It's all
of him. All right, bye.