Turn back with me to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. We sinners need a lot
of help. You know that? We need a lot of help for everything. I preach a message by God's grace. And then I go back into my study
and think, now what? I said everything I know to say.
I'm done. And until the Lord sends a message,
I got nothing. But when the Lord sends a message,
I have something to say. And I don't care what it is,
we sinners need help. We need a lot of help. We try to be strong in faith,
don't we? We really do. We try to be strong
in spirit. We try to be strong in example. We try. But our sin and the effects
of our sin keep us so beaten down. Do you ever feel beaten down?
Do you ever feel that? Beaten down. Sometimes it's hard to know which
way is up. It really is. I don't care what the subject
is. Sometimes it's hard to catch
your breath of air. It really is. Not because our lives are
busy. Everybody's life is busy. That's
not the reason. It's because of the guilt and
the burden of our sin. A true sinner knows what I'm
talking about. Until God has shown a sinner
his sin, that sinner has no idea what I'm talking about. Oh yeah,
yeah, sin, sin. But as soon as God goes, Not them, me. Until God does that, that sinner
has no idea what I'm talking about. Look at verse 13 here in Psalm
27. It says, I had fainted. I would have fainted. You ever feel sometimes like
you just need to faint? I think I'd be better off if
I could just faint right now. Overwhelmed by this sinful, sinful,
wicked world. And I am not pointing my finger
out there. I'm pointing my finger right
here. This sinful, sinful, wicked world. Here's the world. Here's the flesh right here. Everything that is out there,
but for the grace of God, there go I. Everything that's out there,
but for the grace of God restraining me, there go I. Oh, I'm not capable of that.
They may be, but I'm not capable of that. Well, you don't know
yourself very well then, do you? You haven't been acquainted with
your sin yet, have you? Verse 13 says, I had fainted
unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the
land of the living. Isn't that refreshing? The goodness
of the Lord. Do you long for a life without
sin? Really? Not just the sin of the world,
the sin that's inside me. All the doubts that are inside
me. Are you ready to have no more
doubts? If we are in Christ, we're just
as secure right now as we will be actually standing in His presence. The only difference is, we're
not going to have any more doubts. Not a doubt in my mind. Listen to this poem, one stanza
of it. Near, so very near to God, I
cannot nearer be. For in the person of His Son,
I am as near as He. As near as Jesus Christ is, that's
how near I am right now. In the person of His Son, I'm
just as near as His Son is. That caused me to think of my
Savior, our Savior, Jesus Christ, is seated at the right hand of
God the Father. If I'm in Him, guess where I'm
seated? Can you believe that? Me! But I can't help it. I just can't
help it. As long as I'm down here in this
sinful world, I am so full of doubts. I'm just so full of doubts. I'm so full of fears. I'm so
full of wanderings. We just sang the song, Prone
to Wander. Lord, I feel it. I feel it in
me. Not just the theory of wandering,
not just the theory of sin, I've heard about it, I've experienced
it. You know, Peter told the Lord,
I'll never leave you. Was there a time that you thought
that? Not me, I'm with Him no matter what. I don't know. If
God leaves me to myself, I feel it. Prone to wander. Do you long to truly walk a straight
and narrow way, never wandering? Do you long for that? Look at
verse 11. It says, Teach me thy way, O
Lord, and lead me in a plain path. A plain path. Thy way. This flesh is so full of doubts,
and fears, and struggles, and temptations, and trials, and
afflictions, and sorrow. Sorrow gets a hold of me so quickly. I know it doesn't get any of
you. But I can be having the best day, and the sun is shining,
and the weather is nice, and then all of a sudden something
just turns. Sorrow. So here's what David writes to
the sinner in need of some help. Here's what he writes to the
sinner in need of some help. In verse 14 he says, wait on
the Lord. Wait on the Lord. I need to be reminded of this
all the time. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the
Lord. That is a difficult thing to
do. You know what? It's difficult. Our flesh is so impatient. But here's what I constantly
need to be reminded of. We know that our God is the cause
of everything, right? He's the cause of everything. Well, isn't He just the cause
of the good things? He's not the cause of the bad
things, is He? Turn with me over to Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45 verse 7 says, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. God doesn't create evil. He created
Satan, didn't He? Satan is a created being. Who
created Him? Jesus Christ. In the Bible study
we said to receive Jesus Christ is to believe that all things
were created by Him. Now He said, I'm not the author
of sin. God will have nothing to do with
sin. Sin is rebellion against what
he is and what he has done. But what the world sees to be
evil, a tsunami comes through and wipes out a whole city. And
the world says, oh, it's so evil. Satan must have done that. No,
God did that. More specifically, Jesus Christ
did that. We know that He is the cause
of everything. We also know that our steps are
ordered by God. We don't enter into it and we
don't believe it, but we know that it's true. Everything that
has ever happened to me in my life was ordered by God. Everything. Every step. Even the bad times,
God allowed me to enter into the bad times so I could see
my need of Him and it was a good thing. Right? Our steps are purposed. Everything
has already been purposed. We know that He's going to reveal
His will to us in due time. Why did He allow that to happen?
Why did He allow this to happen? There was a reason for it. It was His purpose. It was for
the furtherance of the gospel, for some reason, I can tell you
that. There's one point to the earth continuing like this, the
gospel. The gospel has to go forth, and
all of God's people are going to hear it and receive it, believe
it, and when the final elect is chosen and done, we're done. And He's going to reveal in His
own time His will, why He did everything. He's going to reveal,
like Ephesians says, the mystery of His will. We will know as
we have been known in His time. And we know that everything our
God does is for our eternal good. Everything. Everything. I hate seeing my sin. I hate seeing my fall, my fail. I hate it. But it's necessary. It is necessary. He must increase,
I must decrease. I must. And all we have to do is wait
on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. Listen to what
Spurgeon said. I love this, such a blessing. Spurgeon said, wait at his door
with prayer. I love picturing that in my mind.
Think about our prayers, not the times that we're given lip
service. You know, we're, we're supposed to do it before meal
or, um, I'm talking about those times when we are praying and
we know I'm praying now. Such deep need, just begging,
pouring our hearts out to Him. Oh, God. Picture us kneeling down with
our heads against the door of His inner chamber. Oh, Lord,
please, can I come in? Please, Lord, please. Would you
hear me? Wait at his door with prayer. Mr. Spurgeon said, wait at his
foot with humility. I thought of a dog laying by
his master's feet. I am loyal to you. I will come
lay down at the foot of you because you're the one that bought me.
You're the one that taught me. You're the one that feeds me.
You're the one I love. You are the master. I am the
dog, but I'm your dog." Waited his foot with humility.
What a wonderful, blessed, special, privileged place to be. He said,
wait at his door with prayer, wait at his foot with humility.
He said, wait at his table with service. Lord, I will wait until you're
pleased to tell me what you'd have me to do. What would you
have me to do? Lord, if it's not your will,
I don't want any part in it. But Lord, if it is your will,
give me the heart, give me the desire, give me the strength,
give me the love to do it." To do it? Wait at his table with
service. Then Mr. Spurgeon said, after
all that, here's my favorite, wait at his window with expectancy. Wait at his window with expectancy. You don't have to turn, but in
Malachi 3, the Lord said, Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and
pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough
to receive it. Prove me. You ask and see if
you don't receive. Beg for him to speak to you. is our tangible communication
to God. He said, ask and you'll receive.
I want to be blessed as I preach. You know that? I tell you guys
all the time, I'm hearing it just like you're hearing it.
And I find that when I forget to say, Lord, would you bless
me? Lord, bless your message as it goes out. Bless your people.
Bless me. If I forget to beg for myself,
I might not be blessed by it. Lord, bless me. Beg for him to speak to you and
then wait to hear his voice. Pray for me. Pray for me. Lord, would you bless the poor
messenger today so that I might receive food? Pray for me. Beg Him to grant us His Spirit
and then wait for His spiritual blessings. Beg Him to draw nigh unto you. Lord, draw nigh unto me. And
then wait for His touch. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the
Lord. Then our text, you don't have
to turn back, I'll read it to you. Our text says, wait on the
Lord, then it says, be of good courage. Now turn to Isaiah 41. Be of good courage. This is an encouraging portion
of Scripture. Isaiah 41, verse 1 says, Keep silence before me, O islands,
and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near,
then let them speak. Let us come near together to
judgment. Who raised up the righteous man
from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before
him and made him rule over kings? He gave them as the dust to his
sword and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them and
passed safely, even by the way that He had not gone with His
feet. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from
the beginning? I the Lord, the first and with
the last, I am He. The isles saw it and feared the
ends of the earth, the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near
and came. They helped everyone his neighbor,
and everyone said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter
encouraged the goldsmith. And he that smoothed with the
hammer, him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering. And he fastened it with nails,
that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art my servant. Jacob, And every time we read
Jacob, we need to remember that means sinner. Whom I have chosen,
the seed of Abraham, my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the
ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof,
and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee,
and not cast thee away. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be
as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou
shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even them that contended
with thee. They that war against thee shall
be as nothing and as a thing of naught. For I, the Lord thy
God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I
will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and
you men of Israel. I will help thee, saith the Lord,
and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." I redeemed you with
my own blood. You don't think I'm going to
help you now, when you need it now? Wait on the Lord. Is the Lord going to help me?
Is the Lord going to send me another message? I gotta stand up in three days. I gotta stand up in two days.
I gotta stand up in one day. Is the Lord gonna send me a message?
Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He will strengthen
thine heart. He'll strengthen thine heart.
The law, sin, acknowledgement of it, seeing the holiness of
God and the unholiness of myself. The law is the needle that pierces
the heart. But through that piercing, a
way is made for the thread of the gospel to bind it back up. Now go back over with me to our
text. I want you to look at this last point with me. Psalm 27. Verse 14, he says, wait on the
Lord, be of good courage. He shall strengthen thine heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. David is writing this from experience. Experience. He's saying, you'll
see. You'll see. Wait, I say on the
Lord. You're never more adamant about
something. You're never more convinced about
something until you've experienced that. You know that? David experienced this and then
he wrote down his experience for all of us to read it. and
see it, see how great things the Lord did for him. He said,
wait I say on the Lord. Why? I'll show you why. Go to
Psalm 40. Psalm 40. I love this. Psalm 40 says, David
says, I waited patiently for the Lord. I had to. I had no choice but
to wait. If you got a margin, look at
it right there. It says, in waiting, I waited. We don't have any patience. The
Lord makes us wait. I waited for the Lord and He
inclined unto me. We stand up and say, call on
the Lord, beg Him for mercy and you shall receive it. How do
you know? I did. He inclined unto me. That means
He bent down. He inclined unto me and heard
my cry. I waited at His door in prayer.
And while I waited, He was listening to me cry. You know, it's amazing that this
Almighty God would hear us at all. Now, enter into this thought,
okay? It's amazing that this holy Almighty
God would hear us at all. It's so amazing that He would
stoop that low to hear us at all. Here ought to be all of
our question. Why would we ever grow impatient
waiting on Him? That He would hear us at all.
But I do. I've been praying to Him for
a week now. No answer. It's not time to answer. Why
would we ever grow impatient waiting on Him? Learning who
we really are, we're filthy, vile sinners. God doesn't have
anything to do with sin. Learning who He really is, He's
holy. He hates sin. Learning the truth about all
that will make us willing to wait. I'll wait. If you'll hear
me at all, I'll wait. David said, I waited patiently
for the Lord, verse 2, and He brought me up also out of an
horrible pit, out of the miry clay. Back in David's day, they
didn't have nice comfortable prisons like we have today. Comfortable. If they were going
to hold a prisoner, the enemy, they would dig a pit in the ground.
That's what they did. They dug a pit in the ground.
And they dug it so deep, the man couldn't get out. It had to be deep. If somebody
put me down in a pit, I'm going to do everything in my power
to get out. Everything. So these pits, they were deep.
And the deeper you go, the darker it becomes. You ever look down
into a hole? A well or something? The deeper you go, the colder
it becomes. Miserable. Miserable. Muddy. There were no bathroom facilities
down there. Just a vile, stinking, horrible
pit. Spiritually speaking, have you
ever been there? Have you ever been there? In a dark place? Have you ever
felt a cold heart? Indifference to the Word of God.
Indifference. Have you ever felt that? Have you ever struggled just
sinking into the miry clay? I'm trying to be holy and I'm
trying to be spiritual and I'm trying to get a step up and walk,
but I'm just, I can't go anywhere. You ever felt that? It's miserable. Have you ever seen or smelt or
felt your own vile pollution? Sin. If you have, wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. David says, I'm telling you from
personal experience, He'll strengthen your heart. If you belong to
Him, He is not going to leave you there. He'll strengthen your
heart. He said, I waited patiently for
the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought
me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and
set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. I was
in the pit of sin, and He lifted me out. I was in the pit of false
religion, and He lifted me out. I was in the pit of self-righteousness,
and He lifted me out. How did He do that? He brought
me down. That's how He lifted me out. He brought me down. Ironic, isn't it? He lifted me out. In loving kindness, Jesus came. He came to me where I was. He came to me where I was. Now
listen, let me tell you how great things the Lord did for me, okay?
He came to me where I was. You know where I was? In that
pit. My soul in mercy to reclaim,
and from the depths of sin and shame through grace, He lifted
me. He came to me where I was, and
He became what I am. A prisoner of the pit. That song says, His brow was
pierced with many a thorn, His hands by cruel nails were torn,
When from my guilt and grief forlorn, In love He lifted me. He came to me where I was, He
became what I was, and He caused me to be what He is. Now on a higher plane I dwell,
and with my soul I know tis well. Yet how or why, I cannot tell.
He should have lifted me. Why me? Why would He do that
for me? Here's what He did. He crawled
down into that pit and lifted me up out. He crawled down into that pit
and lifted me out. He took my place. Took my place. Verse 2 says, He brought me up
also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my
feet on a rock, and established my goings, and He put a new song
in my mouth. What is that song? On Christ
the solid rock I stand. I'm telling you from experience. All other ground, is sinking
sand. Verse 3, He hath put a new song
in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see, the
word it is in italics, many shall see and fear and shall trust
in the Lord. When God opens a sinner's eyes
to see what Christ has done for him, Christ got down in the pit
for me and lifted me out. When God opens a sinner's eyes
to see what Christ has done for him, that sinner will fear God,
and that sinner will trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. All those things happened to
Job. And you know what Job's wife
said to him? Why don't you just curse God
and die? And Job said, though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him. The Lord asked Peter, will you
go away also? Peter said, to whom shall we
go? You're it. There's no other place to go.
I trust you. The Lord told Abraham that he
was going to have a seed as the stars of the sky. Children. Abraham had two boys, Ishmael
and Isaac. Here's what God said. Send Ishmael
away. Okay. Kill Isaac. Okay. But I'm going to have a
seed as the stars of the sky? How did it turn out for Abraham?
Exactly like the Lord said it would. exactly like He said it
would. Many shall see and fear and trust
in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Wait on the
Lord. Be of good courage. He shall
strengthen thine heart. So wait, I say, on the Lord.
All right, let's stand together.