Psalm 43, title of the message,
Send Out Thy Light and Truth. I pray that be so tonight. I
pray that God, by His grace, will send out His light and truth
to us here tonight. If He does and He sends it out
in power, we will have a true worship service. Now, some say that this psalm
is a continuation of Psalm 42. It's an appendix to it. But I
believe it can stand on its own. As we travel through this world,
we experience much of the same each day, and therefore our prayers,
our prayers are much the same every day. You see, back in Psalm
42, David said, why art thou cast down on my soul, and why
art thou disquieted in me? And he says the same thing. He
ends Psalm 43 by saying the same thing. You know, over in Matthew chapter
26, our Lord was in the garden, and He went and prayed, and He
came to be with His disciples, and they were asleep, and He
went and prayed, and He came back again. And the third time,
it says, He went and prayed and said the same things, saying
the same words. How many times have you said
the same thing over and over and over? And that's what David
does here. I believe David wrote this. Now,
in this first verse, there are three requests. First, he says,
be my judge. That's a bold request to ask
God to be your judge, because God is a just judge. He judges
righteously. And he says, be my judge. And
then he said, be my advocate. Plead my cause. Be my advocate. There can be no greater advocate
than God. If God is my advocate, then my
case will be won if he's my advocate. And then he says, deliver me. Be my judge, judge me, oh God,
be my advocate and deliver me. And he also says in the rest
of this psalm, he says, thou art my strength and my hope.
In all of life, in all of the situations that God's people
come into, God is their strength and their hope all the way to
the end. Judge me, O God, and plead my
cause against an ungodly, unmerciful nation. O deliver me from the
deceitful and unjust man. First of all, God is the judge. He's the judge. Abraham called
Him the judge of all the earth. He said, shall not the judge
of all the earth do right? He is a righteous judge, a just
judge, and His judgments are always right. Always. It is written in Revelation 19
too, for true and righteous are His judgments. His judgments
are always right. And believers are not afraid.
Those who believe God, they understand the gospel. They are not afraid
to appeal to God as their judge and ask God to judge them or
vindicate them. That's what he's saying here,
vindicate me. And I also thought about this
as I was going over this and never crossed my mind before.
But this also shows that David had a clear conscience. concerning
his past sins. You remember Bathsheba and Uriah? And now he's going to call God
in to be the judge? And when I read that today, I
thought, for the first time, he really has to have a real
clear conscience and a real understanding of salvation by grace. through
the substitute, through the sacrifice, through the blood atonement,
that his sins are gone. If you're going to call God in
as a judge, you better have no sins. And in this sense, in this
sense, he can call God in as his judge because he has a clear
conscience that his sins have been put away. My sins are gone. Do you really know that and believe
that, that your sins are gone? and God can be my judge. I can
call God in to vindicate me. Now, first of all, when he says
this, and these are my thoughts as I was reading this, Judge
me, O God, first of all, judge me in Christ, or vindicate me
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where it starts. In Christ,
all God's children can appeal to God's justice and righteousness. We can. In Christ we stand justified. In Christ we stand holy. In Christ
we stand righteous. It would be absolute foolishness
to ask God to be my judge if I do not believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That would be absolute foolishness.
It would be a display of my ignorance of who God is and who I am. But in Christ, through His righteousness,
through His blood, through His sacrifice, I can say unto God,
vindicate me, judge me, O God. In Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, I can ask God to take up my cause against my foes. I can ask God to take up my cause
against my own sins. Because in Christ they're put
away. God can be a just God and a Savior. God can be a just God
and save me. I understand that. I understand
that He can forgive me of my sins through the blood of Jesus
Christ and His righteousness. He can do that. Because His blood
answers for my sins. They answer for them. Now, someone
said this, and I thought this was good. In asking God to vindicate
me is not only for me, but for God also. For God to vindicate
me would be the same as God vindicating Himself, because in Him we are
one. Are we not? We're one. Is not
Christ the head and we the body? So for Him to vindicate me is
really also a vindication of God. And then he says here, plead
my cause, strive for my cause, advocate for me. Be my advocate. That's what he's asking. Plead
my cause, be my advocate. In 1 John 2.1, My little children,
these things write I unto you, that you sin not, and if any
man sin, and we are aware of our sin day by day, aren't we?
Day by day, we know we sin. We know we do, and we need an
advocate. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
We have God advocating with God on our own behalf. Listen to Romans 8, 33 and 34.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's little act? It is God that justifies. It
is God who justifies them. Who is He that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. He died in their place. He died
under condemnation. He died under the wrath of God.
He died by condemnation. Yea, rather, that He's risen
again. He's risen for our justification. Is He not? Who is even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. He's advocating
for us. Right now, even now, He advocates
for us. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? O God, be my judge, plead my
cause, and deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man, the
man who comes to me with flattery, but his intentions are evil.
The world, don't listen. We should not be fooled. The
world does not love us. The world does not like you.
If you really have an opportunity to stand for the gospel, for
the truth, you'll find out that your friends, what you thought
were friends out there, are not your friends. Not if you tell
the truth. And if you're God's children,
you will. You will. but deliver me from the deceitful
and unjust man." We always look to God to deliver us from the
ungodly. And I tell you this, I asked
God to deliver me from this deceitful old man that I was born with. The heart is deceitful above
all things, desperately wicked. Who could know it? Who could
know? I can't even know my own heart.
I don't know and you don't know the real depth of depravity. or the real depth of how deceitful
our old wicked heart is. Deliver me from that too. And
I know this also. Our enemies are too strong for
us as the wolf is too strong for the lamb. Satan's too strong
for me. Wicked men are too strong for
me. There was a time when I was young and foolish and I thought
I was strong. I thought I was. I did. I was
cockier than all get out. And then I learned, I've learned
over the years, there's nothing strong about me at all. Just
God withdraw his hand a little bit. Deliver me from the deceitful
and unjust man. And this cry is known by all
God's children. At one time or another, we have
to cry unto the Lord to deliver us from the ungodly, from the
deceitful man. And here's the reason we cry
unto God. For Thou art the God of my strength. Why dost Thou
cast me off, and why go I mourning because of the oppression of
the enemy? But the first thing He does say is, Thou art the
God of my strength. My strength comes from God. It is sustained by God. God is
our physical strength. The strength that we have physically,
God's given it to us. He's our emotional strength.
I tell you what, if He pulls His hand back, we'll fall apart.
We will fall apart. He's our emotional strength.
And He's our spiritual strength. He's the one, He gives us strength
to believe Him. He gives us strength to follow
Him. He gives us strength in time of trouble. He is the one
who gives us, when you go through the water, I'll go with you. He's the one who gives us our
strength. We never look to the arm of this flesh to deliver
us. Listen to Isaiah 31.1, Woe to
them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses. and trust in chariots because
they are many." How foolish is it to trust a horse? He's showing us here how foolish
it is. They pride themselves in their horses and their war
horses, but how foolish it is to trust in a dumb animal more
than God. because they are many, and in
horsemen because they are very strong. But they look not unto
the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord." Now I know this,
and I want to say this after reading this and saying what
I've said. I know that God is a God of means. It doesn't mean
if you're sick you don't go to the doctor. It doesn't mean that. God is a God of means, but the
first means is God. He is God. Let us never lean
on the arm of flesh or the means for deliverance, but God. But God. Pray about it. Seek the Lord about it. And if
you need to go to the doctor, go to the doctor. And pray. And
pray. And I've heard this so many times
when I was Back at 13th Street in Henry's, the pastor, so many
times in the study, somebody would be sick, and they'd pray
that the Lord would give the doctors wisdom and give them
the ability to deal with the problem. That's leaning on the
Lord, using the means, but never taking up with the means. And then here's a good question.
Since the Lord is my strength, why dost thou cast me off, he
says? Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemy?" You ever felt like that? I know
you have. I know you have. I have felt
like that, and I know you're just like me. The answer is this, first of
all. God never cast off His people. God never cast off His people.
He says, in Lamentations, for the Lord will not cast off forever,
but though he calls grief, yet will he have compassion according
to the multitude of his mercies. He does not cast off his people.
He said over in Hebrews 13, 5, I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. God will never, ever, ever, ever
leave any of His children for any reason whatsoever. He will
not do it. That's His promise. I will never
leave you nor forsake you. But I do know this. Sometimes
under the chastening hand of God, it seems like we've been
cast off. It seems like we've been cast
off clean. It seems like the Lord is clean
gone. But we know God has given us spiritual intelligence. We
know it's not so. That's not so. Even though we
may say it in a fit, but it's not so. I was thinking today,
I thought usually if we look at our lives and our spiritual life that I'm
talking about, such as reading God's Word. Do we read God's Word often?
Are we really in the Word of God often? I've learned this,
to be weak in the Word is to be weak in faith, is to be weak
in prayer. You'll be weak in every other
area if you're weak in the Word of God, if I'm weak in it. Prayer. Do we seek the Lord often
in prayer? Do we seek real communion? I was thinking about this. Do
I seek real communion? Listen, there's a difference
in praying and asking God for help and for mercy and casting
your burden upon the Lord and seeking to have real communion
with God. to get alone, and to seek the
Lord, to have real communion. Not just to cast your cares upon
Him, but to actually commune with God. Have fellowship. Just like, you know, if we come
over to each other's house, we come over to have fellowship.
That's what we do. And here, In verse 43, we have
the remedy for spiritual depression and for our trouble. Oh, send
out thy light and thy truth. Command your light and your truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring
me to thy holy hill and to thy tabernacle. Send out thy light
and thy truth. David acknowledges that he needs
light and truth. I need it. You need it. Lord, give me light and truth
from on high. It's sure not in this world,
and you're sure not going to get it in the schools. You're
not going to get it there. Not light and truth. You may
learn how to do math, you know. You may learn how to do science,
but you're not going to learn and get light and truth from
secular education. That comes from God. That comes
from on high, is where that comes from. Natural light and intelligence
will not do in this spiritual warfare. Natural light won't
do in darkness. If the light that is in you,
our Lord said, be darkness, how great is that darkness? David senses the deep darkness
he's in. And he said, Lord, send out Thy
light and Thy truth. is an acknowledgment of our dependence
on God for guidance. That's what he's saying. Guide
me with your light. Illuminate me. It's an acknowledgment of our
dependence on God. We need heavenly light, and it
must be sent. It must be sent. This light abides
with God. We know that God is sovereign,
and the light goes forth at His command. He says, here, send out thy light. It's of God, it comes from heaven,
and it's the sovereign command of God to send it out. And truth, these go together. One without the other will not
work for our good. But together we see and understand
the right way. We see which way to go. It says in Psalm 119, Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And here's the purpose for the
request of sending out the light and truth, God's light and truth. Let them lead me. Let them lead
me. Let them bring me into Thy holy
hill and to Thy tabernacle." It's a desire to be led by divine
wisdom all along the journey. I need it all the time. I need
God's light and truth all the time. Not just for the moment,
but throughout our whole journey here on this earth. David here,
what he's doing and what we do is we look to God for counsel
and instructions and directions is what we look for. God's light
and truth keeps us from turning aside. If God gives us light
and truth, it'll keep us from turning aside and being duped
by Satan and men. Send forth thy light and truth
to guide me that I be not sidetracked. And notice where the light and
truth lead to. Let them bring me into thy holy hill and to
thy tabernacle, to the presence of God. That's why he desires
light and truth, that they bring me to the presence of God. And what he's talking about here,
to the place of worship, where the people of God gather. Remember
back in Psalm 42, that's what he desired, is to be with God's
people. They lead me to God's presence,
and then light and truth lead us to true worship. You can't
have true worship without light and truth. It's impossible. Christ, who is the light, and
Christ, who is the truth, we must have Him if we are to have
true worship. If we are to have the presence
of God, we must have the presence of God in the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the light and who is the truth. And then it's to bring him, as
I said, to the gathering with God's people. That's what David
greatly desired. He greatly desired to be with
the Lord's people. Then David desired here, he desired
to not only be with God's people and be at the tabernacle, but
to be where the altar of God was. Then will I go unto the altar
of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will
I praise thee, O God my God." But he says here, I will go to
the altar of God. Why does he mention the altar
of God? Because the altar was the place where God was worshipped
by sacrifice. Where's our altar? Well, I'll
tell you where our altar is. It's seated at God's right hand.
Christ is our altar. He's our altar. We have an altar.
And it's not made of wood and it's not down in front of a building. Our altar is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And what He's saying here, then will I go into the altar of God
where the sacrifice is made and where God's presence is, the
place of reconciliation, the place of atonement. There, God
can be a just God and a Savior. There, God can be God and deal
with this sinner. I can commune with God there.
And brethren, in Christ, we can commune with God. He's our altar.
He's our sacrifice. He's our priest. He's our advocate.
His blood is the atonement of our sins. He's our everything.
He's our everything. And he says here that God, and
I sat back and thought about this for a little while today,
God is my exceeding joy. And I said, John, can you say
that God is your exceeding joy? That communion with God, the
presence of God exceeds all of the joys that you have in this
life. He exceeds all of it. He's our exceeding joy. And then in consideration here,
in closing, of all that God is and what He is to me and what
He's done for me, David says this, Why art thou cast down,
O my soul? Why are you cast down and why
art thou disquieted within? Why are you so disturbed? Why
are you so anxious? Why are you so unrested? There's so much unrest in your
soul. Why? Seeing that God is my God? Seeing
that God has redeemed me? Seeing that God has put away
my sins? Seeing that all things are of
God? Seeing that all my trials are of God? Why are you cast
down? Why? Why, why, why am I cast
down when I have victory already in Christ? A real lively hope in Christ
will lift the soul out of despair. It will. And what is this hope
he's talking about? For I shall yet praise Him who
is the health of my countenance and my God. We have a sure and
abiding hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. A hope that can't be
destroyed. A hope that can't be even diminished,
even in the least. We have a real living hope in
Jesus Christ that we shall praise God here and hereafter. Listen
to Romans 15, 13, I'll close. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost.