We're going to see here in this
psalm a promise. And there's some aspects of that promise,
which is part of the promise too. Those are promises. And
then we see a believer's response to these things. And then a believer's
cry to be heard. That's so popular in our culture
right now. Everybody wants to be heard.
Don't they? You didn't hear me. I want to
be heard. I want to be seen. By man, they're telling the truth.
They're telling the absolute truth. We'll be heard of men
and seen of men. Ah, we'd be heard of God. What a thought. Psalm 20, verse
1. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The Lord hears you. He will hear
you. That's what it's saying. The
Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God
of Jacob defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary.
and strengthen thee out of Zion. Remember all thy offerings and
accept thy burnt sacrifices. Selah. Pause. Soak that in. Grant thee according
to thine own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. We will rejoice
in thy salvation. And in the name of our God, we
will set up our banners. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Now know I that the Lord saveth
his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust
in chariots and some in horses. but we will remember the name
of the Lord our God. They were brought down and fallen,
but we are risen and stand upright. Save, Lord. Let the King hear
us when we call." Here's the promise. The Lord hears thee,
or the Lord will hear thee in the day of trouble. That's what
he said. If we know what that means, we
can go out the door right now, get in the car, go home and be
happy the rest of the week. You can go home rejoicing if
you know what that means. And if you don't know what that
means, oh, I hope the Lord shows this morning. I hope you'll hear
me. The Lord hears you in the day of trouble. He'll hear you
in the day of trouble. What's the day of trouble? We think our inconveniences are
trouble and we're wrong. We think in our old nature, a
wicked old man, we came into this world again. We think the
pain in this body, the pain in this mind, the woes of life,
we think that's trouble. That ain't trouble. It's inconveniences. We think stubbing our toe is
trouble. You know what I mean? We looked at that blind man Wednesday
night. Our sin makes us think his physical blindness was trouble. Oh, he's in trouble. How's he
going to make it to the store? How can he go here? You have to go
to the grocery store, don't you? Well, I can't do all this other
stuff. I can't do this or that. Well, you go to the grocery store
if you get hungry, won't you? He'd have trouble doing that,
wouldn't he? We think that's trouble. That's not trouble.
That's not trouble. The day of trouble is when we
are troubled over the sin that we are. That's trouble. You think you've got problems,
that's a problem. You think you've got troubles, that's some trouble.
That's trouble. Not sins, plural, that we have
committed, though we truly mourn those. The ones we're aware of,
I wish I'd never done them, wish I'd keep from doing them. That
we mourn our sins, but the sin that we are. Not the fact that
we got caught. I used to hate that. You know,
do something wrong, I didn't really hate that I did something
wrong, I hate I got caught doing it. Because punishment is going
to come and I just send my boy to all that. Chasing is not pleasant. I don't want that. Everyone cries
on the day of personal unpleasant things, don't they? Oh God. It's all around us. Crying unto
God. OMG and people write things out.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. Floods coming. They're going
to flash floods up in Arizona. Somebody's on top of their car
crying. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God. Oh Lord. He said, Not
everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven. They ain't in trouble. They might be in
a flash flood on top of their car with their kids inside of
it. They got a problem on their hands. They ain't in trouble.
That ain't the day of trouble. But the day of trouble when the
Lord will hear. That day is that day when we
are convicted of sin. When we see what we are by nature.
What runs through our veins. The curse that not only all of
mankind is born of Adam, but that I am. You understand that? I believed in total depravity.
And then I realized after years, I was totally depraved. There's men and women all around
this nation right now dying and going to hell because they think
they know God. He would give them trouble. I
mean come to them and shake them up. And not hear who Christ is
and what we are, and then get through and say, hey, what's
on TV last night? Y'all better call Saul's season finale's tomorrow.
Did you know that? If I could shake them. What I would give to bump into
someone that was in trouble. I hardly know anybody that's
in trouble. It breaks my heart. If I could find somebody that
was in sin trouble, eternal trouble, the kind of trouble that makes
you just collapse, makes you cry, makes you go, ah, and moan
out because you can't do nothing else because you see what you
are. All that kind of trouble makes you only see what you are
and your need of forgiveness. It's desperate trouble. It's
reckless trouble. You'll do things that natural
man won't do. You'll forsake things natural
man won't forsake. You'll turn from things natural
man wants to cling to. Go do something different. You don't
care what's going on around you. This is terrible trouble. And
you know what I'm troubled over most? I'm troubled over how much
I'm not troubled. I'm troubled at how comfortable
I am in this skin and in this body and in this world and in
this government and in this country and in this whole thing. And
I'm like, well, what they did down the street was wrong, and
what I did, I probably shouldn't have done that. We become so
calloused to sin, don't we? Me, I have become so calloused. Remember when you was a little
kid and you do something, mom and daddy find out, and you just weep because
you knew you offended them? That goes, what happened to that?
We become calloused to sin, don't we? Me, right now. You, right
now. You're calloused to sin. What
a shame. If you or I are ever brought
across the path of someone like that, that's troubled, not calloused,
but troubled, their heart's ripped open. It's been plowed through.
It's dirt like Adam, and a plow went through it and busted the
ground. It's trouble. Here's really, really good news.
This is life-changing news. You're going to be different.
You ain't going to be the same. The LORD, L-O-R-D, all caps,
the self-existent One, He hears you. He hears you. Abimelech did not cry out to
the Lord as we saw earlier. The Lord spoke to him. The Lord
taught him something, I think. But others did, didn't they?
When John, there in Revelation 1.17, he fell on his face like
a dead man. He was dead. What happened to
Job? Job abhorred himself. He tore his clothes. Covered
himself with sackcloth and ashes. That's somebody that's in trouble.
Not like, oh, well, what's the team at total deprivation? Yeah,
I got that. Different. Night and day. Life and death.
That's a difference. Isaiah. Oh, that great prophet. He saw the Lord high and lifted
up. His train filled the temple.
What did he cry? Woe is me! I'm a man of uncleanness. I'm undone! Then he said, well
I saw God and I'm going to teach. I'm going to start a Bible school
and I'm going to have a seminary and I'm going to go around and
I'm going to correct everybody. He said, woe is me! That's the day
of trouble, isn't it? That's a good kind of trouble.
That's when God's about to save somebody, isn't it? Those that
are in spiritual trouble are those that cannot defend themselves
from the law they've offended. They can't defend themselves
to the Lord who gave that law. We have no leg to stand on. We
can't be our own advocate. We have no defense from the powers
of the Prince of the Air, Satan. We ain't no match. We have no
defense from that eternal death we rightly earned. We have no
defense of ourselves in every breath that we take throughout
the day. If we was alone on a deserted island, we have no defense of
ourselves. Totally helpless, without covering,
without a shield. Undefended. Look at what he says.
Psalm 20 verse 1. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. He's going to defend you. You
can't defend yourself. He's going to defend you. Who's
going to defend you? The name of the God of Jacob. His name
will defend thee. What's His name? What is his
name? What's his namesake? Call his
name Jesus, for, because, he shall save his people from their
sins. Is that what we call him? Do we call him wonderful? That
one that said, woe is me, he wrote this too. Call his name
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
The Prince of Peace. We call His name the Lord provides,
Jehovah Jireh, don't we? He's provided all this. The Lord
that heals you, that's His name. He's our peace, the Lord our
peace, the Lord our shepherd. Jehovah Sikhenu, the Lord our
righteousness. The Lord our banner, Jehovah Nisi, that's His name.
That's who's gonna defend you. He hears us. Why? Jehovah's shaman, the Lord's
present. He's with you. Oh, I'm with you always. Those
in trouble, those that cry out to be heard are heard and this
is who defends them. That's good news. That's good
news. Man ain't nothing in salvation
to the Lord. That's good news. That really
is. People chop my head off for it. There's a semicolon there. More to follow. More about this.
Verse 2. send the help from the sanctuary and strengthen thee
out of Zion." He's going to send you help from His sanctuary and
He's going to strengthen you out of His holy mountain, Mount
Zion. The name of the God of Jacob.
The namesake of the self-existent one, Christ. He's going to defend
those in the day of trouble that He sends the trouble. That's
the only ones. And He's going to send that help
out of His sanctuary. What kind of help? Is He going
to be your co-pilot? No. It's like a father helping
a toddler. You want me to help you with
that? That means I'm going to do everything in your presence.
You're just going to watch it. Doesn't it? We understand that
with little children. You've got to be like a little child
to enter the kingdom of God, don't you? He's going to have to do everything
and you're going to have to be witness to it. That's why we're called witnesses
of Christ. We've seen what He did. We just tell you what He
did. We just tell you what He says. David said, I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Let us
go to His sanctuary. That's what some people call this auditorium. They call it a sanctuary. I never
ever called it that. That's what it's known as, right?
This is the house of God. It's where He dwells. It's His sanctuary.
It's where saints are gathered. And He's going to strengthen
us out of His holy mount. What will happen in the sanctuary
where the saints meet? Turn over to Psalm 73. A few pages there, Psalm 73.
This is where the sacred things of
God are gathered. That's His people and where Christ
is preached. He's going to send help out of
His sanctuary in our day, isn't He? Psalm 73. Verse 1 says, Truly
God is good to Israel, even to such as are of clean heart. But
as for me, My feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh
slid. For I was envious at the foolish,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no
bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They're not
troubled, they're not in trouble. as other men. Neither are they
plagued like other men. Therefore pride encompassed them
as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt. They
speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set
their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through
the earth. Therefore his people were turned hither, and the waters
of a full cup were wrung out to them. And they say, how doth
God know? And is there knowledge in the
Most High? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the
world. They increase in riches. Verily,
I have cleansed my heart in vain. I have washed my hands in innocency.
For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning.
If I say, I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against
the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. You know what happened to David
here? Same thing happened to me yesterday. I was just tore
up and I thought, well, I'll go to a water polo game, hit
the reset button, get away from the desk, then I'll get a message,
then I'll get a message. And I saw people driving around,
I saw people walking around, and I thought, look at them.
They have a weekend. They have Saturdays off, do whatever
they want. Sunday, go to the beach, go ride four-wheels, do
whatever you want, go fishing. And I thought, they're walking
around, their eyes are bugged out with fatness, they're just content, and they're
blaspheming God, and He ain't killed them yet. What am I doing? And I thought that in my head.
And I thought, what blasphemy that is, and it would offend
the generation of God's children. And I thought to know this, it
was too painful for me. Boy, I shut down. I was in trouble. I saw my sin. I saw what I was. I was in trouble. Verse 17 says,
until. That's what happened wasn't it? Until I went to the sanctuary
of God. Until I went to His house. Then
I understood their end. I knew I was a sinner. I've had
a day of trouble. He's heard me. I have everlasting
life. Oh, I see they're in now. Now
I ain't so mad at them. Now I ain't so jealous and envious,
which is two separate things. Now my heart hurts for them.
I'm going to pray for them. We just sang that, didn't we?
That first song, I used to not like that song. I wouldn't sing
it down there. I'd sing it from up here. Let's
pray. Pray for me that the Word of
God could be preached. And pray for sinners. God would
save sinners. And pray He keeps us till we
see Him coming. Pray He girds His loins about and serves us
at that dinner table. What a thought that is. It's
too good to hear, isn't it? David was at peace when he was
brought to remember he was a vessel of God's mercy and grace. Nothing
else matters. He saw his sin, nothing else
mattered, didn't it? And his trouble was eased. His
defense was made known. His help was present with him
and he was strengthened right then. Right then. When we need
the Lord, truly, when anyone is made to know what sin they
are, when whosoever sees what a wretch they are, the Lord sends
help immediately out of His throne of grace because He's made them
so. A sinner is a precious thing. The Holy Spirit's made them so.
God's done that. That's the work of the Holy Spirit,
isn't it? What about the elect? I thought about that some of
you. Well, you didn't say election. They're the ones that cry. They're
the ones God looks on first and makes them cry out. What a thought. The Lord does it. He sends from
His sanctuary, from His throne, He sends help in time of trouble.
You think about that. Nothing's changed. Look here
at Daniel 9. You got Ezekiel, Daniel, forget Hosea, he went
too far. Daniel 9. Our Lord is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He does not change. Look what
happened to Daniel. I love this. Daniel's praying
here. He's in woe. And we'll kind of
look at just parts of this prayer. And in Daniel 9, verse 4, And
I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said,
O Lord, the great and dreadful God, Keep the covenant and mercy
to them that love Him and to them that keep His commandments.
We have sinned. We have committed iniquity. We
have done wickedly. We have rebelled even by departing
from Thy precepts and from Thy judgments. Look down at verse
10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to
walk in His laws which He has set before us by His servants,
the prophets. We just ignored them. Yea, all
Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that
they might not obey thy voice. Therefore the curse is poured
upon us." It's poured on us. An oath that is written in the
law of Moses, the servant of God, because we have sinned against
God. We've sinned against Him. Verse
16, O LORD, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech
thee, let thy anger and thy fury be turned away from the city
of Jerusalem, thy holy mountain, thy Zion. Because for our sins
and for the iniquities of our Father, Jerusalem and thy people
are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now therefore,
O God, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplications
and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate
for the Lord's sake. Have your spirit meet with us,
Lord, when we gather to worship. Come here to your sanctuary,
come to your people where they're gathered. Verse 18, Oh my God,
incline thine ear and hear, hear, that's what he's begging, isn't
it? Open thine eyes and behold our desolations and the city
which is called by thy name for we do not present our supplications
before thee for our righteousnesses. Lord, we're not praying this
because we've cleaned up the outside of our cup. We're not
praying this because we knew to pray. Somebody taught us how
to pray. We know fancy words to tell you.
That's not it. He's praying, but for thy great
mercies. Here, Lord, be merciful, Lord. I'm in trouble. I'm a sinner.
We all are. Come to us. Be with us. Come
to your sanctuary. Verse 19. Oh, Lord, here. O LORD,
forgive! O LORD, hearken and do! You do! Defer not! For thine own sake,
O my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
Don't forget us, Lord. Stay with us. Verse 20, this
is beautiful. And while I was speaking and
praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel,
and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the
holy mountain of my God, yea, while I was speaking in prayer,
even the man Gabriel... Does that say the man Gabriel?
We'll see in just a second. Even the man, Gabriel, whom I
had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly
swiftly, that's urgently, right then, with haste, being caused
to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me and talked
with me and said, Oh Daniel, I have now come forth to give
thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications,
right when you started praying, Daniel, when he was in trouble,
you called out to God, the commandment came forth. And I am come to
show thee, for thou art greatly beloved. Therefore, understand
the matter and consider the vision. You're loved. At the beginning
of your prayer, a commandment was made. And I had to fly with
haste, I had to fly swiftly to you. Give you understanding,
talk to you, and tell you the Lord loves you. You're His. You're
bought with a price. You're not your own. He's your
defender. What just happened? The Lord
was listening. He heard Daniel cry. He heard Daniel pray to Him and
beg for mercy and call out in true trouble and mercy. And he
looked over to Gabriel and he said, go to Daniel right now.
You get that? Comfort him. Strengthen him.
Defend him. Tell him I'm his defender. Talk
with him. Give him understanding. Let him know I hear him. Let
him know I love him. You go tell him right now. I'll
never forsake him. I'm with him always. Go tell
him. Go tell him. While he began praying, what
a blessing. Daniel was heard. A sinner that
didn't earn grace, didn't deserve mercy, was heard. And immediately
the Lord heard and defended and helped and strengthened him by
one of his servants. He took one of his servants and sent his
servant to him. Is that just Old Testament stuff? Or is there
an Old Testament God and a New Testament God? No, there's not.
He doesn't change. Nothing's changed. Turn over to Acts chapter
9. This is beautiful too. Acts chapter 9. The Lord had met this man who
had marching orders to go persecute the Church of God, thinking he
was doing the Lord's bidding. Drunk in religion. Named Saul
of Tarsus, and the Lord met him. He went to where he was. He gave
him some trouble. He was blind spiritually and
he didn't know it, so God made him blind physically. He blinded
the eyes of Saul of Tarsus. He said, why you persecute me?
He declared to him that him and his people are one. Didn't he? The Lord is working in solitarsis. Acts chapter 9 verse 10. And
there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a
vision, Adonais? And he said, Behold, I am here,
Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go to the street
which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas
for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth. He's
praying. He's crying out. He's talking.
The Lord's hearing him. He knew he was praying because
he just said he's praying. Behold, he prayeth. And he hath
seen a vision, a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand
on him that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered,
Lord, I've heard by many of this man. how much evil he hath done
to thy saints at Jerusalem. And here he hath authority from
the priests to bind all that call on thy name." I get that. Ananias knew what he was walking
into. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a
chosen vessel unto me. to bear my name for the Gentiles
and kings and the children of Israel for I will show him how
great things he must suffer for my name's sake." And Ananias
went his way and entered into the house and put his hands on
him and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus that appeared
unto thee in the way as thou camest hath sent me Now my eyes
received thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately
there fell from his eyes as it had been scales. And he received
sight forthwith and arose and was baptized." He obeyed, didn't he? Did God
tell him to do that? He obeyed, didn't he? Oh, what
a thought. Remember when Phillip, the Lord
said, go down there to the Ethiopian, and it's on the side path. It
ain't the main road. You're going to have to go out of your way.
You go down there, get him, and Philip straight away went. He
ran, just like Gabriel, went immediately. He flew swiftly.
And Ananias was like, oh, okay. He said go. He had to make him,
didn't he? He was nervous, but he went. That happened to Daniel. It happened to Paul. 25, 28 years ago, God sent me
some trouble. All back. I was in trouble. First time ever. I knew about
trouble. I was in trouble. I knew about
war. I was in war. There's a difference, isn't there?
There's a difference between reading a book and gunslinging.
I knew about sin, now I knew I was sin. And immediately, because
it came out of the same mouth at the same time, two edges of
a sword. There was a man, like Gabriel was a man, standing there
giving me understanding. Well, I'd never seen that before.
I'd never heard that before. God was using a man to teach
me something. Show me what I was. Instruct
me. He was there giving me understanding. He told me who sent him. It wasn't
his idea to do the preaching. God sent him. He didn't do the
work or tell me to do a work. He said God did the work. He
told me you can't defend yourself. You ain't your reward. You ain't
gonna get crowns. Christ is your shield and your
exceeding great reward. That's what he told me. That
fast. What about today? Right now?
Maybe someone will be in trouble today. Finally. What would I tell them? Here's what God promised. Thus
saith the Lord. Does that get old to you? The Lord will do something else
too. He'll send his ambassador to give his message and just
say, this is what the Lord said. Just like Gabriel did, wouldn't
it? Just like Ananias did. Just like Henry did to me. Just
like I do to you. He's going to give life. He has
to bless it. I'm learning that more and more. I can stand up here
and scream and kick garbage cans. I can set this building on fire
or I can whisper and God ain't going to keep you awake and make
you listen to it unless he's pleased to do so. It don't make a difference. I'm nothing. He's all. I'm going
to keep telling you to bow to Him. Okay, that ain't enough. That's something, isn't it? The
Lord's going to do something else too. Back to our text. Psalm 20. You think
that's a lot to ask for? Mercy, grace to endure, defense,
strength, everlasting life. Paul wrote now unto Him that
is able to do exceedingly abundantly, exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think. He's able to do more than that.
He gives us more than what He just told us. We're not just
reset to zero and then we're left to sort out the rest. Alright,
He's heard you. He's sent some help now. Now
you're on your own. You better get holy. No. That's not right. That's a lie.
Look here at Psalm 21. We'll start in verse 1 again.
The Lord hear thee in the day of trouble. The name of the God
of Jacob defend thee. Send thee help from the sanctuary
and strengthen thee out of Zion. And remember all He remembers
all thy offerings and accepts thy burnt sacrifice. Stop and
think about that. He remembers all of our offerings
and He accepts our burnt sacrifices. Can you imagine that? That's
important. That's real important. What offerings
do I have? What burnt sacrifices do I have?
Christ. Christ. That's the only thing
we bring. That's the only thing we have
to offer. That's the only thing that's
accepted of Him as a bloody sacrifice. He is our propitiation, our accepted
bloody sacrifice, isn't it? Every job and every tittle of
the law, Him. Him. There's a whole lot required
of us. We don't even know the part of
Him. He's my offering. What do you bring? In my hand,
no price I bring. Simply to thy cross, I clean.
I clean His person and His work. That's it. And the Lord remembers
that. Has there been any times you brought offerings other than
that? Been times you sacrificed something different? Just like
Lot, just like Abraham, we saw it first there. Sarah, Abimelech,
don't make a difference. The Lord sees Christ in His people. That's good news. That's good
news. He remembers all of our offerings
and our sacrifices. Verse 4, Grant thee according
to thine own heart and fulfill all thy counsel. Speaking to
the child of God, He's going to fulfill, He's going to grant
you everything your heart desires. And He's going to fulfill everything
you want to come to pass. All your counsel, all your will.
Isn't that something? Anything you ask in His name,
He'll grant. But if we ask in His name, truly,
we're going to have to consider what the name of the God of Jacob
is, ain't we? We're going to have to think of who we're asking.
We're going to have to think that He's our defense. We're
going to have to think that He's our strength. That's going to
consider. We're going to come through the mind, isn't it? If we're
asking in His name, His blood was shed. All my blood's still
inside of me. It ain't worth nothing. And then
all of a sudden we think, you know what? I don't think I want
what I want. I want what He wants. Did you get that? for thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven." Now we desire His will
to be done. He's gave you a heart to want
to do that. That's called eternal life. You
must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. He's gave you
a heart that wants His will to be done. Natural man don't want
His will to be done. Hathen don't want that. What
a thought. What a thought. When there is
unbridled submission, crying out in true, true trouble, casting
all our care on Him who can save because there's absolutely no
other option. There's a response to that. When
we see all these things, we see He has to give a new heart. I
can't decide to do that. If I'm going to be saved, God's
going to have to do it. Man's nothing. If we see all
those things and we see Christ has to do all these things for
us and has, a believer does something. He does something. Look here
in verse 5. We will rejoice in thy salvation. Not my salvation.
Not mommy and daddy's salvation. I was born in a good family.
In thy salvation. We're going to rejoice. And in
the name of our God, we will set up our banners. We won't
promote ourselves no more. We'll promote Christ. The Lord
fulfill all thy petitions. He answers prayer. Now know I
that the Lord saveth His anointed. What's an anointed? That's something
in the temple. The Lord put oil on it. Whatever that oil touched,
that was separated, consecrated to God. That was for His service. And so those that He has anointed,
and He says that one's mine, He saveth His anointed. He shall
save His people. He won't lose one. He will hear
Him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right
hand." What's the strength of the Father's right hand? Christ's
sitting on His right hand. We will be turned from our idols.
You know what Paul said in Thessalonians? He wrote to Thessalonica. He
said, I know your election, brethren. And he said, you've turned from
idols. You knocked that religious junk off. Is that plain for today? You quit thinking you saved under
a false gospel and that's disgusting to you now. And you turn to Christ. We know that. That's what happened
to Adam and Eve. Did they still wear that fig
leaf underneath? That lamb's covering God made? God slew a
lamb and covered him? No. They left the fig leaf. They
had a new covering. What about Abraham? When he got
called out of earth? He was there worshiping idols
and that's throwing babies off of mountains and all kinds of stuff.
Did he stay there? No, he left, didn't he? He was turned from
it. Paul was preaching and loving
the Gentiles. That's a vast difference between
taking up arms to kill every one of them. He labored more than them all. We turn from there. Verse 7,
some trust in chariots and some in horses. Some have confidence
in the things of this world, the things that are seen. Touch
not, taste not, handle not, do this, don't do that. That's what
they have confidence in, like a big strong horse, like a chariot
that gets you around. Some have confidence in chariots
and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord,
our God. We'll remember everything He's
done. They are brought down to the fallen, but we are risen
and stand upright. David's writing, I'm risen with
Christ. Christ hasn't even been born
yet. Maybe we don't understand something
about an eternal holy God. Maybe we have something to learn.
We are risen with Christ. What a wonderful thing that is.
To know that right now I'm eternally secure in Him. Now I'm strengthened. Now I'm blessed beyond measure. I've had real trouble. What's
earthly trouble? So what? Good. Maybe the glory
of God is going to be manifest in somebody. Right? I wish I
had that confidence all the time. Now once this happens, do we
get our tambourine out and we get fancy bumper stickers and
we're just jolly and chipper all the time and we never get
sick ever again? We're happy for a season, ain't
we? But not continually. A friend of mine said this one
time. He might have got it from somebody else, but I'll use it. For a
true child of God, yesterday's mercies will not do. There must
be mercy today. Pay attention to me. I will say
it one more time. For a true child of God, yesterday's mercies
will not do. There must be mercy for today.
Lord, don't let me die in my sins. Well, ain't I walked with
Him for 28 years? Yeah, I have. And Lord, be merciful
today. Right now! Is He my defense and
my strength and my provider and my help and all these? He is!
And Lord, save me. That don't make no sense, Kevin.
It don't to a natural man, does it? It made sense to David. After everything David just wrote,
after everything the church had sang that day, this is their
hymnal, they sang, where do we end up at? We've had all this
learning. ever learning and never coming
to Christ. His people come to Him. Look here at verse 9. Save
Lord! Let the King hear us when we
call. Didn't He start out saying He
hears you when you call? That's right, He does! What's
going to happen again? Save me Lord! Hear me when I
call. What was Daniel crying? Was that
God's prophet? Hear me Lord! Hear me! He promised He's promised these
things. I want His promises. He taught me His promises. I
want to hear His promises. I don't want to get lax and complacent. What did the Lord say about Luke
1? He said, I'll spit you out of
my mouth. What can I respond to that? Save,
Lord. Isn't that it? Hear us. Give us trouble. Make
us cry. Hear us. He will. Amen.