Here in Psalm chapter 3, the
title of my message is three pauses. Three pauses. The term Selah, when we read
that, it means pause. It's a musical term. It means
stop the music. Take a break. We need that sometimes
in Psalms, don't we? We've got to catch our breath.
We've got to stop. Stop the music. Brother Ivan
Bark used to say, anytime you see Selah, you stop and look
for Christ. That's good advice, isn't it?
You see, Celia, you stop and look for Him. This is what David
has to write. It was so important for us to
read that this morning about Absalom. After Absalom did all those things
he'd done that we looked at, David fled, didn't he? And he
went and hid, and he wrote this psalm. This psalm for us. This is his psalm. It's every
believer's psalm. The children of God sang this.
When somebody ever says, every child of God thinks, does, says,
acts, whatever it is. When somebody says, every child
of God, I go, huh? Hush. Well, that's what that man has
to say. This is David's song. It's every child of God's song
because this is Christ's song. It's holy communication between
our Lord and the Lord. That's what it is. We need to
pause in some parts in there too. Look here in verse 1. Psalm
3 verse 1. Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God. Pause. But Thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head. I cried unto the
Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill." Pause. Dwell on it. I laid me down and slept. I wait, for the Lord sustained
me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands
of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise,
O Lord, save me, O my God, for Thou hast smitten all my enemies
upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people."
Paul's Selah. The first Paul, as we look at
here, in those first two verses, we're surrounded. Many are raised up against us.
They say that of David and of the Lord's people. God can't
even help them now. Look at them. You ever felt that
way? Have you ever been surrounded? I've had literally a horseshoe
of people around me before. Maybe just a little bit past.
going at me. And unlike Chesty Puller, you
say, that ain't a target-rich environment. You're about to
get overwhelmed, ain't you? Well, that's a good place to
be. Surrounded. Well, so we ain't got nothing
left to do but pray, right? That'll be the first thing we
do. Cry out, Lord! I'm surrounded. It's alright
to be surrounded. That's a good place to be. You
might cry out to God. A man don't need to Find a Jesus. He needs
to get lost. That's what he needs to do. We
need to get some help. We need to get brought down.
We need to be surrounded. This concerns David. It was his
experience and it's every believer's experience. But it's the believer's
life because this is our life, our walk in this world because
it was our Lord's experience on this earth. It says in verse
1, Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they
that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my
soul there is no help for him in God. David had so many people
throughout his life against him, didn't he? He was just a young
little shepherd boy and went against that giant, Goliath. Then Saul found out and the Lord
anointed him. The Lord found favor. He favored David. And Saul tried to kill him. And
then he tried to kill him. And after that, Saul tried to
kill him. I think he's upset with him,
wasn't he? He tried to surround him, send his people after him.
But the Lord kept David. The Lord sustained him. He hedged
him about. Later in life, David had so many
enemies come against him, and the Lord defeated every enemy
of David, didn't He? That's all external stuff. We
know Saul. We know he's a king. We know
these other ites. All the ites living around there
coming after him. The Philistines and all this. We know about that
stuff, don't we? We can read about that in a history book. Where is it going to hit
us home? You can read this scripture and
it ain't going to do a good for you until God makes it hit you
in the heart. Unless he comes where you live. That's what's
going to have to happen. Now his very own son, Absalom,
his third born, His own flesh and blood come after him. What an example. Absalom was
seeking to overthrow his father, who was his king too. It ain't
just that he's overthrowing a king, that's his dad. Half your DNA
comes from David Absalom. Get him out of here. That's your
king. Get rid of him. I can do a better
job. I'll kiss people on the hand.
I'll love on them. I'll be sweet to them. I'll say
comfortable things to them. I'll get them on my side. I'll
bleed their little hearts right over to me. Kindness and sweetness
and sugary grins. getting David out of there. I
got time for you. That's what he said. That's his
own son. The enemy of David was in his
own house from his own loins. And Absalom did it very sneaky,
didn't he? Did Absalom get up? Did the bad guy get up and say,
I'm the bad guy? No, what kindness, what thoughtfulness
of him to come and, let me, come here, let me talk to you. I got
a lot of stuff I'm going to tell you because I know more than
you know and I'm going to run off at the mouth. Go read Ecclesiastes
5.1. Walk into God's gates, you shut up. You hush. Be ready to
hear more than speak. As for speaking, he was speaking
soft and kind, wasn't he? It says, And it was so, when
any man came nigh unto him to do obstinance, he put forth his
hand, and took him, and kissed him. And on this manner did Absalom
to all Israel that came to the king for judgment. So Absalom
stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Let me lift you up a
little bit. Let me tell you what a good job you're doing. Doesn't
that sound like a good idea? The most handsome man in Israel,
it says in 2 Samuel chapter 14, he was the most handsome man
that walked. Crafty, smart, the king's very son sought to get
rid of him. But the Lord ended it. That's
the closest one to him. If anybody could get him, it
would be Absalom. He knows him in and out. Time and place, predictability, I've
got nothing on Absalom. He knows exactly where he is. The Lord
ended it. Joab, that one he used, Joab
killed him in battle. God killed David's enemy. That's
my son. That's my flesh and blood. God killed him. That's what was
right. God crushed every enemy. Turn
to Matthew chapter 10. Our Lord said of every one of
His children, you're going to have troubles, you're going to
have trials, you're going to have tribulations. They shall come
and it will come in our own families. Matthew 10 verse 34. Matthew 10 verse 34. Think not
that I am come to send peace on earth, I came not to send
peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes, your enemies, shall be they of thine own household."
They of thine own household. You're going to take up sides
with God against yourself, against your family, against your friends,
against your neighbors, against anybody it is. And whenever you
do, they're going to be mad at you. That's going to happen to
the child of God. Somebody's going to be upset
with you. I don't think you ought to be going in there listening to that. I don't think you ought
to think these things. What's wrong with you? Don't you know better?
I've had loved ones of mine, same blood going through their
veins as mine, raised by the same people. So how in the world
could you believe such nonsense? But be careful. What if I'm all
by myself? What if I live alone? Can there
be foes in my household? Can enemies surround me if I
was the only one on a deserted island? Would the words of the
Lord still ring true? I surround myself, don't I? My
biggest foe is right here, all by myself. That's my biggest
fear. It ain't the government. It ain't
the presidents and politicians and laws and all that nonsense
because that's what it is. God rules all those things. It's
me. I'm the wild one. I'm the unruly one. It says in
verse 37, He that loveth his father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me. God teach us what that meant.
We're to honor our mothers and fathers, aren't we? The Lord
told us that. Honor your mother and father.
And then whenever you get married, you leave mommy and daddy. But
you still honor them. You're still kind to them. You
don't listen to them no more. You departed. You cleaved to your
wife. Cleaved to your husband. But you still honor your folks.
But what does he mean that he that loveth father and mother
more than me is not worthy of me? Go against the gospel. To go against
Christ. To go against his word and say mommy and daddy was still
God's. Oh, they're in heaven. They're angels. They got wings
and playing harps and whatever nonsense people come up with.
No, God's true. I'm the liar. I'm just trying
to self-soothe, trying to make myself happy, trying to make
my conscience okay. Well, I'm sure that they was
the Lord, even though they never heard Him, they never followed
Him, never took up their cross, never did nothing, didn't care
to be with His people, love Him, serve Him, rejoice in trembling
with Him, kiss the Son, but they're God's people. What nonsense.
That's somebody trying to make themselves feel good. And he
that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that taketh not his cross and follow after me is not worthy
of me." I'm from people, Appalachia, I've seen a bunch of them grow
up, they get a big old wooden cross put on their shoulder and they
walk up down the road. That's them taking the cross. And I
was a small child. And that one guy saw me and said,
Daddy, what's that guy doing? He said, foolishness, son, that's
what he's doing. And then I saw him the next day and he mounted
a wheel to it on the bottom. Make it easier! Ain't that us? We go through nonsense, and we
pick the easiest thing we can do. I want to observe the law.
I'm going to make laws to myself, but I'm not going to pick the
easy ones. Go through the Levitical Laws. Don't you ever eat a medium
rare steak again. Well, now hold on now. What about
a fish that doesn't have scales? It's got skins, because that's
like us. No covering. That's what man is. We ain't
got no feathers. We ain't got no scales. Don't you eat a fish
that's got skin? Well, what about a catfish fry? Well, now let's
observe the other stuff. That's us, isn't it? Trying to
find something to do instead of looking at what's been done.
Christ finished it. That's what gets mad. He that
findeth his life shall lose it. Sometimes I go get her. Well,
I will go to service, but I got to drop my kids off at work and
go get them. We got some things, people's
coming in, football game's on. You found another life. You'll
go where your life is. My heart beats inside of me because
that's where my life is. And in my life of this world,
I'll go where my life is. I go home at night. I go to my
house. I sleep next to my wife, under
the same roof as my children. Why? That's where my life is.
Where I go to church? Oh, just anywhere. That place
is closest. I go to where life is, where Christ is. He that
findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life,
this worldly life, for my sake shall find it. We give up everything. It don't matter. I got Him. You just found life. You found
Him. You found the person of our salvation. Why would it please
God to give David so much trouble? Why does it please God to give
each of his children foes from within their own household, from
within their own body, their own flesh and blood? Because
the servant is not above his master. Look up in verse 24,
Matthew 10, 24. The disciple is not above his
master, nor the servant above his Lord. When a believer takes
a public stand for the gospel, not in private, not in a closet
somewhere, not people say, well, I believe those things, but I
don't preach them. Hogwash! You preach what you believe.
You tell people what you believe. If you believe wishy-washy things,
you tell them wishy-washy things. You jump the fence, because you're
a fence jumper. You take a public stand for the gospel in a pulpit,
in a home, wherever, on YouTube, in a newspaper. Those not made
to bow to God's sovereign grace in Christ, they are in strong
opposition to it. To one or the other. They take
offense because they are enmity against God. They're not at war. Like we're at war and then we
ain't, and then we are, and then we ain't. Sleep at night. They
are the war. They are enmity against God. The Lord said, if the world hates
you, you know it hated me before it hated you. If you were in
of the world, the world would love its own. But because you're
not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Therefore, because of that, because
God chose a people out of this sin-cursed earth, therefore the
world hates you. Because I chose you. I made you
like Christ. I put my incorruptible seed in
you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not
greater than his Lord. They have persecuted me. They will also persecute
you. They might. They will, he said. If they have kept my saying,
they will keep yours also. Those who believe Christ They'll
be right there with you. They'll be of one voice, of one
accord, of one mind, of one faith, of one birth. Won't they? They'll be in unison. All these
things will they do unto you for my name's sake because they
know not him that sinned. Why do people go against God?
God said it's because they don't know God. Why would people go
against the Lord's people? Why was Absalom against David?
Why was the foes of my very own household against me? Why was
the foes of your household against you? Because they don't know
God. Now they know some things. They don't know God. Christ said
so. Do we bow to it? Do we say amen? Or do we butt
like a goat against him? Remember, this psalm, this is
holy communication between our Lord and the Lord Jehovah, the
Lord of Hosts, 1 Matthew 27. We go through all these things.
I feel so sorry for myself. I get down. I've got everybody
against me. I've got emails and phone calls and all this stuff,
and I think, poor me. Don't I? Cry out to the Lord. Lord, I'm surrounded. Boy, if
I'd pause and see Christ. The Hebrew writer said, for we
have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. Every time I'm tempted, I have
sin. Times of trouble, times of temptation,
ain't nothing but sin. That's the essence of sins, my
pride, and it comes out of me. Our text told us, it said, O
LORD, however they increase that trouble me, many are they that
rise up against me, many there be which say of my soul there
is no help for him in God. Pause on that. Now, Matthew 27,
verse 37. Matthew 27, 37. And set up over his head his
accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then were
there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, the
other on the left hand. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging
their heads. What's wagging their heads? That's
rising up in judgment, isn't it? That's something simple,
just like Absalom did. It looks caring, doesn't it?
Somebody does something. If I was doing something, my
dad looked at me and went, I cannot stop doing it. He ain't
happy, he's displeased. Well, what can we do with a look
and a turn of a head, a wagging of a head? They reviled him and
they walked by, some walked by and just went, shook their heads.
Verse 40, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest
it up in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priest,
mocking him with the scribes and the elders. He saved others,
himself he cannot save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe Him.
We wouldn't believe Him when He saved others. We didn't believe
Him when He healed the blind. We didn't believe Him whenever
He made the lame walk. But if He does this, then we'll
believe. No, you wouldn't. We wouldn't give Him to you to believe. Verse
43, He trusted in God. Let Him deliver Him now. If He'll
have Him, for He said, I'm the Son of God, The thieves also,
which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth. That's what our Lord bore for
His people. The shame of the cross. That
was just physically. That wasn't the sin of ours laid
on Him. Him becoming us and God turning
from God because of our iniquity on Him. Him taking that beating,
taking that wrath for His people. Physically, they mocked him.
Physically, they turned their heads to him. Physically, they scorned
him. Isaiah said, you couldn't even recognize him. His earthly
mother didn't know it was him. He was beaten beyond recognition.
At that point, even if that was somebody evil, wouldn't we have
a little bit of compassion? Like, well, maybe you ought not
hit him no more. Just let him die. Or do a mercy
killing. Go ahead and shoot him or something.
Put him down now. That's just too much, isn't it? They kept
going, surrounded by his enemies. Back in our text, we'll look
at Psalm 2, we looked at last week. Psalm 2, verse 2. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and
cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. All this council that took together thousands
and thousands of people. They're around mocking Christ,
crucifying him. Give us Barabbas. Kill him. Save
yourself. Throwing things in his teeth,
wasn't they? They thought they won. All those mockers, all the
gang sayers, they sought to kill him, do away with the Lord Jesus
Christ. They thought at Calvary they had won. We got rid of him. Just the opposite. The Lord laughed
at it. His determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, by their wicked hands they slew Him. On that cross,
bearing the sin and shame of His people, God justly poured
out His wrath for sin until He was satisfied. Salvation was
accomplished completely. We'll look now at the second
pause. This psalm is a prayer. It begins crying to the Lord,
bringing out our cares and our burdens to Him. It says in Psalm
3 verse 1, Lord, how are they increase that trouble me? Many
are they that rise up against me. Many there be which shall
save my soul. There is no help for Him in God. When we feel alone, we feel like
the world is out to get us. Selah. Remember the Lord. Pause. Look for Christ. He was tempted
in all points like I was, wasn't he? Touched with the feeling
of my infirmities. Oh, so much worse. It says in
verse 3, All this pain, all this surrounding.
We pause on that. But thou, here's the answer.
Not me, not but the church, not but doctrine, but thou. Oh, it's a person. But thou,
O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and a lifter up of
my head. I cried unto the Lord with my
voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. Pause. Selah. Christ is the believer's
shield. Who's my shield? It says in Psalm
18, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock.
He's my fortress. He's my deliverer. He's what
I stand on. He's what I'm surrounded by. He's the one that delivers
me. And God's my strength in whom I trust. My buckler. That
means alligator skin. My covering. And the horn of
my salvation. My high tower. I will call upon
the Lord who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved
from my enemies. How are we going to be saved
from our enemies? Calling on the Lord. calling
on to Him, worshipping Him. Who's worthy to be praised? Christ
was shielded too, wasn't He? We're shielded. The Lord's our
shield. Christ was shielded. He was born here, was seeking
to kill all them infants in Jerusalem. Get rid of them. Mary and Joseph
had to flee. The Lord shielded Him. All those
Pharisees kept rising up, rising up, rising up. Kill Him. Let's
take up stones. Let's plot against Him. Let's
take counsel together. And He said, My hour has not yet come.
He said, you can't touch me until I let you. That's what he's saying.
Shielded wasn't he? He's our glory. Paul said in
Galatians 6, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified to me
and I unto the world. Where's all my glory? In Him.
In Him. What did you do that you didn't
receive? What do you have you didn't receive?
Who makes you to differ? Christ is my glory. That makes
me dead to this world. It's going to make me the head
dog catcher in San Diego County. It don't make a difference. Sweet
Flores will be the president. This world is going to burn.
Cross their glory. But he said, and now, oh Father,
glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I
had with thee before the world was. God's glory is His glory. The Son's glory is the Father's
glory. They're one. The same glory He had before is what He's
going to be glorified with now. And Christ is the lifter of our
heads. He's our head. But He turns our eyes to Him,
don't we? When our head's down, if I look down, what am I looking
at? Earth. Unless I'm hanging upside down. Then I'm in real trouble. If
I look down, I'm looking at Earth, ain't I? Dirt. The world. Anytime
I can't rest, it's because I'm looking at me, I'm looking at
the enemy, I'm looking at this world all around me, and I'm
not looking to the Lord my shield. That's why I have trouble resting.
God's people have trouble resting. David had trouble resting because
he was looking at himself, at his own flesh and blood, his
son, instead of looking at the Son of God, His shield. But Christ
lifts our heads up. When He lifts our heads up, I
look to Him. He's my shield. He's my glory. He that glories,
let Him glory in the Lord. Then I'm lifted up. When I cried
unto Him with my voice, He heard me. How do I know? My eyes are
lifted up to the heavens, ain't they? He lifted them. Turn over
to Psalm 121. Psalm 121 says, I will lift up
mine eyes unto the hills from which cometh my help. My help
cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not
suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber
nor sleep. The shield of ours, our protector,
our creator. That's 24 hours a day for eternity. I sleep. I'm a watchman on the
wall and I got to eat, I got to go to bed. He watches the
watchman. Who's going to keep me in line?
The Lord is. Who's going to keep you in line? The Lord is. Who's
going to watch us? Who's going to protect us? Who's going to
be our shield against all these foes and enemies in our own household
and all around us? He is. Verse 5 says, "...the Lord is
thy keeper, and the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve
thy going out and thy coming in." From this time forth, starting
right now, and even... I think that wasn't good enough. And even forevermore. It ain't
going to stop. It ain't going to stop. This
is the one we cry to when we cry out. Cry to the Lord. He's
our help in ages past and our hope for years to come. The Lord
of Lords that keeps Israel. He keeps them. He sustains them.
He gives them shade. He preserves them forevermore.
That's who we cry to. He hears the cries of His people.
That's the reason we're crying in the first place. Did you know
that? When we cry to the Lord, Lord, I'm surrounded. Lord, hear
me. Be with me. Lift my eyes up.
We're doing that because He put it in us to call on Him. People
say, well, I asked God. No, you didn't know if He didn't
make you. Isaiah said, and it shall come to pass that before
they call, I will answer. What's He going to answer with?
Making you call? And while they are yet speaking, I'll hear.
How can He hear words if we're still speaking? He put them in
our mouth. His Spirit intercedes for us,
making groanings that can't be uttered. Like Psalm 3. It says, I cried unto the Lord
with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. Pause. He heard David. Isn't that something? David's sons against him. He
cried, Lord, and David said, Lord, heard me. I cried to the
Lord. I begged for mercy. Lord, I'm
a sinner. Forgive me. Give me life. I need You. I need Your incorruptible
seed. And He had mercy on me. And if
a sinner comes to Him in truth, not like, well, it's a rainy
day as an insurance policy. God, against Thee and Thee only
have I sinned and done this evil on Your side. I might have hurt
some other folks, but I've sinned against You. I need Your mercy.
He'll have mercy. He hears his people. The cross
receiveth sinners and eats with them. That's an accusation they
made against our Lord. Isn't that good news? He receives
sinners. By faith, the harlot Rahab. They
didn't go away from her, did they? How do we know her? The
thief on the cross. Naaman, the leper. That's who
he receives. And He eats with them. It ain't
like, well, you can just come in, don't you touch me. Let's
sit down. You want some bread? Family. He eats with them. The Lord heard David, the Lord
heard me. You cry to Him. He'd never turn one away. But
the Lord cried unto thee, Lord. This is Christ, remember? What
did He cry? That's precious. It It is finished. He was telling us that, wasn't
he? He was telling his father. He cried unto the Lord. It is
finished. And the father that we offended
heard him. On His holy hill, the Father
heard my representative, my substitute, telling, everything you've put
in my hand to do from eternity past that will sustain through
eternity to come, it's done. Ain't no do left. I did it all. It's done. It's finished. And
God the Father heard him. Selah. Don't even go read a book that
thick. Just soak on that. You dwell on that. Christ spoke. God heard him. I don't feel like
he heard me. It don't matter if he heard you.
He heard his son, your representative, your substitute. Because of that,
he hears his people. What comfort do we have looking
to him and looking to what he accomplished? What was finished? That's what we've got to look
at, wouldn't it? Christ cried to the Lord. It's finished! And
he heard Him. What was finished? Look here in verse 5. I laid
me down and slept. I awaked for the Lord to sustain
me. The Lord Jesus, who shall save His people from their sins,
laid Himself down and slept. No one else laid Him down. He
said, I laid me down and slept. What does he tell us in John
10? No man taketh my life from me. I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it back
up again. This commandment have I received of my father. He died
willingly. He was the one that had the power
to do it. Nobody else did. He laid down his life and he
slept. When Judas and that big gang
come to him, going to arrest him. Jesus was going to get his
little back silver, wasn't he? Christ asked him, said, who
do you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he says, I am.
And the whole lot of them, like a bomb went off, overpressure
come and knocked every one of them flat to the ground off of
his name. They all fell backwards to the
ground. This is the one who laid down His life. Sleep is often
referred to as believer's body dying. Christ laid down His life
for the sheep and He was buried, wasn't He? Put in that tomb. Verse 5 says, I awakened. He
laid down His life, He was buried, and He awoke. The Lord sustains
Him. Psalm 16 says, For thou wilt
not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one
to seek corruption. He is risen. He is risen. He awoke. If He's not, we don't
have a gospel. If He's not risen, there's no
good news. But God is risen. He laid down his life, he slept,
he awoke, because God sustained him. He conquered sin, death,
hell, the grave, all for his people. When we pause on the
fact that we were attacked on all sides, we was attacked inside.
I was attacking myself. And then our eyes were lifted
up. The Lord hears us because of Christ, and we pause on the
fact that He willingly laid down His life for us, and the Father
was satisfied in that. He was just, and He was satisfied,
in turn making us justified. And no one can lay any charge
to God's elect. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. Ever. Ever. It's gone. Can't lay no charge against them.
Now you and I. That's what Christ did. He laid
himself down. He slept. He woke. Now, we look
at Him. We pause on these things. I can
lay down and go to sleep tonight. Can I? I toss and turn. Christ died for me. It's done
forever. It's finished. The Father heard
Him. He's risen. That's the proof. It's accepted.
Go to sleep. Take a nap. Wake up in the morning.
Serve Him. It's the one that sustained you.
Serving my fear. Rejoice in triumph. Kiss the
sun. That's who did it, wasn't it? Verse 6 says, I will not
be afraid of 10,000 people that have set themselves against roundabout
man. When we consider Him, when we
know who He is and what He did, the person and the work, Christ
our Lord. Kevin, there's 10,000 people
outside going to get you. That's alright. Best thing they can
do is kill me. Send me to my Lord. That's all
right. And if He's pleased to keep me here, that's the best
thing that could happen. Whatever happens is the best
thing for me to have. It's for my good and His glory. I was
talking to my brother yesterday about that. Boy, if I could just
get that much, if I could get a hold of that all day, if I
break my toe, if I break my leg, that was my good and God's gonna
glorify Himself in there no matter what happens. But we continue to call on our
Lord, don't we? We see who He is, what we are, we're surrounded,
we're unable. We see what He's done. And this isn't a one and
done salvation. We continue to call on Him. He
saved us before time was time. He is saving His people and He
shall save us. And we know that until we're
with Him, until we're made like Him. It says in verse 7, Arise, O Lord,
save me. Oh my God, for Thou hast spitten
all mine enemies upon the cheekbone, Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly." Arise doesn't mean get up and do something. We don't
speak with a reverence to our Lord. We don't tell Him what
to do. We don't give Him advice. We're not His counselor. And
we don't flippantly use His names. If I'd have walked home in my
house one time and looked at my father and said, hey Paul,
where's the remote control? I'd have ran. He'd have took
my head off. Don't talk to him that way, that's
my dad. But this arise doesn't mean get
up and do something, it means exalt yourself. Lord, exalt yourself. Perform what you have promised.
I thought, boy, that's a good one, isn't it? Perform what you
have promised. Stir us up, strengthen us, and
endure forever. Lord, arise, O Lord, and save
me. Because, for thou hast smitten
all my enemies upon the cheekbone, thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. Where's cheekbones and teeth? That's in the head, isn't it?
Cheekbones and teeth, that's what bites, that's what devours,
that's what guile passes over, isn't it? The accuser of the
brethren. Genesis 3.15 said, I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, speaking of
Christ. It shall bruise thy head, and I shall bruise his heel."
The cross was bruised on that cross when he cried it was finished.
But he crushed Satan's head. He broke his jaw. He can't have
no charge against God's elect now, can he? He knocked his teeth
out. He can't speak. He can't bite. He can't devour.
I could not break the teeth of sin of the devil of the grave. I couldn't smite its cheekbone.
But it says there the Lord has to done this. It's accomplished. It's finished. What can we say? Salvations of the Lord. That's
it. That's all man's left with. If
you're going to get to Scriptures and read them, God gives you
any light at all. You ain't going to walk out what you need to
do. You're going to walk out what's been done. Salvations of the Lord and praise
Him for it. Rejoice in it. Be thankful for
that. Look at verse 8. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Because of that, thy blessing
is upon thy people. That's what's listed. That's
what the colon, the Oxford colon. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Here's what's going to be listed by that. Here's what Kabbalah
is after. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Pause on that. Selah. I assume a hymn writer was reading
Psalm 3 before writing hymn number 353 in our hymnals. It said,
When my enemies assail and my heart begins to fail. And it
pauses there. You've got to breathe. You've
got to take a breath. My master was persecuted. When my enemies
assail, my heart begins to fail. He was surrounded. Just remember
God in heaven answers prayer. The Father heard Christ pray
for me, and He heard it was finished. What more do I need to hear?
He will make a way for you. He will lead you safely through.
Christ died for the ungodly, and whosoever calls upon His
name shall be saved. And that salvation is a hundred
percent of the Lord. Because it belongs to Him. It's
His. He can give it to whoever so
He wills. If He can be gracious to them,
He'll be gracious. Take your burden to the Lord and leave
it there. That's what David was doing. He was crying to his Lord. That's what the children of God
do too. We're surrounded. Lord, You've crushed my main
enemy. You've crushed that enemy that's in me. Haven't you? Exhaust
yourself, arise, and save me again. Come to me. Let me see you. Let me have my
daily bread. Let me see Christ one more time today. Wouldn't
that be something? Amen.