and He will make it plain. Faith and trust. That's what
that hymn was about. Wonderful. William Cooper was
a man given great doubts and fears. He had
many, many mental and soul troubles that
he had a hard time coming out of. What a song. What a hymn. Psalm 34, I asked the Lord for
a message from His Word of comfort for you, and He gave a message
of comfort for me. I know it will be for you. We always are comforted by the
Psalms. I'm always in the Psalms. I'm
sure you probably are too. Always. You can always turn to
the Psalms and get comfort, something you need. This particular Psalm
is a comfort for saints, for believers who are prone to being
afraid, like David was in this story, prone to sin, foolishness,
believers who often get in a bad way. If you look at the title
up there underneath the psalm number, it says, A Psalm of David,
when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him
away and he departed. This was the story of David when
he went to Gath and lived there a while. He went there out of
fear of Saul. He ran from Saul. He was afraid
of King Saul. We're in Psalm 34. But he was afraid of King Saul.
So he ran of all places to Gath. That's where the Philistines
were. Unbelievers. Heathen. He went in amongst them. I don't know why he did that,
except maybe that the Lord would teach us something. And he got in a bad way. I mean,
he got in a bad way. He acted in a way that brought
great reproach on his Lord. He acted like he had lost his
mind. And then while he was there,
Scripture says, he became sore afraid of the King of Gath. So David at this time was full
of fear. And Scripture says, the fear
of man bringeth a snare. If you're afraid of man or mankind,
of any fears of men and mankind or what the world may do to you,
it brings a snare. It's a hard fear to get out of.
It will make you full of fears and doubts and unbelief. And
it's a trap you can't get out of. And you may look and act
like an unbeliever. Fear of man will make you look
and act and sound like you don't believe anything God said. That's
the way David acted. Now, David was only 33 years
old at this time. which explains some of his fears. It doesn't excuse it, but it
explains it. An older man ought to have less
fears like that, ought to know better. Later on, David said, remember
not the sins of my youth. That's what he prayed. Lord,
forgive me for all of my youthful lusts and foolishness. But I'm
glad God wrote about David's fears and David's sins. It's
a measure of comfort for me. It's a measure of comfort for
me in God's mercy and God's longsuffering. It's not meant to encourage us
to stay in the same sin, to commit the same sins. It's not meant
to encourage us. It's meant to warn us and keep
us from them. We don't have to do what David
did. But it does comfort us. Now at this time, and we're going
to get into it in just a minute, but I'm telling you what made
David write this. At this time, there's no mention,
and I went back and read the whole story of David in 1 Samuel
21 and the preceding chapter. There's no mention of David calling
on the Lord at all. And he's just fearful, he's running,
he's lying. He starts lying. until he ends up in a bad place
and in a bad way among heathen people until he became just like
them. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved David, like Daniel,
He was greatly beloved. And how we know is the Lord quickened
Him. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead, even when He was in Gath, even when He was acting like
a madman, like a fool, like a heathen, like He didn't believe God at
all, even when we were dead in sins, that quickened us. This
is how you know God loves you, if He quickens you, if He doesn't
leave you there. He quickens you. And we need
quickening constantly, don't we? We need quickening daily. Quickening means bring us back
from the dead. You're out in the world like
David and we feel dead, don't we, spiritually? Feel like a
heathen. Feel like an unbeliever. Act
like it too sometimes. But then God quickens us. How?
By His Word. And David said, deliver me from
all my fears. And forgave me all my sins. What
mercy? And that's when David went to
the cave. Do you remember that story? In 1 Samuel 22, right
after that, he went down into that cave. And that's where all
the men came to him. Those that were in death and
discontent and distress came to him, and he became their captain.
What a story that is. Well, he wrote this psalm while
he was in that cave. And you know that when David
was delivered from Saul, or from the king of Gath, and he went
running, and he had acted like a fool, and he had brought reproach
on his God and reproach on the faith, and there were men with
him. What do you think they were thinking
about David? He brought reproach on those men and his God, And
he was ashamed. He was full of fear. He was full
of guilt. He was embarrassed. And he got down in that cave.
You know what he started doing. When the Lord delivered him,
he started praying. He started calling on the Lord. And that's when he said, He heard
me. He heard me. And so in this cave, he came
here full of fear, full of guilt, shame, and then while he's in
this cave with his eyes full of tears, he ends up full of
gratitude and relief. That's why he wrote this song.
So he says in verse 1, I will bless the Lord, At all times. That's a good resolve. I told Mindy, I said, these resolutions
that we make, you know, some of them are good. We can't keep
them, but they're good. I told her a resolve that we
need to have. It was a good one, and I might
not keep it, but it's still good. Daniel purposed in his heart
that he wouldn't defile himself with the king's dandy. That's
a good resolve. One time he said, I made a covenant with my eyes.
I'm not going to look on it. David said the same thing. Why
should I behold vanity? That's a good resolve. David said, I'm going to bless
the Lord from now on. I'm going to bless the Lord at
all times. His praise, verse 1, shall continually
be in my mouth. I think many of our troubles
start with our murmuring and complaining, don't they? David
perhaps was murmuring and complaining about his lot and that's when
the bitterness and the Lord, you know, you do that, you remember
what happened to the children of Israel? They started murmuring
and complaining and the Lord left them to themselves and they
got themselves in a bad way. Well, David I believe did too,
but he said, I need to bless the Lord at all times. His praise
needs to be continually in my mouth no matter what happens. I need to bless the Lord. I need
to quit murmuring and start singing, start blessing. And not just
with my mouth, verse 2, but with my soul, my soul. My soul shall
make her boast in the Lord." Was David boasting? When he was
in Gath, some of the men said, is not this David whom they said
had slain his ten thousands? Maybe David had been thinking
about his own greatness or something. Boy, that's a sure way for the
Lord to bring you down. Maybe he had gotten puffed up
a little bit with pride, and then he began to be afraid of
everybody. David! I'm so glad it happened
though. David, you see, I can't much
relate to David's great conquest, can you? I can't much relate
to David's great courage like he had against Goliath, can you?
Against the whole army of the Philistine. I can't much relate
to that. But I can sure relate to his falls. I can sure relate
to his failures and his cowardice. I'm not glad for his sake, but
I'm glad for my sake that they happen. And it's for the glory
of God is what it's for. It's David's shame, but God's
glory. And he said, My soul will make
her boast in the Lord, and the humble shall hear thereof and
be glad. That's what I'm saying. I heard
about this. I read about this. And I'm glad.
I'm glad the Lord wrote this. So David says, Oh, magnify the
Lord with me. Let us exalt His name together. Anybody guilty like David of
acting like a fool? Anybody guilty of being full
of fears, needless fears? Anybody? My pastor, you remember
this article by my pastor, Too Many and Too Much? We have entirely
too many fears for a people. to whom the Lord has said, Fear
thou not. He said that more than anything.
Fear thou not. I am with thee. Be not dismayed.
I am thy God. I'll strengthen you. I'll help
you. I'll uphold you with my right hand. We have far too many
fears. We have far too many doubts and
fears concerning God's mercy, love, and grace. For a people
to whom the Lord has said, Him that cometh to me, I will in
no wise cast out. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. We spend entirely too much time
grumbling and complaining about our trials and troubles for a
people to whom the Lord has said, in the world you shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. We
have entirely too much attachment to this world. and this present
life for a people who are looking for a city whose builder and
maker is God. We have far too much anxiety,
care, and fear, far too much concern for earthly material
things for a people to whom the Lord has said, your heavenly
Father knows that you have need of all these things. Too many
and too much. Too many fears. Too much complaining. Too many attachments. Oh, and
David was in a cave here. He didn't have much, but
he had forgiveness of sins and he had peace finally. Let us
exalt his name together. Verse 4, he says, I sought the
Lord. I sought the Lord and He heard me. After a while of not
seeking the Lord, I told you that I couldn't find where David
at that time was calling on the Lord, like Jacob. You remember,
we looked at Jacob's story. And Jacob got down there in Paddanuram
and lived there a long time. And there was no mention of him
calling on the Lord. When he was out there alone and with
nothing, his head on a pillow and he was wrestling with the
Lord, he was calling on the Lord. But when he got rich and all
these children and grandchildren and living in a pagan land, there's
no mention of him. And he got in a mess. His family
was in a mess. And David at this time was not
calling on the Lord, but he said, I got down in a cave. I had to get real low. The Lord
had to show me what I'm capable of. And then I started calling
on the Lord. I sought the Lord finally, and
He heard me. He heard me. He heard me. One of the ladies
asked me Sunday, she said, you think the Lord will save somebody
that doesn't call on Him? You think the Lord will save
somebody that's not calling on the Lord? You know, the Scripture
says, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Well, that's taken from Joel 2, verse 32. Romans 10,
13 says that, but that's taken from Joel 2, verse 32, which
says those that call, there as many as the Lord our God shall
call. And I began to think about that question because what she
was doing was hoping for someone who's not, evidently not seeking
the Lord. She's hoping for God's mercy
upon somebody that's obviously not calling on the Lord right
now. But, you know, the fact of the
matter is the Lord saves every one of us before we call on Him. And the only reason you're called
is because He called you. You don't start calling until
He calls you. That's how you know that the
Lord has saved somebody. He said this, I'm sought of them
that ask not for me. I'm found of them that sought
me not. So, yeah, there's hope for somebody
that's not calling. It's our hope of His calling.
Isn't it? One Lord, one faith, one hope
of His calling. They held out no hope for me.
My parents, humanly speaking, held out no hope for me, this
prodigal son. But our hope is in His calling,
that the Lord will be pleased to call our lost loved ones. And he did. He called me. He
heard me. And I'm here to tell you, if
he heard me, he'll hear anybody. That's what David said. I got
so bad. I brought so much reproach on
the Lord. And he should have shut the windows
of heaven from then on. He should have shut his ear and
never listened to me again. But I sought him again, and he
heard me. He heard me and delivered me.
Verse 4, He delivered me from all my fears. No, temporarily. Temporary, right? At this time. As I said before, you know, you
come in here and you come in here full of doubts and fears
and unbelief and worry and no faith. You feel like you don't
have any faith. Well, you hear the Word, hopefully. You hear
the Word. Faith cometh by hearing. You
go out of here. with full assurance and understanding and faith,
and you feel like Daniel, and boy, no sooner hits the door.
And all those doubts start coming back. So for a while, we're delivered,
aren't we? That's why we come here. To escape. Verse 5 says, "...they looked
unto him, those that heard about me." Those that heard about me,
the sad shape I got in, They looked too, and they were lightened.
Their burdens were removed. Their faces were not ashamed. You know, you certainly apply
this to Christ, couldn't you? You look unto Him, your burden
will be removed. And you don't need to be ashamed.
And it says in verse 4, he said, He heard me. David got real low. And I thought
about several others that got low and read their stories, but
let me just read this to you if I can find it. I wish I had
marked it. There it is. Jonah. You know, David got real low,
didn't he? Jonah was rebellious. Jonah prayed out of the belly
of the whale. He said, I'm cast out of His sight. that I look
again toward thy holy temple." That's Christ. He said, but the
waters compassed me about. David wrote about that in Psalm
38. Even to the soul, the depth closed me round about. David
said, out of the depths have I cried unto you. Depths of sin,
the depth of despair, the depth of fear. He said, the weeds were
wrapped around my head. That's a man that, boy, he's
in trouble. I went down to the bottom of
the mountain, the earth with her bars held me. But thou hast brought up my life
from corruption. My soul fainted within me, but
I remembered the Lord." Why, John? Why did you remember the
Lord? Because He remembered you. And my prayer came unto thee
into His holy temple. Oh, they that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy. Jonah was running. And I will
sacrifice unto Thee with a voice of thanksgiving. That's what
David just said, didn't he? I'll pay my vows that I've vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake to that fish and purged old Jonah. David said, he brought me up
out of a horrible pit and set my feet on a rock. So everybody that reads this,
hopefully, is hoping for the same mercy. You look too, and
you'll be lightened, your burden will be removed, your fears.
You won't be ashamed. Verse 5, I like that. Their faces
are not ashamed, like a guilty child, you know, holds his head
down before his father he sinned against, and the father in love
and in mercy says, look, look at me. Look at me." And you look
up into his face and he says, I love you and I forgive you. Now don't do it again. Go and
sin no more. Take comfort, you saints. Fear
not, you saints. Fresh courage take. Verse 6,
this poor man cried. And I think David is saying,
this poor excuse for a man. One time he said, I'm a worm
and no man. I'm no man. This poor man cried and the Lord
heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Out of all
his troubles. Call on the Lord and He'll save
you. The angel of the Lord, verse 7, now he's going to talk about
the Lord's deliverance of His people and His preservation of
the saints that don't persevere. This is a song, you know, and
David, I can hear him singing this on his harp. The angel of
the Lord. encampeth round about them that
fear Him, and delivereth them." The angel of the Lord, the Spirit
of God is that angel. Christ is that angel. The angel
of God's mercy encampeth, not just comes and pays you a visit,
abides there. all around you, campeth around
you. How can one angel surround you? Well, that's because in
Him you live and move and have your being. He's the God in whose
hands you're a breath in. You're in His hand. Scripture
says, no man shall pluck them. That's being surrounded in. And
campeth round about. Hedges you about. The men always pray for me in
the study this prayer. Lord, hedge him about. I love
that. I love that. Surround me, Lord. Protect me from all these things
that would hinder me and hurt us. The angel of the Lord campeth
round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Now, David's
going to talk much about the fear of the Lord. He says, I
feared man when I shouldn't have, and didn't fear the Lord when
I should have. And that's what our Lord said.
I quoted it to you. Don't fear their fear. Fear me. The Lord's true people fear the
Lord. This is what distinguishes them
from the world. Yet, we don't fear Him like we
should. But this is why the Scripture
says so much about it. that we need to learn the fear
of the Lord. Unite our hearts to fear thy name, David said. Oh, saints, fear the Lord. That's
the encouragement here. That's the exhortation. Oh, fear
the Lord, ye His saints. There's no want to them that
fear Him. Now, the world doesn't understand this. I think you
do, but we need to understand it more. The fear of the Lord,
the fear of His name, the fear of His person is not a slavish
fear, like a slave before a cruel taskmaster that's going to crush
him under his feet if he does anything wrong. That's not the
fear he's talking about. But it's a true understanding
of His holy person, His mighty power, and His majesty that will
make you fear to use His name except in reverence. It will
make you fear to refer to Him in any way except in worship
and reverence. It will make you fear to speak
of Him, to approach Him or worship Him except from the heart in
absolute sincerity and worship and adoration and thanksgiving
and praise. Not like an equal. Not like a
man. And that's what Brother Mack
and I were talking about this, Psalm 36. Look over there, Psalm
36, verse 1 says, The transgression of the wicked saith within my
heart that there's no fear of God before His eyes. And that means not just openly
immoral and wicked, but religious wickedness that our Lord spoke
so much about. And the way they refer to our
Lord says very clearly that they don't fear Him. And this is how
you can tell. They said the Jews of old were
afraid to use God's name at all. Jehovah. Very careful to use
it. What does that say about our
generation today? Anybody that can use His name flippantly and
carelessly and irreverently, joke about it, they don't know
God. And religion that does what they
do in God's name and yet it's not for His glory and His honor,
that's an abomination to God. Their methods reveal there's
no fear of God. They reduce God to a beggar.
They reduce salvation to a bargain. They reduce the Lord Jesus Christ
who is sitting on the throne to standing outside everybody's
heart's door. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. There is no truth in that at all. That's plain,
isn't it? And David says to God's people,
Oh, fear the Lord, he is saying. If you do, You need not fear
anything or anyone else. Fear the Lord. It's the beginning
of wisdom and the perfection of wisdom. It's saving wisdom.
David says much about that. Look, read on. Verse 8 and 9, Oh, taste and see that
the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in Him. Oh, fear the Lord, ye His saints.
There is no want to them that fear Him. Now, how can you trust
the Lord and fear Him both? Is the Lord both good and to
be feared? Yes. And you know, really, it's
not something you can explain. You know, if God is not feared,
He's not to be trusted. Let me see if I can make this
clear to you. If He's not feared, He's not
to be trusted, meaning if He's not sovereign, You can't trust
Him with anything if He's not sovereign. And because He's sovereign,
that means you fear Him. Cannot I do with my own what
I will? And it might be traumatic. It's good. It's going to be good. But it
might be real tough. But if He's not sovereign, you
can't trust Him. He's not in charge of anything.
Why trust Him? Do you understand what I'm trying
to say? Why trust him? If he's just a bystander, and he's just
like us, he can't do anything. Why fear him? If he's not immutable, you can't trust him. If he says
one thing one day, you might change his mind the next. You
can't trust him. But if he's unchangeable, You
fear Him. He doesn't change. His justice
is the same. He said, I will by no means clear the guilty.
And I've got to hurry, but His justice is both fearsome and
yet wonderful. Some of you know what I'm talking
about. If He punished, He said, I will by no means clear the
guilty. Well, if Christ was made sin for us, His justice has been
served, and He will not. exact that justice on anybody
that trusts Christ. It will not. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ. Why? Because God's
justice has been poured out. Religion says He died for everybody. But there's people in hell whom
He died for. Then you can't trust Him. And people don't fear Him, sin
against Him. They don't fear any consequences.
Right? I don't fear any consequence.
I'm a God of judgment. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Oh yeah, God's good. He's good to them that fear Him.
He's good to them that trust Him. Blessed is the man that trusts
in Him and fears. Oh, fear the Lord, you saints.
There's no want to them that fear Him. Read on, verses 10. And he uses a young lion as an
example. A young lion. There's nothing
more. full of itself. You ever watch these shows of
young lions? You know, they grow up and they
become the king of the jungle. And boy, they think they are,
don't they? And boy, they're running around and frolicking
and just after everything. And they think they can take
the world on. Well, that's man. That's a young
man, or woman for that matter. So what he's saying here is that
the strongest, the most seemingly independent, those who have the
most strength they think, they're going to lack. They're going
to be brought to nothing. But the weakest, they that seek
the Lord, and that's God's people, they know they don't have any
strength at all, that they're totally dependent on the Lord.
The meek, the humble, the lowly, they know they're totally dependent
on the Lord. They'll not want anything. They're not providing
anything for themselves. Don't need to. Listen to Hannah's prayer. I
just read this, 1 Samuel 2. I just read this, Hannah's prayer. This is wonderful. She said,
talk no more so exceeding proudly. Let not arrogancy come out of
your mouth. The Lord is a God of knowledge,
and by Him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken. They that stumbled are girded
with strength. They that were full have hired
themselves out for bread, but the hungry, they cease to be hungry. The
barren hath borne seven. He that hath many children waxes
feeble. The Lord killeth and maketh alive.
He brings down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh
poor and He maketh rich. He bringeth low and He lifteth
up. He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the
beggar out of the dumb. Oh, the young and the proud,
they think they're something, but they're going to be brought
to nothing. But the meek and the lowly and those that fear
the Lord, they'll not ever want any good. And that word thing
is in italics, any good. Come, you children. Now he's
going to teach us a little bit about the fear of the Lord. Come,
you children, I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. Here's
what it means to fear the Lord. What man is he? that desireth
life and loveth many days." What he's saying here, I believe,
is you want to see life more abundant. It doesn't consist
in things. It has something to do with the
fear of the Lord and righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. That's life. Life more abundant. No thing
can give you any peace or joy or blessedness, comfort. What
man is he that desireth life, life more abundant, and loveth
many days? We may have several more days
on this earth. You want to see some good days?
I do. Verse 13, now keep, all right
then, keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Is that familiar? Isn't that
what we've been studying in James? Remember the proverb, he that
keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from any trouble.
I want to learn that. I need to learn that. Put a watch
over my lips. Keep thy tongue from evil and
thy lips from speaking guile. That's where it starts. Murmuring,
complaining against God, talking about other people, God, He'll
make you eat your words. If you like crow, go ahead and
say it, but you'll be eating it. I think maybe that's what
plesiasis 5 means, keep your foot. You go in the house of
God, keep your foot. God's in heaven. No, that is
keep your foot out of your mouth. God's in heaven, you're on the
earth, let your words be few. That's what Hannah said. Talk
no more so exceedingly proudly. Read on verse 14. Depart from
evil and do good. Depart from evil and do good. Now, this thing of talking too
much. Ask Simon Peter what the Lord did to him, that bragger.
He started bragging, didn't he? Oh, my. He wished he'd never
said a thing. Ask Martha, who started complaining
about serving too much. She wished she had never said
a thing. Job, he was okay until he started talking. He got lifted
up with self-righteousness. Verse 14, depart from evil. What
evil? Any evil. All evil. Evil thoughts,
evil speech, evil actions. And you and I know when we're
thinking evil thoughts, don't we? We know that. Nobody else
tells us that. We know when we're speaking evil,
don't we? And what does he say? Stop. Just stop. Get out of that mindset. And
if you can't, here's the way to do it. Call on the Lord. Lord,
please deliver me from them. Depart. Depart. Read on. Seek peace and pursue
it. Go after it. Our Lord said, blessed
are the peacemakers. The Lord knows that it matters, there's conflict,
there's offenses between brothers. The Lord knows. And in many things,
we all offend. We're all going to offend each
other somehow, somewhat. And the Lord knows that. He knows
our frame. We ought to be more compassionate with one another,
children. We ought to consider one another's frame knowing that
they're just like me. Why wouldn't I forgive? Why wouldn't
I understand? But in matters of offense and
so forth, the Lord says, seek peace. Blessed are the peacemakers,
not takers. Not waiting on somebody, well,
if he'll apologize to me, I'll accept it. And the Lord says, you're never
going to get peace from Me. You're never going to get peace
from Me. Didn't Christ come down here to make peace with a people
that didn't want it? Didn't He come down and make
us? Reconcile us to God. Reconcile means to thoroughly
change. Reconcile means to be sorry for everything. Reconcile
means to say, I'm all wrong. Everything about me is wrong.
I need to change. And Christ came down here to
do it for us. Reconcile us to God. We weren't willing. That's a peacemaker. Blessed
are the peacemakers. God knows. He's listening. He's
watching. This is the fear of the Lord.
Do you understand? This is the fear of the Lord.
You've got two brothers and they're at odds with one another. Blessed
is the peacemaker. Brother, let's not do it. Abraham
and Lot. Oh, he said, Brother Lot, let's
not have this. Let's not have this. We're brethren.
Who did the Lord bless? And who almost died in Sodom? Blessed are the peacemakers.
Go after it. He says, pursue it. The fruit
of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace. One
time he said, provoke one another to love. They just don't like
me. I don't know why. Well, then
make them like you. That's what the Lord says. Pursue it. The eyes of the Lord. This is the fear of the Lord.
Didn't He say, I'm teaching you the fear of the Lord? Well, she
won't speak to me. He won't speak to me. You keep
speaking to her. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous. Do you hear that? He's telling us about the fear
of the Lord. And His ears are open unto their cry. And we saw
in 1 John 3 that He that doeth righteousness. This new man created
in the image of Christ He's righteous as He is, so are we. And the
image of Christ bears the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, long-suffering,
forbearance, forgiveness. If not, you know He is. That would make us fear, shouldn't
it? That would make us fear not forgiving. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous. Now, you know, we can certainly apply this to
Christ the righteous. But in context here, He's selling
us. He says, I'm teaching you the
fear of the Lord. David, when he finally found
out, you know, he really was convicted of his sin, here's
what he said, "...Against thee, and thee only, have I done this
evil in thy sight." Now that's the Spirit of the
Lord. He wasn't thinking about that when it happened, that God
was watching him. Now, you know, David's not trying
to create where you're afraid for your salvation. But he's
telling us what true fear is. It's like a child with his parent.
It's love, isn't it? And so the eyes of the Lord,
his ears are open under their cry. Well, you know, we've already
seen his ears are open under the cry of a sinner. The face
of the Lord, verse 16, is against them that do evil. cut off the
remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and
the Lord heareth and delivereth them. You see that? He's talking
about them. The Lord heareth and delivereth them. And let
me remind you why we are considered righteous by God. Not by our
works. Not by what we do. before or
after. Before or after salvation, right? We're righteous in Christ. He's
our righteousness. This new creature created in
Christ Jesus. So we're righteous in Him. Now,
the Lord is nigh unto them, verse 18, out of a broken heart. You said the Lord hears sinners.
Well, only repentant sinners. Broken hearted sinners. Buddy,
the first sign of a broken heart, his ears are open. The Lord is
nigh unto them, very near unto them that are of a broken heart.
Whatever broken heart that may be of his people, over sorrow,
over sin, over worries, over fears, over distress, debt, whatever
it may be, he's near. If you call on him, draw nigh
unto God, he'll draw nigh unto you. And He saveth such as be
of a contrite spirit. Contrite, broken spirit. Not
proud. The Lord is against them. He
is teaching us the fear of the Lord. Better to be with the humble,
the proverb says, than with the proud. Verse 19, many are the
afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out
of them all. Now, this is Christ and His people. Many are the
afflictions of our Lord, and our Lord said, many will be your
afflictions. But the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He delivered Christ in that he feared. And he was
heard, and he delivers his people that fear. He keepeth all his
bones, not one of them is broken. Ah, don't you love that? Even
a little toe. If you're in Him, you're complete.
You're perfect. You're righteous. You're kept
by the power of God. And like David, though, you say,
I may see all my bones. I'm down to nothing. I'm so lean,
but not one of them is separated. Not one is broken, not even a
little toe. Evil shall slay the wicked. They that hate the righteous
shall be desolate with guilty, but the Lord redeemeth the soul
of His servants, and none of them, not one of them that trusts
in Him shall be desolate. Don't you love that? So he said,
O magnify the Lord with me. He said, Oh, taste and see that
the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusts
in Him. Then he says, Oh, fear. Oh, fear the Lord. Oh, magnify
the Lord. Oh, taste and see that He is
good. Oh, fear the Lord. He sang. There is full, free
forgiveness for the most sinful, no matter how deep in our pit
they get. their salvation, their safety
for the most fearful, the most worried. And none of them that trust in
Him shall be left behind when the Lord comes." Not hoof nor
hair left behind. Desolate. That's what that means. Forget it. You're not coming
with that. David says, he heard me. Okay. Our Lord, thank You for the sure
mercies of David. which are, which is the Lord
Himself, who does not change. And Lord, though you're to be
feared, you're to be trusted. Teach us the fear of the Lord,
and teach us to trust Thee. Remove all our anxious fears,
our doubts, our worries. Our anxiety, our distress, O
Lord, cause us to believe, cause us to trust You, have confidence
in You, to look to You and be saved from our fears, call upon
You in time of trouble. Let us be like David. What time
I'm afraid, I'll trust in the Lord. Oh Lord, we confess like
Daniel of old. We have far too many fears. We
are a sinful people. Confusion of faces belong to
us. Oh, but mercies and forgiveness
belong unto them. Have mercy upon us, oh Lord. the One who is in the pit, out
of the pit. Set His or her feet on the rock,
Christ Jesus. Deliver us from going down into
the pit, O Lord, by causing us to fear You, not man, and trust
in You. Thank You, Lord. Thank You for
Your Your mercy, Your grace, Your loving kindness, Your forbearance,
Your forgiveness of our sin for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank You. In Christ's name, Amen. That's all.