Alright, Psalm 20. We talk a lot about sin, don't
we? A lot about sin. And what that
is, is the truth. We preach the truth, don't we? There was a man who was preaching
and somebody started listening to him and came to him and said,
Is there ever going to get a point in time when you quit preaching
about my sin?" He said, no, no. So let's start it over. Our sin. That's why we're here. Our sin. Right? Our sin. We have a problem. Whether we're
willing to acknowledge it or not, we have a problem. And that
problem is our sin, isn't it? It's a problem. Our sin is heavy. It's heavy. I mean, it's heavy. You know that heaviness? Heavy. Our sin doesn't just condemn
us eternally. It condemns us physically. It really does. It ruins our joy. I can be happy so often, and
then it doesn't take long before my sin ruins my joy. Ruins it. It ruins our peace. We can come
into this house and hear from our Lord and have such peace. And then how long does it take
before that's ruined? How long does it take? Really? Now, only a person whom the Lord
has revealed his sin to him knows what I'm talking about. I can
say that to everybody, and they will say, They have no idea. They have no idea the heaviness
of our sin. You can feel it pulling you down. You really can. Just grieve us. Grieve us. It's an awful thing,
isn't it? Because of this sin that we drag
around with us everywhere we go like a ball and chain, we
drag sin with us everywhere we go. I love that quote by that
preacher who said, I cannot pray, but I sin. I cannot preach, but
I sin. We drag it with us everywhere
we go, cannot get away from it. You cannot get away from it.
Because of this sin that we drag around with us everywhere we
go, there are going to be times when you're going to be in trouble.
Last time I was here was in May, and we were talking about trouble.
I'm still talking about the same thing. There are going to be
times when you're going to be in trouble. Because of this sin that we drag
around with us, There are going to be times that you're going
to need some help. Sin is what gives us this lying
self-confidence that we all have. It's sin. Self-confidence. And it lets us get all the way
up to the peak of our pride And if the Lord's revealed it to
you, you know what I'm talking about. It doesn't take long,
does it? It lets us get to the peak of
our pride, and then it just drops the hammer on us. Pride comes before fall, right? Because of this sin that we drag
around with us everywhere we go, there are going to be times
that you're going to be weak. Sometimes the Lord allows us
to enter into true prayer. Sometimes I don't. I just, I
want to. Sometimes we're in the Word,
we're reading the Word. Sometimes we're not. Weak. There are going to be times
that you're going to be weak. Weak, weak. And I'm speaking
from my heart. It's in my notes, but I'm telling
you from my heart, from my experience, there are going to be times that
you're going to be weak. However many more years the Lord
lets us live on this earth, you're going to have times that you're
going to be weak. Weak in this flesh. Weak. And I hate it. Weak in the Spirit. Just weak. Weak in assurance. Weak in faith. Weak. Weak. Because of this sin that
we drag around with us, there are going to be times continually
We will continue and continue till the day we die to cry out
to God. We're going to continually cry
out to God. We're going to continually beg
our God, offer the sacrifice of prayer to God for mercy. Mercy. Mercy. As long as we have this sin,
we're going to cry for mercy. Because of this sin that we drag
around, because of the sin, because of the root of our problem, I have very good news for you. I adore good news. It's my favorite
part. Verse 1 says in Psalm 20, The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The Lord will hear you in the
day of trouble. He will. Any sinner Any sinner, and you heard me
right, any sinner, I mean anybody, anybody who is troubled over
his sin, anybody, I mean anybody, anybody who is troubled over
his sin, Troubled over what he is. Not just what he's done,
what he is. Any sinner who cries out through
the Lord Jesus Christ in the day of his trouble, the Lord will hear him. And I
mean any sinner. Not just a sinner who's troubled
over his trouble. Everybody cries when they get
in trouble. Everybody cries. Troubled over his trouble. But
a sinner who cries over his sin. The Lord will hear him. He'll
hear him. Do you know the sin that troubles
me probably more than any other? The one that troubles me more
than any other. It's not being troubled enough
over my sin. That's the one that just, it
grieves me. It grieves me. But any sinner who cries out
in the day of his trouble over his sin, God will hear him. Well, you better preface that
by saying, God's elect. Okay, I will. This is to God's
elect. But I can tell you this. Only
God's elect will cry out unto the Lord Jesus Christ for help. Only God's elect will cry, Oh,
Lord Jesus Christ. The arrows of sin are taking
hold on me. Only God's elect will do that. I'm not going to make it. I'm
going down. You're the only one who can save
me. Only God's elect will cry, Abba! Father! Help me! So I say with confidence, confidence,
any sinner who runs to the Lord Jesus Christ
for shelter, Any sinner, God will defend you. He will. He said, all who come unto me,
I will in no wise cast out. Why? It's because if they come,
His heavenly Father is drawing them. And He won't deny His Father. any sinner. I just love that, I just personally
love that. Verse 1 says, The Lord hear thee
in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob defend thee. I can't find one sinner in the
Word of God who truly came to the Lord Jesus Christ out of
his trouble. that Christ didn't receive him. I can't find one
sinner. I can't find one. Look to Him. Run to Him. Cry unto Him. Verse 1 says, He'll
hear thee. He'll defend thee. And verse
2 says, He'll send thee help. from the sanctuary. The Lord sends us so much help
from His sanctuary, doesn't He? So much help. David said, I was
glad when they said unto me. Let's go to the house of the
Lord. Let's go meet with God's people.
And it's so refreshing. Turn with me to Psalm 73. Psalm 73, verse 1 says, Truly
God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh
slipped, 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 are not in trouble
as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore,
pride compasses them about 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 and speak wickedly concerning oppression.
They speak loftily. They set their mouth against
the heavens and their tongue walk through the earth. Therefore,
his people return hither and waters of a full cup are wrung
out to them. And they say, how does 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 and 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 that children. When I thought
to know this, it was too painful for me until I went into the
sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end. Our Lord sends us so much help
from the sanctuary, but I love the thought of this. I love the
thought of this. In the day when you need Him
most, right here on this earth, in the day that you need Him
most, in a time when you're in deep trouble, when you cry unto Him from the
depths of your soul, in that moment, He'll send you help straight
from the sanctuary of the throne of God. That's our God. Turn with me over to Daniel chapter
9. This is Daniel crying unto God
on behalf of Israel. Daniel 9 verse 4 says, Daniel
said, and I prayed unto the Lord, my God, and made my confession
and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the
covenant and mercy to them that love him and to them that keep
his commandments, we have sinned. And have committed iniquity and
have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from that precepts
and from that judgments. Now look at verse 10. Neither
have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his laws,
which he set before us by his servants, the prophets. Yea,
all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing that
they might not obey thy voice. Therefore, the curse is poured
upon us and the oath that is written in the law of Moses,
the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. Verse
16 says, Oh Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech
thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy
city, Jerusalem, the holy mountain, because for our sins and for
the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are
become a reproach to all that are about us. Verse 18 says,
Oh my God, incline thine ear and hear. Open thine eyes and
behold our desolations in the city which is called by thy name.
For we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses,
but for thy great mercies." He's saying, I'm not coming before
you to show you anything that I have done. We're begging for mercy. We're
in trouble. We're in trouble. Verse 19 says,
O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hearken
and do! Defer not for thine own sake,
O my God, for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.
Now look at verse 20. Daniel said, 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, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning,
being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of
the evening oblation. And he informed me and talked
with me and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill
and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications,
the commandment came forth. You know what that means, don't
you? And I am come to show thee, for thou art greatly beloved. Therefore, understand the matter
and consider the vision. I love the thought of the Lord
our God sitting on His throne, watching our brother Daniel pour
ashes on his head. He's just pouring ashes on his
head. Listening to him cry and beg
and plead. And the Lord God looks over at
His army. All the legions lined up and says, Gabriel, here's
your orders. You fly swiftly. You go quick. You get to him quick. And the servant of God leaves
the sanctuary of God. And my margin says, being caused
to fly with weariness of flight, And I don't even know how that's
possible. With no sin there, how do you get weary? But that's
what it says. Go quickly! He's hurting! He's crying! Touch Him! Comfort Him! And give Him my
answer. He hasn't even finished praying
yet. Straight from the sanctuary.
Our text, back in Psalm 20, verse 1, says, 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. But that's not all. Verse 3 says, He'll remember
all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice. What offerings have I given Him? What sacrifices? Well, you offer Him thanksgiving
and praise. I do now, now that He's made me alive,
but I was dead. I was dead. The problem with people who are
spiritually dead is not, well, they just haven't learned the
truth yet. That's not the problem. The problem is they're dead.
Dead. That's the problem. Somebody else had to make an
offering for me. What was that offering that was
made for me? What was the offering that was
made in my name? On my behalf? What do I bring
before the Lord God? It's the blood of Jesus Christ. Lord, I come covered in the blood. That's how I come. This is my
offering. This is my sacrifice. Lord, I only have one sacrifice
to plead. The lamb that was slain for me. What God is saying right here
is this. I am not going to forget that
lamb. I will not forget it. Isn't it
amazing how for thousands of years so many animals were sacrificed? So many lambs. So many lambs. And now with the sacrifice of
one lamb, it's all paid. I'm not going to forget that
lamb. I'll never forget that lamb.
Never. And then verse 3 says, Selah. And what that means is, we can
just rest right there for a while. All the sin, all the misery,
all the trouble, just rest for a while. Take a
break. Selah. God is not going to forget that
lamb. We will forever be crying unto
God, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Thank God for that Lamb. May I never take that Lamb for
granted. May I never say, the Lamb that
was slain for me, and just take it for granted. Verse 4 says in Psalm 20, the
Lord will grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill
all thy counsel. Not only will the Lord hear you,
defend you, help you, strengthen you, and remember the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ for you, but the Lord will grant you according
to thine own heart. What does a real sinner's heart
want? A real sinner's heart. A person who's really gotten
a hold of his sin. A person who really sees his
violence. What does a true sinner desire? Well, turn with me over to 2
Samuel 23. 2 Samuel 23. Verse 1 says, now these be the last words of
David. David the son of Jesse said,
and the man who was raised up on high, The anointed of the
God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, look at verse
five. Although my house be not so with
God. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting
promise. An everlasting covenant. A forever, never-ending promise. Ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my salvation
and all my desire. Now, my flesh wants a lot of
things in this life. My flesh desires a lot of things
in this world. But that new heart that cries,
Abba, Father, only wants one thing. Really, it only wants
one thing. Dear sinner, dear sinner, cry unto the Lord God. He will
grant you your one true heart's desire. David said, one thing
have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after. And I'm
telling you the truth, a true believer, a true sinner whom
God has revealed Christ to and put Christ in him, a true sinner
whom Christ dwells in him will say, this is the only thing I
want. This is all I want. When this whole thing is over,
This is all I want. I want to dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of eternity, to behold this beautiful Savior,
this gorgeous, beautiful Lamb, to be in awe of His beauty. To behold the beauty of the Lord
and to listen to what He has to say. That's all I want. I want to just hear the tone
of His voice. That's all I want. Our text, Psalm 20 and verse
4 says, He will grant thee according to thine own heart and fulfill
all thy counsel. And that is good news. That's
good news. I might be poor the rest of my
life on this earth. So be it. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ. Verse 5 says, 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. Look at Psalm 60. Psalm 60, verse 4. It says, Thou hast given a banner
to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of
the truth. Rest in that for a while. What is my banner? Every time I see that, I can't
help but think of the American flag. The star spangled banner. Oh, glory. What is my glory? What do I love to behold? What is my honor? What is my
representative? Who is my representative? Who
am I united in? Who do I pledge allegiance to? The Lord is my banner. I pledge allegiance to Him only
because He pledged His allegiance to me first. Our text, Psalm 20, verse 5 says,
We will rejoice in thy salvation in the name of our God. We will
set up our banners. The Lord fulfill all the petitions. Now, no, I that the Lord save
it, his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Now, let me
read verse six again. This is what the Lord reveals
to a center. Now, no, I. that the Lord saveth his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Why has all this goodness been
given to me? I believe I'm saved, John. I
really do. Why are all these blessings bestowed
upon me? Why? It's because of Him. That's why. Verse 6 says, Now
I know that the Lord saveth His anointed. He's the only One who
walked this earth perfectly. Christ is the only One worthy
to be saved. And if I'm in Him, He's going
to save me. He said in Isaiah 42, Behold
My servant whom I uphold, Mine elect in whom My soul delighteth. That's Jesus Christ. God the
Father only elected one man. He elected Him. And if I'm in
Him, He elected me. Isn't that something? I've got
to be in Him. Election is only in Him. He spoke out loud and said, this
is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear ye Him. God will hear Him. And if I'm in Him, God will hear
me. Verse 7 says, Some trust in chariots
and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord
our God. What is the name of the Lord
our God? The angel said, Call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Some
trust in horses and some in chariots, but I know of One who can save
me from my sins. By God's grace, I'll remember
the name of the Lord. He said, call His name Emmanuel,
because God is with us. Isaiah said, call His name Wonderful,
because He's our Counselor. He's the mighty God, this Child,
the Lord. He is the everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Some trust in chariots and some
in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
Verse 8 says, they are brought down and fallen. Who? Those who trust in chariots and
horses. Those who trust in the things
of man. But verse 8 says, we are risen. Risen. Risen with Him. Risen in Him. When He arose,
if I was in Him, I arose. And verse 8 says, we stand upright
in Him. We are redeemed back to our original
state. that original state. Verse 9
says, Save, Lord, let the King hear us when we call. The Lord,
our sacrifice, our banner, our Savior, our Counselor, our mighty
God, our Prince of Peace. That's our King. Every time a new presidential
election comes along, we get torn all to pieces, don't we?
It's a big deal who's in charge of you, isn't it? It's a big
deal. Behold your King. What a King we have! He's the King of Kings. He's
the King of Presidents. He's the Lord of Lords. Peter said, we were eyewitnesses
of His Majesty, the King. One day, we're going
to be eyewitnesses too. Eyewitnesses. Well, let's close
with verse 9 again. This is our prayer. It says,
Save, Lord. Let the King hear us when we
call. Let the King hear us. Save, Lord,
let the King hear us when we call. Verse 1 says, He will. He sure will. I pray the Lord
will bless His Word. Brother John.