I'm going to take you on a little
trip through its fourth chapter in the Book of Psalms. Would
you open there your Bibles with me? How good it is, when we're
taking a trip, to get directions from somebody who knows the way. Paul and I have traveled together
in several places. We went to Yucatan, Mexico, Chiapas,
Mexico, the beautiful island of Ireland and England. And each
time we had someone with us who knew where we were going, what
we were going to do, what we would see. We went to Yucatan
with Walter Gruber is no better tour guide. We went to Chiapas,
Mexico with Milton Howard, and we went to Ireland with the Irish
preacher Dale Clark, and also to England with Bill. It's always
good that if you're going to travel, you're going to travel
with somebody who knows the way. And I'm opening the Bible tonight
to Psalm chapter 4. I selected this psalm to teach
you tonight. And I do with full confidence,
absolute confidence, that the author, David, will not lead
us astray. I know that David will not cause
us to fall or faint. Because the Heavenly Father said
of David, I have found David the son of Jesse. I love a David
now, the son of Jesse. A man after my own heart. And he shall fulfill my will. And the fellow I'm looking at
tonight and following, listening to, is David. who will fulfill
the will of God. I just believe that. I have cold
confidence that David will lead us along the right path. Now
look at the first thing that he says. He says, Hear me when
I cry, O God, of my righteousness. Now before David talks to us,
or to anybody else, he's talking to God. That's the first thing
he says here. He says, hear me when I call,
O God. And I would recommend that anyone
who chooses to speak to men about God, ought to first speak to
God about himself and about men. Don't talk to men about God unless
you've talked to God about men. That's right. I learned two things,
at least two things, in this business of preaching. The two powerful truths that
I would exhort anyone who preaches to follow these two powerful
truths. First of all, no more globally,
in Christ, a man stands before God. boldly, in Christ, stand
before God, the more bold he'll be in telling the truth to sinners. If he stands boldly before God
and learns something, he'll tell the truth to sinners. And the
second thing I learned is this. The more often that that man
spends time in the presence of God, He won't tremble or quake
when he stands before the sons of men. If he stands real often
before God, when he comes down here to the sons of the flesh,
it won't shake him up, not a bit in the world, because he knows
of whom he believes. He's learned it from Him. And
here's the reason for David's boldness. Listen. He said, Hear
me when I call, O God of my righteousness. O God of my righteousness, hear
me when I call. I want you to turn in your Bibles
to Hebrews 4. Hebrews chapter 4. Hear me when
I cry, O God of my righteousness. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14. Listen. Seeing them, you say
you have to hear Hebrews 4.14. Seeing, then, that we have a
great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God, has hold fast our profession. But we have not a
high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our humbleness,
but was in all course tempted, like it we are, yet without seeing. So let us therefore come Holy,
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help us in our time of need. Hear me, O God, hear
me, O God, of my righteousness, as our Lord Jesus Christ is talking
about here. Now look at verse 1, the second
part of verse 1. He said, hear me, O God of my
righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Thou hast enlarged me. What is
enlarging? Well, here's what it is. He made
room for me. He made room for me. He opened
the way for me. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was distressed, and you delivered me then, and now you deliver
me. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress, now have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer."
David's plea for mercy, present mercies, are based upon his belief
in God's past mercies. That's what he said. You have
helped me You have opened the way for me. You have opened the
door for me. You've done it again and again
and again when I've been astray. Now then, have mercy on me. Right now. Right now. Have mercy on me. Right now.
And hear me when I cry. Hear me. I want you to open your
Bible now to judges. I believe that Brother Paul referred
to this recently in his message. In judges, chapter 13. I want
to show you something here. In Judges chapter 13. Judges
13. Now, David is saying, now you've blessed
me in the past, and I know you're going to bless me now. And now
here in Judges 13, in verse 22, oh, I know what you know. He was going to be the father
of Sykes, and God was going to give him a child. And he said
to his wife, we're going to die. He said, we're going to die,
because we're seeing God. He watched the Lord Jesus Christ
descend up in that flame of that sacrifice. He said, we're going
to die. And she said, no, I want you to. His wife said, if the
Lord was going to kill us, If he is pleased to kill us, he
would not have received the burnt offering. I express this presently. And secondly, he said, if the
Lord will kill us, he would not have received a meat offering
at our hands. Neither would he have showed
us all these things, nor would at this time have told us such
glorious, wonderful things. He's not going to kill us. He's
not going to destroy us, because he has been blessing us for years
and years and years. He's not going to destroy us.
He's going to keep on blessing us. Oh, I've heard it, too. Now,
David, David goes from the preposite to the stage of conflict. We have some trouble now. Watch
here. Look at that first verse. Hear me, Lord, when I cry my
righteousness. Now, blessed Lord, feed me when
I was in distress. Now have mercy upon me and hear
my prayer. And then he addresses his sons
of Adam. He said, Oh, he's sons of men. He's sons of men. That's who
he's talking about. The sons of men. Natural men. Sons of Adam. So-called great
men. And he brings three charges against
them. There's three charges here. Now listen to David. He brings
three charges against these sons of men. O ye sons of men, how
long will you turn my glory, God's glory, into shame? How
long are you going to keep on turning the glory of God into
shame? And that's what we're doing in
this generation, rapidly, going downhill all the way. That's
why I turn to Romans 1, Romans chapter 1, see if this is not
the case. How long, how long will you turn
my glory into shame? Look at Romans chapter 1, verse
21. But because that when they knew
God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful. that they became vain in their
imagination, their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves
to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the
incorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man,
to birds, bull-footed beasts, snakes, creeping things, and
God gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their hearts.
to dishonor their bodies between themselves. How long? How long
would you turn my glory into shame? Here's a second chart.
And he says, how long would you love vanity? What is vanity? Solomon tried all these different
things. He said, vanity, vanity, it's
all vanity. All these things that that men
find their pleasure in His vanity. Now turn to 1 Timothy 6, 1 Timothy
chapter 6, and let's see what Paul the Apostle says here about
this thing. 1 Timothy 6, verse 6. He says, look, 1 Timothy 6, 6,
but darkness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing
into this world. It's certain we'll carry nothing
on. Therefore, having food and raiment, let us therewith be
content. But they that will be rich, vanity
of vanity, they fall into temptation. They fall into a snare. and many
foolish, hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and
perdition. And for the love of money, vanity,
the love of money is the root of all evil, which some coveted
after, they have erred from the faith, pierced themselves through
with many sorrows." How long? How long? Would you turn her
over in shame? How long would you pant after
her, and long after her, and walk vanity of vanity? How long? And then what's next? And how
long would you seek after lies? Seek after lies. I want you to
turn to John chapter 5, and listen to what our Lord says here. In
John, the fifth chapter, And verse 39, John 5, 39. John 5, 39. Listen to it. John 5, 39. You search the scriptures. They
did. All these Pharisees and Sadducees
searched the scriptures. For in them you think you have
eternal life. And they are they which testify
of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life. I receive not honor from men,
but I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. I
come in my Father's name, and you will receive me not. If another
comes in his own name, you will receive. How can you believe?
We receive honor of one another, and seek not the honor that comes
from God alone. Who is a liar? Could you answer
that question? Who is a liar? I'll tell you
who is a liar. Turn with me to 1 John 5, verse
22. I'll tell you who a liar is,
and then all the prescriptions of all men are liars, but these
folks especially. 1 John 2, verse 22. Listen. Who is a liar? Who is a liar? But he that denies
that Jesus is Christ. Everybody that denies that Jesus
is Christ is a liar. Isn't that something? Every person
that denies that Jesus Christ is a liar is a liar. It's not
that he denies that Jesus Christ is God. He's a liar. And not
only that, he's an antichrist. That's what our pastor taught
the brethren, an antichrist that denied the Son and the Father. Oh, I tell you, who do you like? Everybody that does not confess
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. All right, let's go
back to our text. Psalm 4. Now watch this, verse
3. Verse 3. But know, but know, that the
Lord hath set apart him that's godly for himself. The Lord hath
set him apart, him that's godly for himself. The Lord will hear
when I call unto him. Friends, whatever the conditions,
how long will you turn thy ruler in shame? How long will you follow
vantages? How long will you believe the
lies that people tell in the name of God? Well, know this,
but God, that's what the scripture says, but God who is rich in
mercy, but God, when he pleased you, he revealed his son to me,
but God, but know this, whatever the conditions that surround
us, Whatever the times or years bring to us, whatever the attitudes
of the sons of men, there's going to be some bad times and some
good times. Nations shall rise against nations,
kingdom against kingdom. There shall be wars and rumors
of wars. There shall be earthquakes in
many places, famines, troubles. These are the beginning of sorrows
in every age, in every generation. in good times and bad times,
but know this, learn it well, God has set apart him that's
God made for himself. For himself. It pleased God to
make him his people. It pleased God that in all fullness
shall dwell in Christ. It pleased God to bruise him
on the cross. It pleased God to reveal his
Son in us, and it pleased God through this thing that I'm doing
right now, the foolishness of preaching, to save those that
believe what I'm preaching. That's right. God has chosen. God Almighty has drawn them with
an everlasting love. God Almighty has chosen them
in Christ. God Almighty has accepted them
in the beloved. And God Almighty hath watched
him, sanctified him, justified him in Christ, and the name of
Sarah the woman written in glory. Know this, that the Lord hath
set apart him that is godless for himself. The Lord hath chosen
Jacob unto himself and for himself. his particular treasure. The precious sons of Zion are
fine gold. They're the work of the hands
of the potter. And those who bear the Lord,
he said, they're going to be mine. Those who bear the Lord,
they're going to be mine when I link up my jewels and my special
treasures. Their names will be written in
the book. Turn to John chapter 17, and
this is what our Lord says about these folks. John chapter 17. I have reserved a people for myself. John 17, verse 8. I have given
unto them the words you gave me. They have received them. And they have known surely that
I came out for thee, and they have believed that you sent me.
And I pray for them." Now listen, I'm going to read on. He said,
"...know that the Lord has set him that is godly apart for himself."
Now listen to this. I pray for them. I don't pray
for the world. I pray for them which God has
given me. They're behind me. And oh, my,
oh, my! And oh, my, oh, my! I'm glorified
in them. I am glorified in these people.
I am glorified in them. Look at that verse again, verse
3 in Psalm 4. But know that the Lord hath set
him, that's you, you, you, and you, and you, and me. set him
apart as God-fearing. Who's God-fearing? Who's he talking
about here, that he's God-fearing? I'll tell you. I know who's God-fearing. Number one, he is proud to tell
you. Number one, the person who is God-fearing is a man who is
a figure of stone. He's un-God-fearing. have no
fear of God before their eyes. I do. You look at it. The man who fears God, he was
sent of the ungodly, there's no fear of God before their eyes,
but God sent of Job. My servant Job is an upright
man, and he fears God. Do you know that the worship
of the Lord was what's called men who feared God? The very
worship of God is fear of God. Fear of God. Oh, my servant Job
was an upright man and he fears the Lord. Secondly, who is a
godly man? Who's a godly person? This person
is godly who trusts the Lord. That's what the scripture says,
kiss the Son. kissed the sun, blessed are all
they that put their trust in him. Job said, though he slain me,
I trust in him. I said, God did that. He
trusts God. That's right. Though he slain
me, I trust him. Oh, Job said, thou might go down
to the grave, but I won't trust him. And thirdly, The person
who is godly is a man who loves God. They love each other and that
makes us love one another because love is of God. And everyone
that loves Him is born of God. And he that loves God knows he's
not God. He's ungodly. If he doesn't know
God and loves God, he's ungodly. And this is his commandment,
that he who loveth God loveth his brother also. Also. To Peter he said, do you
love him? But Peter said, you don't love
him, you don't love him. There's no doubt about that.
That's salvation. That's salvation. And whose God is here in God?
He wouldn't take God's name and fame. How do you let Him? He'll die for us. The man is
Godly, who trusts the Lord. The man is Godly, who loves God. The love of God is love of God. Love is of God. God gave us that
love for Him, because He loved His covenants. And then the person
who is Godly, he said, I've set him apart as godly. The person
who is godly knows God. Paul said, I know whom I have
to be. I know who he is. How can a man
be called a child of God if he doesn't know who his dad is?
If he doesn't know his father, then he's not a child of God.
He knows, he knows his father. Christ prayed, this is eternal
life. This is it. He said, this is
it. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee, the only true God. And Jesus Christ, through
God, has said, this moment God has come and given us an understanding
that we know, we might know Him. We might know Him as true. And we're in him that is true.
And this is a true God. This is eternal. And I set him
apart, God said. Know this, that the Lord has
set him apart. That's godly. And the fourth
thing, the person's godly, who fears God, who trusts the Lord,
who loves God, knows others, he knows God, and he acts godlike. acts like his father. If you
turn to 2 Corinthians, listen to this, 2 Corinthians chapter
3, 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Let me show you this right. 2 Corinthians chapter 3, and
verse 18. 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse
18. But we are with open face, behold
as in a glass. I see through a glass definitely,
I know that. But we behold as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, the glory of the Lord. And we're changed,
we're changed into the same image from glory to glory. From one
degree of faith to another, we're changed. We behold God, and it
changes you. You talked about that just recently
for the talk. It changes a person. Yeah, we're
changed into their image, the same image from glory to God.
How? By the Spirit of God. By the
Spirit of God. That's how we change. That's
how the pastor talked about growing in grace and the knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When God saves us, we're saved
in Christ. We give them understanding that
we're young men in Christ. We give them understanding that
we grow in love and grace and we become elders in Christ. That's right. All right, let's look at verse
four. Verse three, know that the Lord has set him apart as
godly for himself, and the Lord will hear that man when I call
unto him. He will hear when I call unto
him. Now, David gives us, out here
in these two verses, some mildly good advice. I think this is
mighty good advice. He won't let us down here. Now
you watch this. So, stand in awe. Stand in awe
and stand not. What's he talking about? Here's
what he's talking about. Stand in reverence before God. Stand in fear before God. Stand in humility before God. Stand before God the eternal
the almighty presence of the great God, and cease from sin,
the sin of pride." That's what God hates for anything, pride.
That's what he's saying. Seven things God hates for pride.
Look, number one, pride. Cease from pride. Cease from
arrogance. Cease from an open familiarity
with God Almighty. Just stand it up. Just stand
in awe, and do not become arrogant. I want you to turn to Ecclesiastes
chapter 5. Ecclesiastes chapter 5. Listen to this. Ecclesiastes
chapter 5, verses 1 and 2. You know, if I'm preaching this
message and I keep going back, Paul said the same thing a few
days ago. Paul, we preach the same thing. That's right. Chapter 5, verse
1. Listen. Keep your foot when you
go to the house of God. Be more ready to hear and to
give than to sacrifice and lose. They consider not that they do
evil. Don't leave a rash with your
mouth. Stand it off. Let not thine heart be hasty
to utter anything before God. God said, Heavens, thou from
earth, therefore let your words be few. Stand it off. And don't sin with your mouth.
And sin not. Stand it off. Don't go into arrogance
and and healthiness and pride and these things. Be humble before
God. Here's the second thing he said.
Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed. This is really important here. Now listen. Commune with your
own heart upon your bed and be still. Be still. You know, we worship together
here tonight, all together. I'm so glad to be here. I just
enjoy coming. We all worship together. And
we praise God together at the pastor's desk and sing the great
old hymn by John Newton and others, and how we enjoy it. We sing,
we preach together, we pray together, but when it comes to the heart. Commune with your own pride upon
your bed. Get alone with God. When it comes
to the heart, our relationship with our Lord, that's personal. When it comes to our sins, I
don't confess my sins before people, but I do before Him. I have an understanding with
Him. He knows me. I don't need to
hide. Our needs are put before him. Our commitment must be sincere
and alone. Away from others, away from voices,
away from other influences, just be alone with God. Spend some
time alone. And I know husband and wife,
they get together with ours and I do the discussing, but I go
She goes in her room with the alone with God. I'm just telling the truth, I'm
telling the truth. Today's religion is lack, it's
barrenness, it's never alone with God. Never. Never alone. You have to be with
somebody to keep your faith going, to keep your zeal going, encouragement
going, all that sort of thing. Today's religion is boisterous
and loud. And David said, I wait for the
Lord. My soul doesn't wait for the
Lord. In his word do I hope. Be still,
my soul, and wait on the Lord. That's good advice, isn't it?
It sure is. standing off. Don't give way
to pride and arrogance. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed and be still. Be still. Wait, wait on the Lord.
Wait on the Lord. And then here's the third thing.
He said in verse 5, offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
of righteousness. Now, I know they will offer a
sacrifice, and God has respect to His offering, but I can't
offer that sacrifice. People do. In the Passover feast,
they offer a sacrifice to God, but I can't offer it lately. And then our Lord Jesus Christ
would make sin for us outside the camp. Let's read about it.
Turn to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, let's see. Let's
go to Hebrews 13, verse 10. Hebrews 13, verse 10. All right. We have an altar. Somebody says, you have an altar
in your church? Yes, we have an altar. Not down here. We have
an altar, whereby and whereof they have no right to eat which
serve the famine. For the bodies of those beasts
whose blood is brought into the sanctuary of the high priest
for sin are burned without the candle. And also, we're full
of Jesus, our sacrifice. I sent off that he might sanctify
the people with his own blood, peace on earth, without the gate. Now then, let us go. Here we
are. Let us go forth, therefore, unto
him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here we have
no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice praise of righteousness to God continually. That is the fruit of our lives. Giving thanks to God, to His
name, and to do good, and to communicate. Don't forget that. For with such sacrifices, God
is well pleased. We have sacrifices, that's right.
With these sacrifices, God will, the fruit of our lives, praise
to God. Talking about the gospel through
our Lord Jesus Christ means you come in here and hear Paul preach
about it. That's where we, that's our sacrifice
to Christ. That's our sacrifice. All right. But to do good, verse 16, and
to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well
pleased. So back to my text. 5. Offer
the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord. Trust Him. Rest in Him. Now then, verse 6. There be many
that say, Who will show us any good? I looked at that back when
I was writing my commentaries. And it occurred to me that the
word any is not supposed to be here. It's in italics. It's in italics. And here's what
he said. There'll be many that say, who's
going to show us good? I can show you good. I can show
you good. Let me just show one place. Psalm 119. Psalm 119. And I should never do this because
I've got such a bad memory, I may forget what I've turned about.
Psalm 119, listen to this. Psalm 119, verse 71. Who's going to show us good? Psalm 119, 71. It is good for
me that I've been afflicted. That's good for me. It's good
for me that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. So that's good for me. Now I'm
going to show you some more good. I'm going to show you some more.
Here's the good. Here's the good. Look at verse
6 here. There'll be many that say, who
will show us good? And then David answers, Lord,
lift up the light of thy countenance upon us. That would be good.
Lift up the life of your captainess on them. That would be good.
Now turn to Psalm 80. Psalm chapter 80. Let me show
you what David said here. You know, there's no interpretation
of the Scripture like the Scriptures say. There's no commentary on
the Scripture like the Scripture. But listen to Psalm 80. Verse,
where did he say? Well, he said, Lift up the light
of thy countenance upon us. Now look at Psalm 80, verse 3.
Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we'll
be saved. Now look at verse 7 of Psalm
80, verse 7. Turn us again, O God of hosts,
and cause thy face to shine, and we'll be saved. Now verse
17, so lovely, I love it. Psalm 70, verse 80, Psalm 80
verse 17. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, upon the Son of man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we go back from thee. Quicken us, and
we will call upon thy name. So turn us again, O Lord of Hosts,
and cause Thy face to shine upon us. That's good. That is good. Show us good. That's good. That's good. Oh, that's good. And now look at my text again.
In verse 7. So it says, Seth wrote with Psalm
4 verse 7, Thou hast put gladness in my heart. Oh, that's good.
That's good. Now let's put gladness in my
heart. I want gladness in my heart. What's it? More, more than in
the time that the corn and their wine increases. He said you put
gladness in my heart and it's more than the barnacle bowl and
the cellars full of wine. But you know me, I ain't going
to have both. But this, I'd rather have this, him, than that. That's it. God has put gladness
in my heart. More glad than the time of weeping
and the time of the corn coming in and the winding creases. Oh,
that's good. That's good. God is good. That's good. All right, verse
8. But more than gladness, gladness is more than corn in the barn
or wine in the cellar, and gladness is this, verse 8, I will both
lay me down in peace and sleep, for Lord, thou only, Lord, makest
me to dwell safely. put gladness in my heart, more
than a full barn and a wine cellar. And I lay down and sleep tonight,
and I sleep because God makes me dwell in safety. Somebody
wrote this one time. It was said by someone that King
Solomon slept with armed guards around his But I'm sure the writer
said that Solomon did not sleep any more peacefully than his
father David slept, who slept on the ground, with King Saul
and four hundred soldiers running it down. But he slept peacefully
and quietly because only God could make a sound. I used to
have a friend, preacher's wife. And she told us, and I one day
said, when a storm comes, me and the two babies get under
the bed, because we're so afraid. Fear not. I'm with you, Sam. I'll keep you. Keep you safe. You don't have to have a gun
beside your bed. You've got crutches. I know that. That's so. I want to tell you
something here that I quote. I found this poem. I found this
poem by Kent. What was his first name? John
Kent. John Kent. Come saints, and swing singing
in sweet accord, with solemn pleasure's tale, the covenant
made with David's Lord, in all things is ordered well. This
covenant stood at times again, that God with men might dwell. Eternal wisdom drew the plan,
in all things is ordered well. This covenant, O believer, stands,
your rising fears to quell. Seal by the sheriff's bleeding
hands, in all things honoured well. For made with Jesus for
his bride that bore the sinner bare, the covenant was signed,
sealed, and ratified, in all things honoured well. He'll keep
you to the river, roses, flowers, at your feet, and he'll bury
you safely over where your loved ones will be. All right, let's
stand together, and we'll give you space. Our merciful, Heavenly
Father, I would thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you, Lord, that you've
given us the love of the word. You've written these words in
our hearts and made us to love your word, believe your word,
trust your word, wait for thee. We thank you, Lord, for this
dear pastor and this congregation of believers. We pray you continue
your mercy and blessing to be upon us for years to come. We
do thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us. We pray that
you'd use this message for your glory, for the good of your people. We pray for our loved ones who
are going through trial, heartache, and trouble. We commit them to
thee. We pray, Lord, your mercies and
grace to be upon them. Forgive our sins. Lead us by
your Spirit. Through Christ our Lord we pray,
amen. Thank you very much. Yeah. Yeah.