A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord, a wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the clefts
of the rock, where rivers of blood I see. He hides my soul
in the cleft of the rock, and knows what I can't see there. He hides my life in the depths
of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me
there with His hand. Let's sing the last verse. When clothed in his brightness,
transported I ride To name him out of the sky His perfect salvation,
his wonderful love A child with the millions on God He hideth
my soul in the cleft of the rock that settles upon the sea-bed. He hideth my heart in the depths
of the earth, and of the earth All right, back to Psalm 27 now. Psalm 27. Most of you, like me, love the
Psalms. fail to find something in the
Psalms when I'm looking for something to read to help me at any time. Psalms, I'm able to turn to them
and find help in time of need. The Lord called David a man after
his own heart. And I find David to be a man
after my own heart. The things he went through are
things that I go through. The things that he says are things
that I feel. And the Psalms confirm to me,
reassure me that this is the word of God. Because the scripture says the
word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart. And I find all of my thoughts and intents in the pages of this
book. In one psalm, I can find my heart poured out
here in Psalm 27, especially David. David now is a child of
God, and David has one desire. Every child of God has one desire. Now David was a man of like passions,
as we are. He was just a man. Like Elijah,
whom James said, is a man of like passion. We talked about
Elijah last Wednesday, how that Elijah had fears and doubts himself,
didn't he? John the Baptist, whom the Lord
says there was no greater man ever born of woman than John
the Baptist, he had doubts and fears, didn't he? When he was
in prison and when he asked, told his disciples to go and
ask the Lord, are you the one we look for? David is a man of
like passions. And David enjoyed many things.
And there's nothing wrong with enjoying things. Scripture says,
God giveth us all things richly to enjoy. Nothing sinful in things. Sin, our Lord said, comes from
the heart. It's not what goes in the mouth
that defiles a man. Because that comes out in a draft.
He said, Out of the heart are the issues of life. Out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts and adulteries and so forth. But
David enjoyed many things, but he said there's one thing I really
desire. One thing I long for. Look at
it there in verse four, and this is what we looked at last Wednesday. I'm not going to dwell here too
long, but he said one, and if you notice the word thing is
in italics. So you can safely leave that
out. One have I desire, and that what I seek after. One. One. Who is the one desire of
all believers? What David said again in Psalm
65, he said, Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there's none on
earth I desire beside thee. Christ is the believer's desire,
one desire. That's the reason they're called
Christians, not Christians. That's a perversion of the name,
and they're Christians. They're Christ-lovers. They're
Christ-followers. They're Christ-trusters. They're
Christ-worshippers. That's what Paul said there in
Philippians. He said that I might know him, be found in him, win
him, know the fellowship of his suffering. All of those things,
to know Christ, whom to know is to have eternal life. David
said, he is my one desire. Look at it, verse four, and that
will I seek after him. I'll seek him, that I may dwell
in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, now and
forever. Now and forever. This is where
I want to be tonight and no other place I'd rather be. Though God
dwelleth not in a building made with hands, yet he said the church
is his temple. And he said where two or three
are gathered, that's where I am. So there's no place I'd rather
be tonight than right here and forever. I want to join with
a congregation of saints throughout eternity doing just what we're
doing right now, singing his praises gathering around the
worship of Christ. Read on. All the days of my life,
to behold, and why are we here and why will we be there? To
behold, not to see mother, but to behold Christ. There's
not going to be a mother and father in glory. There's not
going to be any relationship. There's not going to be husband
and wife, are there? Christ is our husband our father, our mother,
our all and in all. And he is the believer's desire. And he is the one they look forward
to seeing. To behold his beauty, the beauty
of the Lord, his person and his word. That's what church is all
about. That's what this is all about. That's why we come here. Not
to see or be seen, but to see Christ and hear of him. and to inquire in his temple,
to sit at his feet, the feet of the Master, and learn of him. And I can't wait. You see, the
half hasn't been told yet. I've heard some glorious messages
of Christ crucified, and I thought that I'd be transported like
Enoch. I thought I was ready to leave
this place after hearing Christ high and lifted up, but the half
hasn't been told yet. And someday we'll see him as
he is and hear him speak, who speaks as no man speaks. Now here he gives, this is where
we left off and this is where we'll pick up now. Verse five,
he talks about three places of refuge here in verse five. Three
places of refuge, yet these three are one. Now, he gave three desires there
in verse four. Those three desires are found
in one. Three places of refuge. Our God
is a triune God. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. Yet these three are one. God
is our refuge. There's refuge to be found in
the Father. There's refuge to be found in the Son. There's
refuge to be found in the Spirit, but these three are one, one
God. The Lord our God is one God, yet three distinct persons.
So explain that, preacher. I can't. He's God. His ways are past finding out.
His person is beyond our understanding, but I know it's so. All right,
look at verse 5. Every creature needs a refuge,
a dwelling place, a place of safety and comfort. Verse 5. He shall hide me in his pavilion. He shall hide me in his pavilion. Now, we go through here in these
three things, you're going to see growth in grace. You're going
to see a growth in faith. You're going to see, David, the
Word of God is so perfect. David didn't just haphazardly
write some things down. Well, what's God to him in AECCC's
pavilion? Oh, he's a tabernacle. Oh, he's a rock. These things
are in perfect ascension, or order. We had eyes to see. Every verse has been inspired
by God Almighty and written exactly as he intended it. You're going
to see a growth in grace here in these three places of refuge. All right? He says, "...in the
time of trouble." Now man, Job said, man that is born of woman
is of few days and full of trouble. He's full of trouble. And our Lord said, "...in this
world you shall have tribulation." I know. Preachers like to talk
about the tribulation period, the coming tribulation period.
We're in it, people. We've been in the tribulation,
we've been in tribulation. Believers have been in tribulations
since the day we're born. Trouble, trial. And more specifically,
persecution for the gospel sake. That's tribulation. In the world,
you shall have tribulation. Man is born a woman is a full
of trouble, full of trouble. Well, he says here, in the time
of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion. Now, what's
a pavilion? When I first thought of this,
I thought pavilion, some grand and glorious place like you would
hear about in the Far East, you know, some huge cathedral of
sorts. That's not what pavilion means
here. What pavilion means here is a little grass hut in the
woods. And you say, why would he say
that? Well, David refers to himself all the time as a deer, doesn't
he? Like, as the heart panta after
the water broke. Where do deer hide? Oh, Rick,
there's a place right down over the hill from me, down in that
little valley there, and it's full of shrubs and overgrowth
of trees and all that. And you go down in there and
it's a perfect hiding place for some wild animal. Perfect. And I've seen many of them down
there. Rabbits and the birds love to
flock. It's a sanctuary for birds. They
just fly in there and it's a perfect covert or hiding place for wild
animals. Well, I tell you, that's what
we are when the Lord first deals with us. is like a wild ass's
coat, like a wild animal. When the Lord deals with us,
when the Lord shows us our real trouble in
the time of trouble, when the Lord shows us our real trouble,
and our real trouble is not trouble in the world, but trouble with
God. When the Lord first shows us
our sin, and it's ever before us, we need a hiding place, don't
we? We need a place, a refuge. We need a place to go. Well, he shall hide me in his
pavilion. What's that? Christ is the believer's
refuge. Christ. So a young believer flees
to Christ. A new believer is like a scared
rabbit who finds refuge in Christ. A new believer. comes to Christ
to find refuge, and though his faith is not very strong, yet
he runs to Christ. And he's as secure as an old
believer. He's as secure as a young believer.
It's not the amount of faith that's saved. It's faith in Christ. And then again, faith is not
what saves you. It's the object of your faith.
It's the object of your faith. Faith is not what saves you.
Christ saves. Faith just merely says, Christ
is my Savior. But it's not the degree of faith.
Right? Those people in the houses in
Egypt, when the Lord said he was going to send his death angel
through and kill the firstborn. Now, there were many people in
those huts, in those houses. They were young people. Middle-aged
young men and they were older people. There were people there
who were weak in the faith. There were people who were scared
to death. There were old men and women who were confident
and sure. Moses was in there. He was unafraid. Then there was some young, weak
person who said, You reckon God really is going to spare us? What was everybody in there's
hope? Their faith? What did you say, John? blood
on the doorpost and on the lintel. That's what saved everybody in
there. It wasn't their faith, it was the blood. God said, when
I see your faith, I'll pass over you. Young and old, weak faith,
strong faith, Christ is the Savior. Christ is the Savior. All right, so here he goes on
here, a young believer, and he runs to Christ for a hiding place,
and he finds refuge. Look at the next thing. He says,
In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the
secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. All right, David
goes from hiding in the shrubs to a tent in the wilderness. He got an hour or two he could
spend on this, the secret of his tabernacle, the tabernacle
of the wilderness. You know, that's where David
worshiped. There was no temple yet. You recall, David's son built
the temple, didn't he? Solomon. David worshiped in the
tabernacle, that tent wherein was the holy place, you know,
where the altar and the labor of water, and then in a holy
of holies where the high priest alone went once a year with the
blood, not without blood, and to pour that blood on that mercy
seat that poured down over and covered that law that was inside
that ark of the covenant. That's where David worshiped.
What's all that? What's the secret of the tabernacle? Well, it's been kept hid from
the foundation of the world. but it's been manifested unto
us, it's been revealed unto us in Christ. Christ is the secret
of the tabernacle. Christ is all the furniture in
the tabernacle. Right? He's all, he's the candlestick,
he's the light, he's the table of showbread, he's the bread,
he's the laver of water, he's the water of life. Christ is
the altar, Christ is the the mercy seat. Christ is the heart.
Christ is all and in all in the tabernacle. He's the secret of
the tabernacle. And that's where we go to hide.
It's a tent in the wilderness to most people. Just a little
tent. Like I said, the parasites or the Hibats and the Hittites
and the Jebusites and the Amalekites would drive by and see that brown
tent down in the wilderness. They didn't see anything glorious
about that. Covered in badger skin. Ah, but the children of
God, they saw the Shekinah glory. He was on the inside. And though
Christ was just a man to most, the child of God, like Peter
and James and John, see Him transfigured and see Him as a being of light,
see Him as the Holy One, the Son of God, our refuge, our hiding
place, the tabernacle among us, the secret The secret play, the
hiding play, the tabernacle, God's place to hide. You know,
it's a good place to hide. Did you ever hide when you were
a kid, play hide and seek? Everybody in here has done that.
I remember playing hide and seek, and we had our favorite places
to hide, didn't we? Mine, before I got too big, well,
I never did get too big, but before I got too big, I used
to hide in the laundry hamper. in the bathroom, this little
wicker laundry hamper. Until I started breaking it down,
Mom said, don't you get in there again. Well, I used to hide in
the laundry hamper, and nobody ever found me in that laundry
hamper. I'll tell you where a good place to hide is, in that tabernacle. If you can get in the ark, you'll
never be found. Go in there. Who was that fellow,
John, that laid hold on the horns of the altar and said, they can't
touch me here? He laid hold on the ark. That's
a good place to hide him. The scripture says, be sure your
sins will find you out. Well, not if you're in the ark,
they won't. Not if you're in the ark, they
won't. Now, your sins will find you out, to you out. But if you're
in the ark, if you're in Christ, if you're under the blood, God
says there's sin and iniquity. I don't remember no more. God
says your life is hid with me in Christ, in God, doesn't it? If you're in Christ by faith,
in the ark, you're covered. You're hidden. It's a good place
to be. But David goes on, Joe, and I
know you like this next part. Read on. This is what we're sung
about. He shall set me up on a rock. Now, he goes from hiding
in the bushes to on a rock. You see the progression of faith
there? hiding in the bushes to a tent in the wilderness to sit
on a rock. And this is more than just sitting
on a rock. Turn to Exodus 33. Exodus 33. I love this portion
of Scripture. Oh, my. Exodus 33. This is glory. The more you grow in grace and
the knowledge of Christ, you will realize that Christ is a
rock, a refuge. Fortress, David calls him, my
high tower. My high tower. He says, set me
up upon a rock. Exodus 33. Now, Moses here is
a picture of every believer. Now, do you remember where Moses
was first hidden? When he was a baby? He was hidden in the bulrushes.
A little pavilion. He was hidden in the bulrushes.
Nothing was going to come to him. He's one of God's chosen.
He's one of God's own. Well, Moses went from there to
the tabernacle. Look here at Exodus 33. Exodus
33, verse 9, it says, Exodus 33, 9. Came to pass as Moses
entered into the tabernacle, a cloudy pillar descended and
stood at the door of the tabernacle. And the Lord talked with Moses
from the tabernacle. That's a picture of every believer
who's in Christ, whom God will deal with in Christ. God will
speak to as a friend, face to face, in Christ. Only in Christ. Outside of that tabernacle, can't
see God, can't know God. God won't deal with you. You're
in your sins outside of Christ. But in Christ, you're safe, you're
hidden, you're accepted in the blood. Look at verse 20. All
right, Moses went into the tabernacle. Look at verse 20. He goes from
there to a rock. He said, God said, Thou canst
not see my face, there shall no man see me and live. And the
Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon
a rock. Read on. And it shall come to
pass while my glory passeth by. that I will put thee in a cleft
of the rock, and cover thee by my hand while I pass by. I will
take away my hand, and you will see my back part, but my face
shall not be seen." So David, or Moses, was not only on a rock,
but he was in the rock. Now what's that? Rather, who
is that? Christ is that rock. That's what
David said, or Paul said. Christ is that rock. And David
knew Christ, didn't he? Huh? Moses knew Christ, didn't
he? Christ said it. He said, Moses
wrote of me. Exodus 33 is Christ, the smitten
rock. Christ who is the cleft of the
rock, whose side was cleft for me to hide in. Christ is that rock, that foundation,
that sure foundation, that sure footing that every sinner can
Stand on and be sure and not be moved. When the overflowing
scourge of God's wrath comes by, you'll not be moved. Why?
You're standing on a rock. You stand on your works, you
stand on your profession, you stand on anything other than
Christ crucified, you'll be washed away. You stand on the rock or
you're hidden in the rock. You're hidden. You're safe with
Christ. That's what we just sang, didn't
we? A rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. But wait a minute. We don't hide
ourselves. Augustus missed that. Mr. Toplady missed that. We don't
hide ourselves in there. David said, he shall hide me
in the rock, didn't he? Because of God are you in Christ. who of God is made unto us. Well,
I'm going to talk about that in a minute. Look at verse, back
to Psalm 27, look at verse 6. All right, David goes from a
pavilion to a tabernacle to be set on a rock, and here he says
confidently, verse 6, and now, now he's standing on a rock,
he says, now, now shall mine head, verse 6, now shall mine
head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me. and you're
standing on a rock, you've got a vantage point. I take my dog
for a walk out in the woods every single day. It's a highlight
of his day and mine. And there's a cliff, a high rock,
a cliff that overlooks the Pig River. It doesn't sound real
pretty, but it is. You've been there, you know it's
pretty. But I stand up on that rock. I go to that place nearly
every day. Me and Abner. And there's not a day that I
don't stand on that rock and I don't think about these verses.
Standing on Christ. Standing on the promise of Christ
my Lord. And you can see clearly. What
did Moses see when God put him in the rock? He saw the glory
of God. Didn't he? Now he saw his glory. The only place you are going
to see the glory of God is in Christ. Standing on him by faith
in Christ. By faith in Christ, a believer,
he says here, now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies.
By faith in Christ, a believer can see clearly, and he can see
afar off. We can see afar off in Christ.
We can see, yeah, we can see the future. because he had promised. In Christ,
we can see that all things are ordered and sure concerning us. We can see clearly in Christ. By faith, the believer can lift
up his head and fear no more. Do you remember the woman caught
in the act of adultery? When they brought her in, they
didn't They didn't plan this, but they
brought her to exactly the right person that she needed to be
brought to. They found that woman caught
in the act of adultery and they brought her in to Christ and
threw her at his feet. Oh, if I can just throw myself at
his feet. And all those pious, self-righteous
Pharisees said now, This woman was caught in the act of adultery.
I remember it takes two. I'd venture to say that the other
party was in the party of the accusers. At any rate, they threw
her at Christ's feet, and they said, now Moses, the law says
he's to be stoned. What do you say? He's the one that wrote the law,
you see. And remember, he stooped down
to where she was. That's what Christ did to sinners. He came, he condescended, stooped
down to where we worms are, as sons of Jacob. Stooped down in
the dust, where we are. It says he rode on the sand with
his finger. That's the Word of God, written to sinners. It's
written to down where we are. If any man is righteous, he didn't
come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. But he
stooped down to where the center was and wrote in the sand. And
after he got through writing, everybody left. Just him and
her. And you know what happened? He
said, Woman. And she lifted up her head. Now shall mine head be lifted
up. Above mine enemies round about me." Woman, look around
you. Where are thine accusers? Doth
no man accuse thee? She looked around for some of
those fellows that brought her in. She said, No man, Lord. Now shall mine head be lifted
up round about me. Above mine enemy round about
me. And this also is a picture of
Christ, isn't it? This is a picture of Christ who
is the head of the church. Some people don't hold the head.
That's what Paul said. He said some don't hold the head.
They'd rather hold up the church and talk about the church. But
believers, the body now is interested in one thing, the head, holding
up the head. He said, if I may lift it up,
I'll draw all men to myself. The body is not interested in
looking at itself. What would the body be without
the head? It's the head. The body's covered,
isn't it? The body's to be covered in humiliation,
in modesty. The head's to be seen. That's
the reason a man is not to cover his head in the worship service,
because that's a picture of Christ, who is our head, who's not to
be covered. He lifted up, high and lifted
up, round about mine enemies. He's lifted up. crushed mine
enemy's head. He crushed the serpent's head.
Oh, his heel was bruised, but he crushed his head. And all
enemies shall be made his footstool some day under his feet. He's
above. He said, I'm from above. You're
from beneath. Read on. Verse 6. the best deeds that I can." No,
he doesn't say that. Well, only one life and it soon
will be passed, but only what's done for Jesus will last, David
said. No, he didn't say that. That's
utter blasphemy. It's true, only one life and
it soon will be passed, but only what's done by Jesus Christ will
last. not by works of righteousness
which I have done. It is according to his mercy.
It is works of righteousness which Christ has done. That is
the believer's salvation. He is the believer's salvation. He is Jehovah Sidkenu. Christ is the Lord, our righteousness. Isaiah 45, verse 24, John says,
Surely shall one say in the Lord have our righteousness and strength. Romans 10, verse 4, Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Therefore, I will offer in his
tabernacle one thing that God will accept at the hands of sinners. Faith. Faith in Christ. He doesn't say works here, he
says sacrifices of joy. See, Christ offered one sacrifice
by himself for sin. Our righteousness is a filthy
rag. Our works will not be accepted. But Christ offered that one sacrifice
for sin forever. And now there's no more work
to be done. Now faith worketh by love, but that's not salvation. It doesn't save you. But Christ
saved. Christ saved. His Word. And the
believer comes. How does he come to Christ? How
does he come to God? What sacrifice does he bring?
David says this several times in the Psalms. Sacrifice of thanksgiving. Praise. Sacrifice of our lips. But the heart? No. The heart. It's what God said. The heart,
man, Yeah, he says, I'll sing. Yeah, I will sing praises unto
the Lord. I will sing praises unto the
Lord. You know, as faith grows, so does your singing. I look out, and we're singing
these hymns. I look out on the faces of of
everyone, and I see young people singing these hymns. And I see, especially, I know
I've been there. I've been there. I remember when
I was courting, and I'd sit with a young girl in church, and we'd
be singing these hymns and all, and I was a little bit embarrassed
to be singing. A little bit of shame, maybe,
is singing. But buddy, when God finally puts
the song in your heart, then you'll sing. David says, I'll
sing. Yay, I'll sing! David talks much
of singing all the way through the Scripture, and that's what
the redeemed are going to be doing throughout eternity. They're
going to be singing the song of the redeemed. We need to learn
it now. We need to learn that song now.
What are they singing about in heaven? Again, they're not singing
about Mama. They're not singing about Manchester.
They're not singing about a little cabin in the corner of glory.
They're singing about Him. That's what we sing. We sing
hymns, H-I-M's. H-I-M's unto Him that loved us
and washed us from our sin in His own blood. And when that
song, the song of the redeemed is put in the heart of the redeemed,
they'll sing. Yes, they'll sing. Now I'm learning
the song now. I'm learning to sing now. The
older I get, the more I want to sing now. Someday I'm going
to sing. I love that story Brother Ralph
Barnard told. Brother Ralph Barnard was one
of these, well, he could preach, but he could not sing. He couldn't
carry a tune in a bucket. He was like a fellow said, if
he was a sewing machine, he wouldn't have been a singer. But he loved to sing anyway.
That's the reason the scripture says, make a joyful noise. If
you can't carry a tune in a bucket, make a noise. Do it loud. Well, Brother Barnard said he
always dreamed of being able to sing with that heavenly choir. And there is going to be a multitude
of saints, not a choir as such. We don't have one. There is going
to be a multitude of heavenly hosts singing praises unto God. Barnard said he dreamed he died
and went to glory, and he heard the most glorious sound singing
he had ever heard, the most beautiful sound. Closer he got, the more beautiful
it sounded, the louder it got, the more glorious it sounded
to him. He said, Oh, I'd like to sing in that, sing with that
group. And he said he looked up and
he saw an empty seat way up in the top row, not the front row,
the top row, way back in the back. And he said, If I could
just get to that seat, I would try to join in. And he walked
and made his way up through there and walked and walked and walked
and walked down that aisle, and finally he got to that seat.
And he wondered, I wonder who it belongs to? And he looked
and it said, Rothbard. And he got in that seat, but
he wasn't seated. They're not seated in heaven,
they say. Well, he stood and he began to sing, and he sang,
Perfect Case. Never sung like that before.
The song of the redeemed and the hymn that loved us and washed
us from our... And as I've said so many times,
we're all singing in one key. There's one key we sing from
and glory. Middle C. Christ. And everybody sings bass. Because he's the lead. He's the head. All right, read
on. He says, I'll sing. I'll sing. Yeah, I'll sing. Here he gives,
and I've got 40 minutes on those two verses. I've got five minutes
to go through the next one. Well, I'll hurry. I'll talk fast,
all right? Here he gives the cries of God's
children in these next several verses. Seven or eight cries
of God's children. Beginning with verse 7, he says,
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Hear me when I cry. Now, John said, If we ask anything
according to his will, we know that he heareth us. And my pastor dealt with that
well, didn't he? I've got a blessing out of that, what he said about
that. God heareth us. According to his will, he heareth
that." Now, that's a blessing. It's a comfort just to know God's
here in an old sinner like me. He'll not hear the self-righteous,
but he will hear a sinner in Christ. He will. But that's a comfort to know
he just hears me. Well, it's mercy, though, if
he answers, isn't it? Read on. He says, "...in mercy."
Hear me, he said, O Lord. Hear me when I cry. Have mercy
also upon me and answer me. It's mercy if God answers you. You know, God always answers
prayer, whether we see or hear the answer or not. He does. He
doesn't leave his children in the dark. Have you ever left
your children in the dark? Haven't you told them one way
or another? Brother Rick, if Sarah asks you something sometime
and you Don't give her an answer. If
you don't say anything, what's your answer? Huh? You see what I'm saying? The
old saying is, you know, he wouldn't take no for an answer. But a
believer's got to. Faith's got to at some time take
no for an answer. Lord, please, Lord, please, Lord,
please. And he won't answer. That means
no. You see what I'm saying? Lord, please heal so and so.
No answer. No. Or yes. Whichever way you want to look
at it. You see what I'm saying? The
Lord always answers. We just need the discernment to discern
the answer. To take no for an answer. It's
mercy when the Lord answers. Mercy and mercy. Answer me. And
it's great mercy if the Lord gives you the desire of your
heart. Verse 8, When thou sayest, Seek
ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I
seek. When is a man going to seek the Lord? When is a man
going to seek the Lord? And nobody's going to be saved
except they seek the Lord. Our Lord said, Seek me, and you
shall find me when you search for me with all your heart. But
when is a man going to seek the Lord? When God says, seek me. Not until then. That was me,
and that was you, if you're honest with yourself. It doesn't Psalm
65 verse 4 say, blessed is the man whom thou choosest and, say
it Perry out loud, causes to approach unto thee. Nobody's
going to seek the Lord unless God first seeks him. Nobody's
going to love the Lord unless God first loves them. Nobody's
going to choose the Lord unless he's first chosen them. And on
and on it goes. He's the author and the finisher
of our faith. Well, he said, seek my faith.
When God tells a man or young person, a woman, to seek his
faith, buddy, they're going to do it. And what's that mean?
Don't come to church on Sunday morning. They might not show up again,
but that ain't seeking the Lord. That importunate widow now, who
cried under that judge day and night, now that's seeking. Seeking
the Lord. He said, when you search for
me with all your heart, my son, give me thine heart. You seeking
the Lord? That means do it with all your heart. Desperately. Constantly. constantly. Thy face, he said, when you said,
when he said, seek my face. Who's the face of God? Now, didn't God just say back
there, no man can see my face and live? Well, wait a minute.
God hath shined in our hearts to give the light for the knowledge
of the glory of God in a face. face of Christ Jesus. He's the
face of God. He's in Him with all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, in a body. God does have a body. It's Jesus
Christ. Now, we don't have pictures of
Him because no man knows what He looks like. There's no description
of Him in the Scripture except Revelation 1. But by faith we
see His face, by faith. Now, we don't conjure up some
picture, some long hair. He didn't have long hair. He didn't have long hair. The
scripture says it's a shame for a man to have long hair. Christ
didn't have long hair. Where did they get that at? That's
how ignorant our generation is of the scriptures. Nobody cares
what the scriptures are saying. Do they? It's just old tradition
that's been handed down for years. You know, his hair was laid on
his shoulder. No, it wasn't. And he sure didn't look like
these pictures of Wild Bill Hickok that they hang up everywhere.
Or Custer? Oh, no. You want a description
of Christ? Go to Revelation 1. And this is a picture you cannot
paint. Whose face is as the sun that
shineth in all its strength. Whose feet is as fine brass burning
in the furnace. Legs as pillars of marble. Hair
white as snow. Eyes like doves. I can't paint
that picture. Someday we'll see. But by faith,
now, if that eye be single, You can see Christ, you can see,
and that's how we, alright read on. Am I going to have to continue
this another time? Can I go on? Alright, a little
bit longer. He says, hide, now look at verse
nine. Hide not thy face far from me. Hide not thy face far from me.
He began this psalm saying that the Lord is my life and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
my strength and my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? He
said, no one hosts his camp against me. My heart shall not feel war
rise against me. He said, I am confident. The
Lord is my life. The Lord is my strength. I shall
not be moved. I shall not be feared. Well,
here he says, don't hide your face from me. Is David afraid
of losing his salvation? Oh, no. Oh, no. The believer need not fear losing
his salvation. Why? Because he hath said, he
who cannot lie hath said, I give unto them eternal life, and they
shall never How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord, is laid
for your faith in his excellent work! What more can he say to
you than he hath said? To you, who do Jesus Christ for
refuge hath fled?" David's not doubting, fearing losing his
salvation here. He's talking about communion
with the Lord here. He's talking about communion.
And God does hide his face from his children. When they sin,
he says, your sins have separated you from me. Right? Your sins have hidden me from
you. That's what he's talking about here. Hiding his face in
communion. In communion. And David, you
know, he was feeling his sinfulness evidently. He began to think
about his sinful self. And every honest believer does. His sin is ever before him, like
David said. Like Paul said, I'm a man of
unclean lip. Like Paul said, I'm the chief
of sinners. They never quit thinking about
what a sinner they are. That's what makes Christ precious
to them. That's what makes the gospel
sweet to them all their lives. They're sinners. There's nothing
but sinners. Oh, they're as good as any man
on the earth. morally speaking, but they know in their heart
they're sinners. Now, David is feeling his sinfulness
here, and he begs the Lord not to withdraw his presence, his
communion. And read on. He says, Put not
thy servant away in anger at my sinfulness and my foolishness. Put not me away in anger. Thou
hast been my help. The scripture says, Though a
righteous man fall, seven times, yet it will be well with him.
The Lord will lift him up every time. David fell grievously many
times. We studied through his life,
didn't we, in 1 and 2 Samuel? He took many terrible falls.
There were times when you'd see him and you'd think, this is
no Christian, this is no believer, this is no child of God. How
could he be a child of God and do what he did? And I asked myself
that many times. But that ain't not making me
a child of God. My doings, what makes me a child
of God, is Christ's doings and his dyings. Noah, right after he got off
that boat, sinned grievously, didn't he? What was Noah's hope? The same as it was before he
got on that ark. Noah found grace. So he says, you bid my help.
I've fallen before, don't leave me now. Leave me not, neither
forsake me, O God of my salvation." Verse 10, now he picks himself
up here. The Lord picks him up. When my
father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me
up. And quite often that's what happens. The Lord said in Matthew
10, he said, I've come to set a man at variance against his
father. I've come to set a woman at variance against her mother.
A daughter, a daughter against her mother, a daughter against
her mother-in-law. And I tell you, when God reveals
the gospel, the gospel, this gospel, sovereign God, sovereign
Christ, if you believe it, you're going
to be persecuted for it. The righteousness, when Christ
said, the rest of the day which are persecuted for righteousness'
sakes, not talking about our righteousness. He's talking about
his righteousness. When we go around telling everybody,
it's not by works of righteousness we have done, the only righteousness
we have is in Christ, you're going to be persecuted for. Men
just don't believe that. They think our works have something
to do with us getting the glory. They have nothing to do with
it. by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in God's
sight. None, for there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. There's only one righteousness,
and that's Christ, and that's Christ. And you'll be persecuted
for that, just for believing the truth, believing the truth. But I tell you, it's the only
thing that will save you. You best be believing it. He says,
when my father and mother forsake me for believing, for trusting
Christ, believing this gospel, the Lord will take me up. That's
all that matters anyway. Who cares what the world thinks,
what men say? It's not who men approve anyway,
it's who God approves. Who does God approve of? Only man he ever said that he
approved of. You know, only man. Peter said it on Pentecost. Hear,
O Israel. These words, Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God. God said it twice from heaven.
I'm well pleased with this man. No others but him. And I'm only
going to be pleased with everybody in him, found in him. So what does it matter? what
men say of me. That's what David would say.
The Lord take me up. Not only take up my cause, but
he's going to take me up to glory, like that woman taught me how
to go. He's going to lift me up, take me up. Verse 11, teach me thy way, O
Lord. And read for yourself in your
own private readings, Proverbs 8. It speaks of wisdom and Christ
the way. All right, read it for yourself.
We don't have time. Teach me thy way, O Lord. Christ said,
I am the way. Lead me in a plain path. Proverbs
8 said, All my words are plain to him that understandeth. Paul
said, Seeing we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. I use great plainness of speech.
Call a spade a spade. Call a man what he is. Vanity. At his best state. Vanity. Christ is all. The only hope
of every man alive. Verse 12, deliver me not over
unto the will of mine enemies. Who is my chief enemy? Satan. Satan. who holds captive men
at his will, yet stronger than he, binds him and delivers me,
delivers all his people from him in whom they were held captive. False witnesses have risen up
against me. Satan is the accuser of the brethren,
and so are his demons and his cohort. And they have risen up
against me, and such as breathe out cruelty, I have fainted. At times, unlike David, I'd fainted
unless I'd believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land
of the living. Now, what is the goodness of the Lord in the land
of the living? Huh? What's the goodness of the
Lord in the land of the living? The goodness sounds almost like
good news, doesn't it? That's the gospel. The goodness
of the Lord, the good news of the Lord, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. in the land of the living is
what will keep you from fainting. And all of y'all been to work
today, and you've heard people blaspheming God, and you've been
tempted and tried, and in all points, almost, you feel like
it. And you come in here, and this is a refuge. This is a place
where you can hear the gospel. It will give you comfort, and
you won't faint after all. You grow in the strength of this
meat. Joe, here's some meat to go on. Get in that truck and
drive in that truck for a few more days, like Elijah. A raven
brought his meat and an ass brought yours. And you can go in the strength
of it for three or four days now. Let's read on. I defainted. Verse
14, wait on the Lord. Who's David talking to? himself. He's not talking to
anybody. If you're going to talk to yourself,
like we're all prone to do at times, say this right here. Wait on the Lord. We're all so
impulsive, so impetuous, aren't we? So quick to act and not think. Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage. He shall strengthen thy heart.
I say, on the Lord. Wait. Wait on the Lord. We do not sleep as do others,
but we're as them who wait and watch. That's what we're doing here.
That's what we come here tonight. They have some people die. They have an all-night, call
it a wake, W-A-K-E, don't they? Wake around the dead body. Well,
where the body is, the eagles gather, Scripture says. And that
ain't talking about a man's body. It's talking about Christ. And
we have a wake, or a wait, every time we come here. We wait on
the Lord. We wait to see what the Lord
is going to say to us. What's he going to say? Speak,
O Lord, thy servant here. Well, I hope that is some help
to you. All right, let's stand and I'll
dismiss this and pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you so much for that unspeakable gift. The wages of sin is death. It's
what every man and woman, young person in here, is earned by
our lives. Whether we know it or not, this
is what Scripture says. This is what many know and feel
in their own hearts, that we are nothing. Yet the gift of
God, by the grace of God, the sovereign mercy of God, the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, only through
Him. Lord, we thank You for the Gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You for this sure refuge,
this certain hiding place. We thank You for covenant redemption
that's in Christ, the surety of the everlasting covenant.
Lord, thank You. Make us to know Him better. Some young person in here has
fled to Christ for refuge. Lord, put them right in the secret
of the tabernacle and let them rejoice more and more until finally
you've just planted their feet firm on a rock. Young men, babes,
young men, mature older men, or ground us all, settle us,
strengthen us in Christ is our prayer. Amen. You're dismissed.