All right, now I want you to
turn to Hebrews chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. Tonight's
message is another in the series on the son of David. There may
be two or three more before we close this out. I hope you're
profiting from these. I intend to make this a short
message, I hope. I've said that before, I know
that, but I do intend to make it short. Albeit, I believe it
will be a blessing to you. I believe it will reach you where
you are, where you live, where you work, And I hope and I pray
that it will strike a needed chord within your heart. If you'll
give the Word of God, my voice, your undivided attention, just
a little bit, just a little while, I believe this will strike a
chord for you and give you some hope, some peace, some comfort
to carry on through tomorrow. For the past two and a half years,
I have led a somewhat sheltered life in the comfort and seclusion
of my little study down there. And I haven't had to put up with
all the chaos and the corruption of the evil world out there like
you do. But I don't forget where you
are. I don't want to lose sight of where you are and what it's
like to be out there in the real world. The reason I've said so many
times I don't believe that you can. I don't believe you can
take a man out of the seminary and make a pastor out of him.
I just don't think he can enter into or relate to the common
man, the average man. He's been sheltered. He's been
secluded. He's been sheltered from the real world. And how
can he enter into what we go through out there in the hard
and cruel world? He can't. You don't even know
what sin is. He hasn't sinned in years. He
hasn't been around it. But I don't forget. I don't want to forget where
you are. So I want to address you tonight
where you are and try to comfort you with this one main thought
from this message. Jesus Christ has been where you
are. He's been there. He knows. He knows, like that song we sung
just a moment ago. He knows the pain you feel. Why? Because he felt it himself. Every pain and worse. I love
this passage here in Hebrews 4. This describes so much better
what I'm trying to say. So much better than I can say
it. Hebrews 4, look at verses 15 and 16. It says, We have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. In other words, we don't have a man like a pontiff
or a pope or a priest who is guarded, secluded, sheltered,
who lives in a sin-free environment per se, who is dressed in silk
robes and is out of touch with the real world. out of touch
with the feeling of our infirmities, a condescending one. But it says
he was in all points, in all points tempted or exposed to
the things we are, yet without sin, without sin. So he encourages us, he comforts
us with this thought. Let us therefore come boldly.
to the throne of grace. Yes, it's a throne. It's high. It's holy. It's at the right
hand of the majesty on high, but it's the throne of grace.
It's not an austere, unapproachable throne, but it's the throne of
grace. And the one who sits upon it is a man. He said when he
arose from the grave, he said, touch me, handle me. A spirit
hath not flesh and bones as you feel me. And there's a man at
the right hand of the throne of glory. And he says, come,
come boldly, come confidently, assuredly, believing that you
will obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. What
time? 2 a.m. when the baby's crying
and sick. Come, you'll find help in time
of need. 7 a.m. when you're getting ready
to go out to the grind. He said, come, you'll find help. in time of need, whatever time.
And look at chapter five. I love this verse, chapter five,
verse two. It says he can have compassion
on the ignorant, on them that are out of the way, or that is,
who feel like they're out of place. He himself was compassed with
infirmity. He himself was out of place as
a fish on dry land. Tempted in all points, compassed
with infirmity, the Lord God of glory who reigns and rules
over all, the judge of the universe, the one mediator and savior. The scripture says he's touched
with your plight. He's been there himself. He's
touched. The great judge of the universe
is touched. Surely it will bode well for
you. He's touched. The judge is touched
with your infirmities. Nobody, no one can enter into
our problems except someone who has been through those particular
problems. Different ones of you have differing problems than
other people. I don't know what they may be,
but you have your own particular problems. Nobody can enter into
those problems, really enter into them, and know where you
are except somebody who's been through it. Betty, nobody can
really enter into what it's like to lay in the hospital undergoing
those treatments except somebody who's been through them, right?
Right. Nobody can really sympathize
and relate to what you're going through. Look over at Lamentations,
chapter one, Lamentations, chapter one. If any of you have lost
a loved one, say, one of your parents. Nobody can enter into
that, they can feel sorry for you, they can pity you, but nobody
can really enter into it except someone who's lost one themselves.
And they can really speak Peace to your heart, that person and
that person only can speak peace to your heart. Nobody can enter
into the. Enter into the sickness of a
child. Except another parent who's been
through the same thing, another parent, a parent who had to sit,
watch over their child through the night. Like that passage
of Scripture says, I wait. My soul waits upon the Lord as
they that watch for the morning." Only a parent can know and understand
what that means to watch for the morning. When your child
has been sick all night long, the night seems to drag on with
that sickness, and you think, if we can just make it through
the morning, the fever will break, things will be better in the
morning. Nobody can really relate to trials and hardships except
one who has been through your trials and your hardships, right? Of course, look at Lamentations
chapter 1 verse 12. This is a. Messianic passage
of Scripture that says, is it nothing to you all you that pass
by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.
Which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in
the day of his fierce anger. Jesus Christ. was tempted in
all points. Christ was compassed with infirmity. Christ was sorrowful, more sorrowful
than any other. He knows. He knows. The scripture
says he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He has borne them all. No one
has ever grieved, sorrowed, or hurt mentally. Or physically,
like the Lord Jesus did. Nobody. I don't care what you've
been through. It hasn't been one percentage,
one fraction of what the Lord went through for 33 years. A
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He said, I'm ready
to die for my youth up. This is the reason that you can
cast all your care upon Him. He cares for you. He knows. The
only one who really care for you and understand and seek to
understand and feel what you're going through is somebody who's
been through it. That's the only person. Everybody else is going
to give you as much pity as is life within them, but they can't
have enough. Why? They don't really know what you're
going through. The scripture says, cast your
care upon him. He cares. He knows. I don't care
how sorry for you are. I don't care. He said, Behold
my sorrow. See if there's been any sorrow
like my sorrow. Behold my pain. You've been in
bodily pain? He said, Behold my pain. And
we're not painkillers for his pain. Oh boy. He's full of tenderness,
full of compassion. He knows full well what you're
going through. And I like this Psalm 113, 13. He remembers your frame. Whatever you're going through,
he remembers your frame. Whatever you do, whatever you
get into, he remembers your frame. He remembers you're just a weak,
helpless child. And he doesn't expect too much
of you. He doesn't expect undue or unreasonable strength out
of a little weak child. He knows your frame, your disdust,
just a weak and helpless child. And he's touched with the feeling
of your infirmity. Now, I want us to briefly consider
in this message, I want us to briefly consider our Lord's life
among sinful men. Stay with me, folks, it's going
to help you. I don't care what you're going
through, what you're doing, it's going to help you. if the Lord
will get a hold of my heart with it. I want us to briefly consider
the Lord of Glory's life in this sinful world. I'm talking about
the holy, pure, spotless Son of God who dwelt in this cesspool
of iniquity, willingly came down here and subjected himself to
this. And we're going to look at David's plight in a series
of messages. Look at Psalm 57 with me. Psalm
57. And we read this psalm last week,
Psalm 57. Now, if you remember, this was
written by David when he fled from his enemies. And David had
a lot of them. He had many enemies. And he fled
into this cave, remember, a cave called Adullam. For years, David
was on the run. For years, he was threatened,
he was in danger at the hands of Saul, all of Saul's men. And even the common people who
he ran across during the course of his flight from Saul, like Nabal. We looked at Nabal last week.
Even the common, ordinary people, you know, farmers. That's what
Nabal was. They despised him and rejected him. Everybody turned
thumbs down on David. You can imagine how the man felt.
Alone, sorrowful. And later, he was even hated
and pursued and persecuted by his own son. Any of you have
ever had your own flesh and blood hurt you? That's hurtful in a
way that nobody can hurt you. David felt that. So did the Lord,
the son of David. And throughout the Psalms, David
cries unto his God. How long? How long? How long is it going to go on?
Why, Lord? Have you cast me off? Have your
mercies cleaned gone? Lord, help me. All through the
psalm. Just casually go through and look at the psalm. All the
way through. Nearly every other psalm, if not every one. Lord,
help. That's the reason we like the psalms so much. Lord, help
me. He had no one else to turn to. Why? Everybody else turned
thumbs down on him. That's the reason the psalms
are messianic. Christ, who is he going to turn to? He had no
friends. His own friends forsook him.
And he cried unto his God. Look at Psalm 57, verse 1. David
cried, Be merciful unto me, O God. Be merciful unto me. O God, be merciful unto me. You see, you're not going to
find any mercy out in this world. You're not going to find an ounce.
There's none to be had in this hard, cruel world. Do you ever
wonder about it and complain about it? It's just not fair,
you say. Things just aren't fair. No,
they're not. You're not going to find fairness
out in this sinful and cruel world. There's no grace. You're
not going to find any grace out in the world. There's only one
place you're going to find grace, real grace. That's from God or
God's people. There's no fairness out in this
world. Everything's unfair about the
people of this world. There's no goodness. There's
none good. But one, that's God. There's
no tender mercies. Nobody, you're not going to find
any tender mercies out there in the world. You won't find
much among people who are supposed to have it. That's really heartbreaking. Tender mercies. Proverbs says,
the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Even their tender
mercies are cruel. And you and I complain because
our company or the people we work for, they don't seem to
treat their employees fairly. They don't. You say, I'm just
a number. You are. That's right. As soon
as you're gone, bud, you'll be replaced. They can find somebody
to turn a wrench, can't they? You're not irreplaceable, I understand. Soon as you're gone, he'll have
somebody in there, maybe that afternoon, and pay him less money
if they can get by with it. For the most part, that's the
way it is. You're a number. You're a number. You complain
because your boss doesn't seem to care about you. He doesn't.
He doesn't. He's a company man, and he wants
the company to make money, and if it's at your expense, so be
it. Your honesty, your diligence,
your conscientiousness on the job, if you go above and beyond
your call of duty, it doesn't seem to matter, does it? It doesn't.
They don't care. That's what they want you to
do. Ten hours work in eight. That's what they want. And you're
not rewarded accordingly. No, you won't get it. You won't
get it in this world. You just won't get it. If you
can find, if you can have the good blessing, to be working
for a kind, benevolent, gracious believer, then you might get
some fairness. You might get some just reward,
but you're not going to find it in this world. You're not
going to find it. Expect people to pay their bills, don't you,
Henry? They won't. They won't. Even ones you think
highly of, they won't. There's no fairness, no justice,
nothing out there. David said to Jonathan, You remember
right there when we read where David said, I haven't done anything
wrong, though. David said, I haven't seen David
was talking to Jonathan about his daddy pursuing him, he said,
I haven't seen against your father. What have I done? What iniquity
have your father found in me? I haven't done anything wrong.
No, he hadn't. Terry pointed out to me over
first Samuel, twenty nine, nine, even the wicked King Akish. When
David lived with him a while and the king cast him out and
said, Get on out of here now. We don't want you anymore. David
said, What have I done? Aki said, You haven't done anything
wrong. We just don't want you around here anymore. David said,
Well, I haven't sinned against you. I've lived. He said, Yeah,
you've been like an angel of the Lord here, but I don't care.
I want you out of here. My son up. What have I done? What are you laying me off for?
I'm the best employee you got. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter,
you're not going to find fairness out there. And David said to
Jonathan, he said, but your father seeketh my life. And Saul, he
was supposed to be a man of integrity, he was at least in a temporal
sense, he was God's king, he was Israel's king, he was supposed
to be a fair man, he was supposed to be a moral man, supposed to
be an upright man. That's what it said about him
in the beginning. But he changed. Well, now he
didn't change, it just came out what was really there anyway.
But Saul lied on him, lied on David to other people on every
hand. He lied about David even to Jonathan,
tried to turn Jonathan against him. And everybody believed Saul's
malicious lies and David was hollering, screaming, complaining,
I'm innocent. I'm innocent. I haven't done
anything wrong. Ah boy, do you know the feeling?
Look at verse four here in Psalm fifty seven. David said, well,
look, let's read on down through here, he said, my soul trusted
than the old God. Yeah, in a shadow of our wings,
will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed? Oh,
Charles Tenley could have written or Charles Wesley song we read
about her son while ago. That's a perfect passage for
that song. I will cry unto God Most High. Where else am I going to turn?
I'll cry unto God Most High, unto God that performeth all
things for me. He'll see to it. Jehovah Jire,
he'll take care of it. He shall send from heaven. That's
what it's going to take. I have to take a Savior from
heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me
up. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. That's Christ,
isn't it? Look at verse four now. This
is the title of this message. My soul is among lions. My soul
is among lions. David was a tender, gentle man. He was a gentle man. There aren't
many real gentlemen in this world, are there? No, there are not.
David was a tender. and gentle and sensitive man. He was a sensitive, caring, feeling
man. He was a gentle man. He was as
a lamb among lions. My soul is among lions, but this
is not speaking of David. This is speaking about Christ,
the Lamb of God, who truly was a lamb among lions. You think of the holy and spotless
Lamb of God who was cast in the midst of this wicked generation
of lions and wolves. You think of Him. I'm not trying
to get our pity. World average preacher in this
world would preach a message like this to to get your pity,
you know, get you feel sorry for Jesus and then playing on
your pity, get you to make some decision for Jesus. He wants
this or so bad. Look what he's done for you.
Oh, please accept him. You know, I'm not trying to do
that at all. I'm not trying to depict Christ as a poor and helpless
one. No, no. He was willing. What I'm trying to show you is
that even though he was a pure, spotless, holy, harmless son
of God, he willingly cast himself into this. I want you to think,
though, I want you to think of this altogether lovely one, his
pure personality, his tender, kind, caring, sensitive, yea,
gentle, man, really the only gentle, truly good, kind, gentle,
compassionate man who ever walked this earth. This gentle man in
the malicious way that he was treated on every hand. Goodness,
holiness, good, and I'm talking gentleness, not a malicious wicked,
evil, unkind bone in his body, just nothing but tenderness. But he was treated maliciously
on every hand, every hand. And I want you to think of him,
lest you be wearied and faint in your own minds, OK? Come on. He said, their teeth, he says,
my soul is among lions. I lie even among them that are
set on fire, set on fire. The sons of men, their teeth
are spears and arrows, and their tongues a sharp sword. We've
felt their barbs before, haven't you? You've felt their barbs.
These sharp barbs of another person's tongue. You've felt
them. He more. He more. Everywhere he went, everybody
he ran into had something malicious and unkind and deceitful and
false to say about him. A lie. He was misconstrued, he
was misunderstood, he was called names, he was called a devil. Think how it hurts. Think how
it hurt his soul, his tender soul. Think about it. Nothing
hurts more than to be accused of wrongdoing when you're innocent.
Nothing hurts worse. Nothing hurts worse than to be
misconstrued or misunderstood when you know and feel in your
heart and your mind, I haven't done anything to deserve this.
And yet somebody rails on you. Nothing hurts worse. Nothing
hurts. Everything they said about him
was a lie. They dug up false witnesses.
They lied on him on every hand. Christ was blameless, absolutely
blameless, yea, holy, unblameable, unreprovable. He said at one
time, which of you can convince me of sin? Who can say, fine,
dig up anything I've ever done to hurt, to maliciously wound,
anything evil, wicked, sinful about any part of my life, my
speech, my actions, anything? And anybody anywhere, no, but
we'll find something. We'll make something up. Yet he bore it all patiently. Why? How long would you put up with
that? If you didn't have to, how long would you put up with
it? Not very long, would you? But he says he put up with it
for a lifetime. Why? He bore it all for you. Now, listen, this is not he bore
it all for you. He bore all these malicious lies
and rumors and falsehoods and malicious wounding and so forth. He bore it all for you, not just
so he would know how you feel. And we are wronged much of the
time, aren't we? Sure, we are. All of us are.
We're wronged much of the time. Many people wrong us. and are
malignant against us. But the reason Christ did this,
bore it all for you, for a believer, is not so that he would just
know how you feel. That wouldn't do any good, would it? I know
how you feel. He's got to do something about
it, he said. He bore it all for us because
all the, listen, all the false accusations leveled at him are
really true of us. You know, anything and everything
that was said about him is true of us. And he bore it all. He
bore it all. Whatever maliciousness was said
of Christ is true of us. Wouldn't men say well? Wouldn't
men say well and speak the truth if they said, Thou hast a devil? Remember when they said that
to Christ? Say we not well when we say is that thou hast a devil.
Well, wouldn't men say, well, if they said that about you,
John Davis, you got a devil. You're right. Ain't got one,
I am one. Right. Well, Christ endured all
the shame, the insults, the cursing and the bitterness for us as
our substitute. The gentle lamb of God. A sheep
for the sheep. He became a sheep for the sheep.
And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, says he opened not his
mouth. He opened not his mouth. It's
like Martin Luther said, Christ became, as it were, the worst
sinner who ever lived. He became you and me. That's
who he became. The worst sinner who ever lived,
he became me. And stood there and took all the insults that
could be hurled at him and didn't open his mouth. And was wickedly and cruelly
and evilly torn to shreds and hung on that cruel cross. Why?
Because it should have been me. He let him do it. He willingly
did it. Why? Because that's what should have
happened to me. And worse. and work. So he took it all. He endured it all. Christ endured
all the shame, insults and cursing and bitterness for us as our
substitute. Why? He opened out his mouth
down here so that he could open it up there. So that we would
be made holy, unblameable and unapprovable in God's sight.
So that when God, when the charges are are leveled against us here,
Christ would answer them and pay for them. But then, so up
there, they won't be leveled against us. Christ was silent
down here and took it all up here so that he could open up
his mouth up there as our mediator, as our intercessor, and speak
out for us then. There he is. If we stand before
the holy, righteous throne of God and somebody says, there
he is, well, I know him. He says, Christ said, now, wait
a minute. There's nothing on the records against him. I defy
heaven and hell to find something against this old boy. I've answered
all charges. I've answered all the charges
against him. The slate's clean. The handwriting
of ordinances are blotted out. There's nothing against him.
I've answered them all. I've borne them all away. And
he's holy. She's holy, unblameable, and
unreprovable in God's sight. No condemnation up there. Why? Because Christ bore it all down
here. Right? Acceptance up there. Why? Because
Christ was rejected down here. No accusation up there, why?
Because Christ bore all the accusations down here. Everything that we
could be accused of, Christ was accused of and took it. And took
it. No shame. The scripture says
no shame. There'll be no shame. Our lives,
if you think about it, our lives from from just our
youth up. David said in Psalm 51, I was
shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. I'm in a worthless, no good, wretched, miserable maggot from
my youth up. I was a worthless, I was a no
good boy. I should have been in prison
as a young man. And even now as an adult, I'm
full of hypocrisy, full of sin. They ought to shoot me and put
me out of mine and everybody else's misery. Shouldn't it? But the Scripture says, he that
believeth on Christ. He carried, he says he bore our
shame. Thought nothing of the shame
for the joy that was set before him. Look at verse six. He said they prepared a net for
my steps. They prepared a net. Barbara,
here it is. Saul and his men tried to catch
up old David everywhere he went. Can you imagine? I can't imagine
this. Being pursued by somebody. I mean, somebody want to kill
you. Some of you are hunters. Can you imagine switching places
with that coon, Rick? Climbing the highest tree and
some fellow is still going to get you. He's still going to
find you. He's got the dogs after you. He's got the dogs after
you. David, for years, was pursued
on every hand. On every hand. I can't imagine
this. Running, hiding. That's the reason
the Psalms are full of, Oh God, help me. Would you please help
me? Come to my rescue. Come to my rescue." Saul and
his men, Saul was a powerful man too. He had thousands of
men, and they tried to catch up David everywhere. They set
traps, they set snares for him. But God watched over him. That's
the only way you can say that David and that small little band
of men got through this. The only way. They were miraculously
preserved by the hand of Almighty God. It wasn't David's time.
His time had not come yet. from a baby was pursued by everyone. By everyone. Tried to kill him
when he was but a baby. And all through his life, everywhere
he went, they tried to kill him. And men set snares for him. Everywhere
he went, snares and traps. They prepared a net, it says.
They prepared a net for my steps. But here's what I want you to
think about. Christ willingly walked into that net. He didn't
ever have to be caught, did he? The scripture said he set his
faith steadfastly toward Jerusalem. His disciples, do you remember
when his disciples said, Lord, they seek to kill you in Jerusalem.
Don't go up there. He said, I've got to do it. I've got to go. I tell you what,
if I don't walk into that net, you're going to. You're going
to. Christ knew full well that his
captors awaited him in Jerusalem, yet he set his face steadfastly
toward Jerusalem, walked right into that net, into the hands
of wicked and cruel men. It's a sad thing. We were talking
about this the other night. It's a sad and cruel thing. Have
you ever watched a spider weave a web, a net? I don't care what
they look like, what color. They're ugly creatures, aren't
they? And they're seemingly unfeeling, uncaring, insensitive creatures,
you know. They weave this net so that they're
hapless victims, flying along enjoying the day. And he takes his good old time
about eating them, doesn't he? Slowly strangles them with that
web. Malicious, cruel. I'm going to
torture him a little while, make him suffer, and then I'm going
to eat him. It's sad, isn't it? It's a cruel thing. Have you
ever watched it? I've tried to set bugs free before, spiders,
spiders' web. But that victim dies so that
that spider can live, you know? That spider has evil intentions,
and he feeds on that victim, but that victim dies so that
that old, wicked, worthless spider can live. And the Scripture says,
We with wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord of glory. Yet he died that thus wicked
people could live. Man wove A wicked web of evil
intentions, didn't it? That cross was the most wicked,
vile, despicable revelation and show of man's heart ever displayed
upon the face of the earth. The most wicked thing ever done
by a man to erect this Roman tree and nail the Son of God
to it. We've got him now. Let's kill
him. Let's make him suffer a while. It's a terrible thing to look
at it in. But stand back and look at the whole picture. It's
what you were saying, Barbara. If you stand back and look at
a web, a spider's web, it's beautiful. If you look at what's going on
in there, oh, it's awful. Bloodshed, cruelty, violence,
maliciousness, being eaten, torn asunder. But stand back and look
at that web. That spider didn't know what
he was doing, didn't he? He didn't have a blueprint to
go by. Yeah, I'm going to weave. I'm weaving away. He had evil
intentions. I'll get me a wasp or a fly or
something. He's weaving this way all the
time. I'll get him now. And you stand back and it's the
most beautiful thing. Perfect, perfect geometric pattern. Not a web out of place. Everything
in that web works together for the sole purpose of catching
that victim. And I tell you what, God on his
throne, God on his throne, it says it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It says you with wicked hands have taken and woven your
evil web of evil intentions, but you did what God had determined
before it had been done. And if you stand back and look
at it, it's the most beautiful picture the world has ever seen.
I know it's gory. You look immediately at the man
hanging on a tree, but stand back and look, and you'll stand
and you'll see your salvation. And you'll see the most beautiful
thing. It's called the gospel of your salvation. And you'll
see how that every web, every fiber, every day, every hour,
every word, everything in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ
and even your life is working together. for the salvation of
your eternal self. Someday, we don't see now very
clearly, do we? But someday we'll know even as
we have been known. We'll see clearly. We'll see
then. We'll see what a beautiful thing
that was. That blood, though our flesh
is repulsed by the blood now, my boy, it's going to be the
most beautiful sight we've ever beheld in glory when we see that
blood on the mercy seat before God Almighty. And for your comfort,
For your comfort, though all seems to be against you, though
your soul is among lions, though the spiders, the wicked black
widows, black-hearted widows out there weave their nets to
catch you up, try to catch you in your speech, don't they? They
wait on you. I thought you was a Christian.
Got you now. Got something on you now, don't
I? You said, damn, didn't you? I heard it. Weave their webs and know the
snakes of this world. Dig their pits for you to fall
in. Christ said, deliver him from
going down in the pit. I found a ransom. Deliver him.
Now look at one more verse with me over in Psalm 120. One more
verse of scripture. I'll close this thing out. Psalm 120. This is what we read
a moment ago. Psalm 120. Stay with me a few more minutes.
There's not a person in here who hasn't mourned their lot
in life. There's not a person in here
who does not perhaps right now mourn your lot in life, where
you work, where you live, who you live with maybe, I don't
know. Not a person in here who hasn't mourned that. You know a lot, you remember
the scripture that says Lot was vexed with the conversation of
the wicked. He lived in Sodom. How many of
you thought that at times? The place where you work. You
think, I live in Sodom. This is Sodom and Gomorrah. This
plant. And I'm Lot. I'm just Lot. And
I'm vexed with these fellas' conversation and their actions
and so forth. Haven't you? Surely you have.
I remember that so well. And a child of God is miserable
among the children of the devil. Miserable. Light cannot have
fellowship. Can't have a good time in the
dark world. The sons of God cannot dwell with the sons of Belial.
Can't be done and be happy, that is. Can't do it. Look at verse
5 again. It says, Woe is me that I sojourn
in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar. David was fleeing at the time,
and he had to flee into some hostile country. He had to dwell
with some evil and wicked people. He had to put up with their evil
and wickedness. He dwelt in their tents. He lived
alongside of them. And I tell you what, he was constantly
saying this, Woe is me, woe is me. And you people, You people,
you come here and you worship on Sunday night or Wednesday
night. Your soul is refreshed from hearing the gospel. You're
uplifted. You get some comfort and some
peace. Some happiness, you know, just a little bit of reprieve. And then comes seven o'clock
Sunday morning or Monday morning, right out of the right out of
the chute, some old wicked, vile fellow cusses God. You know,
you walk in the door, you just worshipped that night, you felt
so good, you were with some tender, loving, gentle, kind, for the
most part, people worshipping God together. And you walk in
the plant, seven o'clock Monday morning, and some old guy right
out of the bat, right out, first thing out of his mouth, cusses
God. And you think, oh, here I am
again. Woe is me that I dwell in MESAC. Oh, woe is me that
I sojourn in MESAC, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar. Woe is
me that I work at M&W Company. Woe is me that I work and dwell
at Blue Ridge Trucking Company. Right? Surely you have. Woe is
me that I work at leggots of all the places on the face of
the earth. Don't you? Virginia Apparel. The most wicked
and vile people on the face of the earth work there, don't they?
Yeah, they do. Women! Ah, women aren't immune from telling
dirty, vile jokes, are they? You've heard them. Haven't you,
Vicki? You've heard them. Get women together, no different
than men. All this manner of foulness and wickedness comes
out of their mouth. There's no difference. Woe is
me that I work at Panel Knitting, J.P. Stevens. Woe is me. Ever said that? Woe is me. Christ knows. That's what I'm
trying to get across in this message. Christ knows where you
are, what you feel. He's touched. You know, he could
have said, If anybody could have said it, he could have said it,
couldn't he? He could have said from the top of his lung, from
the depths of his heart, with such agony and sorrow and misery
as no man ever said it before, woe is me that I dwell in this
wicked and vile place called planet earth. He didn't have
to. We have to, but he didn't have
to. Why did he? for you and me, so
that he would be touched for the feeling of our infirmities.
And I'm glad he did not feel sorry for himself. The scripture
says he did not feel sorry for himself. We didn't hear him say
that. But he bore our sorrows for us. He bore our sorrows willingly. Not only did he enter into our
sorrows, not only does he know how we feel. Not only did he
enter into our star roses, Scripture says he bore them away. Now, I don't know how else for
us to enter into that and get some peace and comfort out of
that except to believe it. Except to believe it. Christ
said there's sins and iniquities. I don't remember no more. No
more. I've separated them from their
sins as far as the East is from the West. I've cast their sins
behind my back. He said he bore all our griefs
and all our sorrow. Now, if he bore them, all of
them, he bore. He says, cast your care on me.
He cares for you. If he bore them, why don't we
bear on them? I know it's tough, but why don't we just say, well,
like David did. Remember when Shimei cursed him?
Oh, well, God's got a reason for this. God's got a reason. He sent him his way, blessed
be the name of the Lord, for cursing me. That might, you know,
that is a cure for problems. Praise. Praise is a cure for
problems. Thanksgiving is a cure for mourning
and complaining. Realizing God's providence is
a cure for our lot in life. Realizing that Christ bore our
grief and our sorrow, that he's touched to the feeling of our
infirmities, having been tempted in all points like as we are,
yet without sin, encompassed with iniquity. As scripture says,
that he was exposed to everything. He heard it all. Terry, he heard
it all. He heard the cussing. He heard
the jokes. And it vexed his righteous soul.
And you know it did, unlike anybody else. But he took it. He took
it. So he'd know where you're at,
but he took it. He took it all on himself, in
himself. He was made sin. That's what
you quoted that verse from that. He was actually made all this.
Because, like I said a while ago, Barbara, no matter what
they say about you, the lies and so forth, they don't know
the half of it, do they? They don't know the half of it.
They've just found out a little bit about you. Just hope they
don't find it all out. Well, Christ took it all patiently,
bore it all silently, because that's what you deserve. And
He took it all. Okay, stand with me. I hope this
has been some help to you. Dear Lord, we thank You for Your
Word, and we ask that You would take it and comfort somebody's
heart with it. As we go, as people go out tomorrow
to go to work, exposed to all that this cold, cruel, hard,
and wicked world heaps upon them, I pray that you might comfort
their hearts with these words. Comfort their hearts with these
words, Lord. that He carries our griefs. He's borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. He was tempted in all points. He was exposed to all of this
iniquity and sin. And He says, Now come to Me,
all you that are laboring or heavy laden, and I'll give you
rest. Cast it all upon Him. Lord, enable
us to do that by simply believing and trusting Him. He cares for
us. That's why He came. And we pray
this as the sons of the Most High God, through the blood and
the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you.