Now let's turn back to 2 Samuel
chapter 22. And this is the fourth and the
final message on this passage, which is repeated in the scriptures
in Psalm 18. This is the same as Psalm 18.
There's a few variations of language, but basically in order, but basically
it's the same passage, Psalm 18. In your personal reading,
you can read Psalm 18 as a parallel to this. This is David in his
last years, extolling, praising, worshiping, and attesting to
the power and the goodness and the grace and the majesty of
God throughout his own life, throughout David's life as a
sinner saved by the grace of God. I'm not going to repeat
the whole message, but I do want to give you the outline again.
I want to go back and just show you how this psalm is set up.
The first four verses, as you remember, the foundation of God's
glory in Christ is laid. This is the glory of God in Christ,
all four messages. That's what I've entitled them,
just parts one, two, three, and four. where he spoke of the Lord
who had delivered him out of the hands of all his enemies,
out of the hand of Saul, the Lord who was his rock, his fortress,
his deliverer, all of those things which lay the foundation of our
lives as justified, redeemed, regenerated sinners. And what
that testifies of is that salvation, our salvation, is totally, totally
of the Lord. And it's totally by His grace
and power and goodness and His love in Christ. We are recipients
of the benefits of a salvation that lasts forever and ever,
and a salvation which we ourselves had no part in producing, no
part in securing. It was all secured by Christ.
And David's going to testify of that in 2 Samuel 23 when he
speaks of that covenant, that surety of the covenant, who's
Christ. When he says, this is all my
salvation. Christ is all my salvation, my
all in all. So there's the foundation laid.
And then verses 5-7 we have the redeemed sinner, the man of faith,
crying out to the Lord, crying out in his troubles. He talks
about when the Lord who is worthy to be praised, the Lord who alone
can save him from his enemies, who can deliver him out of the
waves of death, the floods of ungodly men, the sorrows of hell,
the snares of death. He says, in my distress, I cried
out, I shrieked out. That's the cry of desperation.
That's where a sinner is brought to conviction. You know, we learn
more and more as we go through the scriptures. that this book
is a very, very convicting book, isn't it? The testimonies of
God concerning who He is and who we are and how He saves us
by Christ is a very convicting book. But never forget that conviction,
Holy Spirit conviction by the Word of God is not despair. It's
never despair. Because all Holy Spirit conviction
is to cause us to cry out unto the Lord. and drive us to Christ
for help and for salvation and for relief. And then beginning
at verse 8, he gives God's response to the sinner crying out. And
you have a two-fold response here. From verse 8 to verse 16,
you have God's response in His justice towards the wicked. God
will be just in the punishing of the wicked, all who are not
in Christ. all who oppose him and his church
and his truth. God will deal with them justly. And then beginning at verse 17
and going through verse 30, which we've already covered, we have
his response to his dear children. And remember, I've told you several
times, I love the way this starts out. When it says in verse 17,
he sent from above and he took me. Because that's exactly how
God saves a sinner. He sends from above. He sent
his son into the world. The word made flesh and tabernacled
among us. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them that were under the law. And what did he do?
He didn't ask us for our cooperation. He didn't emotionally tug at
our heart strings by singing hymns at the end of a service
so that we could walk down an aisle. He took us. As Hannah
put it, he lifts the beggar off the dung heap. He didn't come
down 99% of the way and say, now beggar, you jump up as high
as you can. No, he reached down. That song,
When My Savior Reached Down for Me. He picked me up off the dung
heap of sin and self and false religion. drew me out of many
waters, the floods of sin that overflowed me, where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound." Brother Bill Pennington and I
were talking about that psalm, he read Psalm 40, where it talks
about where the psalmist cries, he said, he took me or drew me
out of the miry clay, and Bill said, he just thought, he said,
that's like quicksand. And you know, that's what we're
in by nature, the quicksand of sin and depravity. And you know
the nature of quicksand, the more you fight and work hard,
the deeper you sink. And that's a great picture, isn't
it? Of us by nature, man in sin,
trying to get himself out, working hard, fighting against it, and
all it does is it makes him two-fold more the child of hell than he
already is. Our only hope is that God sends
from above and takes us, saves us by His grace, His pure, free,
sovereign grace, in Christ. And he sent Christ into the world
to take our place on the cross and go under his judgment for
our sins, charged to his account. And that's why he shed his precious
blood in order to pay that sin debt and to give us in return
a righteousness, the merit of his whole work of obedience unto
death, a righteousness that would enable God to be just and justifier. Well, he starts off in verse
31, we covered some of these verses, but now what he does
in these last verses, this is the redeemed sinner's response
of worship, of thanksgiving to the Lord who is his rock, his
high tower, his buckler, the one who sent from above and took
him. And he says in verse 31, ask for God, his way is perfect. And the word of the Lord is tried.
In your concordance you might have the word refined, refined
like gold in the fires and the heat. He's a buckler to all them
that trust him. God's way is the way of grace.
God's way is the way of promise. God's way is the way of Christ.
There is no way to God but through the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark it
down. This is not a situation where
people are going to the same God, they're just going different
ways. The Bible knows nothing of that kind of heresy. Christ
said in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life,
and no man cometh unto the Father but by me. The way to God is
a way of righteousness, and we don't have it, and we can't work
it. That's why He sent from above.
That's why He sent down and took us. That's why He sent His Son
to work out a perfect righteousness of everlasting, infinite value
that we had no part in. And in that, God can accept us
and draw us out of these many waters. And one of the ways that
we know that His way in Christ is perfect, that is complete.
In other words, Christ is not a part salvation. That's what
that means there when it says God's way is perfect. Christ
is not just part of your salvation or part of my salvation. Christ
is not a part salvation. Christ is all salvation. As we
said there in 2 Samuel 23, where David said, this is all my salvation. So God's way is perfect, it's
complete, and it's pure, and it's right and just. One of the
ways we know this to be true is not only by God's testimony,
but the fact that the Word of the Lord has been tried and tested
and refined. And I mentioned that last week
how Christ is the foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation, and He's been tried and tested.
He was tried and tested in every way. He was tried and tested
on the Mount of Temptation when Satan confronted Him, and He
defeated Satan there. He defeated Satan ultimately
in that greatest of all tests on the cross when He died for
our sins. Drank damnation dry, as one of
the old writers said. Died, was buried, and rose again
the third day. His word has been tested. The
preached word's been tested. The written word's been tested.
But He's a shield. He's a buckler. That's a shield
to all them that trust in Him. Now look at verse 32. He says,
For who is God? Save the Lord. No one else like
Him. Who is a rock? Save our God. Turn over to Isaiah 45 with me. Look at this passage. This is
one of the, you know, you, the whole Bible is a book of Christ
from Genesis to Revelation and, and the best rule of scriptural
interpretation that you'll ever find, you know, I always say
context, context, context, and that's true. But the best rule
of scriptural interpretation for any of us, when you go to
a passage of scriptures, look for Christ, look for the glory
of his person. Look for the power and the completeness
and the power of His finished work, prophecies concerning Him,
truths that are brought forth about Him and of Him. And what
happens is you look through the Scriptures, you read through
the Scripture, every now and then you'll come across a passage that just
glares out. It's almost like you can't miss
it. Now, we know by nature we will if God doesn't open our
eyes. But this is one that's just so obvious, and here it
is. Look at verse 20 of Isaiah 45. He says, assemble yourselves
and come, draw near together you that are escaped of the nations.
They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their grave and
image and pray unto a God that cannot save. And understand this
now, you don't have to carve out a wooden image to pray to
a God that cannot save. You can have one in your mind
or in your heart, an idol, a God that cannot save. But what distinguishes
the one and true living God who can and does save from any other
God that cannot save a false God. Well listen, he says in
verse 21, tell ye and bring them near, yea, let them take counsel
together, who hath declared this from ancient time? One of the
ways we distinguish the true and living God is he's the one
who is eternal. He's the one who spoke these
words from the beginning, from ancient time, he's declared it.
No other God has done this. There's no other God who can
do this. All other gods are false gods. Then he says, who have
told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord, that's
Jehovah, the covenant God, the God who saved by grace through
Christ. And he says, there's no God else
beside me. There's none like him, none to
compare with him. And listen to how he identifies himself
here, how he distinguishes and separates himself. A just God
and a Savior. There is none beside me. One
who is both a just God, who punishes sin, who is holy and righteous,
and judges according to truth, and will not pervert justice
in any way, any form, to anybody, but also one who saves, a Savior,
a Savior of sinners. How can that be? You see, that
all reaches back to that old question, how can God be just
and justify the ungodly? And that's what he's telling
us, look at verse 22, he says, look unto me and be ye saved
all the ends of the earth for I'm God and there's none else.
I've sworn by myself, that's God's oath, engaging everything
that he is behind this promise. And the word is God out of my
mouth in righteousness. That's the promise that he expresses
and reveals and declares. And it shall not return. In other
words, it's going to accomplish where I, if I listen, it's either
the saver of death and the death or the saver of life and the
life, whichever it is, it's going to accomplish that. It won't
return. He said about Isaiah 55, I think
he said, my word won't return void. And he says, he says, and
shall not return that unto me, every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall swear. And here's what his people are
going to say. Verse 24, surely. shall one say,
In the Lord, in Jehovah, have I righteousness and strength.
Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed." So all who come to Christ, you see,
in Him have I righteousness. Not in me, but in Him. And he
says, in the Lord, verse 25, shall all the seed of Israel
be justified and shall have glory. And I want you to notice it says
seed of Israel there. Well, you remember up here, he
said that he says that all the ends of the earth, that includes
the Gentiles. The seed of Israel here is spiritual
Israel. That's what he's talking about.
We'll go back to the second sentence. That's our God. He's a rock. Who is a rock like our God? None. Who can save like none? Verse 33, he says, God is my
strength and power, and He maketh my way perfect. Literally, He
loosed me, He riddeth me of anything imperfect. What he's talking
about, He set me free in a perfect way, in a complete way. Saved
by His power and His strength, not my own. And He set me in
the right way, and He turned me in the right direction, and
the right way is running the race of grace, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of my faith. Returning to Him, following
Him. And so He gives the assurance
of this. Verse 34, He maketh my feet like hinds feet, and
setteth me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to war, so
that a bow of steel is broken by my arms. Thou hast also given
me the shield of thy salvation, and thy gentleness hath made
me great." That's his loving kindness. You see, what we have
here is a picture of a powerful God who cannot be defeated, his
purpose cannot be hindered or stopped, and yet to his people
there's a gentleness there. That's the loving kindness of
God. That's the grace, mercy, and compassion of God. Verse
37, Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, so that my feet did
not slip. You remember, what he's talking
about here is a sure-footedness and a power that cannot be stopped.
So here's what he's given us in Christ. He's given us a sure-footedness
that we can't slip, we can't fall, and we'll mess up, and
we'll be diverted at times, but we cannot We cannot totally apostatize. We cannot totally leave Christ. He won't let us. Because our
feet are like a deer's feet. You ever seen a deer run through
hills and rocks and brambles? You try to do that. You end up
breaking your legs. I thought about this. I saw one
time on National Geographic. They had these mountain goats
somewhere up in the Rockies somewhere. And you ought to see where them
things can run. Now that's the kind of sure-footedness
that we have in Christ in our salvation. But not only do we
have this sure-footedness, that's the assurance, that's what that's
an emblem, a metaphor of assurance of salvation. We cannot be lost
ever again. We read that in Psalm 40, I think
it was Psalm 40 also, Bill, I think where he talked about he saves
his people forever. He won't let us slip. He holds
on to us, you see. And it's his power now. It's
his strength. You see, our assurance is not
based upon the fact that we're going to be so faithful and loyal
and obedient the rest of our lives. David himself was not.
Man, David, in his own self, he slipped up royally when he
committed adultery with Bathsheba. You know, somebody mentioned
last week, that's not the only problem David had. You know,
we go back to that because that's just such a glaring sin that
had so many consequences. You know, that wasn't his only
problem. He had the same problems we have, sinners saved by grace. And we'll mess up, but our feet
are still like Heinz' feet. We're sure. Christ is our surety. And if he could fall down, then
we would. But he can't. He's seated at
the right hand of the Father. Ever living to make intercession
for us so that when we sin, we have an advocate, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And as He is, so are we in this world, 1 John
4, 17. We cannot fall. And then He gives
us an invincibility. Now, we don't see that in ourselves. We don't see it in this world
as we look at things. I mean, you just look at, read
the newspaper, look at circumstances, see what we go through. The illnesses
that we go through, the sicknesses we go through, we don't see that
invincibility. But what does Hebrews, I think
it's chapter 2, tells us? But we see Jesus. We see Him. And there's our invincibility.
Now, this body is dead because of sin. And it's going to die. And if we're alive when Christ
comes back again, it's going to be changed, because this corruptible
cannot put on incorruption, you see. This corruptible has to
go, so that incorruptible must be put on. And that's the equivalent
of death now. Don't anybody fool you on that.
Somebody says, well, some of us aren't going to die. Oh yeah,
we're all going to die. Even if we're here when Christ comes
again, we're going to be changed in the twinkling of an eye. And
this corruptible is going to put on incorruption. That's the
equivalent of death. The body is dead because of sin.
Period. All right? So that when we go
through these things, we don't look invincible. Do I look invincible
to you? I hope if I do, boy, you're seeing something I don't
see. And you don't look invincible to me. But we are in one way
in Christ. Nothing can touch us. unless
he allows it to, and even when he allows it to, it cannot separate
us from him. It cannot condemn us, for there
is therefore now no condemnation in Christ. And that's what David
is saying here. He's given me the shield of his
salvation, and he did it in a way of loving kindness. Large my
steps. You remember I talked to you
about The preacher who said that the Christian life is like walking
a tightrope, and you've got to hold that pole, and one end's
the righteousness of Christ, and the other end's your righteousness,
and you've got to keep them balanced. Oh, no. No, Christian life's
not walking a tightrope. The Christian life is standing
on a rock, the rock Christ Jesus. And he mentions that all the
way through this psalm, doesn't he? He can't get away from that.
Well, neither can we. Don't you think, God, we can't
get away from that? Look here at verse 38. He says, now listen
to this, he says, I have pursued mine enemies and destroyed them,
and turned not again until I had consumed them. And I have consumed
them and wounded them that they could not arise. That's the death
blow. In other words, he didn't just hurt them a little, they
couldn't arise. That's death. Yea, they are fallen under my
feet. But thou hast girded me with strength to battle. Now
you know every believer's in a battle. We're in a war with
the world, the flesh, and the devil, the flesh being ourselves,
the warfare of the spirit and the flesh. Well, he's girding
me with strength to battle. Them that rose against me hast
thou subdued under me. He calls them to bow to David.
He says, thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies,
that I might destroy them that hate me. What he's talking about
here is victory over all his enemies. He cannot be defeated. That's that invincibility. The
Bible teaches us that in so many ways. Think about this, what
I've been talking about, how this body is dead because of
sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. You remember
that portion of scripture that's read quite often at funerals.
First Corinthians 1555, O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory? He says the sting of death is
sin. That's another way of saying the wages of sin is death. And
then he says, the strength of sin is the law. What do you suppose
that means? The strength of sin is the law. Well, what that means is this.
The reason or the power, the strength of sin condemns us is
because the law of God says the soul that sinneth must surely
die. If there was no law, there'd be no sin, there'd be no righteousness.
If there was no justice, we wouldn't have to worry about it at all.
We just go about our ways in our own sinful ways. But there's
a law. There's a God who is the law. And He demands justice. And therefore
the power of sin to condemn us is in that law that condemns
us justly. But what does He say? He says,
but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Victory over sin. Victory over
the law. How? Because one took our place
on Calvary and took the strength of sin under condemnation of
the law. Christ did. He was made sin.
He who knew no sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And therefore we don't have to
deal with the strength of sin now, which is the law, because
Christ kept the law for us. And by faith we fulfill the law.
What does that mean? That means by faith we look to
and plead the blood and righteousness of Christ. And that's the fulfilling
of the law. And so he says, therefore, my
beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in
the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is
not in vain in the Lord. Have you ever felt like your
labor was in vain? I have. I spoke to you, I think
it was this morning, talked about Jeremiah who wanted to quit.
He thought his labor was in vain, but it wasn't. It never is. Anything
that glorifies God is never in vain. Isn't that right? I mean,
if I could stand up and preach to nobody, God would still get
the glory. That's right. If I was like Noah
and preached for over a hundred years and nobody came to know
Christ, it's still to the praise of the glory of God's grace and
power. Think about it. Our Lord told his disciples before
he went to the cross. He said, these things have I
spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world
you'll have tribulation. To be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world." Let me say this, you know when you read passages
like this from verses 38 through 41, obviously we can see David
here as a type of Christ, because he is a type of Christ. Talking
about pursuing his enemies, destroying them, that's what Christ did
for us as our surety and representative when he walked this earth. And
he dealt with these issues that are against us of sin, of Satan,
the curse of the law. He destroyed our enemies. He
consumed them. That's what he did on the cross.
He consumed the wrath of God against sin, totally, completely. That's why God's way is a complete
way, a perfect way. And then we can see David as
king here. You know, as king, he had to
administer, well, let's put it this way, he was obligated to
administer strict justice to anybody, to everybody. David
didn't always do that. I'll give you one case, Doctor,
remember, that we've dealt with recently in the case of Shimei. Remember, Shimei came back in
repentance, and of course there's always an argument there over
whether or not it was sincere repentance or just Shimei just
got caught and he was trying to get out of it. Later on, David
tells Solomon to deal with Shimei in justice because Shimei wasn't
loyal either to David or to Solomon. So it sort of indicates there
that his repentance was just legal repentance, just a selfish
one, not true heart repentance. But you see, David didn't deal
with Shimeon justice at first, but he had Solomon do it. God's
justice may be delayed. The Bible calls that the long-suffering
of God, but it's coming. Justice is coming. But let me
ask you this now. Think about this. You know, one
of the most difficult things that we have to reconcile in
our minds when we read Scripture is when David in the Psalms and
others in the Psalms pray for the destruction of their enemies.
They do that, don't they? It's like what David's doing
here. He's thanking God, forgiving him. David was a man of war.
He was the protector of Israel. He was the anointed of Israel. And he prays in thanksgiving
here that God had enabled him to destroy his enemies. And many
times in the Psalms, he prays for their destruction. And yet,
the Bible tells us, as sinners saved by the grace of God, to
love our enemies. to bless those who despitefully
use us. Matthew chapter 5 and Sermon
on the Mount. Well, what's going on there? Has God changed? Is
there a different situation? Well, let me tell you how I believe
this. Listen, when we go through these things, it's hard for us
to deal with them because we have to deal with selfish motives. I do. You do. When somebody comes
against me and says something against me or tells a tale on
me or accuses me, I have that That selfish revenge, you know,
I want to get back at them, yeah. I know it's wrong. Vengeance
belongs to me, saith the Lord. But here's the thing about it.
Now listen to this. We're to pray for our enemies. We're to
love our enemies. And I pray that God will save
them. Don't you? Or if they're children of God,
you know, even children of God can turn on you at times. You
pray that God will bring them to repentance. But here's the
point. If God never saves them, Or if
he never brings them to repentance, now if they're his, he'll bring
them to repentance. He will. The Bible teaches that now. Read
Hebrews 12. Listen, if you're a child of
God and you get out of step with the revealed will of God, not
the sovereign will, that can't be broken, but the revealed will
of God, you will be chastised in some way, some form. Scripture
says that. If you're without chastisement,
what does it call you? A bastard, an illegitimate child.
And so we pray, Lord, Bring us, chastise me gently. Make it a gentle chastisement.
Now, if they never come to repentance, what does that tell you? If they're
never chastised, they're not God's. They're not God's children.
So what happens? Well, then the vengeance of God
checks in. Then the justice of God comes
in, and we always pray, God be just in your dealings with everybody. Now, that's so. And what I believe
is happening here, David's not thanking God for fulfilling his
lust for vengeance, his personal lust for vengeance here. And
even when David prays, and listen now, in the Psalms, by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit concerning the destruction of his enemies,
he's still not praying for the fulfillment of a lust of personal
vengeance. But he's just simply saying,
God, you do. Number one, what's right? Number
two, what seemeth good in your sight? And I'll show you what
I mean in just a moment. Look at verse 42 or 43. He says,
Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth. I did
stamp them as the mire of the street and did spread them abroad.
Again, now, this is God's vengeance, not David's. And he says in verse
44, Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people. And thou hast kept me to be the
head of the heathen, a people which I knew not shall serve
me. Strangers shall submit themselves unto me. As soon as they hear,
they shall be obedient unto me. Now strangers shall fade away,
and they shall be afraid out of their close places." What's
he talking about? Well, he says, thou, you've delivered
me from the strivings of my people. Who were his people? That's Israel.
David's nation turned against him at one time, didn't they?
Followed Absalom. They strove with David. Isn't
that just like our Savior, when it says in John 1.11, He came
unto His own, and His own what? Received Him not. And then He
talks about strangers here. That's the Gentiles. That's the
foreigners. And He says, Thou hast kept Me
to be the head of the heathen, a people which I knew not shall
serve Me. And they submitted. That's the
Gentiles. God has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. But by nature, what are we? We're
disobedient sinners who strive with our Savior. Until what? It says, as soon as they hear,
they shall be obedient. Until we hear. And when is that? That's when we're born again.
That's when Christ brings us through the Spirit to hear the
gospel, gives us ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts and
minds to understand. And then what do we do? Then
we're obedient. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and we're
saved. But now not everybody, not everybody, verse 46, strangers
also shall fade away and they'll be afraid out of their close
places. There are going to be some who perish. And you know
what? Whatever our thoughts and attitudes
towards that, which are fraught with selfishness and personal
lust and all of that, what God does is right. It's right. And we need to understand that
and we need to keep our eyes and our minds upon Him who is
just. Whatever God does is just, it's
right, it's fair. God is never going to treat anybody
unfairly or unjustly. When He damns the wicked, it
will be the only thing to do. Now, He's also just and fair
and right when He saves sinners. And that justice and fairness
comes from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins are already
punished. Justice has already been met
and fulfilled upon us in the person of our Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. So look at verse 47. Here's what
he's saying. He concludes this psalm this
way. Everything, everything, it's
in and by Christ. He says, the Lord liveth and
blessed be my rock. And exalted be the God of the
rock of my salvation. That's exalting Christ right
there. It's God that avengeth me. You
see, that's what I was talking about earlier. It's God that
does it, giveth avengement for, literally, and that bringeth
down the people under me. This is God's work now. I know
when I set out to try to do stuff like that, I mess up. And I have
other motives, mixed motives, and I have to pray, God forgive
me. I'm to pray for their salvation. Listen, I'm under the obligation
of love to God and to my neighbor. But you see, God is not under
obligation to anybody except those whom He chooses and promises. He said, I've put myself into
it, I've given an oath, I've made a sworn oath. You see, somebody
says, God's not obligated to save you, now hold on there.
Once He swore that oath, He engaged Himself to save all whom He chose,
all for whom He sent Christ to die. But you see, it's God that avenges
me and that bringeth down the people under me, verse 49, and
that bringeth me forth from mine enemies. Salvation is the only
reason I don't perish with them is because of the grace of God.
Thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up
against me. Why am I above them? Because
I'm in Christ and he's above all. He has the preeminence above
all things. And thou hast delivered me from
the violent man, the one who would do me the most harm." I prayed for that violent man.
I can say that. I prayed that God would save
him. But it didn't happen. So what did God do? He exercised
justice, vengeance, His vengeance. Why didn't He do the same with
me? I don't know. Except it seemed
good in His sight. He's God. He doeth as he will
in the armies of the heavens among the inhabitants of the
earth. And none can stay his hand or say unto him, why are
you doing that? That's the way God taught Job. He says, you
don't even have enough sense and brains and fortitude to question
me, Job. That's really what he said. You
think you do, but you don't. You think I owe you something?
Well, let's say, where were you when I set the stars in space?
Where were you when I created the earth? Where were you when
I put Leviath in the sea? If you were there and you were
around then, then you can talk to me like you would an equal
and we'll sit down and we'll have a philosophical, theological
discussion on these deep theological matters. But here's what you're
to do, Job. As a worm, shut your mouth and believe God. And what does God say? You run to Christ. Whatever you
do, you run to Christ. Whatever trouble you're going
through, whatever problems you're having, whoever's coming against
you, whatever inner struggles you're having, whatever physical
problems you're having, you run to Christ. And you stay right
there. He says in verse 50, Therefore
I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen. I
will sing praises unto thy name. What he's talking about is when
those who come against me, I'm still going to sing praises.
He says in verse 51, he is the tower of salvation for his king,
and he shall with mercy to his anointed unto David and to his
seed forevermore. I think about Psalm 22, verse
30. You know, Psalm 22 is that Psalm
of the cross. And at the end of it, he has
a description and a blessing to state about the spiritual
seed. And he says, a seed shall serve him. It shall be accounted
to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he hath
done this.