Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn with
me to Psalm 3, Psalm 3. And I'm gonna read the whole
Psalm. Psalm 3. Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God, Selah. But thou, O Lord,
art a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head.
I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of
his holy hill, Selah. I laid me down and slept, I waked,
for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands
of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise,
O Lord, save me. O my God, for thou hast smitten
all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. We read the heading of this psalm
and it says, a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his
son. And I don't know if that's actually
in the words or not, but that's what I read, it was in there.
But we can see the account of this if we go back and look at
it in 2 Samuel. David was being persecuted and
chased down, and this so that they might kill him. And this
was his own son who was doing the chasing. One of the king's
sons was trying to kill him. Just knowing that, I start to
get a picture of what our Lord endured, don't you? This psalm
is speaking of that time after when David had murdered Uriah
and took Bathsheba as his wife because he got her pregnant with
a child while Uriah was still alive. What is happening to David
is those things which God told him would happen because he had
done these things. 2 Samuel 12 10 it says, now therefore
the sword shall never depart from thine house because thou
hast despised me and has taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite
to be thy wife. I just want to say, although
this is not what I want to talk about specifically, but when
we do things such as this, and we might not have someone killed
or take their wife, but if we sin against God, and especially
if we involve other people, we are asking for God to deal with
us. Now, if we are one of His, it will be in love, but it will
not be in an enjoyable time. What is the problem when you
do these things such as David did and involved a lot of other
people in what he did? 2 Samuel 12, 14. Howbeit, and
this is God speaking, howbeit because of this deed thou hast
given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto
thee shall surely die is how it finishes out. When we do things
such as this, anything where we imbob others, and when we
do these things openly for the world to see, we give them occasion
to blaspheme the Lord. It's like Joe said last week,
and I know he said it, you know, kind of tongue in cheek, and
it may not be exactly right though, but we should learn from others.
We don't have enough time to make all the mistakes ourselves.
We can learn from others. so that we do not do some things.
But if we give the occasion for the enemies of God to blaspheme
him, we will suffer for it. How do I know that? Because of
what happened to David. God tells me directly in his
word by what he told David that God will correct you and it may
seem severe at the time, but he will correct you from these
things. I pray God he keep me and teach me through his word
and maybe even seeing things of others happening that I do
not do those things because I certainly am capable of it. We are told by God in the scripture,
Galatians 5 16, this I say then, walk in the spirit and ye shall
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. This is a promise of God. But
we also have this promise in 1 John 2.1. My little children,
these things write I unto you that ye sin not. And if any man
sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. This is a comfort that though
we do sin, we shall not be utterly cast down. He will correct us
because he was the one who took our place and he is our advocate. Let's look at some things in
the psalm as it concerns David and let's look at this psalm
as it concerns our advocate. I won't go through every verse
or every word rather, but I just want to look at what we are seeing
in this psalm concerning God's people and Jesus Christ the Lord.
So let's read verses one and two again. Lord, how are they
increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God. See love. We know because of our sin that
we are hounded by others. But it's not necessarily all
the time because of any sin which we have committed. John 15, 20,
it says, remember the word that I said unto you, the servant
is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying,
they will keep yours also. And they did persecute Christ.
It is our lot in this world to suffer persecution. We may not
always recognize it. We might not suffer persecution
as some have, but it will happen. Man as he is born in Adam hates
God. We heard it several times in
the last few weeks. We as we are born in Adam are
born enemies of God. Ungodly sinners is what we are. Those of this world will also
be against God's people, and this because they hate Jesus
Christ the Lord. Oh, they will say they love Jesus,
but the Jesus they love is a figment of their imagination. Their Jesus
is an idol made like unto themselves. We have heard it before from
them when you tell them that God is sovereign and he chose
a people for his name. and it is for them, his people,
that he went and died on that tree. They will say things like
this. Well, if I believed that, I would
do whatever I wanted to do since he will save me if I'm one of
his. I understand this way of thinking
because I thought this very same thought myself before. What they do not know is they
are doing what they want to do. and they will continue to do
what they want to do until they die. Or, if peradventure, he
meets them in the way and turns them. Our way, our desires, before
God does something to us is to hate him. Remember, we are enemies
and ungodly sinners. But thank God he saves ungodly
sinners because I am one and I need saving. My title today
is Save Me, O God, which I get from verse seven of this psalm.
I need saving from myself every day. There are forces, if you
will, and that includes this flesh of mine, but there are
forces that are trying to cause me to turn against him. These
forces will hound God's people, and it is only by his power that
his people will walk after the spirit that they may not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. Let's read verses three and four
again. But thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto
the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. Think about this. Where is it that the child of
God always looks to for their help? Or at least it should be
where they look all the time. We at times get to looking at
other things. But where is it that our help
comes from? Even the one which we sin against
daily. The Lord is my shield, that one
that protects me from fiery darts. By his power and might, I am
clothed with the vestments of his salvation. Loins girt about
with truth. breastplate of righteousness,
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, the shield
of faith, it says, Ephesians 6, 16. Above all, taking the
shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked. Believing God is a shield to
us. We know what he has done and
what he does and we know he loves us because he manifested it by
dying on that tree. What happens when God allows
us to see him as our shield? We cry out to him. We know what
we are. We know what we have done. We
have all been told just as David was, you are the man. When He allows us to see Him,
then we are forced to cry out to Him. Where is it? What place is it that it tells
us here in this passage that He hears us? Out of His holy
hill, and it adds Selah. Think about it. Christ and what
He has done on that tree, that's what He accomplished on His holy
hill. He hears His people because He
has done all that was needed to secure them, and He hears
their cries for mercy. I need that. I have to have that
because I am an ungodly sinner. Read verses five and six. I lay
me down and slept. I wait for the Lord to sustain
me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands
of people that have set themselves against me round about. When God allows me to look upon
him, seeing he loved me, I am able to lay down and rest. I
am able to rest in what he has done. I will awake always because
it is he that sustains me. Sustain, that is to prop or to
hold up. And I like this one, to take
hold of or bear up. It is like this for the people
of God. This is how we are taken hold
of, like this. in God's hand. Who is it that
will take us out of his hand? No one, not even ourselves, if
we are held by him in his hand. But also think about this, when
he died, we died. When he arose, we arose. When he ascended, we ascended,
if we are in him. The scripture also tells us,
the scripture tells us so, It says, I will not be afraid
of 10,000 people that have set themselves against me around
about. That means all around me. They
have had me surrounded, in other words. How is this? I can tell you I don't have this
feeling all the time. If I really did see that many
people surrounding me to kill me, I'm afraid I might fall apart. So how is it that I can be this
way? because it is He that sustains
me. He fights the battles. But what
else do we read here of why this is so that we will not be afraid? Because we have one who we can
cry to. He is always there for us. The
result, verses seven and eight. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my
God, for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. Thy blessing is upon Thy people.
Selah. It is the Lord who is my Savior,
my fortress, my buckler. It is Him that has put them to
open shame. He has smitten them upon the
cheek. But not only this, it is He that
is our advocate. Because of what He has done,
He has broken the teeth of ungodly. It is He that has not only shut
the mouth of those who hate Him, He has certainly done that. But
he has shut my mouth, so that I, just like the one who hung
on that cross beside him, he was railing against the Lord
at one time. But all of a sudden, he stopped
railing against him, but glorified him, knowing by the power of
God that it was he, the very one he was railing against, that
could save him. He shuts our mouth. He shuts
all of the enemies of God because He has done in justice what was
needed to be done to save His people. Now, as has been said
before, some will and have asked, which of the Psalms is a Messianic
Psalm? The answer is all of them. Jesus
Christ the Lord tells us that in the volume of the book, it
is written of me. If you read any of the scriptures,
not just the Psalms, but any scripture and you do not see
Christ there, then the problem is with you. Because Christ said the book
is about him. So now I want to look at this, not as David the
king who did all these things with Uriah and Bathsheba, not
this earthly king who was on this earth and only and went
to the grave where his body went back to the dust. I'm not talking
about that, David. Although I do have to say, he,
that is Christ, did do these things. I remember when Todd
Niebuhr preached on Genesis at the Danville Conference where
it says in Genesis 39, 22, it reads this. And the keeper of
the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were
in prison. And whatsoever they did there,
He was the doer of it. This is the glory of the gospel.
All things I have done, Jesus Christ was the doer of them because
He was made sin for me. In being made what I am, He then
is the doer of it. And because of that, the justice
of God was dealt out to Him. Verses one and two again. Lord,
how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up
against me. Many there be which say of my
soul there is no help for him. See law. Hear these verses here. Acts 4, 26 and 27. The kings
of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ. For of a truth against
thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were
gathered together. Many were gathered together against
him because of what I'd done. I was gathered against him because
of what I'd done. He had to go to that cross because
of what I had done. Those who were gathered against
him derided him. Luke 23, 35, we read, and the
people stood beholding, and the rulers also with him derided
him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if he be
Christ, the chosen of God. Well, I'm here to tell you. He
is the Christ, the chosen of God. And he on purpose did not
save himself from the wrath of God because he was saving a people
for his name. Again, here in Matthew 27, 43,
he trusted in God, let him deliver him now, if he will have him,
for he said, I am the son of God. All who were there, and
I, before he forced me to himself, derided and mocked him. Just
think of that. The one I was openly making fun
of as one not being enough to save my soul. And I mean, you
know, I'm thinking that I have to do something else and didn't
believe that what he did was enough. That's what I'm talking
about. He was the very one that did
save my soul on that tree. Just like that malefactor that
was crucified with Christ. That was us. All of his were
crucified with Christ and he says to us, today shalt thou
be with me in paradise. We can bank on it. We can count
on it. Because he is God and what he
says is sure. But the truth is, he did not
just die. But what he done in him being
who he is, he did not remain there. He did come down from
the cross and was buried, but then he arose. Not just out of
the grave, but he arose to the right hand of God on high. That
is our advocate, our salvation. Verses three and four again.
But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter
up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my
voice and he heard me out of his holy hill, Selah. On that cross he did cry out
for help. The scripture says there was
none to help. But the father did hear his son.
Jesus Christ our Lord died and paid the debt of sin I owe. This
he done in justice to his holy court. but him being the spotless
Lamb of God was not able to beholden of the grace. He was brought
forth, and being brought forth, as I said, he was seated at the
right hand of the Father on high. The Father tells us, and this
never changed, this is my beloved Son, hear ye him. If you do not
want to hear what Jesus Christ the Lord says, then you will
perish. Because it is He who is the truth,
the way, and the life. You want to know what the truth
of God is? It is Jesus Christ, the Lord.
You want to know what the way to God is? It is Jesus Christ,
the Lord. You want to know what life with
God is? It is Jesus Christ, the Lord.
He is everything. Let's go to verses five and six
again. I laid me down and slept, I waked,
for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands
of people that have set themselves against me round about." I've
already spoke on this, but Jesus Christ was placed in that tomb.
But the scripture tells us that it was impossible that he should
be beholden of that grave. because God the Father loved
the Son, and He would not let His Son see corruption. Acts
2 24, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death,
because it was not possible that He should beholden of it. Who
is like a God likened to Him? He was set like a flint to do
this work of salvation. There was no fear in Him, that
He should fear men. We have read it before about
David and Goliath, and I just see this picture of Christ here,
who has no fear, 1 Samuel 17, 26, we read, and David spake
to the men that stood by him, saying, what shall be done to
the man that killeth this Philistine and taketh away the reproach
from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
He would face the justice and wrath of God on his people's
behalf, knowing he would have a people for his name. He knew
what it would take, and he willingly gave himself. He went to the
cross with his mouth shut. He didn't say a word. Turn with
me to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 verses 21 through 25.
1 Peter 2 verses 21. For even hereunto were ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow his steps. And he is the only example. We may be in samples of what
to do and what not to do, but he's the only example. Who did
no sin? Neither was guile found in his
mouth. who when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.
By those stripes ye were healed, for ye were a sheep going astray,
but are but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop
of your soul. It was he who endured the cross,
and it was in what he'd done that enabled his people to find
mercy in his wrath, because he took their place. So next we
have verses seven and eight again. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my
God, for Thou hast smitten all my enemies upon the cheekbone.
Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon Thy people. Selah. I keep seeing this word
in this passage in this verse, this first word in verse 7. He did. He arose to the uttermost,
saving his people to the uttermost. God the Father did save him,
even though the mockers could not see him for who he is. In
doing what he did, he has smitten all the enemies of God. But I
want to get to this last verse. It says, salvation belongeth
to the Lord. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord because it is He who is our salvation. When He raised,
we were raised to justification of life. He did the work, so
salvation is His. He paid the price, so He is the
salvation of His people. So salvation belongs to Him,
but thank God, He has been pleased to include some in that salvation.
He has a people appointed to be the heirs of God. They are
appointed to be in Him, and since He is salvation, then they are
saved. They are a chosen nation, a royal
priesthood, not because of themselves, but because of what He did. What
are we to conclude from all this? Let's conclude from where this
Psalm concludes. Arise, O Lord. Arise and show
me your face, the only face that I will ever see and be able to
see God and live. Arise, my Redeemer, my Savior,
my help, my path, my light, my way, my all. Save me, O God. You do not have to save me, but
I need saving. If you would be pleased to arise
and come to me in my grave and give me life in yourself. Bring
me down in shame and shut my mouth. Keep me from gnashing
my teeth at you. Cause me to love you because
you first loved me. Salvation is all yours because
salvation is in a person. That person is the Lord Jesus
Christ who is God. He is the Lord. May I be one
of yours, because blessing is upon your people. May I meditate
on that daily. Selah. Think about it. Amen.