Get started there. If there's any technical difficulties,
Paul will have to deal with them, you know that. We'll do the best
we can. If you would, turn to the ninth
psalm, psalm number nine. And I'm going to actually begin
reading in verse nine of psalm nine. The Lord also will be a refuge
for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that
know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou, Lord,
hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the Lord
which dwelleth in Zion, Declare among the people his doings. I'm just gonna stop right there. Tell Paul on the tape here that
the title of this message is They That Know Thy Name. Now
this is labeled above verse one there, a Psalm of David. And this psalm, as far as I'm
concerned, I didn't read it, verse one, I will now probably,
but it has one of the best starts of any psalm. Because verse one
says, I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart. And then
he says this, I will show forth all thy marvelous works. You understand, that's the definition
of a psalm. Praise to God, how do you praise
God? You're praising him for his marvelous
works. Why? Because his works are marvelous. It's not real tough, but this
is what, one of the things we have the great privilege to do
is to put forth the works of God before a bunch of sinners. Myself included. I like that. But he starts it
off, I will praise thee, oh Lord. Verse nine says, I was looking
at it, the Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a
refuge in times of trouble. God's people are oppressed. And they need refuge at times. Okay, sort of, really, to be
honest, all times. However, sometimes we're too
dumb to know it. We're too ignorant to know it.
Because here's the thing, we only notice that God's a refuge
when we need a refuge. He's a refuge at all times. Just
like a couple weeks ago, he's a stronghold at all times. because he has a hold of us,
even when we don't know it. Because you can't really, if
you ever stop and think about it, I don't think you can ever
really tell me of a day, an hour, or any time when you didn't need
a refuge and didn't have some trouble. Now you may have been being willingly
ignorant of it, I'm guilty of that. There's some times I just
go on. I've been in trouble so much
in my life, I know, that you're gonna have to go on anyway, so
you might as well. But listen, he is always a refuge for his
people. His eye is on us. Now Jesus Christ, his son, the
beloved son, is the apple of his eye. But brothers and sisters,
Every believer is in Christ. His eye is also on us at all
times. He knows where you're at, he
knows what you're doing, he knows what your condition is. And he
knows it better than you do. He helps me when I don't ask
him, Walter. He helps me and I didn't realize
I needed help. Until after it's over. And you
look back and say, wow, what a coincidence that was. Well, you know. We just don't notice it until
we notice that we're being oppressed or in trouble. But he's always
a refuge. He's always a stronghold for
his people. But then verse 10, this is where
I wanted to go and this is what I wanted to say. and they that
know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou, Lord,
hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Now first of all, I'm gonna deal
with the negative. Because he starts this out, and
they that know thy name. Why would he start out with a
statement like that? Well, there's a simple fact. This is the negative
part. Not everybody knows his name. And that's plain. You understand? Because he's laying out a difference
here. This is how those who know his name act. Behave. There is a behavior for the child
of God. I know we don't talk a lot about works around here.
Just only whenever we meet. Some people get this thing, yes,
we believe in grace more strongly than most of the world. But you know what, God does is
forever. And that means whether it's in you or it's on this planet.
Because whatever God does, it is forever, nothing can be put
to it, nothing can be taken from it, but bless God, he said you're
gonna work. And he's gonna put it in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. But here, not
everybody knows thy name. That's plain, that's plain. Because
in this psalm, verse three, David writes, when
mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at
thy presence. You understand, the enemies of
the child of God are the enemies of God. Now that's some scary thinking
right there. You understand? I mean, I won't say anything
bad about a preacher. Well, I will if he lies. Okay? I'm not scared of liars. I am
one. But I try not to lie about God.
And if you lie about God, I'm gonna say bad things about you.
Because what I'll do is repeat your own words. And usually that's
enough to cause problems. Anyhow. The Lord God has enemies, and
guess what? They don't know thy name. They think they do, but they
don't. Well, let me turn to Luke chapter
10 for just a moment. Luke chapter 10, verse 17. And the 70 returned again with
joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy
name. And then our Lord makes this
strange statement here. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I saw Satan fall
as lightning from heaven. Now behold this. I give unto
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the
power of, who? The enemy. God has enemies. And nothing shall by any means
hurt you, notwithstanding in this rejoice not that the spirits
are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are
written in heaven. Do you understand? Demons obeying these men. I'm not saying for you to go
do anything. Uh, that's not the point because here's the point. These are his disciples that
he sent out with this power before they left. And this is the establishment
of the early church. There are things going on that
we don't do now. Now demons and devils still exist and Satan
exists. And guess what? They are the
enemy of God. And they tremble. But here's the thing, they still
don't know this name. They still don't know his name.
They didn't know his character. Because here's the point. In
verse five, David also says this. For thou hast rebuked the heathen,
and thou hast destroyed the wicked, and thou hast put out their name
forever and ever. The heathen and the wicked are
the enemies of God. And if you stop and think about
it, you'll realize that pretty much encompasses everyone. Because
the heathen are idol worshipers. But the wicked, the wicked, they
can be secular, they can be religious, they can be atheistic, and they
can be orthodox. They can be good, orthodox, Christian
churchgoers who don't know his name. The difference between professing
and possessing. the difference between knowing
Christ and not knowing Christ. Because here's the point, that's
the name. The name that is above every
name is Jesus. Now I realize here in this scripture,
it is Yahweh, Jehovah, Lord, capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. But I also realize this, That's
who Jesus is. Jesus Christ is the Lord. I always quote it, that one from
Isaiah, I love that. He's the Lord of hosts. The Lord
of hosts. The Holy One of Israel, and the
Redeemer. And that, those three names,
is one man. The man, Christ Jesus. That's his name, simply Jesus.
He is Lord, he is Yahweh, he is Jehovah. Romans 10 and nine
says it clearly. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth thee Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But you understand, it's not
sweet little Jesus meek and mild, a baby in a manger, a 12-year-old
confounding the doctors. No, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. They that know thy name. Well,
he's been given a name which is above every name. And at the name of Jesus, I think
I got that even marked here, Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name Which is above every name that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord Lord to the glory
of God the Father And you know where it says that?
It says that right after it says he humbled himself. Our Lord
humbled himself. I'm telling you, there's some
ranges in this scripture of the things that our Lord humbled
himself to do. Why? For his name's sake. For his people's sake. Because I'm gonna tell you this,
plain and as clear as I can. If you know that name, and the
name's nothing without the character. You understand? I know there's
all kind of people calling out on a Jesus name, but you understand,
if he's not the sovereign God, if he's not the sovereign Lord
Jesus, he's not the Jesus that David is writing about. And if
you know that name, if you know that man, You are blessed. You are blessed of God. Because
every knee is gonna bow, and every tongue is gonna confess,
but some of them's gonna be a little late. Oh. Who knows that name? Well, I
can tell you this. Those that know thy name, they
used to be heathen and wicked. just like the ones David was
talking about there. Paul put it this way, such were
some of you. What was that? Well, be not deceived,
neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of
God. There's no way in this world I could quote that, Walter. And such were some of you. But, and boy, this is one of
those good ones. But, ye are washed. But, ye are sanctified. But, ye are justified. What? In the name of the Lord
Jesus. By the Holy Spirit of our God. My goodness. Yes, we were heathen
and or wicked. Maybe both. We that know his name, believers
were at one time just exactly like the rest of the world. What happened? What made us different? Well that's the wrong question
actually. Who made us different? But you're washed, but you're
sanctified, but you're justified by the spirit of our God. in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh my, that's some good stuff. How is it that we get to come
to know his name? Back to Luke 10 for just a minute. Because right after he said he
saw Satan fall as lightning, right after he said rejoice because
your names are written in heaven, don't rejoice because the devils
are subject to you, right after that, In that hour, verse 21,
Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from
the wise and the prudent. And, here's where we come in,
hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in thy sight All things are delivered to me
of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son he is, but the Father. And who the Father is, but the
Son. And he to whom the Son will reveal. Who maketh thee to differ? Our
Lord Jesus Christ maketh thee to differ. He reveals the Father
to you. It says in John 17, that's eternal
life, to know God. That's eternal life. And you
understand, believers are the only one, I've said this before,
I'll say it again. Believers are the only one who know what
it's like to be alive and dead. Believers are the only one who
know what it's like, for sure, to have two natures. We know the name of the Lord
by his grace, through his spirit, by his revelation of himself
to us in his word and in his gospel. But we still have the flesh. I mean, I can tell you for certain
that I still got the flesh in me. I'm not going into details, but
I can tell you, I know it's there. And the flesh lusteth against
the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And guess what? I never win. That's a good thing. I will only win if he wins. It's
never me. He'll put in you both the willing
to do his good pleasure, and then you'll do it, and you won't
know it's his good pleasure until long after it's done, if you
know it at all. And I tell you this, Walter's been preaching,
God meant it for good. Whether you know what's going
on or not, it doesn't matter sometimes. They that know his name, what's
it say? They will put their trust in
thee. How many of them? They that know thy name will
put their trust in thee. Every single one of them. You
understand, it's like Romans eight, when you get to it. All
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
that are called according to his purpose. Who is it? that is justified, that's glorified. Every single one of them. Those that know thy name, they
will put their trust in thee. There's no waffling there from
David. There's no qualifier. It's not they should put their
trust in thee. It says they will. They will. They will. It's a flat statement. If they know thy name, they will
trust in thee. And I'm here to tell you, that's
exactly right. Amen. Selah, Walter. Think on
that. Why do people not trust in Christ? They don't know him. I'm sorry,
it's that simple. You see, because if you really
know who God is, if you know who the Lord Jesus Christ is,
how can you not trust him? But, we as men, natural men,
will never know. Unless he does reveal himself.
Unless we are washed, we are sanctified, we are justified,
what? By the Holy Spirit. Not by our works. not by our
thoughts, not by our prayers, not by anything we do, but by the God of this Bible. What? I will praise thee, David
said it, and I will show forth all thy marvelous works. All thy marvelous works. For thou, Lord. That's why. For thou, Lord, have not forsaken
them that seek thee. That little word for there. Because
of this. Why? This is the reason why they
know thy name. Because the Lord has not forsaken
those that seek him. Now I understand, it says there
are none that seek it after God. That's exactly right. But I also
understand that there are those that seek after God. And you
know what? That's exactly right also. Well, isn't that a contradiction? No. It's talking about two different
kinds of people. The natural man cannot understand
the things of the spirit of God. Neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. That's in First Corinthians. But the spiritual man, what? Those that have been washed,
those that have been sanctified, those that have been justified
by the Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, guess
what? You know spiritual things. And you know what? You'll seek
after God. You won't seek after him until
he's already found you. And he's starting to reveal himself
to you because you don't know who to look for before that. You'll look after he's found
you. Because until he finds you, you
won't care. Oh, you may think you care, but
you won't. But this is the reason why They trust in thee, and this
is the reason why they seek in thee. For thou, Lord, have not
forsaken them. You understand, he calls his
believers, Jesus Christ calls his believers, he calls his brethren,
and he calls his sheep. Why? Because we're prone to wander. And we do wander. We still have
the flesh which lusts against the spirit. I already said it.
And if we were left up to ourselves, we would forsake God, Jesus Christ,
and the Holy Spirit. But the good news is, listen
folks, this is the good news. The Lord will never forsake you. Never. Who promised that? The Lord Jesus Christ did. I
will never leave thee, no never forsake thee. Why? What else did he say? I'm the
good shepherd. Not the mediocre shepherd, not
the half attentive shepherd, not the hireling, I'm the good
shepherd. And I know his name. And I trust
him. You understand? I trust the good
shepherd. He said, There's gonna be one
fold and there's gonna be one shepherd. And he's not gonna
lose a single sheep. He said it back then, other sheep
I have which are not here. Not of this fold. Then what'd
he say? Them I must bring. He also said he'd lay down his
life for the sheep and he did. I had the power to lay it down,
I got the power to take it back again. And he did that also. And there shall be, guaranteed,
there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Do you know his name? If you
do, you'll trust him. You'll trust him. There's no
doubt with him. Okay. You may doubt yourself
a lot. I doubt myself sometimes. I don't
doubt him. I don't doubt him. I know his name by his grace. I know his name, but I doubt
sometimes my part in it. It's just the flesh you have
with you always, but I don't doubt him. But you know, there's a reason
why the sons of Jacob were not consumed. Malachi three and six, I'm not
gonna turn here, I've got it written down, it says, for I
am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. For thou, Lord, have not forsaken
them that seek thee. Here's the point. If God is for
you, don't be worried about who's against you. Because realize
this, I mean seriously, if you can, lay a hold of this and grab
onto it, okay? If God is for you, God cannot
be against you. And he's the only one who matters. And he has promised never to
leave you, and never to forsake you. Because in Christ Jesus,
you are, I'm gonna use this word, you are acceptable in the Lord. In Christ Jesus, you are acceptable
to God. I was listening to a tape of
Henry Mahan yesterday, I was on my way to Kroger's, and I
had to pull over and write this down. Because Henry was talking
about people worry about the wrong thing. and we always have,
okay? But I can tell you why now, because
they don't know his name. But here it is, people want to
try, well they want to perform a service in order to make themselves
acceptable to God. They can't, you can't do it.
You know, they want to do something, usually religious, to maybe just
give God a nudge in their general direction. But here's the thing. No service of any man is acceptable
to God. Period. Except his son. His son was fully accepted. His
son was well beloved. His son was well pleasing to
the father. And what'd he say? Hear him.
Hear what he says and what's that mean? Do what he says. Understand? The person has to
be accepted by God before the service can be accepted by God.
And he said that and it hit me like a rock. Just like a rocket. Take it off. Cain and Abel. Because what does God say there?
God had respect unto Abel at his sacrifice. God didn't have
respect to Cain and his sacrifice. You understand? Now our only
acceptability is in Christ. But what's it say? We are accepted
in the beloved. Rejoice! You that know his name,
you are accepted in the beloved. Amen. We trust him because we know
his name. And not only that, by knowing
his name, we know his character. You understand that? Don't get me started on Twitter.
But you know, somebody out there somewhere I'm sure has hashtag
therealjesus.com. I don't know who, and I'm not
looking. But I'm sure somebody's just
got a, but there is the real Jesus. is the real Lord Jesus,
and then there's everybody else. Because if he's not in this scripture,
if he's not in this book, this is the only proof we have. This
is the only authority we have. And what do we do with this?
What's the conclusion here? They that know thy name will
put their trust in thee, for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken
them that seek thee. Conclusion is this, sing praises
to the Lord. Which dwelleth in Zion. And here's
the other thing. Declare among the people, what? His doings. His doings. That's what we're endeavoring
to do here today. We try to sing songs and hymns that praise God. We try to preach the word that
extols and raises, if we could, Christ, Jesus, the Lord. In so doing, we normally bring
ourselves down. But that's where we belong. Our only acceptance is in him.
But bless God, in him we have all acceptance. Ah, we sing and we declare him
because worthy is the lamb that was slain. But notice this, just
that one little phrase. It says declare among the people
his doings. Now this is a public worship
service. Everybody's welcome. We don't exclude anybody. We've
had a lot of people exclude themselves from us. That's what the truth does. Understand,
we don't have to be exclusionary. The truth will keep most people
away. The gospel of this Lord, whose name we're talking about,
this Lord Jesus, will keep people away. And I still find that incredibly
strange, even though I used to do the same thing. Because I
can't do it anymore. They that know his name, they
will trust in him and they will hear his gospel. Those that won't, won't. And that's all there is. They that know thy name will
put Their trust in thee, for thou,
Lord, has not forsaken them that seek thee. You understand? I'm glad to know
that. And I come to realize, I am blessed
to know that. And so are you. If you know his
name, trust me, folk, it's not by accident. And it's not by
your own effort. It's not by your own intellect.
It's not by your education. It's by the grace of God Almighty
and by the workings of his mighty power. That's what it takes to
save a sinner. But bless God, that's what he
came to do. and he's doing it. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time and this place, but most of all for you.
Help us, Lord, to realize all the blessings that you've given
us in your son, all the life and the love that we have today
in our stronghold, in our refuge, in our Lord, Jesus Christ. In
whose name we pray, amen.