We are looking in Psalms again. A most appropriate Psalm for
this remembrance that we have set before us. If we had to sum up this Psalm
in one word, I believe it would be worship. This is a Psalm of, a song of
degrees. and I believe is the last of
the songs of degrees, whatever that designation has for us.
I'll leave that to some wiser than I to determine, but nonetheless,
the Lord speaks to us through his word as he sees fit, and
yet, No man can grasp anything that's in this book except the
Lord gives him eyes to see it and ears to understand it. As
the Lord said to the Pharisees, search the scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which
testify of me. And so if a man reads the scriptures,
I would never discourage anybody from reading the scriptures.
You should read the scriptures. You know, it would be a shame
for me to have to exhort you to read the Scriptures and for
that exhortation to fall on deaf ears. That would be certainly
a shame. So we should, the Word of God,
this Bible, which we call the Word of God, in reality this
Bible contains the Word of God. It does not capture the Word
of God, but it does contain the Word of God, because the Word
of God is boundless, and it is beyond the capability of men
to record the Word of God completely in this book. Now, this is what
the Lord has given us, and we believe it to be the breathed,
inspired Word of God. It's exactly what He wanted us
to have. this exact truth that he would
set forth before us. And it is that which testifies
of Christ. It doesn't make any difference
what you may find in the scriptures and profit from it. If you miss
Christ, you've missed what the Word of God is about. There's
a lot of good advice here. And surely men would be better
served living in this world if they paid heed to the words that
are set before us. But yet a man can be morally
upright, he can walk according to the jot and tittle, as it
were, insofar as men are able, of those things recorded in this
book. And if he misses Christ, he's
missed everything. You know, so may the Lord give
us grace that he might cause us to see the Lord Jesus Christ
in every verse, in every page. Even as we, Brother Al, read
this morning and we saw Moses strong. His power was not abated. Just like the law. Power of the
law is never lessened is not any less in effect today than
it ever has been. It brings out threatenings and
slaughters just exactly like it always has. It is a stern
word and it cannot be trifled with and it will not be disregarded
by men except they perish according to such departures. But yet that
strong and mighty Man, Moses, could not lead the children of
Israel into the land of promise. Because the law came by Moses,
and blessed be that law. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. And that is not a setting aside
of the law. but a fulfilling of the law.
He is our law keeper. He is that one who has perfectly
satisfied the law of God for us. And so he's worthy to be
worshiped. And we see Joshua lead the people. It's amazing to me how clearly
the Lord describes the salvation of God's people even in the Old
Testament, but they couldn't see it. Of course, a lot of people
don't see it now, but they couldn't see it. And yet, Joshua, of course,
in the Yeshua, which in the Hebrew term, that's the same word as
Jesus. I mean, that's the name, the
same name, the name which is above every name. He's the one
who would lead the children of God into the promised land, and
he alone could do it. And so, We come to Psalm 34 and
I believe this is a Psalm of worship. It says, Behold, bless
ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, which by night stand
in the house of the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and bless the Lord. The Lord that made heaven and
earth bless thee out of Zion. or bless ye thee out of Zion
is how I believe that it would be best to our understanding. Behold, bless ye the Lord. Now
that word bless is an interesting word. On the one hand, it is impossible,
is it not, for a man to bless God. I mean, all blessings flow
from Him to men in that sense in which we consider what a blessing
is. But this word here, interestingly
enough, actually is the Hebrew word that means kneel. So the
only way that a man can bless the Lord is to kneel before Him. to worship him, to fall on his
face before him. And of course, we see that very
clearly happening. It's not a thing that a man has
to learn from the standpoint of he's taught to worship God,
but when he's brought into the presence of God, he will worship
him. I mean, there's no two ways about
it. When Daniel came into the presence
of the Lord in his dream, in his vision, he said, my comeliness
was turned in me into corruption and I fell on my face before
him. John, when he saw the Lord in
the book of the Revelation, he said, I fell at his feet as a
dead man. See, when the Lord is pleased
to show himself to somebody, worship will be the result of
it. I mean, a man can't decide, well,
you know, there's the Lord, I think I'll worship Him. No, I don't
think I will today. No, when the Lord presents Himself
to a man, that man will worship the Lord. At the name of Jesus,
the Scripture says, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall
confess. Now that doesn't mean that there's
going to be every knee that bows and every tongue that confesses
is going to be doing so out of a heart of love towards him.
But it means that when the Lord comes, men cannot stand in his
presence. They must worship him. And so
when he says, here behold, kneel, before the Lord. Bless ye the
Lord. That's how men bless the Lord
is by falling in worship before Him. That's all they can do.
What a glorious God He is, dear brethren. He's not one whom men
decide. I always think of When I'm thinking
in terms of men choosing to follow the Lord, I think back on what
Joshua told the people when they were fixing to go into the promised
land. And of course, this is always
presented out as, well, you need to make your choice today. Like
Joshua said, he said, you know, choose who you're gonna serve.
And they make that to be that Joshua was saying, well, here's
the Lord, you can choose Him, or here's these gods over here,
you can choose them. That's not at all what he said.
He said, look out among these gods. He said, if you think it
evil to serve the Lord, he said, look out among the gods of the
Amorites and the Perizzites. He said, choose you this day
which one you're going to follow. He said, pick one of them. He
said, God's not on the auction block. He's not waiting for you
to choose him. He's the living God. He's the God of the gods of the
Amorites and the Perizzites. He's one that rules over all.
He's the God of gods. He's the King of kings. He's
the Lord of lords. He said, choose you this day
whom you'll serve. I mean, you can choose any of
them you want. See, religion is a thing men can choose. You
can choose to be a Baptist or a Presbyterian or a Methodist. You can choose to be a Muslim.
You can choose to be a Buddhist. You can choose anything you want
to. But only as the Lord chooses men will they be the followers
of Christ. See, it's not up to men to choose
who they're going to serve insofar as it being the Lord. But it
is that the Lord might choose us. He said, ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. What a glorious thing. And why
is it that men rebel so against that? Because just what David
said, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And what he means there is not
that the fool has said in his heart, there is no such thing
as God. Very few people on earth would
say there is no such thing as God. I mean, there are some,
no doubt. But there's no God for me. I will not fall down and worship
God. But see, a man's a fool that says, I will not worship
God. Because when God is pleased to
show up, he will worship him. There's no doubt about it. It's
not a matter of if men will worship God, it's when. It's when. And by the grace of God, he is
pleased to visit his people in the present day of salvation
and calls them to willingly and gladly, thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. Oh, what a glorious thing. That
the Lord is the one that makes men willing. Now, men don't like
that at all. Men like the idea of choosing,
do they not? I mean, you know, you always
want to, that's why people like to go to a buffet. Why? Because
you got all that food. And you can just choose anything
you want. I mean, you can get whatever you want. Men like that. But you see, the Lord's not a
buffet. And men will not choose to follow
the Lord. They won't do it. Except He chooses
them. and works in them is precious
work to cause them to love his way, to desire his way. I don't
know why people do that. Men like choices as long as they're
the one making the choice, but they get mad. You know, men by
nature, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, they don't
like the doctrine of sovereign grace. You'd think people would just
be, man, this is great. I mean, when I first heard these
things, I thought it was great. But the reason I thought it was
great was because God, in his mercy, had shown me that he was
actually God. And it put it all together. I
could see how it was. But men like election as long
as they're the one casting the deciding vote. In fact, I heard
a fellow one time preaching, and he said that elections like
this, he said, God votes for you, the devil votes against
you, and you cast the deciding vote. Now, if that's not a blasphemy,
I don't know what is. Brethren, you don't have a vote.
I mean, you already cast your vote. You voted to be destroyed. right along with Adam. I mean,
he voted to be destroyed. God said, in the day you eat
this, you're gonna die, and he went ahead and did it anyway.
You know, if man had any sense, if Adam had had any sense, and
was able, pardon, we're talking about if now, he'd have fell
on his face when God said, in the day thou eatest thereof,
you shall surely die. He'd have said, oh Lord, deliver
me from it. But see, he couldn't do it because
that was the ordained path the Lord would have him to go to
show him what he was. See, if you thought you could
serve the Lord of your own power, you'd be lifted up with pride. Peter found out pretty quick,
did he not, that he couldn't walk on water when he stepped
out of the boat. Now just think if Peter had walked
on water to the Lord. What he'd been telling the disciples,
knowing Peter's, you know, how Peter was by, I mean, his natural
tendencies, he'd been saying, yeah, you boys, y'all stayed
in the boat, y'all was chicken, but he said, I got out and walked.
See, I walked on the water. Peter found out pretty quick,
did he not, that he couldn't walk on the water, that the Lord
alone was the one who could do that and could hold him up in
such time as he would until such time as he showed Peter what
he was by nature. Oh, what a glorious God we have.
Behold, bless ye the Lord, kneel before him, all ye servants of
the Lord. The servants of the Lord. Now
he's speaking here specifically to those priests and Levites
which stood watch in the temple night and day. Behold, all ye
servants of the Lord, those who serve in the Lord's house. Well,
who are the people, who are the priests and kings in the Lord's
kingdom? He made us priests and kings
in His kingdom, did He not? And He told His disciples, what
did He tell them? Watch and pray. And we are to be watching and
praying in the night watches. When are the night watches? They're
ever all the time. I mean, this is a night, this
is a world of night. There are no light in this world
except that which comes from him who is the light of the world.
And so this, we watch by night because we're in the night. The
darkness is around us, dear brethren. We can't have fellowship with
the darkness because it would overwhelm us in our own power
were it not that the Lord did deliver us from it. But he says,
bless ye the Lord, or kneel before the Lord, all ye servants of
the Lord, which by night stand in the house of the Lord. But
you're there. You're watching. Lift up your
hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord. Now that's an interesting
subject. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and bless the Lord. Now it's popular today and taught
by many that it is a needful thing, and it will help you out
if you lift your hands to praise the Lord. And I certainly would
never tell anybody, don't lift your hands in praise to the Lord.
I'm talking about a physical lifting of the hands. That's
a good thing. Sometimes I feel like doing it. And you know,
if you feel like doing that when you're alone, it's an act of
worship. But if you come together with
God's people and you do it because you think it's the accepted thing
to do, it's an act of the flesh. Now if you're in the habit of
raising your hands and praising God when you're alone and you're
worshiping him, and I believe it's a good thing, then you need not fear to lift
your hands in praise among God's people. But because everybody
lifts their hands, that doesn't mean, okay, well, everybody's
lifting their hands. It's like some places you go, they believe
in literally kneeling down on their knees to pray. That's a
good thing. I never tell anybody, don't get
on your knees and pray. I think it's a good thing when
the people do that. But if you don't do that every
time you pray, then why would you do it when you come together
with God's people in the house of the Lord? Now if you're in
the habit of getting on your knees actually literally and
praying, there's nothing in the world wrong with getting on your
knees and praying before Almighty God. It's a good thing. It's
an act of a demonstration of humility. But don't kneel in
order to show me that you're humble before God. You know,
so these things, lift up your hands in the sanctuary. What
is the meaning of lifting up your hands in the sanctuary?
It's worshiping God. It is an act of, Lord, help me. I mean, you know, when a man
is just at the end of his rope, and he has no more help or hope
in anything else, and he just puts his hands out, oh God, help
me. And that's what lifting up the
hands is. It's a sign that we are surrendering unto the Lord,
and it's a good thing. And there again, I say it again,
if you feel like praising the Lord by lifting your hands, by
all means do so if you're praising the Lord, but don't do it so
that I can see that you're praising the Lord. Because you feel compelled
to do it. And I do feel compelled to do
it sometimes myself. And I'm not saying you necessarily
will. But, you know, praise God. He's worthy to be praised, is
He not? Lift up your hands in the sanctuary.
Don't be ashamed to praise God. Don't be ashamed to humble yourself
before Almighty God. Surrender. That's what it is. I've done all I can do. I can't
do it. I'm at my rope's end here. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and kneel. Bless the Lord. Lift up your
hands and kneel. Both things are very good physically,
but they're very much more important spiritually if we kneel before
God in our prayer. You know, I've heard of men who
almost make prayer be like a demand. I've heard men say, you know,
you can hold God's feet to the fire. You know, you can say to
God, well now God, you've promised this and I'm praying, I'm claiming
the victory in your name. You know, it's of the Lord's
mercies that he doesn't just strike people dead as a hammer
right on the spot. When men would speak such things
as that. You can't demand God to do anything. He's not at your beck and call.
You know, that's really how a lot of people view God, and I've
said this many times, like a heavenly vending machine. You know, you
put in your money, or you put in your time and your talent
and your whatever up here in the slot, and then you get down
here to the thing and you say, okay God, now I'm waiting for
my blessing. No, that's not how it works.
The Lord's not at our beck and call. He's pleased to hear the
prayers of his saints. And he said if his son asked
of him a piece of bread, will he give him a stone? No. He'll
give him what he stands in need of. Oh, what a glorious God he
is. Bless the Lord. Kneel before
the Lord. Lift up your hands. The Lord
that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion. He is the Lord
that made heaven and earth. May the people of God bless him.
by worshiping Him. He made all things. There's not
a thing that a man has ever possessed, any idea that he's ever come
up with that did not originate in the glory and purpose of Almighty
God. Now some tremble when you say
such things as that, but I don't have a problem saying that because
the Lord said that. He said it is not in man to direct
his steps. Now, you know, the Lord directs
the steps of his people according to the good pleasure of his will.
Now I can't sort all that out and I don't try to. But I do
try to seek to give God glory knowing that he alone is worthy
of praise. And I am worthy of nothing because
it is my sin that has overwhelmed me. See, Adam couldn't say, well,
Lord, you ordained that I sin. No, he had to say, Lord, I've
sinned, because it was him that sinned. I mean, you know, nothing
happens that the Lord doesn't ordain, but it's certainly not
up to men to decide, well, I'm not responsible, I'm not accountable,
because God made men accountable, according to the good pleasure
of his will. Now, that makes some men mad, and it makes some
men worship. And the only difference is the
spirit of God, that works in a man's heart to show him that
God is God. And I thank the Lord that he has shown us that. And
we don't know anything as we ought to know. Even as Job, I
find myself in Job's shoes about every day. Lord, I've heard of
Thee by the hearing of the ear, now might I see of Thee. Because
when the Lord, just when you think you're finally getting
the handle on something, you finally got your understanding,
and you know, right where you need to be, the Lord will show
you, you don't really know anything. Because what He does is He'll
peel back another layer of that onion, which is your wicked heart,
and He'll show you a little bit of that. And He'll show you,
no, you don't know anything. You don't have any knowledge.
He'll show you a little bit more of His glory and He'll humble
you in the dust. Oh, let the people of God praise
Him. Behold, bless ye the Lord. Kneel
before Him. Worship. Let us come before His
presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. Oh, that we might be found this
morning especially As we come to this time, when we've set
aside to remember the Lord's death as He commanded us to do,
as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, we do show
the Lord's death. We manifest it. We set it forth
before us in a real and physical way. We see it. It's that which the Lord has
done for us is as real as that bread and that wine which we're
putting in our mouths and we're tasting. And we do that as he
said. And so as we come here this morning,
it is imperative that we come here with a sense of worship,
recognizing who it is that gave himself for us. And this is not just a ritual. It's not just something that
we do because we've decided to do it, but we do it because he
said to do it. He commanded us to do it. He
didn't say it would be a good thing if you did this. He said
as often as you do it. Ye do manifest this, and we are
By the grace of God, hoping to exhibit that which Christ has
done for us as we partake of this, let a man examine himself and so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup. Because examination is not designed
to exclude anyone who loves Christ from this table. The examination
is so that a man might see himself for what he is and know that
Christ alone is his righteousness. Because this is about discerning
the Lord's body. Knowing who the Lord is. Knowing
what he did. It's just not some off-handed
thing, but it is that which Christ did for us. He died for us. He paid the price. And so we
take this not with any lighthearted consideration, because this manifests
the broken body of the Lord, the shed blood of Christ. And
let not a man come here and eat of this bread unworthily, because
to eat of it unworthily is to have no discernment of what this
is. have no regard to it, to do it
offhandedly, to do it lightheartedly. It's to do it without any regard
to the one who shed his blood and gave his body for our sake.
So may the Lord give us a mind today to remember the Lord's
death till he comes again, because he will come again to receive
those who are his unto himself.