Well, once again, we're looking
at Psalms. Psalm 76 says, In Judah is God
known. His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle,
or Jerusalem is Salem. In Salem also is his tabernacle
and his dwelling place in Zion. There break ye the bows, the
arrows of the boat, the shield, the sword, and the battle, say
law. Thou art more glorious and excellent
than the mountains of prey. The stout-hearted are spoiled,
they have slept their sleep, and none of the men of might
have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both the chariot and the horse are cast into a deep sleep. Thou
even thou art to be feared, and who may stand in thy sight when
once thou art angry. Thou didst call judgment to be
heard from heaven. The earth feared and was still.
When God arose to judgment to save all the meek of the earth,
say, La. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. The remainder of wrath thou shalt
restrain, shalt thou restrain. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God. Let all that be round about him
bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. He shall
cut off the spirit of princes. He is terrible to the kings of
the earth. Now this is another of the Psalms
of Asaph. And surely the Lord blessed Asaph
as a man Some of the Psalms that David wrote were written for
Asaph. So I believe Asaph must have
been a musician or had some position in the nation of Israel. And so it says here in Judah
is God known. His name is great in Israel. Now that's interesting. that
he starts off in Judah is God known. Now, you know of all the
tribes that he could have mentioned there, he mentioned the one he
says in Judah is God known. Why is that? because the Lord
Jesus Christ arose out of the lineage of the house of Judah.
He is the lion of the tribe of Judah. And so in Judah, God will
be known. Now it's not that the other tribes
don't have any significance, but it is in the tribe of Judah
that the Lord is pleased to make himself known because it is in
Jesus Christ alone that a man can know God. No other way. No, men can speak about God,
and you often hear the politicians and what not, not just politicians,
but often, sadly, sometimes preachers talking about, you know, these
other faiths. I mean, people are people of
faith. They believe in God. Well, a lot of people believe
in God. Man's a fool, Scripture says, that doesn't believe in
God. But those who would seek to approach
unto God in any other fashion except through the Lord Jesus
Christ do not really have any knowledge of God. Because what
does he say here? In Judah shall God be known. And it is through the Lord Jesus
Christ. I mean, he plainly said it. It
is pretty narrow. You see, the Christian faith is a narrow faith. It does not embrace the other
religions of the world. We cast them aside. Paul said
that the religion that he was raised in, which is the closest
to the nominal religion that Asaph the psalmist had. But Paul said that when it came
to Christ that he counted all those things and attainments
and knowledge that he had prior to that as done. He said it's
nothing. Because in Judah, in Jesus Christ,
is God to be known. A man cannot know the Father
except through the Son. The only way. A man will never...
God cannot be seen. He hath not been seen at any
time except in His Son, Jesus Christ. He has revealed Him.
And Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and it will suffice
us. He said, Philip, if I have been so long with you and you
have not known me. He said, he that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. And so there is no revelation
given unto men of who God is other than that which is revealed
to us in Jesus Christ. He is that One sent from God. And He is that One through whom
the Lord would make Himself known. In Judah is God known. His name
is great in Israel. His name is great in Israel.
Now that is the glory of that which we believe is not in our
faith. That is not in our activity of
faith. Now today when you hear most
of the preaching and what not that you hear in the earth when
speaking about faith is talking about an activity. There is one
faith, but that one faith is not an activity. When the scripture
speaks about one Lord, one faith, it's not speaking about an activity
of faith, it's speaking about the object of faith. We have
one object of faith, Jesus Christ. He is our faith. If Abraham,
the scripture says, a lot of people talk about how much Abraham
believed. Well, it's not how much Abraham
believed, But it is in whom he believed. Abraham believed God,
the Scripture says. And that's the important thing.
You see, it's not about believing. It's pretty common today, you
hear it and see it all around us, the concept of the power
of positive thinking. You've just got to have faith,
buddy. You've got to believe. If you believe you can, you can
do it. Now there's an element of wisdom
in that in the world, in natural things. I believe that there
is a certain measure of encouragement in natural things that we can
say that's true. But when it comes to spiritual
things, brethren, believing is not enough. It's the object,
the one in whom we believe. Paul said, in whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed
unto Him against that day. And so that's the important matter
there when it comes to faith. His name is great in Israel.
There is no other name. His name, the Lord, the Scripture
says the Lord has given Him a name which is above every name that
is named, every one. Whenever he came to reveal himself
to Moses, he said, I am that I am. And he has never ceased
to be I am that I am. But I'm telling you this, Moses
only saw a glimpse of who he was. Because that name which
is above every name is the name that every knee shall bow and
every tongue shall confess, and it is the name of Jesus. When
he stood in the garden and the soldiers came to arrest him,
and they say, we seek Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. Now in our English Bible it says,
I am he, but the he is, we didn't really say the he. He said, I
am. And you know what happened? Those
soldiers fell backwards, it says. Because you see, he revealed
himself as that true and living God. And he stood before them
and such, and they fell backwards. Now they had no power at all
to do anything against Him except that it was in the determined
counsel and purpose of Almighty God that He should be taken and
by wicked hands crucified and slain. And that was the only
way that any of those guys ever was able to get up off the ground.
I mean, He could have slew them with the breath of His mouth,
like the Scripture says, that He shall slay the wicked in the
day when He returns. He shall slay the wicked with
the breath of His mouth. And He knocked them backwards,
but it was only for a season, because He had a purpose for
them, as it says right on down here, Surely the wrath of man
shall praise Him. He used the wickedness of men
for His own glory. and they, by wicked hands, crucified
him. In Salem also is his tabernacle,
and his dwelling place is in Zion. Now, Salem, of course,
that's just a close, what do you call it, a contraction, I
guess, of the word Jerusalem. It is, that is the place. Now
men have fought and still presently fight and I don't guess in this
lifetime that will ever be solved about who is going to have a
piece of real estate over in Palestine called, or in Israel,
called Jerusalem. Now the Lord used Jerusalem,
surely, but I'm here to tell you that there's not a piece
of real estate on the earth that is of any more importance to
the Lord than any other, because the earth is His, and the fullness
thereof. He only set up Jerusalem as a
type and foreshadow of that heavenly kingdom, which is one which shall
not fade away. Jerusalem of the earth, it's
gonna be burned up. the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, and it won't make any difference who's got the
deed to it then, will it? I mean, any more than it makes
any difference now. But men will fight and carry
on about these things that mean nothing. But the Lord said, in
Salem also is his tabernacle. That is the place where he has
been pleased to dwell, not in Jerusalem, the city, but in that
Jerusalem, that heavenly Jerusalem, which is the kingdom of God,
which is the people of God. The Lord is pleased to dwell
in the midst of his people. His dwelling place is in Zion,
the stronghold, that place where David was able to overcome when he took Jerusalem. His dwelling place is in Zion.
There break he the heirs of the bow, and the shield, and the
sword, and the battle, and there have been many attempts and over
the years the Lord has often delivered Jerusalem and He has
allowed it to go into captivity. When Nebuchadnezzar came at the
Lord's time and destroyed it, left not one stone standing upon
another in the great temple that Solomon had built, the Lord destroyed
it. as the Lord will destroy all
things that men have a hand in. That was good that Brother Al
had brought up this morning in those things that the Lord said
not to mingle, because it is. There can be no mingling of that
which God does and that which men do. A lot of people think
that somehow or other God is waiting on them to do something.
God is not waiting on men to do anything. Men are waiting on God to do
something. See, that's the revelation that is only given to a few,
to know and understand that it's not what men do for God, it's
what God does for men. See, that's where the glory is. And that is that message that
comes forth here. We're not trying to get you to
do something for Him. Because you see, the Lord raises
up men as He sees fit to do what He wills. He'll send His people
where He wants them to go. And He'll accomplish what He
wants to do. If He's pleased to use men, He'll
send them. He'll prepare them. And they can't escape it. I always bring up Jonah because
that is a good example. Now Jonah wasn't planning to
go to Nineveh. In fact, he did everything he could keep from
going there. But you know what? The Lord said, you're going to
Nineveh. He didn't say, Jonah, please go to Nineveh. He said,
Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh. And Jonah said, well, I don't
want to go to Nineveh. And the Lord said, Jonah, I want you
to go to Nineveh. And he went to Nineveh. He just didn't go
by the means he thought he would go by. So the Lord is able to
deliver his people and in whatever fashion he may have, but in Jerusalem,
it says he break the bows, the arrows, the shield, the sword,
all of the strength of men is counted as nothing. In the time
when the Lord is pleased to destroy it, he will destroy it. Thou
art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of prey. Now
that's kind of a strange choice of words. I believe what it has
to do with is speaking about that being in the wilderness
And being, you know, if you're back in those days, of course,
they didn't have a AR-15 or something slung across his shoulder when
he went out into the wild. They didn't have a .357 Magnum
or something. And so if they went out into
the wilderness, they were kind of at the mercy of the beasts
and lions and wolves and whatever was out there. the mountains
of prey. They were prey when they went
into the wilderness on these mountains. Perhaps when they
were shepherding the sheep or whatever. But the Lord is more
excellent than the mountains of prey. That is, He has more
power. He has power to overcome those. As David, remember he fought
one time a bear and one time a lion. lying in a bed with his
bare hands. Now how could he do that? I mean,
really, how could he do it? He couldn't do it in the power
of the flesh any more than he could have killed Goliath. Goliath didn't fall because of
David's strength in throwing the stone, but Goliath was killed
because the Lord took the stone and took it right where he wanted
it to go. Not David's power, but it was
in the Lord's. He's more glorious than the mountains
of prey. The stout-hearted are spoiled.
They have slept their sleep, and none of the men of might
have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both the chariot and the horse are cast into a dead sleep. I
want to read a passage to you from over in Isaiah that I believe
exactly illustrates this. And there was a king of the Assyrians
named Sennacherib. And Sennacherib, he sent word
to Jerusalem that he was going to come in there and kill them
all. And they were all pretty scared. Hezekiah, the Lord humbled
Hezekiah and caused him to pray before the Lord that he might
spare Jerusalem. And so, over in Isaiah 37 verse
36, well, let me read 35. It says, well, let me start a little further
up here. Let me start in 33. It says, Therefore thus saith
the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, he shall not come
into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before
it with shields." Now what he just said there in the psalm,
he'll break the bows and the arrows and the shields. You see,
he's not going to do it. But as the guy said, but Lord,
they're all out there. I can see them. They're besieged
around the city. They're fixing to destroy us. by the way that he came, the
same shall he return. He's going to go back like a
dog with his tail between his legs. That didn't look like it,
did it? I mean, when they looked out
and all the people of Israel looked out and saw those vast
armies around them, it didn't look that way. For I will defend this city to
save it. for mine name's sake." Oh my,
you see, whatever the Lord does, He does for His glory. He saves His people for His glory. How do we know that everyone
for whom Christ died shall be saved? Because God will not have
His glory impugned. And He said, I will. redeem my
people. And he will. Dear brethren, not
a one, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. For I will defend
this city, to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant
David's sake. All that he does, he does for
the people of God, for his servant David. Then, now listen to this,
then the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of
the Assyrians a hundred and four score and five thousand, 185,000
men. And when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. Now when you read that, it's
almost like the dead people rose up and said, hey, we're dead,
but that's not really what happened. There were some of them. He left
enough of them so they could look around and see all the dead.
See, the Lord leaves a witness. He'll have those that can go
back. And they went back to Assyria, and they said, hey guys, you
know what? In the middle of the night, the Lord smoked 185,000
men. That's a lot in it. I mean, that's a pile of folks
to all die in one place at one time. Can you imagine if you
was one of the survivors in that camp what you must have thought?
And behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib, king
of Assyria, departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. But he didn't dwell there alone
because one of his trusted servants came in the middle of the night
and killed him. And so the Lord destroyed Sennacherib,
great and mighty warrior, just like he said he would. The stout-hearted
were spoiled. They have slept their sleep,
and none of the men of might have found their hands. When the cry came out to grab
their sword, they couldn't do it. Why? Because they were dead.
At thy rebuke, O God, of Jacob, both the chariot and the horse,
are cast into that deeply needed to say how many horses if you
look it may be killed as many horses as it did me and i don't
know value and i want to be feared i don't you imagine that there
was a little bit of fear in those men as i went back to this area
i mean they probably ready to get out of that place they didn't
want to come back And who may stand in thy sight
when once thou art angry? Thou didst cause judgment to
be heard from heaven. The earth feared and was still. The scripture says that about
the sixth hour that the sun became dark and the earth shook and trembled. when the Lord of glory hung on
Calvary's cross, and judgment was heard from heaven.
And He said, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Whom may stand in Thy sight when
once Thou art angry? Oh, if any man should ever doubt,
the intention of God to punish sin. He doesn't have to look
any further than Calvary's cross to see it demonstrated. God hates
sin. He hates the wicked. He hates
the sin of the wicked. He hates the sin of His people. When God arose to judgment to
save all the meek of the earth, He will save the meek blessed
or the meek for they shall inherit the earth. The Lord saves the
weak and beggarly elements of the earth. He came to save sinners.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder
of wrath shalt thou restrain. It's been demonstrated over and
over again. There's nothing that can stay
in the hand of the Lord. He will destroy the wicked. He
will use the wicked unto his own glory. and they'll go just
as far as he wants them to go and as far as they can go. The
remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain. Vow and pay unto the
Lord your God and let all that be around about him bring presents
unto him that ought to be feared. He shall cut off the spirit of
princes. He is terrible to the kings of
the earth. Our God is an awesome God. He
reigns in heaven above. Oh, what a glorious God He is. A just and true God who has determined
to save sinners. And He will save sinners. There won't ever be a sinner
that perishes before His throne. Now, the proud-hearted and those
that know God, those that have faith, those that know themselves
to be on the right path, you know they look in the mirror
and they can pat themselves on the back and say, well I'm doing
pretty good, I'm going along real good. I'm doing what God
said and all those things that the religious men of this earth
believe and think. I'm telling you, apart from standing
in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, every man shall perish. But those that stand in the righteousness
of Christ, they can't perish. Because Christ is paying prize
for their sin. What a glorious thing. I couldn't
have made that up. You couldn't have made that up
because it don't make any sense to the natural man. I mean, it
was like reading those laws there this morning. That makes no sense
to the natural man, why you would have taken this young woman and
scourged her and then let the man go free. But you see, the
Lord makes a difference. between those whom He sets free
and those who remain in bondage. Oh, may the Lord set us free
today. Cause us to call upon His name. He's a God of great
mercy and kindness to all who seek Him. May we be found there.