Now we're looking in Psalm 69,
and we're blessed, surely, in being able to have the Word of God at our fingertips,
and even more doubly blessed when He's pleased to open those
things to us in such fashion that we might get a blessing
from it. and only He can cause that to
occur. And we've been looking at this
Psalm in recognition of the fact that it is indeed the prayer
of Christ. And you know, Christ prayed that
His people's eyes might be opened to see the glory of God. And
in the same fashion, He also thanked His Father. that he hid
these things from the wise and the prudent and revealed them
unto babes. He is the savior of sinners and
he's the judge of the wicked and he is indeed that one who
rules in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and there's none that can stay his hand or say unto him
what doest thou. And vain would be the man that
would ever stand and be critical or in any way seek to denigrate
God for passing judgment upon the sins of men. Because all
men without exception, every one of us sitting here today,
ought to be destroyed for our rebellion and wickedness against
God. What can any of us say? if He
should cast us off? I mean, what would be our argument?
What would we bring to Him? And so we are made to cast ourselves
upon His mercy, and believing that He is a God of mercy, and
seeing that He has demonstrated that He is a God of mercy. in
sending his own begotten Son into the world to die for sinners.
What greater display can there be? But lest any man forget that
he is a God of justice, he will by no means clear the guilty. That same cross upon which we
look and see the mercy of God is also the clearest representation
of the fact that God will judge sin because Jesus Christ hung
on Calvary's cross as a sinner having no sin of his own but
taking upon himself the sin of his people and being a sin substitute
for them he did indeed bear the wrath of God which was due unto
us And so, while there is conflict
in the minds of men when they consider these things, there
is no conflict in the mind of Christ. When He prays, He says,
Let their table become a snare before them, and that which should
have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their
eyes be darkened that they see not. and make their loins continually
to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon
them and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their
habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their tents. For
they persecute him whom thou hast smitten. And they talk to the grief of
those whom thou hast wounded. add iniquity unto their iniquity,
and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted
out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. But I am poor and sorrowful.
Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise
the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord
better than an ox or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The
humble shall see this and be glad, and your heart shall live
that seek God. For the Lord heareth the poor,
and despiseth not his prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas, and everything that moveth therein. For God will
save Zion and will build the cities of Judah, that they may
dwell there and have it in possession. The seed also of his servant
shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein. Now the Lord does all things
on purpose. And You know, that's a surprise
to a lot of people that think that the world is just kind of
like a big, wind-up toy. I mean, that's how they kind
of view it. They think maybe God made the toy, but they kind
of look at it like He just kind of hands off in His dealings
with the things of the world, and every now and then when the
thing, you know, gets going a little off course, he'll reach down
and maybe nudge it back one way or the other. But it is really
contrary to the natural thinking of men to consider that God is
the first cause of all events. That nothing transpires in the
world that is not ordered according to the good pleasure of His will
and according to His purpose. And I don't believe there's anything
that can give God's people any greater comfort than to have
an understanding of that very fact. And there's nothing that
causes the anger of natural man to arise any quicker than when
you tell him that. Because he doesn't want to be
in such a state as that he can't do anything about his situation.
So he wants to think, we all want to think we're in control,
don't we? We can do this or we can do that.
If we want to serve God, we'll serve God. If we don't want to
serve God, we won't. Well, you know, there's a measure of
truth in that. That if a man doesn't want to serve God, he
won't serve God. Unless God in mercy is pleased
to change his heart. And then, He'll start singing
a different tune. The man that raised his fist
to God and said, I won't serve you, all of a sudden his mind
and heart has been transformed and he says, wait a minute, what
am I doing? I'm about an idiot. No, Lord, have mercy on me, help
me. The Lord does that. He brings
men to such a state as that. All according to his mercy and
in his purpose. like uh... well i remember listening
to brother rolf barnard one time in a message and uh... he said somebody asked him one
time he said brother barnard don't god give every man a chance
to be saved he said well salvation is not
by chance you know god doesn't give men a chance to be saved,
god saves men it's not about You know, having an offer out
here and hoping somebody is going to take advantage of it. But
God who is rich in mercy, He saves men. The Apostle Paul,
he thought he was a servant of God, did he not? I mean, you
could not have convinced him that he was not serving God.
He was sure he was serving God. And he'd have went right on that
same path. I mean, then nothing would have
changed his mind, would it? I mean, naturally speaking. Here's
Paul, I mean, he's a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He's moving
up in the ranks. I mean, he's becoming the man
of the hour. But God, do rich in mercy. Who would have saw that coming?
I mean, the disciples, the last person on earth, Think about
it. The last person on earth that
they would have ever thought would have become a follower
of Christ would have been the Apostle Paul. Because he was
out there killing them. I mean, he was at work. In his
mind, sincerely as he was, people say, Oh, you know, if you're
sincere, everything will be alright. Well, you don't doubt Paul's
sincerity. He was a sincere man. But he
was sincerely in rebellion against God and didn't even know it.
But by the grace of God, God showed that to him and brought
him down to a place of repentance and a place of seeking to follow
Christ. And him who despised the way
of Christ became the greatest of the apostles, the greatest
apologist for the Christian faith that God has given us, because
he wrote most of the bulk of what we know about the gospel
of Christ has come to us through Paul's pen. It didn't come to us through
Paul's mind, but it did come through his pen, because God
gave it to him. He said, no man taught me. I
couldn't have got it from men, but he got it straight. from
God's mouth and He's given it to us. What a glorious thing
when we consider the purpose of God in all things as He works
and moves and stirs. And when things happen to men,
we think we did something, you know. We think we decided to
follow the Lord. I mean, everybody in here that
claims to be a follower of Christ, at some point in time, you said,
I want to follow the Lord. Now, the mercy of God is revealed
when the Lord shows a man that it was not that I did choose
thee. For Lord, that could not be.
This heart would still refuse thee, hadst thou not chosen me. What a glorious thing. to consider
that salvation is according to the purpose of Almighty God,
just like all things. And He brings some by one way
and some by another, but He brings all to the foot of the cross
of Christ. For there is but one way unto
salvation. Now there are many paths. and
many obstacles and journeys that people have. You know, it's an
amazing thing when you look at the different journeys that people
have taken to get to the place where they are. I mean, how could
it have been? But yet God, who's rich in mercy,
from the beginning, he ordered these things to occur so that
not one thing, ever occurred by chance, but all was on purpose. And it was sometimes slow in
coming. See, that's where men go and
make a mistake. They think that when God does
something, He just does something all of a sudden, and just, you
know, He just does it like we think He would do it. But brethren,
He does things just like we don't think He'll do it. Because He'll
bring the blind by a way which they knew not. I mean, you know, if you'd have
seen that woman with an issue of blood and she'd had that illness
all her life, she had actually had the illness so long that
people probably didn't even pay any attention to her. Oh, that's
just old Mary. She's just, you know, she's got
that disease and there she is. They just don't have any consideration.
Because men, by nature, we don't pity people. We think, oh, they
need to get straightened out. You know, they're just sorry.
They're just not doing right, and all this kind of stuff. That's
how people think, by nature. But by the mercy of God, we're
brought to see that except for the grace of God, we'd be in
a worse situation than that person would be. By the grace of God,
we are what we are, according to the mercy of God, according
to the purpose of God. and so here she was with that issue of blood and
who would have ever thought that on that day at that hour that
she would be completely healed of something that had been with
her practically her whole life but yet God is rich in mercy
he was at the right place at the right time He could have been walking down
any road, and according to some people, he just happened to be
there, I guess. When Zacchaeus was up the tree,
the Lord just happened to be there, and he just happened to
see old Zacchaeus up there. But you see, the Lord caused
the seed to be planted in the ground that caused the tree to
grow that Zacchaeus climbed up. And Zacchaeus was right there
at the right time. Now, Zacchaeus had no idea, did
he? The last thing that was on his
mind when he left home, he was thinking about collecting some
more taxes, but he decided he'd go see what all this was about.
And so he got climbed up in the tree, and the Lord made him a
short man. Now, if he'd have been seven foot tall, he wouldn't
have ever climbed up the tree, would he? But because he was
a short man, and God who numbers the hairs on our head, He caused
him to grow just like it was now. Everybody probably, when
he was growing up, said, little old runt, I mean, there he is,
he won't ever amount to nothing. But the Lord, who's rich in mercy,
He purposed to meet with Zacchaeus that day in that tree. There's
not another tree in the whole town of Jerusalem that Zacchaeus
could have climbed up that day. See, people think they can just
go climb any tree they want to. Zacchaeus couldn't have climbed
but one tree. And he couldn't have done it
except at the time when the Lord ordained that he would climb
it. And he climbed it, and he was there, and the Lord said,
Zacchaeus, come down, because I'm going to your house. He didn't
say, oh Zacchaeus, would you let me come to your house? He said, Zacchaeus, I've got
an appointment with you, and I'm going to meet with you. Just
like the woman at the well, she came there that day to get water
for the sheep just like she always had, or for whatever purpose
she was coming there to get the water. She was coming there to
get water, and her last thought in her mind was that she was
going to meet somebody that was going to tell her everything
about herself. No telling what she might have
been planning on doing that day. I don't know. She had something
in mind, I'm sure. But anyway, she was there. And
the scripture says the Lord must need to go through Samaria. Now
why did he need? The Lord doesn't need to do anything.
You realize that? The Lord doesn't have need of
anything. But the scripture said the Lord
must need to go through some area. Why did he must need to
go through some area? Because there was a woman that
he loved that was going to the well that he designed and made
to be in the right place. And she was there when the Lord
got there. Isn't that a coincidence? I mean,
you know, what if she'd have been 30 minutes late? No, she couldn't have been 30
minutes late. She couldn't have been 30 minutes early. She was
there at the time. It's the Lord ordained. And he
met with her. And he said, woman, give me a
drink. She said, well, what are you
doing asking me, a Samaritan, and you a Jew that have nothing
to do with the Samaritans, why are you asking me for a cup of
water? He said, here's the reason why.
Because if you would ask of me, I'll give you water from which
you drink and you'll never thirst again. And her, a Samaritan woman, and
him a Jew, she said, Lord, give me this water. Oh, what a glorious master. What a wonder salvation is wrought
by the hand of God according to the mercy which is in his
hands. And he's the one that makes the
difference between those who He prays that God will cause
their iniquity to come over them and destroy them. That's exactly
what he's praying there. Add iniquity unto their iniquity. The only difference between them
and those whom he prays, Lord, bless them and bring them into
my presence forevermore is that mercy and grace of Almighty God. And know that we might never
forget that. that we might never be ashamed to declare it. You know, sometimes people say,
oh, well, you, that's hard doctrine. Well, listen, the Lord Jesus
Christ taught hard doctrine. In fact, that's why most of his
disciples left him. He turned to Peter and James
and John, he said, well, man, where is everybody? He said,
will ye also go away? They said, Lord, To whom shall
we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. Just like we sang in that song a moment ago. Where could
I go but to the Lord? I mean, you can get a lot of
help for a lot of things from a lot of people, but when it
all boils down to it and you see yourself in need of a Savior,
there's no place else you can go. And that's the place he brought
those disciples. And they said, Lord, we don't
want to go to anybody else because you have the word of eternal
life. But he says, but I am poor and
sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set
me up on high. Think about that. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the one who came down from the glories of heaven, says,
I'm poor and sorrowful. He who owns a cattle on a thousand
hills, he who, it lacks nothing. Yet for our sakes, he became
poor. For our sakes, he became sorrowful. He bore our griefs and carried
our sorrows. What a wondrous thing that is.
But I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set
me up on high. Now, you know, today, and it
has been this way for quite some time, people talk about their
salvation. And there is a measure in which
the Scripture speaks about that we can say salvation is mine. That's true. It's our salvation. That's true. But before a man
can ever speak of that, he needs to come to the place where he
recognizes that salvation belongeth unto the Lord. See, salvation
is God's right. Jonah discovered it, didn't he?
He had no idea when the Lord said go down to Nineveh that
he was going to take such a circuitous journey and wind up right where
the Lord sent him to start with. I kind of laugh about that sometimes
when I think about it. You know, Jonah did everything
in his power not to do what the Lord told him to do, but little
did he know that he was going to Nineveh. Why? Because the
Lord sent him to Nineveh. See, a man can't be sent somewhere
and not go. If the Lord sends a man, brother,
you can bank on this, you are going. Now, you know, sometimes
people, they'll say, well, I believe, you know, the Lord's sending
me to Timbuktu, and I want you to give me some money so I can
go to Timbuktu. Well, I'm not saying the Lord
doesn't use all that, but I'm telling you this, that if nobody
gives a man a dime, And the Lord is sending the man to Timbuktu.
You can be sure of one thing, that he will be in Timbuktu.
Now, I don't know how he's gonna get there. You know, he might
go in a whale's belly, or he might, I don't know how he's
going. But if the Lord sends a man, he will do it. And if
the Lord sends his word into the earth, it's going to accomplish
the thing that he sends it to do. It might be a word of condemnation,
or it might be a word of glory and grace and salvation. But
the Lord's going to accomplish his purpose in the sending forth
of his word. And as he says here, I will magnify
him with thanksgiving. because let thy salvation, O
God, set me up on high." The Lord Jesus Christ recognized
that His salvation as He stood as the Savior of sinners was
all in the hand of Almighty God, Him being God, and yet He prayed,
Father. Save me. I will praise thy name. The name of God with a song will
magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord
better than an ox or a bullock that hath horns and hooves. Now
we've been reading some about these various offerings with
bullocks that had horns and hooves. But scriptures come full in the
Old Testament of testimony to the fact that God's not pleased
with horns and hooves. Now, the Jews couldn't see that
because the Lord said, give me horns and hoofs. I mean, they
couldn't understand it. You know, they didn't have eyes
to see it, but it's there. David understood it. He said,
Lord, sacrifice and offerings, our wood is not. That's not the
thing you want. Men think they can bring something
to God. They think that if they get sorry enough for what they
did, then God will have pity on them. It's not about that. The sacrifices of God were broken
in a contrite heart, and only he can give a man that got broken
in a contrite heart. You can't work it up. But he's pleased with thanksgiving. I'll magnify him with thanksgiving.
You see, the Lord has given his people a desire to be thankful,
to give thanks unto the Lord. The humble shall see this and
be glad, and your heart shall live and seek God. See, this
is a glorious thing. The people of God rejoice in
the salvation of God. The people of God rejoice in
giving thanks unto His name. It's not just something that
says, oh well, we better give thanks. No, we delight in giving
thanks. Thanks be unto God, oh that He
might be praised. The humble shall see it and be
glad. See, the man whom the Lord has humbled before him, he is
thankful, to be thankful. What a glorious thing and place
it is. And your heart shall live that seek God, for the Lord heareth
the poor, despiseth not his prisoners. See, the Lord doesn't awaken
a man and cause him to bear his sin and see his sin for what
it is and break his heart and bring him down to his feet crying
out for mercy and then just abandon him. No, the Lord works in His
people both willing to do of His good pleasure and He opens
a man's heart to call upon His name and He hears his prayer. What a wondrous thing that is.
He said, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. Now that's just as true as anything
that any man ever said. Because the Lord said it. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's an
absolute truth. Now he's not talking about somebody
just praying a prayer that somebody wrote out for him. He's talking
about somebody that's like the Philippian jailer who said, Sir,
what must I do to be saved? It's like those on the day of
Pentecost. Men and brethren, what shall we do? Oh, help us. See, when a man's brought down
to that place of crying out for help before God, God will hear
his prayer. He's not playing games with people.
He's not dangling, you know, a piece of bait out in front
of somebody and then he's going to snatch it away. No, God who
is rich in mercy is rich in mercy. And he heareth the poor, and
despiseth not his prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas, and everything that moveth therein. For God will
save Zion, his kingdom. You see, the Lord has a kingdom. He wasn't the king in the earth,
although he was the king of the earth. The government was upon
his shoulders, but it was not a government that men could see.
Pilate said, well, are you a king? Everybody says you're a king.
Are you a king? He said, that's what you say. He said, this is the reason that
I came into the earth, to bear witness of my Father. You see,
that was the purpose of it. Christ came was to bring glory
to His Father's name. And the manner in which He would
bring glory to His Father's name was in the bringing of many sons
unto glory. And the Father has glorified
the Son in the earth. Let heaven and earth praise Him.
Oh, the seas, everything that moveth therein. Oh, what a glorious
Savior He is. For God will save Zion and will
build the cities of Judah that they may dwell there and have
it in possession. He will save Zion. He's not going
to try to save Zion. He's not hoping to save Zion.
He's not going to save Zion if Zion will uh... cooperate with him but he will
save Zion he will save his people all that the father giveth me
he said shall come to me and him that cometh to me I'll no
wise cast out now you often hear the last part of that verse quoted
I've heard it when I was growing up I bet I heard it a thousand
times him that cometh to me I'll in
no wise cast out But I never heard the first part. I don't
know if they just didn't read it or it never registered or
what. I don't think they ever read it. I don't think a lot
of them even knew it was in there. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. All that the Father giveth me
The Lord said, ask of me and I'll give thee the heathen for
thine inheritance. They belong to him. He has a
people that he loves with an everlasting love and he's come
into the world to redeem them and he has accomplished that.
He will save Zion and he will build cities of Judah that they
may dwell there and have it in possession. All of the promises
of God will be the inheritance of the sons of God. Now Christ
is the one to whom the promise has been made. He saith not to
seeds as of many, but as of one. See, all the covenant promises
of God, you're not in the covenant, except as you are in Christ. Now being in Christ, you are
an inheritor of the covenant that was made between the Father
and the Son. And He's the covenant keeping
God. Oh, the glories. of that covenant which the Lord
Jesus has as his possession. And he has made us what heirs
and joint heirs with Christ. I can't fathom that, neither
can you. But that's what he's talking about right here. For
God will save Zion, will build the cities of Judah, that they
may dwell there and have it in possession. The seed also of
his servants shall inherit it. And they that love his name shall
dwell therein. A man that loves the name of
Christ, the glory of Christ, rejoices in the glory of Christ,
shall dwell with him. It's just as simple as that. Do you love his way? Do you desire to worship him? Oh, come ye sinners, poor and
needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready, stands
to save you. Full of pity, joined with power.
He doesn't save the righteous. He doesn't save the good and
the moral, the upright people, but He saves sinners. Are you
a sinner? He's the Savior. What a glorious
God we serve. May the Lord be praised.