Psalm 68, and we're looking at
verse 15. It says, the hill of God is as
the hill of Bashan, and high hill as the hill of Bashan. Why leap ye ye high hills? This
is the hill which God desireth to dwell in. Yea, the Lord will
dwell in it forever. The chariots of God are 20,000,
even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them as in
Sinai in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou
hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men. Yea, for the rebellious also
that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord
who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.
Selah. He that is our God is the God
of salvation. And unto God the Lord belong
the issues from death. But God shall wound the head
of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such in one as goeth
on still in his trespasses. The Lord said, I will bring again
from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths
of the sea, that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine
enemies and the tongue of thy dogs in the same. They have seen
thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my King in the sanctuary. And we'll stop right there and The hill of God is as the hill
of Bashan. We talked about that a little
bit last week, how that Bashan is a country in the Old Testament
that was noted for its strength. In fact, that word means fertile,
means power, means strong. and mentioned the fact that a
prominent figure in the history of Bashan was Og, the king of
Bashan. And I laugh every time I read
that name because it's just kind of an unusual name. I never met
anybody named Og, but Og, he was quite a king of renown. The scripture says he was the
last of the giants and he had an iron bedstead. that was thirteen
feet long and uh... so he was pretty big guy evidently
uh... but uh... the lord raised up
hog in a kingdom known for its power in order that he might
be destroyed just like he said to pharaoh for this same cause
have I raised thee up pharaoh had one purpose in life and that
one purpose was so that the Lord might demonstrate his judgment
on the earth and the triumphs of his people over them. And so the Lord gave the children
of Israel the triumph over King Og, even though I'm sure, I don't
know how tall Og was, but if he had a 13 foot long bed, He
must have been a pretty tall guy. And you can imagine going
into battle and seeing this guy that's that big coming at you,
that would strike fear into anybody's heart. Much as we read later
of Goliath, who was about nine feet tall, I believe. That's
pretty big in itself, but Og was bigger than he was. But the hill of God is as the
hill of Bashan. It's not Bashan. See, the kingdoms
of this earth, the power of this earth, the things that men think
are powerful is not the kingdom of God. I mean, men look at all
sorts of things. They look at religion. They look
at, you know, the accomplishments of men, and they think these
things are somehow intertwined into the kingdom of God. But
the Lord said that the kingdom of God is not a kingdom of flesh
and blood. It cannot be inherited by flesh
and blood. And so it is a kingdom that transcends
flesh and blood. It doesn't need the powerful
of the earth to make it powerful, because the power of the kingdom
of God resides in its king, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he bestows power, he does not gain power. Sometimes men forget
that, and they think of the things that they've done and the things
that they're going to do in the name of God. And that is really
kind of what the impetus today in much of the preaching that
we hear going on around us is it is kind of telling men what
they can do for God, what they need to do for God. But the Scripture
speaks about what God has done for His people. And whenever
we think of the power of the Kingdom of God, we think of the
power of Him who is its King. Why leap ye ye high hills? This is the hill which God desired
to dwell in. It is as the hill of Bashan. and ye high hills, I mean, why
are you, why leap ye, that is, why is that joy? It's kind of
like a rhetorical question. Because the mountains of the
earth, the mountains, the kingdoms of the earth give praise unto
the Lord. Even though they don't necessarily
do so willingly, it's just like when the The demons, when the
Lord came to cast them out, and they said, Jesus, thou son of
David, have you come to torment us before the time? See, they
cowered in fear before Him. They recognized His power. Now,
they didn't willingly worship Him. They didn't worship Him
out of gladness in their heart, but they knew. that he was their
owner, and that he was that one who would triumph over them.
Why leap ye ye high hills? This is the hill which God desired
to dwell in. In other words, it doesn't make
any difference what the hills are about. This is the hill,
which is the hill, the hill that the Lord desired to dwell in.
Yea, the Lord will dwell in it forever. That is that kingdom,
the mountain of the Lord's house. The chariots of God are 20,000,
even thousands of angels. Now, you know, when we think
of, when the scripture says the chariots of God are 20,000, it
doesn't mean that literally God has 20,000 chariots somewhere. I mean, 20,000 chariots, what's
20,000 chariots? That's really nothing. I mean, the Lord has more than
20,000 chariots, if you want to speak of it in terms of how
many chariots He's got. He owns a cattle on a thousand
hills, the scripture says. That doesn't mean that there's
a thousand hills on the earth somewhere, and if you could find
them, you could count how many cows the Lord has. It just means
they're all His. And so when the Scripture says
here that the chariots of God are 20,000, that's just a word
picture that points the mind to the greatness of the power
and the army of Almighty God. 20,000 chariots. Now that would
have meant a lot. Can you imagine? I mean 20,000
people is a lot of people now in comparison to the population
of the world is a drop in the bucket. But if you are on a battlefield
and an army is coming at you with 20,000 chariots, 20,000
tanks, or whatever, 20,000 of anything. That's a pretty overwhelming
thing. I mean, even if you've got a great number of people
on your side, it doesn't make a difference. That's still a
lot, is it not? And so it's just speaking there, even thousands
of angels. I mean, there's no limit to the
power of Almighty God. The Lord is among them as in
Sinai in the holy place. The power and glory of God is
manifested in the kingdom of God. And as He would give to
His people strength and raise them up, as it says here, Thou
hast ascended on high. Now who's it speaking about?
Speaking about Christ, He's the King, He's that One who has 20,000
chariots. And He who had 20,000 chariots,
yet went to a cross and hung on it and laid down His life
when He could have just destroyed the whole world if it pleased
Him. But it didn't please Him. The chariots of God are 20,000.
Thou hast ascended on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. That is, you have taken that
which would bind the people of God and you have made it itself
a captive. You have set the captives free
is what that means. He has led captivity captive. That is, He is the death of death. That is, He has put it away.
Thou hast received gifts for men. Now, He's ascended on high
and has received gifts for men. Now, the Scripture says that
He has given gifts to men, but here it says He's received gifts
for men, not from men. Men think that they're going
to give God something. Isn't that the hue and cry today? Well, you need to give to God.
You can't out give God. You've got to give to God. Listen,
God doesn't need anything you've got, because everything you've
got belongs to Him. And so He's not trying to get
you to give Him something. Now I believe that God does move
in the hearts of His people to desire to give to Him, because
He has given to them. You know, if you give of those
things that the Lord has given you for any other reason than
that He has given it to you, then you've given for the wrong
reason. I mean, if you've given it to gain something, or you've
given it to earn something, or, you know, to make somebody happy
or whatever. Thou hast received gifts for
men. He has given all things to His
people. He has received them. The Lord,
in the second Psalm, we often go to that, He said, the Lord
speaking to the Son in the covenant of redemption said, Ask of me
and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. He has
received gifts for men. He has received gifts of men.
The Lord has given him a people that belong to him. Thou hast
received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellions also. Now
that's the unconditional love that the Lord has for His people,
for the rebellions also. He didn't just give gifts to
the good folks. I mean, that's how religion operates,
is it not? Well, if you'll be good, then
you'll get something. I mean, that's the whole idea
that people have. They show the work of the law
written in their hearts because they think if they give this,
they'll get that. If they're obedient, then God
will bless them. Well, dear brethren, God blesses
men to make them obedient. A man won't be obedient unless
the Lord gives him a gift to do so. Men won't walk in in obedience
to the precepts of God apart from the gift of God causing
them to do so. What a privilege it is. What
a privilege it is to be led in that fashion. Yea, for the rebellious
also, he died for sinners. I mean, we read that in the Scriptures
and we rejoice that the Lord might dwell among them. That
the Lord might dwell among who? The rebellious. I mean, here
was Saul of Tarsus, breathing out threatenings against the
very people of God. He was a rebel against God. Now,
he didn't think so. See, you could ask Saul. If he was a rebel against God,
we would have said, absolutely not. Well, I'm going down to
Damascus to serve God. I'm going to kill these Christians.
But you see, he was a rebel against God. The Lord said, it's hard
for thee to kick against the pricks. He was pushing the truth
away from him. He was a rebel. But the Lord
gave gifts even for the rebellious, even such a one who later would
say, I'm the chief of sinners. Now had you asked Saul when he
was in Jerusalem, before he went to Damascus, if he was a sinner,
he would have said, no. He said, now those folks over
there are sinners. But he said, not me. He says,
I'm a Pharisee. I'm a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
I mean, if you talk about these Pharisees, I may even exceed
them. I'm a righteous man. And so it
is that many in this day and age have the notion of themselves
as righteous men. And they pat themselves on the
back. And they pat one another on the back. And they talk about
their deeds and the things that they've done. And the Lord said
that when you've done all these things, You're but an unprofitable
servant. Because you see, it's impossible
for a man to do more than what the Lord has required of him. You never measured up and you
never will. For the rebellious also that
the Lord God might dwell among them. The Lord received gifts
from him that he might dwell among them. Oh, what a glorious thing it is that
he who is without sin has seen fit to dwell among men who are
sinners. And had it not been so, we surely
would perish. But that he might dwell among
them even in the present time, blessed be the Lord who daily
loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation, say
the Lord. He gives us more than we could
ever imagine, does he not? I mean, I'm not talking about
the things of this world. I mean, we're a blessed people
in that respect. I mean, and I think a lot of
times people take for granted the blessings that they have.
I mean, the poorest man that you know in this country is blessed,
more blessed materially than 90% of the people in the world
right now. Because this is a nation of plenty. But I'm not talking about that.
Those are not the things of which he's speaking of here. He daily
loaded us with benefits. Because you see, he gives unto
us the hope of eternal life. He blesses us with the knowledge
that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. He daily loatheth us with benefits.
Now we don't always clearly see that nor see our interest in
it, that is, that we have a part in that. Sometimes we doubt and
fear that we don't. But you see, we're never in a
place where we could go and seek something else. Like Peter said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. You see, that's the work of God in His people. They just
don't have any place else they can go. Where would we go to
find relief? I mean, you know, when we get
into a situation where we just feel like maybe that the Lord
has left us, What are we going to do? Go over and start calling
on Hare Krishna or whoever? You know, what are you going
to do? See, those who are constrained
by the grace of God must seek the Lord. And that's the benefit
of the work of the Lord in His people. He gives to every man
the measure of faith. It's not the same in all people. the degree of it, but the essence
of it is exactly the same. That is, we seek Christ. See, there's no such thing as
a Christian who does not seek Christ. Can't be anything such
as that. That's just what it is to be
a follower of Christ. He daily loatheth us with benefits,
even the God of our salvation. He that is our God is the God
of salvation, and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. Now, it is a common thing, and
most politicians, they kind of lead this way, and I guess it
just goes with the territory, but they, you know, it's just
like, well, most any God will do. We just want you to have
God. We want you to be people of faith.
Have you heard that? I mean, you know, people of faith.
And so there's all kinds of different faiths. And I wouldn't try to get somebody
to abandon their faith. I mean, if they want that faith,
they can have it. Whatever. But there's only one
God of salvation. There are many gods. The Lord said, Thou shalt have
no other gods but one. So evidently there are some other
gods, are there not? I mean, in so far as what men
consider anyway, there are plenty of them out there. I mean, Joshua
said, you know, whether it's the gods of the Perizzites or
the Hivites, he said, You go ahead and choose out from among
them who you're going to follow. Because it doesn't make a difference
which one of them you choose. They're all the same. They can't
do a thing for you. They're like those that David
talked about. They have no hands. They have no feet. They have
no mouth. But he said, Our God is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. You see, He is the God of salvation. That's the one whom we're speaking
about here. So whatever God a man wants, he can have. You know, you can make one up
if you don't like the ones that are out there. I mean, you can
just come up with one, and people do it all the time. Unfortunately,
that's pretty much what a lot of people that call themselves
Christians have done, is they have made a God in their imagination
as to who God is and how He acts. But I'm telling you that there's
one God who is the God of salvation, and this is the one David is
speaking of here in this psalm. Even our God, the God of salvation,
and unto Him belong the issues from death. The Lord said, I kill and I make
alive. I, the Lord, do all of these
things. Our times are in His hands. He
has set the bounds of our habitation that we cannot pass. Because to Him belong the issues
of life and death. He is that One who kills, but
He is that One that makes alive, giving gifts unto men, yea, even
the rebellious. And in that we do rejoice. Therein. Because brethren, if
he were not the one who gave gifts to the rebellious, where
would we stand? I mean, would we say, well Lord,
one day we're going to quit being rebellious. And then you can
bless us. Now a lot of people think that's
the way it is. We'll quit doing that and the Lord will bless
us. No. If the Lord doesn't bless you, you'll continue on in your
rebellion. But he's given gifts to the rebellious.
And he calls sinners unto himself. And he said, come unto me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden. That thing's right on
your head there. He's lit on you. Well, a little excitement. He was just looking for a place
to rest. Well, thank the Lord for His
mercy and kindness that brought us to this place today.