Psalm 54 says, To the chief musician
on Neginoth, Mashkel, a psalm of David, when the Ziphoms came
and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us? Save me,
O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Hear my prayer,
O God, give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers are
risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul. They have
not set God before them, say law. Behold, God is mine helper. The Lord is with them that uphold
my soul. He shall reward evil unto mine
enemies, cut them off in thy truth. I will freely sacrifice
unto thee. I will praise thy name, O Lord,
for it is good. For he hath delivered me out
of all trouble, and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine
enemies. Now, the occasion of the writing
of this Psalm is set out there for us when, this is a Psalm
of David, when the Ziphoms or the inhabitants of Ziph came
and said to Saul, does not David hide himself with us? And giving
you a little bit of background is when David was fleeing from
Saul, And he came, this was just after what we read about the
last couple weeks ago about when Doeg was hiding there in the
temple where Himalek was and then ultimately the Lord slew
the priests of Nob, Ahimelech and the rest of the priests of
Nob, because he thought that they had hidden David from him. So this occurs just after that,
and the Zephites, they were actually part of the tribe of Judah, the
same tribe that David came from. But in the mountain of Zipf,
the wilderness of Zipf, David hid there for a while, and what
the Zipfites did was went to Saul and told him, hey, if you
want David, he's right down here with us. Now, of course, in these
things, as I mention quite often, and hopefully mention it enough
that it will stick with you, is that though these Psalms were
written by David, these are the words of Jesus Christ. Because
he is describing here the very betrayal of the Lord, describing his own
betrayal of his own people, and of one kindred of his own, even
Judas himself. Because Judas basically did the
same thing that these inhabitants of Zipf did. They came and they
told Saul, hey if you want him I can tell you where he's at.
Now we know it wasn't in the Lord's will and purpose that
David be taken at that particular time. And so David escaped and
Saul didn't find him there. But it was not on, that wasn't
the design of the Zipfs. They were wanting him to to be
taken. So that was the occasion of the
writing of this. But as I say, I believe that
these are the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as He
walked among men as a man, it's a very amazing thing to read
of the fact that he had the same considerations of things that
his people do. He prayed to his Father to be
delivered. Now, you know, we think of him as being God, which
he is, a God, a very God, no less than God. He told Philip,
?If you?ve seen me, you?ve seen the Father.? So, you know, Jesus
Christ, no man has seen God at any time. Jesus Christ, who is
in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. How can a
man know the Father except he see Jesus Christ? There's no
other way that it can be, because a man cannot see the Father.
No man hath seen the Father. But the Son has revealed Him.
Only revelation that you will ever have of the Almighty God
has walked among men, went to the cross and poured
out his soul unto death for us. Now that doesn't satisfy everybody's
curiosity. It doesn't satisfy how can anybody
begin to explain that or whatever. You know, I don't try. I used
to think that you could come up with a way to explain how
all of that works together, but you can't, because it's outside
the realm of man's capability. And so God has purposed that
it be, that man might just fall on his face and worship God.
Because if it could be figured out by men, then the Kingdom
of God could be inherited by men. Men could figure out a way
to get into the presence of God. But there are mysteries in God
that men will never know. You know, we often hear people
say, well, one day we'll know all things. No, you'll never
know all things. You're going to, by the grace
of God, you'll spend an eternity before the throne of Him who
is eternal. And the mysteries of the eternal
God will never be fully known by any creature. It's impossible
that it would. But He'll lead us and teach us
the things that we need to know. And He'll give us such things
as we should have. But he says here, save me, O
God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. Because, you
know, a man, when he's brought and taught by the Spirit of God
of the weakness of this flesh, he realizes that he has no strength
of his own. And the man who thinks he's strong
is a fool. Because as the Spirit of God
leads a man into truth and shows him what it really is, he finds
out that he has no strength at all. And so he is caused by then
the same way in which the Lord Jesus, a man who had all power. I mean, his disciples marveled
at his power. when he stilled the waves. Can
you imagine that being in that boat and the Lord saying to the
waves and the winds to be still? And they just were silent. I mean, the disciples said, wow,
what kind of man is this? Who is this guy? And so it is
that he had all power, but yet became, took on himself the likeness
of human flesh and suffered as a man. He learned obedience,
the scripture says, by the things which he suffered. Now that's
a scripture I go to and ponder from time to time and I'm going
to tell you I'm no closer to having a grip on that than when
I started. Because that's a wonder. That's
an amazement. He learned obedience by the things
which he suffered. I know what it basically means,
but I'm talking about really just getting it and just, you
know, having all the answers about it. How can that be? That
he learned obedience. But he did. According to what
the Scriptures tells us. But as a man, he cries out, save
me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength. There is
none other to whom we desire to go but unto him. Save me by
thy name, by thy authority. Now, one of the first things
that a man has to be brought to an understanding of in order
that he might call upon the name of the Lord is to realize that
he is the Lord. Remember when the thief on the
cross That revelation came to him, didn't it? As he cast all
these things up in the Lord's teeth right up until a certain
moment when the Lord opened his eyes and he said, this one that's
standing right here, he's not worthy of death. Oh Lord, when
Thou comest into Thy kingdom, remember me. So he recognized
the authority of this one who hung there. He realized that
this one, though he hung there in death, he had power over death. And he knew that he would come
into a kingdom. And he saw him for who he was.
Save me, O God, by Thy name, and judge me by Thy strength. That's the only fashion in which
we want to be judged is by the strength of the Lord. I don't
want to be judged in my own strength. Lord, I'm strong. No, Lord, I'm
weak. I want to be judged in Thy strength.
Now the Lord, He's speaking here as a man, but He's speaking of
a knowledge of what He is. that one who's strong. And he
says, Lord, judge me by thy strength, by thy power. Hear my prayer,
O God. Give ear to the words of my mouth. Now, if the Lord Jesus prayed,
how much more ought we to pray? I mean, if the Lord Jesus Christ,
who's one with the Father, prayed, How much more ought God's people
to pray? And how much shall they pray? Indeed, hear my prayer, O God,
give ear to the words of my mouth, for strangers are risen up against
me, and oppressors seek after my soul. They have not set God
before them. Strangers. You realize that the
world hates you if you belong to Christ. Now, all you've got
to do, if you don't believe that, is just look at the news and
all the things that's taking place. Now, they don't know you
by name, but dear brethren, this mounting up, we can see that
there is a continual march, and it's no different than it's ever
been, it's just I believe God has removed some of the restraints,
and He's manifesting His judgment upon the earth, as he is causing
the enemies of God's people to rise up, but nonetheless the
world hates the preaching of the cross of Christ. Now that
is what it is going to boil down to. Now you know it is kind of
like the those that would marshal their
forces here, they don't necessarily single out Christianity per se,
but when it all comes down to it, that is the ultimate place
where the opposition of the world will come against is the cross
of Christ. Because you see, we're not those
who worship Christ, and Christ alone cannot embrace Any other
one but Him. Nara. That's what the Lord said,
did He not? He said, Nara is the way that
leadeth unto life eternal. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Me. And the followers of Christ are
not willing to compromise on that. Now some that call themselves
the followers of Christ, they might embrace those things. They say, well, you know, there's
other pathways, and you know, just as long as you serve some
God, that's okay. You just pick out a God that
you like. And that's fine for the world, but it's not okay
for the people of God, and it's ultimately the place where the
wrath of man will come against the people of God. Because they
will not have Christ to rule over them. They will not bow
their knee unto Him. Strangers are risen up against
me. People that didn't even know
who He was. People that saw Him do good things as He walked upon
the earth. Maybe even ate some of the food
that he spread out for the multitudes. Saw the miracles and things that
he did, but yet, there came a day when they rose up against him.
And they said, crucify him. Oh yes, we've seen all that,
but we hate him. We don't want this man. to rule
over us. For strangers are risen up against
me, and oppressors seek after my soul. They have not set God
before them." That is, their mind and heart is not set upon
Him who is the one true and living God. They have thoughts of God
of their own making. You know, everybody has their
idea and philosophy of God. I mean, most everybody has some
thought of what they think God is, if they just think He's just
some big spirit that, you know, flies around and hopes everything
turns out or whatever. I mean, everybody has a philosophy
of God, even if it's a philosophy of, well, there is no God. You
know, some people have that philosophy, but they have a philosophy nonetheless. They've not sent God before them.
They've not received the love of the truth that they might
be saved. How does a man get a love of the truth? It's got
to be given to him. Now, you know, I wouldn't try
to press on anybody that they have to believe what I believe. I couldn't make them believe
it if I wanted to. But I can't back up from what
I believe is the truth. I can't back up from that. I
believe Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and no
man comes to the Father but by Him. That's just the place that
we come to and we can't go any further. They've not set God before them.
Say, Lo, behold, God is mine Helper. The Lord is with them
that uphold my soul. Remember the Lord when his disciples
came to him and they said, Lord, there was some over here preaching
the truth as we understand it, but they're not with us. Lord,
should we go over there and prevent them? He said, no. He said, he
that's not against me is for me. Because you see, he understood
and knew that there is no other place that a man can be. He's
either going to be for Christ or he's going to be against him.
There's not any middle ground. You cannot be ambivalent towards
Jesus Christ. You either have to believe that
He is the world's greatest deceiver or He is who He said He was. Simple as that. He said, I and
my Father are one. Now you either believe that or
you don't believe it. You can't ride defense on it.
Well, maybe he was deceived. Well, if he was deceived, then
how do we believe anything that he says? See, people want to
say he was a great prophet. Well, if you believe he was a
great prophet, then you better fall down and worship him. You
can't say he's a great prophet and not believe the things that
he says. He's either a liar or he's telling the truth. Now by
the grace of God, I have to believe that He's telling the truth.
I can't believe anything else. I can't believe He's a liar.
Behold, God is mine Helper. The Lord is with them that uphold
my soul. The Lord is with those that are
the supporters of Christ. Now He doesn't say, well look,
I found some folks that are supporting Christ and I'm going to, you
know, help them out. No. It is that those who love
the Lord Jesus Christ are the people of God. It's as plain
as that. If a man loves Christ, how did
a man begin to love Christ and the way of Christ? Except that
the Lord does a work of grace in his heart. Because man by
nature is not that way. Now, I didn't say, you know,
that man religiously loves Christ. I'm talking about he delights
in the Lord Jesus Christ and he wants to walk in His way and
he delights in the things that he says. And the Lord will uphold them
that uphold his soul. He shall reward evil, undermine
enemies, cut them off in thy truth. Now the Lord said that
he would avenge his own elect. And the vengeance of God, that
is the, when we read in the scripture about the vengeance of God, of
course we think about the wrath of God coming down and surely
vengeance is that. But it is a restitution. The
Lord is going to make restitution for the people of God in the
earth. Now that doesn't mean that if somebody took advantage
of you and took some money from you, one day you're going to
get the money back. Not what I mean, but I'm talking about
the fact that the Lord is going to remove and has actually already
done this, removed all of the accusers of God's people. Did He not avenge His own elect
when the woman was taken in adultery and brought at His feet? And he said, let him who's without
sin cast the first stone, and they all left. And he said, woman,
where are your accusers? She said, no man doth accuse
me. He avenged his elect. You see,
he brought her to a place of no condemnation. There's no none
to condemn. And there's no condemnation to
the people of God. He shall reward evil and undermine
enemies. He's not going to treat anybody
worse than they deserve to be treated. See, some people think
that the destruction that awaits sinners is a terrible thing,
and it is a terrible thing in one consideration. But brethren,
when we understand the nature of sin and the awfulness of it,
is there anything that could be designed to be wrought upon
the head of a man who's a rebel against God? Is there any punishment
too severe? Is there any destruction that
is too great? No, the Lord does not go beyond
what men deserve. I mean, you see, when a man is
told of the Lord, what he is by nature, I mean, can you say,
well, Lord, you know, I think you ought to take me out behind
a woodshed and beat me, but Lord, I don't think I'm deserving of
destruction. No. He said, Lord, if you distort
me and snuff my life out right now, and I never had any other
thought or whatever from this moment on, it's only what I would
deserve. Job said, though He slay me,
yet will I trust Him. See, we cast ourselves into His
hand, but He shall reward evil and undermine enemies. They have
sought evil. A man seeks out the way of sin,
he's going to get it. That's what a man wants. That's
what he's going to have. Cut them off in thy truth. He
will destroy them in thy truth. The truth. See, when the scripture
says that the Lord is coming in flaming fire, taking vengeance
upon them that know not God. And he is a sharp two-edged sword
coming out of his mouth when he comes. Of course, he slays
them by the Word of God. See, the Word of God is going
to bear testimony against men in the day of judgment. You know, you often hear people
picture judgment like there's going to be a big movie screen
and all that you ever did is going to be put on the movie
screen. It's not going to be like that. No, the Lord is going
to destroy the wicked with the brightness of His coming. That
is the judgment of God. secret things shall be made known.
There's no hiding from him. He will cut off the people with
his truth. I will freely sacrifice unto
thee. I will praise thy name, O Lord,
for it is good. Now here's the Lord Jesus Christ,
knowing that he is the Lamb of God. He's that one who, as Isaac,
was coming up the mountain with his father, and he said, Father,
here's the wood, but where's the sacrifice? See, Isaac, he
was not necessarily a willing sacrifice. He was an ignorant
sacrifice, because, I mean, he didn't know what was about to
happen. But you see, the Lord Jesus Christ,
when he came into the world, When he reasoned in the temple
with those Pharisees, he came as a sacrifice for sin. He was a man of sorrows because
he knew that which he must undergo in the behalf of his people from
the day one. He was never without that burden
that lay heavily upon his back as he became sin for us. And he says, I will freely Sacrifice
unto thee. Nobody's making me do this. He
says you don't have power to take my life. He says I have
power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. I freely
make this sacrifice. And the scripture says that he
shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. See, he's pleased with that that
he did. Now some people seem to think that the Lord's going
to look over what he did and he's going to say, well man,
if I could have just got a few more in. But no, you see the
Lord Jesus Christ, He made a sacrifice, a specific sacrifice. He paid
a specific price and He obtained eternal redemption for those
for whom He came. And He gained it. And he says,
I will freely sacrifice unto thee. I will praise thy name,
O Lord, for it is good. He said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. See, he worshiped God. Even in
the moment of his death, he praised the name of God. Because he was
a willing sacrifice, O Lord, for it is good. Now if anybody, as a man, had
a reason to say, as a perfect man, without sin, that he'd been
mistreated, and that justice hadn't been served, it would
have been the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, as a man in his own self,
he did nothing that was worthy of death. He never broke the
law of God. He freely and every day of his
life worshipped God with a pure heart, loved his neighbor as
himself. But he freely sacrificed himself. And he said, even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. He said, I will praise
thy name, O Lord, for it is good. There's none good but God. He alone is worthy to be praised. For he hath delivered me out
of all trouble, and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine
enemies. Now that's an interesting passage
of scripture. For he hath delivered me out
of all trouble. Looks like he was delivered into
trouble. I mean, he was brought into trouble. But you see, when
a man comes into trouble, that has no bearing on being brought
out of trouble, because you can't be brought out of trouble if
you're not brought into trouble. Now, we don't like the part of
being brought into the trouble, but you see, the joy of being
brought out of the trouble can only occur if we're brought into
the trouble. And the Lord came into trouble.
And he gloried in his father because he knew that he was the
one that would deliver him out of the trouble, even though his
father's wrath was upon him, not for his own sin, but for
the satisfaction of the law and the behalf of his people. For
he hath delivered me out of all trouble. How do we know that?
Because on the third day, he arose from the tomb. See, that's
the basis upon which all of our hope rests, is that Jesus Christ
is risen from the dead. Because if he didn't rise from
the dead, then we're of all men most miserable. If he didn't
rise from the dead, then he could not have been who he said he
was, because he said, I will rise again from the grave. That
was why the Jews were so desirous of having that tomb sealed up.
Because they didn't believe that he would rise again, but just
in case, they didn't want the disciples to steal him away and
then that would put the stamp of approval on all that he'd
done. See, they had sense enough to know that if he did rise again,
or in their mind, if somebody stole his body away and they
couldn't find it, this would put a stamp of approval on what
he said. But see, those who have been given faith and eyes to
see the truth understand the same thing, only we understand
that he did rise from the dead. And upon that rests all of our
hope. For he hath delivered me out of all trouble, and mine
eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies. Now, if you turn
over to Psalm 59 10, there's a similar passage, only it's
a little different. 59 10 says, the God of my mercy
shall prevent me, God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. So it says there, and mine eye
hath seen his desire upon mine enemies. But over there he says,
God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. Because you
see, that's just an evidence of the fact that he and the father
are one because his desire and the father's desire is one and
the same. Now one thing that is set forth
in Isaiah 63 that is not often spoken of as much because when
we think of this we think of the fact that he has tread the
winepress of God's wrath but in the behalf of his people,
but there's an important thing that he says he also does at
the same time. I'm going to read Isaiah 63,
1 through 3, or 1 through 4. Who is this that cometh from
Edom with thine garments from Basra, this that is glorious
in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
I that speak in righteousness mighty to save. Wherefore art
thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth
in the wine-fet? I have trodden the winepress
alone, and of the people there was none with me, for I will
tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and
their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will
stain all my raiment, for the day of vengeance is in mine heart,
and the year of my redeemed is come. Now, dear brethren, That
one who's spoken of there in Isaiah 63, of course, we know
that to be Christ. He is that one who comes from
Basra, with dyed garments from Basra, comes from Edom, with
dyed garments from Basra. He is that one. And the questioner
says, the prophet says, well, how did your garments get so
red? He said, because I've tread the
winepress of God's wrath alone, in other words, I've poured out
my own blood, and my garments are made red, but, he said, they
are also stained with the blood of my enemies. Because you see,
when Jesus Christ came into the world as a sacrifice for sin,
He also came to destroy sin. As that triumphant one, whom
the scripture says that He has led captivity captive, and He
has made the principalities and powers, He trampled upon them.
He's triumphed over them openly. And that's what he says here,
"...for mine eye shall see his desire upon mine enemies." Those
that would have destroyed Christ. Those that would destroy the
people of God. See, his enemies and our enemies
are the same. When the Lord looks at those
who despise the people of God, He sees those that despise Him. You know, if you You remember the parable that
he gave where he said that the man who owned the vineyard, he
sent some servants down there to get the money from the people
that were working the thing, and they killed the servant.
And so he sent another one, they killed him. He said, well, I'll
send my own son. And they killed him also. And
he says, I'm gonna destroy them. because they had no regard unto
mine own son, and having no regard unto my own son, they had no
regard unto me. And so it is, dear brethren,
that the Lord Jesus Christ has entered in once into the holy
place in the behalf of those whom he loved, and nothing could
deter him. And he has trampled his enemies
on the way, and they cannot rise up from it. There is no remedy
for those upon whom the Lord falls. Remember that when he said that he was that
stone, he says if the stone, he that falls on the stone shall
be broken. But he says that he upon whom
the stone falls shall be ground to powder. That is, I mean, if
something is ground to powder, that's pretty much it, isn't
it? I mean, there's nothing left. And so it is, dear brethren.
The glories of Christ are seen in the psalm. The glories of
His prayer for the redemption of His people. The glory of His
prayer in seeking His Father in the midst of all the suffering
that He had. And where else can we see this
any more clearly than in that which He's given us? To remember
His death and He comes again. He died for sinners. I mean, you know, if people was
all good and fine, this wouldn't ever have been a necessity, would
it? Now that's a big if because that's the way the Lord designed
all things to be. He would manifest the glory of
His grace in the redemption of His people. And this is that
which is given to us to remember what He did.