Psalm 40, Chief Musician, the
Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord,
and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up
also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set
my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a
new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see
it in fear and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud,
nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee, if I would declare and speak of them. They are more
than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened, burnt
offering, and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said
I, Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of
me. I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within
my heart. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness
and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold not thou
thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy lovingkindness and thy
truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have come
past me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of mine head. Therefore my heart faileth me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help
me. Let them be ashamed and confounded
together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be driven
backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate
for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha! Aha! Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, the Lord be magnified. But I am poor and
needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and
my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God." Now this psalm, Scripture says,
is a psalm of David. I think pretty clearly as we
read into this psalm and as these Scriptures are applied in the
book of Hebrews, that we will see that once again these are
the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And surely the sons of God do
benefit from them and we use them, and this is indeed the
language of David, but it is not the expression of David of
his own. It is that which, of course,
the Spirit of God gave to him to write. But it was dictated
by the Lord Jesus Christ, and I believe that it is indeed the
prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I waited patiently for
the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. Now we keep
in mind, and I keep reminding you of this because I have to
remind myself of it, Because it is easy for me to consider
of the Lord Jesus Christ as being God in the flesh. It is hard
for me to consider that He is God in the flesh. You know, we think of it, we
say, oh yes, we believe he was born of a virgin, and he became
a babe there in the manger, and grew up in favorable stature
with men, and he walked among men, and we've got to believe
all that. But he was a man. I mean, he was flesh and blood. He walked among men, and he endured
and understood every trial and every emotion every heartache
that could possibly be brought into a man as a natural man he
had, and yet without sin. And so he knows what it is as
that man who learned obedience by the things which he suffered,
the Scripture says. He learned patience. Now he was
perfect, was he not? He was a perfect man. and even
not fretful in the sense in which we've grown fretful because of
the sin that's within us. And when things don't go like
we like it, you know, we get upset about it and we start looking
for somebody to blame. Isn't that what we usually do? I mean, if something tears up,
we get to thinking, well, somebody didn't do something right, or
this, that, or the other. We're always looking for something,
you know, outside of our own place. But he says, I waited
patiently for the Lord. Now that has to be the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because men don't wait patiently
for the Lord, do they? They may wait on the Lord because
they have to. I mean, because what else can
you do? But he said, I waited patiently on the Lord. What a glorious thing. What a
grace to be given the ability, the desire to wait patiently
on the Lord. I remember my mama used to have
a little saying she liked to bring up every now and then,
and she'd say, patience is a virtue, possess it if you can, it is
seldom in a woman and it's never in a man. I kind of turn that around sometimes
and make Linda mad, you know, because I make it go the other
way. But I think it would be fair
to say that men are not by nature patient. We're impatient. I mean,
you know, we want something right now. And, of course, our society,
you know, we've grown to a place that used to, you know, years
ago, of course, people wrote letters and, you know, they'd
write a letter and then they'd wait you know, a day or two and
then they'd get a letter back and, you know, and it didn't
seem like that big of a deal. But now you've got these phones
where you can just boop, boop, boop, boop, and somebody else,
and then you get mad because they don't You know, but I texted
him five minutes ago, and he hadn't got back to me. You know,
what's wrong? So I believe that in our society,
that patience is a thing that just doesn't exist anymore. I
mean, people have got to have what they are going to have right
now. I mean, there is no in-between. And so it is. But the Lord, was
a perfect man and he was able by the very fact of the matter
of being that perfect man to wait patiently on the Lord. And
he inclined unto me and heard my cry. And the Lord did hear
the prayers of his son. He heard him and he answered
him until the culmination of that work which he came to perform,
and then the Lord turned from him, the Scripture says. And
he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now
I cannot imagine it, and neither can you, and we are not able
to, how it is that he who is one with the Father, came to
do the Father's will and desired to do the Father's will and could
not in one sense of the word ever be separated from His Father,
because He is the Father. Scripture says so. It says, He
shall be called the everlasting Father. He said to Philip, Philip,
have I been so long time with you and you haven't known me?
He that has seen me has seen the Father. He said, you're looking
at Him. That's me. I don't attempt to explain that.
You know, people want to have all this stuff worked out. Well,
how can that be? Well, you don't know how it can
be, and neither do I, and neither can anybody else adequately explain
this conundrum. It's just one of those mysteries
that separates between God and men. We cannot grasp that. It's
too high for us. But nonetheless, The Lord Jesus
Christ knew what it is. He learned obedience by the things
which He suffered, and one of the greatest sufferings that
He had was to be cut off from the presence of His Father. That
was the cut that He desired to be passed from Him. The only
way He could perform the Father's will was to become displeasing
in the Father's sight. You know, if you wanted to please
somebody, and that was the only thing you wanted to do was to
please them, but yet the only one way that you could please
them was to displease them. I mean, that was the place where
he was at. But he waited patiently for the Lord, and he says, and
he inclined his ear unto me. You see, there was never the
thought in his mind of accusing God of abandoning him. Except whenever he said, Why
hast thou forsaken me? He was not accusing God even
then. But the anguish of his heart
gripped him so much. And it was beyond any understanding
that we can enter into. When I think of it, I pause and
I can't go there. I can't imagine it. But I know
that it's true. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, because he went into a horrible pit, but the
Lord brought him out. And that's the rejoicing, you
see, that there is in the redemption of Christ, is that he did indeed
come out of that place where he was. God did forsake him. God did cast him away, because
he bore our sin. But he didn't cast him away forever,
did he? Because this man liveth forever,
he has the ability to make a lasting sacrifice, a sacrifice that has
no end. And therefore he was brought
forth. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of
the miry clay. And he set my feet upon a rock
and established my going. I remember down, when I was just
a little kid, we used to go down to Little River Springs thinking
about this miry clay and what that was like. And there used
to be some spots along the bank there where there was this old
gray, mucky clay stuff. And buddy, if you, as a little
kid especially, if you were walking along there and you happened
to step in that, you couldn't hardly get your foot out of it.
It is like that which holds you down, and there is no escape
from it. But he said, The Lord brought
me out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock, and
He established my goings. That is, the Lord sent me to
do what He would have me to do. And He hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear,
and shall trust in the Lord. The Lord Jesus said, if I be
lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me. He says, I will draw
men unto Me. And that is exactly what He says
here. He says, many shall see it in fear and shall trust in
the Lord. You see, when God enables a man to see Christ and what
He did, then men are caused to fear the Lord. They are caused
to fall down and worship Him. A lot of people learn the facts
of Christianity. I mean, you can teach a kid,
just like you can teach a kid mathematics, you can teach him
about the Bible. And you can teach him all these
things. But only the Lord can give any man, be it a child or
be it an adult or whatever, can give him an understanding of
the glory that surrounds this One who was the One who undertook
these things. God has put a new song in my
mouth, He said. even praise unto our God. And
you know a song can be old, but yet new. We've talked about that
before. But a new song is that which
comes out of the soul. New songs don't come out of a
book. They come out of the soul. But
you might get the words to your new song in the book. But it
won't be a new song because it's in the book. It'll be a new song
because it's been put in your heart. even praise unto our God,
many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." You
know, that's kind of contrary to natural thinking, is it not?
And men today, a lot of preachers, they're of the notion that you
don't need to talk about the judgment of God And these things
that our gods are consuming fire, you don't need to put these things
out there because we don't want men to fear God. We want men
to love God. Well, you can't ever love the
Lord until you understand who He is. And that's what He says
here. Men shall see it in fear and trust the Lord. Because it
is, you see, the working of the Spirit that brings that to pass.
Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth
not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. That man is happy. Is he happy on the account of
what he's done, or is he happy because he's called to do that?
I believe it's the latter. You see, the happiness that comes
is, come, blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust.
Why does a man make the Lord his trust? Because the Lord works
that in him. And he is blessed having made
the Lord his trust. Notice the Lord wasn't sitting
back saying, man, I hope I can bless somebody today, and waiting
for somebody to trust him. He says, well, there is one that
is trusting me over there, I am going to bless him. No, the blessing
precedes that. It is the blessing of God that
causes a man to trust. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust. That is why he does so. And respecteth
not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Those that are not humble before
the Lord are certainly turned aside to lies, are they not?
There is a way which seeth with right to man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death. And a man that will pursue His
own way is proud. He is lifted up. The Scripture
even says, He knows nothing if a man trusts in himself. That is the proud. That is the
very definition of pride. Many, O Lord, my God, are Thy
wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which
are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto Thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. His thoughts toward
us, the wonderful works. See, there are two things he
is speaking of there. Many, O Lord, my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done. Now, everybody can see
that, can they not? I mean, we can look around us
and see the wonderful works of God. But there are works of God
that men can't know about. apart from the grace of God,
showing them. See, a man... David said, the
fool has said in his heart there is no God. I mean, a man that
looks around and sees this world and doesn't give God glory in
some measure for having done it all, I mean, that man is a
fool. I mean, that is a wonderful work. We can see that. But he
said, "...and thy thoughts to usward." Now that takes the grace
of God for a man to understand that. I mean, to understand the
wonder of it. Now, the natural man just thinks,
well, God ought to have His thoughts dustward. I mean, He's got to
be wondering what we're doing and where we're at and if things
are going according to His plan and whatnot. As they would tell
us, I mean, He's got to be looking in on it every now and then.
But his thoughts are with us, and that's an amazing thing.
David said it like this, What is man that thou art mindful
of him, or the son of man that thou dost visit him? Should that
not ever cause us wonder that the Lord would even give two
seconds of thought to us? I mean, it's just like the ants
in the anthill. I mean, do you ever stop and
think, well now, you know, I'm thinking of the ants. I want
to take care of them and be sure they've got some food to eat. I mean, do you ever do that?
No, you don't ever do that. Well, dear brethren, I'm here
to tell you that you are more closely related to the ant as
far as being a creature than you could ever be in relation
to God as the living God, and you having been a creature. See,
we're all of the creatures, but that the Lord... I mean, we ought
to take more thought towards ants than God should have of
us if things were just in relation, should it not? But yet, that's
a wonder that His thoughts should be of us. And thy thoughts which
are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up." What? His thoughts
to us? We can't even imagine it. They can't even be numbered.
If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can
be numbered. That He would think on us. That He would show mercy
to us. That He would be kind to us.
All of those things. And He has His thoughts to usward. To men. To men in general, number
one. But you know this word, usward,
is used another time over in the book of Peter. And a lot
of people leave that word out when they quote that past scripture,
God is not willing that any should perish. And most people are just
content to leave it right there. You know, God is not willing
that any should perish. But they don't read the rest
of it. But it is longsuffering to usward. not willing that any
should perish. The Lord is not willing that
any of His people should perish. His thoughts are to usward. He
has us on His mind and in His heart. Now here is the passage of Scripture,
and it is actually much in keeping with what we
are about to remember here this morning. This passage of Scripture
that Paul brings out in the book of Hebrews, he says, "...sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened, burnt
offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said
I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me.
I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my
heart." If you turn over to chapter 10 of Hebrews, I'm going to read this. It says, For the law, having
a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually, make the comers thereto perfect. Now
the law is weak. through the flesh. And the law
was great and glorious as it is, as Al has been ably teaching
us in the book of Exodus, yet the law was a shadow. It is not
the very substance. Now today and down through the
years it has been made to be the substance in the minds of
many, but it is not the substance. It is a shadow. Nothing the law had could continually
make the comers thereunto perfect, for then would they not have
ceased to be offered. In other words, if there ever
was an offering made that made the comers, those that were looking
to this offering, if there had been one made that could have
taken away sin, then that would have been it, would it not? I
mean, that would have worked. There wouldn't have been any
need to keep on. Would they not have ceased to be offered? Because
that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience
for sins. Now you see, here is the subject
matter. Now, Christ not only came into
the world to satisfy the claims of the law. Now that was a needful
thing, because the law was that which condemned us before Almighty
God. But Jesus Christ came not simply
to satisfy the law, but to satisfy the conscience as well. And that's
where faith comes in, that's where the gift of faith that
is given to a man to believe the gospel, and then that makes
the application of it to the heart of a man most glorious. Because you see, the salvation
of God's people was accomplished on Calvary's cross. It was done. It was settled. The Lord Jesus
says it is finished. But then, in time, the Lord is
pleased to call His people out of darkness that they might see
the light, that they might see the glories of Christ revealed. and that the worshipers, once
purged, would have had no more conscience of sins, we have no
more conscience of sins. And what that means is not that
we don't ever think about our sin, but when we think about
our sin, we are reminded that there is One who has paid the
price for our sin. And we have a conscience more
to defend. I mean, if Christ died, we say,
Then what else is there that could make it? There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. But in those
sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
So every year when they kept offering, then they kept these
things ever before them. And they had to come back again.
Now this is the error in the Roman Catholic Mass, the idea
of offering Christ. Here we are making this offering,
and each person is eating of it, but it is a reminder of the
sin. But dear brethren, Christ put
it away. It is never done for, and that is what this is. It
is a testimony to what is finished, not what is continuing to be
done. But in those sacrifices there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year, for it is not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice
an offering thou wouldest not. Now that is exactly what he said
over here in the book of Psalms. And who does he identify as being
the one who said it? Even the Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, He said, "...sacrifice and offering,
and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst not, neither
hadst pleasure therein which are offered by the law." The
Lord was never pleased with any of the sacrifices that were made. Think of that, how many years
that the Lord designed for all of that stuff to be done, year
after year. Priests come, priests go, coming
in. The people do it, going through
all these motions, doing all this stuff. And what was the
Lord doing? He was just showing the folly
of it all. He was saying, this can't ever take away sin. I don't
have any pleasure in this. But He said, I have pleasure
in the one I'm sending, that all this stuff is setting the
stage for the unfolding of what He would do. In burnt offerings
and sacrifice for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I,
Lo, I come." Who? Who is saying that? Christ is
saying that. Lo, I come. In the volume of
the book it is written of me. What is the volume of the book?
Is everything given to Moses? Has everything been given to
Moses to all the prophets? The volume of the book, what
was it written? There shall come forth a deliverer
in Zion. He says, it talks about me. The
book talks about him, dear brethren, low in the volume of the book.
It is written of me to do thy will, O God. He came to perform,
but He said, I came not to do mine own will, but the will of
Him that sent me. Above, when He said, Sacrifice
and offerings, and burnt offerings, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said He, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that He may establish the second. By which will? Whose
will? His will, free will, man's will,
God's will, by which will we are sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, dear brethren,
that is why we come here today, to remember the Lord's death.
till He comes again. Now why do we remember death?
Do we remember death because we are continually offering Him
up? No. We remember death because in
His death is the satisfaction for sin. And it is that which
we find our greatest delight in considering that Christ paid
our sin debt. And we do have a conscience that
has been satisfied in Christ, that He paid the price. He satisfied
the law. He obtained eternal redemption
for his people. He got it in his hands. He said,
It's mine. These people belong to me and
I have paid their sin. What a glorious thought and what
a wondrous blessing we have as the sons of God to be able to
come and partake of these things.