Travels, if you would, to 2 Samuel,
chapter 22. We'll continue our study in this
wonderful chapter. This wonderful chapter here before
us. Tonight's message is called, Our Shield and Preserver. Our
Shield and Preserver. 2 Samuel, chapter 22. We'll read verses 26 to 37 tonight. With the merciful thou wilt show
thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself
upright. With the pure thou wilt show
thyself pure, and with the forward thou wilt show thyself unsavory. And the afflicted people thou
wilt save, but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest
bring them down. For Thou art my lamp, O Lord,
and the Lord will lighten my darkness. For by Thee I have run through
a troop, by my God I have leaped over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried.
He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him. For who is God
save the Lord? And who is a rock save our God?
God is my strength and power, and He maketh my way perfect.
He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my
high places. He teacheth my hands to war,
so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also
given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy gentleness hath made
me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps unto me, so that my
feet did not slip. Now last week we looked at verses
26 to 29, where we saw the sovereign God of the universe has mercy
upon whom we are of mercy, whom He pleases. And we know from
looking in the New Testament that He has mercy on whom we
are of mercy according to His sovereign will. and according
to His purpose. And I've said this many times
and I'll keep saying it. We who are God's people are amazed
that we're even included in that number. Included in the number
that He's had mercy upon. Because we know what we are.
We know we're sinners. And we know that even though
we're saved, we're still sinners. And we struggle with sin all
the time. All the time. Talking to dear
sister and brother, two sisters this afternoon and a brother
about this. And we struggle all the time. And we have to be honest
with each other, we do. But praise be to God, for the
believer in Christ, all our sins are forgiven. They're all forgiven. And we know that the Lord hath
had mercy upon us. It says there, with the merciful
thou wilt show thyself merciful. We've received mercy. And God's
people, those who have received mercy, give mercy. They're merciful. They're merciful people. And again, no, it shows God's
sovereignty. With the merciful, thou wilt show thyself merciful,
and with the upright man, thou wilt show thyself upright. We
considered how this can only be considered, to be considered
pure in the eyes of God, this is only the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the only one. In verse 27 there it says, with
the pure thou wilt show thyself pure, and with the forward thou
wilt show thyself unsavory. And it says, in the afflicted
people thou wilt save, but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that
thou mayest bring them down. Well, we know the only way we're
pure is in Christ. Being clothed in the perfect,
spotless righteousness of Christ. Because in ourselves, we're sinners. Even after the Lord saved us,
again, we're still sinners. But praise be to God, we're safe
sinners, aren't we? We're safe sinners. And the only one, though, who
has been pure in the eyes of the Lord is he who has perfectly
fulfilled the law of God in our place. And that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. And as we looked at this morning,
Christ willingly came to this earth to be the substitute of
his people. Willingly. He left heaven. He knew exactly what he was doing.
And we saw this afternoon, we saw the fact that he even told
his disciples, he said, I have to go to Jerusalem. And I'm going
to die. But on the third day, I'll be
raised again. He knew exactly what he was doing. Scripture
says in Isaiah that he set his face like a flint to Jerusalem.
And that's like a stone that's immovable. He knew exactly what
he had to do. Now think of this. You and I
who are redeemed. He did that for us. He did that for us. Willingly. It's very humbling. It's very
humbling. And we can proclaim that we've,
again, tasted the mercy of God. We've tasted the mercy and grace
of God. But Christ, it's only because Christ fulfilled the
law in our place. It's only because the wrath of
God that was due us fell upon him. Again, with the pure, thou wilt
show thyself pure, and with the forward, thou wilt show thyself
unsavory. And the afflicted people wilt
thou save, but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest
bring them down. And we considered how God's people
are an afflicted people. We're an afflicted people. Brother
Scott Richardson used to say, the Christian's either going
into trouble, in trouble, or coming out of trouble. And that's
true. That's true. But like Roy and
I were talking today, tonight, we know that no matter what circumstance
we're going through, the Lord is ever with his people. He said,
I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Never. Now, sometimes we
go through a circumstance, don't we? Where we don't necessarily
feel the presence of God. And we think, Lord, am I alone? No. You're not. You're not. If you're one of his sheep, you're
not alone. He's right there with you. Watching over you. Caring for you. Brother Drew
Dietz texted me all excited this week. It was wonderful, because
we often, as we find things in the scripture, as we find things
written by different commentators, we'll write each other. And just
this is what preachers do. We get excited about things.
Well, he wrote me talking about refiners, about a goldsmith. And I remember hearing this story
years ago. Guy walked into a smithing place, a goldsmithing place,
and he asked the goldsmith, he says, so what do you do? And
he says, well, I put the gold in the pot, and the metal, or
the rocks in the pot and all that, and as he's refining the
gold and all that, and the guy asked the smith, he said, well,
how do you know when it's all done? How do you know when it's ready
to be used? And he said, when I can see my reflection. We're being conformed to the
image of Christ, beloved, while we're here on this earth. My
oh my. So when we're going through trials
and tribulations, just know that our God is just refining us,
beloved. He's just refining us. And He'll
never leave us. He'll never forsake us. We're
an afflicted people. And we're afflicted by our own
sin, aren't we? We mourn over our own sin. We
really do. But there's gonna be a day when
we won't sin no more. What a day that'll be. What a
day that'll be. While we're in this world, we're
afflicted with trials also and tribulations. And always remember,
always remember this. We're strangers in pilgrims,
beloved. We're just passing through. This world is not our home. It's
not our home. We seek a better country, don't
we? That's where Christ is in glory. This world is not our
home. We're just a passing through.
Again, we're seeking a better country where the scripture says
our conversation is, but that is our citizenship in the Greek.
Our citizenship is in heaven. It's in heaven. We're citizens
of a better country, beloved. This world and everything in
it is going to perish. Everything we look upon is temporary. But we look to be going home
to a place that's eternal. Beholding the Eternal One, who
is the one who has redeemed us from our sins, and looking to
Him, looking to Him alone. So we're an afflicted people
while we're here, and we know that the only, and rest assured
of this too, that the only trials and tribulations that we will
ever face as believers is in this world. The only sorrow that
we'll ever face is in this world. The only tears that we'll have
is in this world. Boy, it makes you homesick for
heaven, doesn't it? Makes you homesick for heaven. And we see
God's preserving hand keeping us through all the situations
that we go through. And sometimes we see the proud and the haughty
prosper, don't we? Sometimes we see the wicked prosper.
But think of this. We know their end. We know their
end. If God doesn't intervene in their
lives, if God doesn't save them, we know their end. And then we reflect upon the
mercy that that God's had upon us, the scripture declares, if
the Lord should mark iniquity, who shall stand? Remember Brother Joe Terrell
saying he woke up one night thinking about that. If the Lord should
mark iniquity, who should stand? No one. But praise be to God,
he's had mercy upon his people, and that all our sins are forgiven
in Christ. All of them. What a great God. What a great God. The Lord marked
iniquity, no one would stand. But we who are the people of
God have received mercy in Christ Jesus our Lord. Then we consider
verse 29 in how the Lord is our lamp and his word is a light
unto our paths. It says, for thou art my lamp,
O Lord, and the Lord will lighten my darkness. And oh, what darkness we were
in. The darkness of our sin. The darkness of our fall in our
Father Adam. But the Scripture declares this.
It's the Lord has lightened our darkness. It's God who has delivered
us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son in whom we have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins. How many sins? All of them. Praise be to God. They're all covered under the
blood. All of them. Let's look at verse 30 now. We'll
see David here bring forth the deliverances which God has brought
him through. And each believer in Christ can say amen. Because
we've had deliverance after deliverance occur in our own lives. Look
at this. For by thee I have run through
a troop. By my God have I leaped over a wall. Now think upon this,
that our Savior is ever with us, never leaves us, and He sent
the Holy Spirit to be our comforter. And in the darkness, the Lord
will be our light. And He is our light. Am I shut up and cannot get over
a wall, a trial, or a situation that seems hopeless to us? Am
I shut up into a situation like that? This verse brings forth,
we shall leap over a wall by Jesus and in Him. And He has
proved this to His people time and time and time again. Depend
on the Savior, beloved. Lean upon the Savior. Do not
lean on your own understanding like we used to when we were
in the flesh. Lean on Christ. Lean on Him in all situations. in all times of your life. Lean
on Him when you cannot understand what's happening. Lean on Him. Rest in Him. Repose in Him who is the Almighty. Now think of how true this is
of our Lord who is God incarnated in the flesh. He came here to
do the Father's will. He came here to do the Father's
will. He came here to die. He was born to die. He was born
to die. And on that cross of Calvary,
He spoiled princes and principalities, beloved. He spoiled them. He made a show of them openly. Made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them. And that speaks of a Roman triumph
when the victorious general would come through into Rome, victorious,
and they'd have a huge parade. He triumphed over them. He led
captivity captive, beloved. And he brought many sons to glory. And he did it all by his almighty
power. And he did it willingly. to purchase
His precious blood. Now it says here, leaping over
a wall. Now leaping over a wall is likened
to scaling the walls of a fortified place. Several commentators bought
this forth. This was literally true of David
in many instances. But let us again keep an eye
to Christ. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter 2. Let us again keep an eye to Christ,
an eye to Him. It says, For by Thee I have run
through a troop, by my God I have leaped over a wall. What did our Lord break down?
The middle wall of partition, beloved. That was between us. The ceremonial law which stood
between Jew and Gentile when He died upon the cross. Look
at Ephesians chapter 2, we'll read verses 11 to 18. Wherefore remember, and he's
writing to the born-again blood-bought believers of Ephesus, he said,
wherefore remember that ye being in times past Gentiles in the
flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision,
so the Jews called the Gentiles the uncircumcision, which is
called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. that at
that time, you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope, and without God in the world. That was our natural state,
beloved. But now, But now in Christ Jesus, you
sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
But nigh, for he is our peace. The only way we have peace with
God is through Christ, who hath made both one, talking about
Jew and Gentile here, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us. Having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself a twain one new man, the body of Christ. The body of Christ. So making
peace. And that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross. There we go. having slain the
enmity thereby and came and preached peace to you, the Gentiles, which
were far off, and to them that were nigh, the Jews who are in
the body of Christ. So he's speaking here of the
whole body of Christ, Jew and Gentile. For through him we both
have access by one spirit unto the Father. This section in Ephesians
Paul is bringing forth that all the elect were sinners by birth,
nature, and choice, whether they be Jew or Gentile. Whether they
be Jew or Gentile. And it is only through the substitutionary
death of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are bot, botni. Botni. It is he who has teared
down the walls that separated the Jew and the Gentile. And
now all the elect are one in Christ. One in Christ. Look at verses 13 and 14. But
now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace who hath
made both one. Both one. Remember, he's the
head and we're what? We're the body. He's the head
and we're the body. and has broken down the middle
wall of partition between us. So since both Jew and Gentile
were spiritually alienated from God and they were now bought,
the believers of the Jews and of the Gentiles are now bought
to a state of reconciliation. A state of reconciliation with
God, how? By the blood of Christ. By the
blood of Christ. So the meaning of this passage
is the salvation of the elect. The salvation of the elect. So
when we look at these verses, we need to see them in light
of the sinner, both Jew and Gentile. Because all are sinners. All
are sinners. And Christ is our peace. He's our peace, whether we be
Jew or Gentile. So for the believers who were
Jewish and now believe on Christ, and for we who were Gentiles
and now believe on Christ, He's our peace. He's our peace. And we're one in Christ, beloved.
That's what's being brought forth here. All the elect of God are
one in Christ. He's the head, and we're the
body. And we are reconciled to God.
by Christ and by the shedding of His blood which has broken
down the middle wall of partition between us. And that partition was what separated
us from God. And we have here before us metaphorical
language like the great gulf fixed. The great gulf fixed. That reveals that there was no
possibility of us reaching God Because we all come into this
world, whether we be Jew or Gentile, dead in trespasses and sins.
So there's no ability for us, whether we be Jew or Gentile,
to come to God on our own. Because we're all born dead in
trespasses and sins. Brother Scott Richardson once
said, when Adam fell, he fell so far from God that he could
never get back, meaning that no man or woman has the ability
or the power to save themselves or to regenerate themselves.
I mentioned this this morning. Can a dead person make themselves
alive? When a person's dead, their graveyard
dead. And if you look at Ephesians
2 and verses 1 and 2, it says, we were dead in trespasses and
sins. That means graveyard dead. That means dead. Dead means dead
there. It doesn't mean mostly dead.
It doesn't mean, well, you got a little life. No, it means you're
dead. Spiritually dead to the things of Christ. Absolutely
dead. But he's made us alive, verse
4. But God, who's rich in mercy, But God, he's regenerated us. Christ has done it all. Look
at verses 15 and 16 here in Ephesians 2. He's done it all. He's done
it all. He's done everything for us. He's all our salvation.
Look at this. Having abolished in his flesh, that's Christ,
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in the ordinances,
for the making himself of twain, Jew and Gentile, one new man. One new man. Again, the body
of Christ. So making peace. So all who are
in the body of Christ have peace with God. We are reconciled to
God. And the preaching of the gospel
is a ministry of reconciliation, beloved. Be reconciled to God. Trust Christ and Christ alone.
There's no other way to be reconciled to God except through Christ.
Except through Christ and Him alone. And this is wonderful
news for sinners, isn't it? Because we know we can't reconcile
ourselves to God by anything we do. But praise be to God,
look at this again. Having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even law of commandments contained in ordinance, for to
make in himself of twain one new man, so make in peace. And
that he might reconcile both, Jew and Gentile, unto God in
one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. This
is wonderful news for sinners. Absolutely wonderful news. And
then take note of verse 17. and came and preached peace to
you which were afar off and to them that were nigh." Oh my,
peace. Peace. So the preaching of the
gospel is the preaching of peace with God through Christ and Christ
alone. And all who trust in Christ, all who trust in Christ, have
peace with God. And God says, there are sins
and iniquities, will I remember? No more. Praise God, that means
past, present, and future sins, everything. And again, how can
someone, I've had people ask me this, well, Wayne, how can
you possibly say that all your future sins are forgiven? Just
tell them, every one of my sins was future at Calvary's cross.
And when Christ died on that cross, he died for all my sins.
Praise be to God, they're wanting one left out. And his precious
blood covers all of my sins. And all who trust in Him. Isn't
that wonderful? That's good news. God doesn't keep a check. Oh
my, we didn't cover that one. No, not at all. It's all covered. Remember what it said? Remember?
Remember when they put the blood on the doorpost? And the Lord
said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over them. God's people are covered in the
precious blood of Christ. When I see the blood I'll pass
over them. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Hallelujah,
what a Savior. What a Savior is Jesus Christ
our Lord. Oh my. So this gospel message is the
same for both Jew and Gentile. It is peace with God in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's established by the blood
of Christ, beloved. His precious blood has ratified
the everlasting covenant. And that he is the one singular
way, Christ Jesus, he is the one singular way that man is
reconciled to God. Man or woman, he is the one singular
way that we are reconciled to God. There's no reconciliation
outside of Christ. None at all. But oh, in Christ,
the believer is reconciled to God. I ask you this question.
Can you fulfill the law of God? Can you fulfill the law of God?
Well, not one of us can. But Christ fulfilled the law
of God and he did it in the place of his people. Can you satisfy
the justice of God for your sins for just one? No, we can't, can we? No one
on this earth can do that. No. We can't even pay for our
sins. But Christ Jesus the Lord satisfied
the law and the justice of God in the place of His people at
Calvary's cross. He bore their sins. He bore their
sins. He made atonement for the sins
of His people. He conquered the enemies of His
people on Calvary's cross. And the sins of His people was
laid upon Him, and He bore it. And He paid everything that God
demanded. Now, the justice of God had a
rightful claim on us, didn't it? It did. But it had no claim on
Christ. You see how He's the great substitute?
The sinless one dying for sinners? Now, I have no clue who God's
elect are, who his lost sheep are out there. Therefore, the
gospel gets preached and proclaimed to all. And we say, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's right. May God make you
willing. May God make you willing to flee
to Christ. Because that's what He did for all of us here who
are saved and who are sinners. Saved sinners. He made us willing
in the day of His power. And we called upon the name of
the Lord. And we still call upon the name of the Lord. And one
day we'll say, oh Lord, worthy is the Lord. We'll see Him face
to face. In His majesty, in His sovereign
majesty. Without sin. We will see the very one who
redeemed us with his precious blood. That's true for all who
call upon the name of the Lord. That's true for all who cast
their eternal soul upon Christ. Oh, again, may God make you willing
to flee to Christ. Oh, he conquered. He conquered
the enemies of his people, didn't he? He conquered our sin. He
conquered his own law, which had a rightful claim on us. He
conquered the justice of God, which must be satisfied for our
sins. He conquered it. He paid for
it. Oh, my. He conquered Satan, who is the
enemy, who is our great enemy, and who is the accuser of the
brethren. We know that from Scripture. He conquered them all. And then
he rose from the grave, beloved, victorious. And the scripture
says, He was raised for our justification. Raised for our justification. And now death for the believer
has no more sting, and again it's but a doorway to glory.
It's a doorway to glory for the believer. It's a doorway to heaven. And Christ did this all, the
God-man mediator. And He was strengthened by God.
He trusted in the Father, doing the Father's will perfectly.
Perfectly. Therefore we ascribe to Him all
the glory. Now let's consider verse 31. It says, As for God,
His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried.
He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him. Now our ways are full of fault
and error, because we're sinners. Spurgeon said there's enough
sin in our best prayers It's a dam of a thousand souls. Oh
my. My, oh my. We're just sinners. But God's way is perfect. Perfect. He's perfect in holiness. He's
perfect in righteousness. And this verse brings forth,
as for God, His way, notice that singular, His way, Singular is
perfect. So contemplate the work of Jehovah.
Contemplate all his works. They're perfect. They're perfect. Contemplate who he is. And note
the scripture declares his way is perfect. His way. Who's the way, the truth and
the lie? Who's the perfect, sinless, spotless
Lamb of God? The Lord Jesus Christ. As for
God, His way is perfect. Think upon the perfections of
Christ. Think upon the perfections of Christ in His person. He's
sinless. He's spotless. He's the perfect
Lamb of God. Think of the perfections of the
Word as deity. He's the Word of God. Co-equal
with the Father. Co-equal with the Holy Spirit.
Perfect in all their ways. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Perfect in all their ways. And
think of Christ's perfections in His office. He's prophet,
priest, and king. Think of His perfections in those
offices. And think of how the work of salvation of God's elect,
the redemptions of God's people is perfect. It's perfect. Because it was done by God. It was accomplished by the God-man. The work of salvation that Christ
did is absolutely perfect. Perfect before God. And that's
where it matters. Absolutely perfect. They could
find no fault in him. He's perfect. The father said,
this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Perfect. He's absolutely perfect. Absolutely perfect. The salvation that comes to us
through the Lord is finished. Complete. If you have an interest
in Christ, then this little portion of this song will be sweet for
your souls. As for God, His way is perfect. Perfect. John, in the book of John, Let's
turn there quick, John 19, verse 30. We'll look at this one verse
here. And then we're turned to Daniel
9, 24. But look at this. And remember, our portion we're
looking at. As for God's way, as for God, his way is perfect.
Perfect. Look at this in John 19, 30. When Jesus, therefore, had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. It is finished. Now, the Greek definition for
this word, it's actually the words, it is finished. It's one
Greek word for our English words, it is finished. But it's one
Greek word. In the Greek, it means to make
an end. To make an end. To accomplish. To complete something. Not merely
end, this is the kicker right here, not merely end, but to
bring it to perfection. Oh my. To bring it to perfection. Our Lord, when he had finished
the work of redemption, cried, it is finished. He bought it
to perfection. Now think of how foolish it is
when people say, well, God's done all he can do. Now the rest
is up to you. He did it all. All the believer does. What's
the scripture say? Look unto me and be ye saved. Look unto the one who has completed
the work perfectly. To bring to perfection. That
means there's absolutely nothing that can be added to this work.
Nothing. Hence the words of scripture,
salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. It's His doing.
It's His doing. Oh, beloved of God, Christ is
our rock. He's our Redeemer. He's our Savior. He's our God.
He's our salvation. He's Jehovah's salvation for
all the elect of all the ages, to all the ends of the earth.
And we see that God's way of salvation then, by the very definition
of the Greek word, is perfect. It's perfect. The whole work
of redemption, the salvation of God's elect is finished. It's finished. It is finished,
the very purpose for which the Lord Jesus came to this world
is finished. He came to save his people, what?
From their sins. This is magnificent. This is
magnificent. This is wonderful news for God's
people. And again, we preach the gospel
to all, saying, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. Oh my. There's no other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved. None other name. No
other name. No other name but Christ. Now turn to Daniel 9.24. Turn to Daniel 9.24, and this
speaks of Christ dying on the cross, and look what it says
here. And knowing that when He cried,
it is finished, it means to complete, to end, or to accomplish, or
to bring it to perfection. Look what it says here in Daniel
9.24, speaking of our Lord. Look at this, Daniel 9.24. Seventy
weeks. are determined upon thy people
and upon thy holy city to finish the transgression and to make
a what? End of sins. Look at that, beloved. And that's what Christ did, didn't
he? When he paid for our sins on Calvary's cross. He made an
end of our sins. Now, we're still sinners while
we're in this flesh. But our sins are bought and paid
for. And when God looks at his people,
he sees the righteousness of Christ. To make an end for sins. And look at this. To make reconciliation
for iniquity. We talked about that in Ephesians
chapter 2. To make reconciliation for iniquity. So now the believer
has peace with God through the blood of Christ, right? And look
at this. And to bring in what? Everlasting
righteousness. What are we clothed in? The perfect
spotless righteousness of Christ. Everlasting righteousness. and
to seal up the vision and the prophecy and to anoint the most
holy. So we see, God's way is perfect. It's perfect. Let's go back to
our text in verse 31. 2 Samuel, chapter 22, verse 31. As for God, His way is perfect.
Now look at this, the word of the Lord is tried. The word of
the Lord is tried. These precious words have been
proved by the saints of God. All the promises of God we know
are yea and amen in Christ. And they've been found to be
proved true by the saints in all ages. And they come from
He who is faithful and true. And we who are the believers
in Christ now know that the word of the Lord is tried. And we
trust His word, don't we? We trust His word. Listen to
what the scriptures, if you wanna turn to Psalm 12, and we'll go
through a few psalms here. The scriptures declare about
the word of God. Look at Psalm 12, verses six
and seven. Psalm 12, verses six and seven.
It says here, the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver
tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt
keep them, O Lord. Thou shalt preserve them from
this generation forever. God keeps his word. He keeps
his word. Look, and then Psalm 19 verses
8 to 10 says this, the statutes of the Lord are right. They're
right. They're right. Rejoice in the
heart. The commandment of the Lord is
pure. Enlighten in the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean.
Endure it forever. The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than
gold. The scriptures are to be more desired than all gold in
this world, beloved. Oh my. Yea, much more than fine
gold, sweeter than honey in a honeycomb. So when we consider that, that
the word of God is much finer than gold, praise God he gave
us an understanding of the word. That we have an interest in Christ,
a saving interest in him. Then in Psalm 119, 140 it says
this, Thy word is very pure, therefore thy servant loveth
it. And Proverbs 30, verse 5 says, Every word of God is pure. He
is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. He's a shield
to all who put their trust in Him. And remember, remember the
scriptures are authored by God the Holy Spirit. We saw that
in our study in 2 Peter as we're going through that in Sunday
school. Scripture says this, we have a more sure word of prophecy.
Right here. Right here, right here, a more
sure word of prophecy, where until you do well, that you take
heed, take heed to the scriptures. as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in
your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the Scriptures is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So the author of the Scriptures
is the Holy Spirit of God. He moved holy men of God, and
the only way they're holy is in Christ. He moved them to pen the Scriptures.
So the doctrines in this wonderful book, they're glorious to the
believer. The precepts are pure, the promises are faithful, because
they come from He is faithful and true. The whole Bible, beloved,
is full of grace and truth. The whole Scriptures. Now the
Hebrew word for tried here, the Hebrew word for tried, It says,
as for God, his ways is perfect, the word of the Lord is tried.
The Hebrew word for tried here is to refine, to test. To refine
or test. And here in our text it's used
to speak of the word of God. It's described as pure and refined. Pure and refined. Think of this,
beloved. David had tried it. Thousands
have tried it. We have tried it. And it's never failed, has it?
And it never will. Never will. Let's read our verse
again. As for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried.
He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him. So we see in this
verse that God's way is perfect and the word of the Lord is tried,
refined and tested. And this verse concludes with
He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him. Now, bakalar in
the Hebrew means a shield, a small shield. Figuratively, it means
a protector. A protector. Our great God is
our shield. He's our shield. He's our protector. And it is He who we trust. Now the word trust there in the
Hebrew is defined like this, to seek to take refuge. Who's
our city of refuge? Christ. Christ, he's pictured
in the city of refuge. All who were in that city were
saved from the avenger of blood. All who are in Christ are saved
from the law and justice of God. And here it has reference to
seeking a tree shade. Have you ever been out? I remember
as kids, we used to jump on the bikes and just ride the back
roads and all that and just take off. And boy, when we saw a tree
that we could sit under in a hot day, that was a blessing. That
was a blessing. We'd usually have our lunch packed.
We'd go for the whole day. We'd tell our moms, well, we'll
be back around 5. And we'd just take off, a group
of us. But when we saw a tree that we could sit under, on a
hot day and have a drink of water and eat the lunch that our moms
have made us. Oh my. That was wonderful. You could
sit under there all day long. You could sit under there all
day long. All day long. So this has a reference
to seeking a tree shade. It's commonly used figuratively
though in relation to Yahweh because our great God is our
shield. He's our protector. Jehovah is a refuge for His people. We see in our verse, we seek
refuge under His wings in life and His death. Look, it says,
as for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried.
He is a buckler, protector to all them that trust in Him. He's
our great protector, beloved. Now let's read verses 32 to 37
and we'll see God's preserving grace on display. It says, for
who is God? Save the Lord. And who is a rock? Save our God. God is my strength
and power. He maketh my way perfect. He
maketh my feet like hind's feet and setteth me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to war so
that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast also
given me the shield of thy salvation and thy gentleness hath made
me great. Thou hast enlarged my steps under
me so that my feet did not slip. Now we're gonna look at these
verses more in depth next week, but what we see here is that
God preserves his people. He carries us all through this
life. And take note, take note how in these verses David ascribes
all the glory to the Lord. He gives the Lord all the glory,
look at this. For who is my God? Save the Lord. Who is my rock?
Save our God. God is my strength. He's given
him the glory and power. He maketh my way perfect. We're
clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He maketh my feet
like hinds' feet. He's doing it all. And setteth
me upon my high places. He teaches my hands to work,
so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. Thou hast given
me the shield of thy salvation. Salvation's a gift of God, isn't
it? Not of works, lest any man should boast. It's a gift. Thou
hast given me the shield of Thy salvation, and Christ is our
shield, He's our salvation, and Thy gentleness hath made me great.
Again, Thou hast enlarged my steps unto me, so that my feet
did not slip. Left to ourselves, we'd slip
and fall a hundred times a day, wouldn't we? No, but He keeps
His people. And so David is ascribing, he's
ascribing all the glory to God. He refers all here to the will
of God and God's sovereignty and His goodness. And note how
he dwells on the Lord. Note in those verses how he dwells
on the Lord. That it's the Lord that enabled
him to do these things. Never forget that. Any gifts
we have, any knowledge we have, has been given to us by the Lord.
By the Lord. And so he ascribes all glory
to the Lord. He's ascribing, look what the
Lord's done. Look what the Lord's done. He does not dwell upon
himself, but he brings forth what the Lord has done for him.
He speaks to the Lord's deliverances, and then he brings forth that
God himself is his salvation. Is this not what every believer
does? We give him all the glory. So do not forget that our God,
in his covenant engagements is doing great things for his people.
David is bringing these truths home. And these are designed
to show us how infinitely precious the Lord is to the believer.
These words here, again, are designed to show us how infinitely
precious the Lord is to the believer. God's people sing of God himself. We give him the praise. We sing
of the blessings from our great God. We sing the gifts that come
to us through His hands. And we sing of this wondrous
salvation that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, all by God's
will and purpose. And we give God all the glory.
We give Him all the glory, beloved. And what a God. What a God we
have. What a God we have. He saves
us by becoming a man. Holy God and yet fully man. And
He dies on Calvary's cross for the sins of His people. the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God. And then He keeps us all through
this life. Again, though we may fall, we
do not fall away from His everlasting arms. We slip and fall all the
time, don't we? But we never slip out of His
hands. He keeps us in His everlasting arms. And He ever loves us, and
He supports us. And then one day, when we breathe
our last breath, He will take us home to glory to be with Him
forever. Forever. Can we who are the people of
God say truly, truly, our God is the God of grace and mercy? Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for Your goodness and mercy and grace, all which has been bestowed
upon we who are undeserving of that. And this is what makes
it marvelous in our eyes, oh, Lord. Because we know that we
could never merit it, we could never earn it. And yet your grace
has been bestowed upon us, you've saved us by thy grace in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord Jesus, we marvel. We
marvel that you came to this earth to redeem us from our sins.
And we marvel that you keep us and preserve us and Holy Spirit,
we marvel that you regenerate us, that we who were dead in
trespasses and sins are made alive, and then you guide us
into all truth, and Christ Jesus is that truth, and we know that
you're not speaking of yourself, but you guide us to Christ, and
we are amazed that what we know now, we know only come from thee,
oh Lord. Glory to your name and honor
and praise in Jesus' name.