Good evening. So good to be here,
as always. Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Psalm 91. Psalm 91. The name of the message
tonight is Seven Promises. Now remember that the promises
in the Old Testament are for us in Christ. Again, when I was
in religion, I was always taught that the promises in the Old
Testament were only for the Jews. But the Lord hadn't illuminated
the Scripture yet that told me and tells you that all the promises
of God are yea and amen in Christ. So remember that as we look at
these promises tonight. All the promises of God are yea
and amen in Christ. Let's read Psalm 91. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings
shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield
and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day,
nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wastes at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy
side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not
come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked, because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation. There shall no evil befall thee,
neither shall any plague come nigh at thy dwelling, for he
shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all
thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread
upon the lion and adder. The young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love
upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because
he hath known my name. He shall call upon me and I will
answer him. I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy
him and show him my salvation. Now we who are the Lord's people,
we rest and trust on the promises of God, don't we? We know we're
sinners in all that we do. We know that. We've been taught
that. There was a time when we didn't know that, but we who
are born again by the Holy Spirit of God have been taught that
we're sinners from the top of our head to the bottom of our
feet. And we know that left to ourselves that we'd be lost and
undone with no hope. So we rest and trust in the one
who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. The promises
of God which we find in the scripture therefore become sweet to the
believer. They become sweet to the believer
because they point us to the one in whom all the promises
of God are yea and amen in. They point us right to Him. They
point us to He who keeps us and He who saves us, and His name
is the Lord Jesus Christ. In the second epistle of the
book of Corinthians, Paul told the church in Corinth that he
would stop in on his way to Macedonia. And after he had finished his
business in Macedonia, turn if you would to 2 Corinthians 1,
verses 1-6. But Paul's plans were altered
by the one who controls all things. And this often happens in our
lives, doesn't it? Oftentimes we make plans, but
the one who controls all things changes those plans. And Paul
did not visit them, so the false teachers would cause division
among the Corinthian church. They seized this opportunity
to speak evil of Paul and to destroy his influence within
the Corinthian church. That's what they sought to do.
Paul writing to the Corinthian church made a wonderful statement
which ties in with the promises of God. Look here at 2 Corinthians
1, it'll be actually verses 15 to 23. And in this confidence I was
minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit,
and to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come out again of Macedonia
unto you, and of you to be bought on my way towards Judea. When
I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? So was he
flipping about it? No. Or the things that I propose,
do I propose according to the flesh, that with me there should
be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But as God is true, our word
toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, even by Silvanus and Timotheus,
was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. Now look at verse 20.
For all the promises of God in him, that's in Christ, that's
in Christ, are yea and amen. Unto what? The glory of God by
us. So the fact that all the promises
of God are yea and amen in Christ brings glory to our great God. Now he which established us with
you in Christ and hath anointed us is God, who hath also sealed
us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. Moreover,
I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I
came not as yet unto Corinth. So God allows us to go and do
the things that we are to do. Sometimes he hinders us from
going to certain places. Sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes
he allows us to. But it all happens according
to God's providence and sovereign plan. Now, this psalm before
us is all about Christ. The psalm that we read, Psalm
91, is all about Christ. It's all about his victory. It's
about the believer who is in Christ and how we're safe in
Christ. We're safe in Christ. Lord willing, we'll see that
tonight as we study this psalm. We see that what Paul brought
forth is truth, and that we as believers can rest on the promises
of God. We can count them sure, because
they're yea and amen in Christ. Now, if they had anything to
do with us, they wouldn't be sure, would they? They wouldn't
be sure. But the scripture we read there
in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20 says, for all the promises of
God in him are yea in him, amen. Yes and amen in Christ. That's wonderful. That's wonderful
news. So what we can ponder this week
is the fact that the one who we rest and trust our souls on
and upon is the very one who all the promises of God are yea
and amen in. what peace that can bring us.
Now Satan referred to this psalm on the Mount of Temptation over
in Matthew 4, verse 6, it says this, And saith unto him, If
thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written,
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their
hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy
foot against a stone. We saw that referenced in the
psalm when we read it. The psalm is all about the victory
of the Messiah. Christ is victorious. Never forget
that. Our Savior is a victorious Savior. He shall not fail. And He didn't,
did He? He accomplished what He came
here to do. And He's coming again as the
Lion of the tribe of Judah. Oh my! So let us not forget the
great victory that the Messiah accomplished. And let us not
forget that all who are in Him were represented by Him and perfected
by Him, although we're still sinners. We're still sinners,
aren't we? But yet we're clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. And God looks upon us and sees
no fault. That's hard for us to even think
about, isn't it? But it's true. It's true. So let us never forget
that the believer is always and constantly under divine care. Never forget that, beloved, that
you are constantly, as a believer, under divine care. Constantly. It never ceases. You know what's
amazing? You were under His care before
you were even saved. So was I. Isn't that amazing?
Oh, my. What a great God we serve. We're
under His care and protection all the time because we're in
Christ. And Christ is God. He's the Word
who became flesh. He's the second person of the
Trinity. And again, in Him are all the
promises of God are yea and amen. So let's do a quick overview
of this psalm before we come to the seven promises that I'd
like us to look at. Look at verse one. He that dwells
in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty. Christ alone is our refuge. He
alone is our assurance. He alone is our city of refuge. We have no other hope. No other
hope than Christ. None. Other refuge have I none. Hangs my lowly head on thee.
That's Christ. We abide under the shadow of
the Almighty Beloved because God watches over His people.
He watches over His people. There's never a time when His
eye is not upon us. Now that's hard for us to fathom,
isn't it? Because we can only see what's
in front of us. We can't see what's behind us unless we got
a mirror. But he sees all his people all the time. He's so
far above us. He's so far above us, beloved.
He watches over all his blood-washed, redeemed people. And we can come
before our great God reverently, but only through the blood of
Christ. Only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Only through the
blood and righteousness of Christ. For He is most high and He is
holy. And we not only come into God's
presence, but we dwell there, it says. He that dwelleth in
the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty." Isn't that wonderful? We dwell in His everlasting
care and watchfulness over us. It doesn't get any better than
that, does it? So no matter what we experience on this earth,
in our tears and trials and tribulations, heartache, sorrow, He's ever
watchful over us. Ever watchful over us. And He's
the object of our worship, isn't He? Here on earth. We're sheltered
in Him. He's our high tower, our defense,
our shield, our buckler. He's our everything while we're
here on earth, and He'll be our everything when we're in heaven.
That will never change. And in there, we won't see Him
through a glass darkly like we do now. But then, face to face,
the scripture says. Isn't that wonderful? The shadow
of the Almighty in this verse speaks of the whole nature of
God, including His holiness, His justice, all His perfections,
His truth, His power, His wisdom, His prudence, covering His people
against all assaults from our enemies. And all the assaults
of our enemies are just in vain. Let's look at verses 3 to 8 now
and take note of the word shall and shall. Take note of those
two words here. What a blessed promise from our
God are contained in these little words. Surely he shall deliver
thee. Look at that. Not maybe, not
might. Brother Travis and I were talking
after service today, and one thing he said was that word shall
that came out. He goes, it's not might, it's
not maybe, it's not well. If he chooses to, it shall. There's
a certainty here. Rest in it, beloved. Look at
this. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler
and from the noisome pestilence. And in Christ the believer is
being delivered. We've been delivered from the curse of the law. We've
been delivered from the wrath of God. We've been delivered
from the penalty of sin. We've been delivered from our
enemies, visible and invisible. And surely He has delivered we
who are redeemed from all our sins. We're purchased by His
precious, precious blood. And we dwell under the shadow
of the Almighty. Look at verse 4. He shall cover
thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust. His
truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Again, we're covered
by the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a metaphor of when a
mother hen puts her wings over her chicks if there's danger.
Covers them. Same way that the Lord does that
for us. He covers us. And his wings are
both for healing and hiding in the metaphor. Let us never forget
that. Healing and hiding. And we who
believe are covered with his spotless robe of righteousness.
His royal robe of righteousness. Sinners clothed in the perfect
spotless righteousness of Christ. The wedding garment. That's the
wedding garment, beloved. The righteousness of Christ.
Wonderful. Oh, and how we worship our great
King, how we trust in Him. And one day we'll be able to
enter into the presence of God, all because of what Christ has
done. One day we will enter in at our death, and we will see
Him face to face. Now, right now, we can enter
in. to the throne of grace, can we? Clothed in the royal righteousness
of Christ. Truly Christ is our shield and
buckler, like that scripture said, truly he is, he's our protector. Buckler is a small shield that
was used by the armies in those days, just a tiny shield, but
it was used for defense. Christ is our defense. He's also
our sword, isn't He? He goes forth before us. The
battle's the Lord. Never forget, the battle's the
Lord's. It's His battle. It's His battle. Look at verses
5 to 6. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day,
nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wastes that noon day. Again, we see the Lord's our
protector. He's our protector. We're not
to be afraid of the terrors of the night. No. Think of this
verse, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Think
about what's going on right now with this virus. Now, we wear
masks out of the concern for our neighbors, but we know that
if we die of this COVID, we'll just get ushered into the presence
of the Lord, won't we? It's incredible. It's absolutely
incredible. And we who are redeemed, we don't
fear the final judgment. I used to fear death before the
Lord saved me. Was it so for you? I used to
be terrified of death. I don't fear death anymore. It's
lost its sting. Death's but a doorway. Now we
all wonder, a good friend of mine in Oregon one time, he says,
I don't fear death anymore. I just wonder how the Lord's
going to take me out. And he used to say, I hope it's as painless
as possible. Well, that's what we all hope,
right? Let me die in my sleep, Lord. But we don't know, but
really, the sting of death is gone for us. Sitting there talking
to Newell, and just seeing that he's just trusting the Lord.
He goes, well, I'm trusting him, no matter what. That's grace
that the Lord gives. And you know what? I think it
was Jim who said, people get worried about dying grace. Well,
don't worry about dying grace if you're not dying, right? Because
God will give you dying grace, and he does. I remember hearing
he said that sometime. That's a good statement, because
it's true. The Lord gives his people dying
grace. He takes care of us. He watches
over us. But what a thing that we can
consider the fact that we don't have to fear the judgment day
because all our sins were judged at Calvary's cross when Christ
died as our Savior. So again, death has no sting.
We'll never be judged because all the judgment due us fell
upon our great God when he, the sinless one, died for sinners.
And if you're one of his people, well, you're one of the sinners
he died for. Isn't that wonderful? That's wonderful. Warms our souls. The sinless one died for me.
My. I don't think we're ever going to get over that, are we?
No. Look at verses 7 and 8. Look at this. These verses here
are pretty amazing, too. The whole Bible is. Look at this.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy
right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine
eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. I once
talked to a Vietnam vet who the Lord saved. And he said that
he had been raised in a family where the Bible was used. And
one day they were in a severe firefight. And these two verses
here came to him in the midst of the firefight. Bullets flying
everywhere. And he said he was moving around
and not a bullet was touching him. And he said these two verses
here came to his mind. A thousand shall fall at thy
side and ten thousand at thy right hand. but it shall not
come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked." My goodness. Now,
we know from our studies how the Lord protected His people
in the Old Testament, don't we? We know how He protected His
people. We've seen the plague go through Egypt, and all the
firstborn of the Egyptians died. But it did not fall upon the
Israelites, because they were under the blood. They were under
the blood. What a picture we have before
us. We who are redeemed are safe in Christ. Thousands perish all
around us. Thousands perish all around us
and go into a Christless eternity. Thousands. But when the sheep
of God dies, they enter into glory. They enter into the joy
of His rest. His rest. They go to be with
the Savior forever. Now God's people, again, will
have trials, will have tribulations, will have sorrow, will have infirmities
of the flesh. But remember, those all come
to us by the will of the Father. And note, we behold and see the
reward of the wicked. We see the judgments which fall
upon our race. And you know, at the very end,
we who are the redeemed will agree with God when His justice
is poured out. We're going to agree with God.
And we'll also know, I believe we're going to know, that we've
received such mercy and such grace because the saints in glory
sing unto Him who hath redeemed us. with his own blood. Oh my, we know. We know what
he's redeemed us from. We know in a far better way. Again, we see through a glass
darkly right now. But when we get to the other
side, when we get to the land of the living, right now we live
in the land of the dead. Right? Dead spiritually. But
there'll be one day when we're going to go to the land of the
living. And you know, we'll never have any struggle with sin anymore.
We won't have any pain anymore. There'll be no sickness and no
crying. And you know what? There'll be
no night. Because Christ is the light. I love a warm sunny day,
don't you? Oh my! I have not seen seeing
nor ear heard the things that God hath prepared for those that
love him." Oh my! First second in eternity we're
just going to stand there in awe, aren't we? Oh, we will. We're going to be speechless.
Oh, my. Our Lord is so good to us, and
He ever protects us. Let's continue verses 9 to 13
here. Because thou hast made the Lord
which is my refuge even the most high thy habitation. There shall
no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling. For he shall give his angels
charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear
thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion
and the adder. The young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet. There is no refuge, there is
no safety, there is no security for this sinner or any other
sinner outside of Christ. None at all. not in anything
you or I do, not in religion, not in law keeping, not in works. There's no safety and no refuge,
no security for anyone outside of Christ. None at all. None. But all we who dwell under the
shadow of the Almighty are safe only because we are in Christ. That's the only reason we're
safe. Remember the ark was a picture of Christ? All who were in the
ark were saved. Not a drop of that water fell
on them, which pictures the wrath of God. But outside, no one was
saved. No one. And that pictures all
who are outside of Christ. And as I said earlier, we're
delivered from all judgment, condemnation, and wrath in Christ. We're hidden in Him. Do you know
John Gill calls us the hidden ones? Hidden in Christ? Because He alone is our refuge
and our strength. He alone is a very present help
in trouble, isn't He? I cried unto thee, O Lord. I
said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the
living. Psalm 142, verse 5. We who are redeemed have been
made willing in the day of God's power to flee to Christ. And
He alone is our refuge and our habitation. He alone. For He
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy and I'll
have compassion whom I have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."
If you're a believer here tonight or listening in, it's not of
your will or your works that you're saved, but of God who's
showing mercy to you in Christ. And what do we say? Praise His
mighty name. Praise His mighty name. There's no boasting in
ourselves, is there? We looked at that today, but
we can sure boast in Christ, can't we? We can boast in Him.
We can boast of what He's done. Glory to His name. He's a wonderful
Redeemer, a wonderful Savior. He's my all in all, as Paul said. And the believer in Christ sings
glory to God and proclaims the great things that God hath done
for us. Now let's look at verses 14 to
16. And remember, as we look at these
verses, we'll see seven promises to the believer in these verses
here. And let us remember what Paul
penned that I read earlier, 2 Corinthians 1.20. Again, he penned this by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. These are not just Paul's
words. The Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. He
had Paul penned these words for all the promises of God in him
In Christ are ye in Him. Amen. Unto the glory of God by
us. So with that fresh in our minds,
let's consider these seven promises before us in these next three
verses. Look at this. Because He has
set His love upon me, therefore will I deliver Him. I will set
Him on high because He hath known my name. he shall call upon me
and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will
deliver him and honor him with long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation now notice how many times God says
I will God saying this Because He has set His love upon me,
and remember the love that we have is shed abroad in our hearts
by God. We can't manufacture it, right?
When one is truly born again in the Holy Spirit of God, we
have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, and now we love
Him, whom once we shook our fists at. Because he has said his love
upon me, therefore, this is what the Lord says, will I deliver
him. I will set him on high, because
he hath known my name. He shall call upon me. And we
only do that by the power and grace of God, that we call upon
our great God. i will answer him i will be with
him in trouble i will deliver him and honor him with long life
will i satisfy him and show him my salvation oh my look at this
because he has said his love upon me therefore will i deliver
him God will deliver His people, first promise. God will deliver
His people, those whom Christ has redeemed, He will deliver
them from the penalty of sin which He did at Calvary's cross,
from the curse of the law which He did at Calvary's cross, and
He will also deliver us from all our trials and troubles.
And how many times can we look back in our lives after the fact
of course because in the midst of it we're going oh my what
right because we all do that we gotta be honest we all do
that but we can look back and see look at what the Lord has
done look what he did as Drew said I'm gonna repeat it again
stand back and watch the sovereign at work right I need to learn
that lesson I need to learn that I need to learn it every day
I need to remind myself of that every single day is it so with
you my Psalm 59.1 says this, deliver me from mine enemies,
O God, defend me from them that rise up against me. Now, the
Lord Jesus Christ has delivered his people from their enemies.
Beloved, the law of God was our enemy. It was our enemy. It had
a rightful claim on us. But Christ has delivered us from
the curse of the law. The law demands payment for our
sins, and the payment is death, right? Well, Christ has paid
it in full by dying as our substitute on Calvary's cross. Scripture
declares, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.
Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. the
scripture declares Christ has redeemed us from the curse of
law being made a curse for us for it is written curse is everyone
that hangeth on the tree so our sin and the penalty of our sin
was our enemy was our enemy Christ the sinless substitute dies in
our place dies in our place in the place of his people you know
what he's done he's destroyed that enemy hasn't he he's vanquished
that enemy blood He fulfilled the law to the letter for us,
then he satisfies his own justice that was against us, and our
sins he will remember no more. because they're vanquished. Praise
be to God. And he did it by purchasing our
eternal souls by the shedding of his precious, precious blood.
For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious, the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spots. He delivers us. He's delivered
us from our sins. He's delivered us from the law. He's delivered us from the wrath
of God. And you know He delivers us from
our trials and tribulations too, doesn't He? He does. Those He
has purchased, those He has redeemed, all go through things on this
earth. He takes us through them. And you know what He does? At
the end of our life, He takes us home to glory, to be with
Him forever. My, what a great deliverance,
the fact that He's delivered us from our own sins. That's
a great deliverance right there. But then He delivers us from
this sin-cursed world to be in His presence with Him forever?
My, oh my. What hope that can give the believer.
What hope that can give us. The next promise I want us to
see is it says here, I will set him on high because he hath known
my name. The believer in Christ has Christ
revealed to them by the Holy Spirit of God. How? Through the
preaching of the gospel. That's why it's vital to preach
the gospel. We know his name. He's the Lord
our righteousness. His name is above all names,
the scripture says. He's the only name who salvation's
in, right? There's salvation in no other
except Christ. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved. And we must be saved,
eh? We must be saved from our sins,
otherwise we perish and go into a Christless eternity. We must
be saved. Note in this promise also, we
see, I will set him. Beloved of God, we've been set
on high in Christ. By God, we've been set on high. This speaks of being set on high
above our enemies. In the old days, they used to
go to the high ground. They would take the high ground.
They would build towers on the high ground. So the enemies would
have to come up all this high ground. And they could roll rocks
on them. They could pour oil on them.
They could do whatever they wanted from the high ground. I have
two cats. One's always taking the high
ground. The little one, he hasn't learned yet. He's the younger
one. He has not learned you must take the high ground. The older
cat, he takes the high ground every time. And guess what? He
gets that little guy every single time. Little guy's swatting at
him, and he's got the high ground. He just comes right down on top
of him. And I see that example all the time. But he set us on
high, beloved. He set us on high. We're protected
in him. We're under the shadow of the
Almighty. And the believer in Christ is
set high upon a rock, right? And who's that rock? Well, that
rock's Christ. That rock's Christ. And He's
higher than all the angels. He's higher than all the angels.
He's higher than the heavens. He's in a place, our King, our
Savior's in a place where no one can touch Him. Our enemies
can't get near Him. And that's who we're hidden,
beloved. We're hidden Christ. And he is seated high upon the
sovereign throne in glory. And scripture declares we're
crucified with Christ and we're risen with Christ. And we're
now even seated with Christ in the heavenlies. What can we say
about that? Praise his mighty name. The third
promise I'd like us to look at in this text is found in verse
15. Look at this. He shall call upon
me and I will answer him. Look at that. He shall call upon
me and I will answer him. God has answered our call for
mercy, hasn't He? Every believer cries out to God
for mercy. And He's heard our prayer, and
He's answered it. And we're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, by His almighty power, and He's granted us faith
to look to Christ. to look to Christ and Him alone.
And you know, He continues to answer His people's prayers according
to His will. It's not always what we want,
right? We've learned very, we've learned that we often ask amiss,
like He told us, but He always answers our prayers according
to His will, according to His will and according to His purpose.
And we see that more after the fact, again, don't we? Because
we realize sometimes we prayed for things that wouldn't have
worked at all. But the Lord knows better than
we. He knows better than we. But He answers our prayers. He
does, according to His will, in all for His glory. And when
God's people call out to Him, we call out to Him in Christ,
don't we? We call out to Him in Christ,
in His name, and because of what Christ has done for us. Let us
therefore then, let us therefore come boldly under the throne
of grace, that's in reverent fear, but boldly, boldly under
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. Do you need mercy?
I need mercy all the time. Do you need mercy? Let us, therefore,
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help. I need grace a lot. Do you all
need grace a lot? Let us, therefore, come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. We are a needy people, aren't
we? Let us, therefore, come boldly to God's throne. Let us, therefore,
come boldly in Christ, in Christ. And truly we have obtained grace
and mercy in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. The next promise
I'd like us to look at is in this same verse. We see that
God promises to be with us in trouble and to deliver us from
those troubles. And how many times have we seen this in our
lives as believers? The world uses phrases like luck. There's no such thing as luck
in a believer's life. It's all the providence of God.
Look what it says here. he shall call upon me and i will
answer him what a promise there look at this too i will be with
him in trouble i will deliver him and honor him i will be with
him in trouble i will deliver him trials and trouble comes
our way comes to all of god's people young and old and let
us always remember we who are the beloved of god that whatever
trials or trouble comes our way that we are in the grasp of the
Almighty. We are in the grasp of the Almighty. We are ever before Him. We're
engraved in the palms of His hands. We're ever before Him.
And we saw earlier we're covered under the shadow of the Almighty,
aren't we? Now we tend to forget that with things that go on in
the world, but we are. Just because we worry or stress
or have anxiety about things does not change the fact that
we are covered under the shadow of the Almighty. He ever watches
over His people. He delivers us from all these
situations which come our way. And we, again, can look back
in our lives as believers and constantly see Him doing that,
constantly. We could write books about it,
couldn't we? We really could, about what the Lord's done for
us, different situations that we've been through, and Him manifesting
this promise before us. Deliver here in the Hebrew means
to escape, to save, to bring into security. I like that, to
bring into security. We are secure in Christ, secure
in Him. And we have a double deliverance,
living and dying. Deliverance in trouble and in
trial during this life. and in deliverance from this
world of sin in this body of sin when we breathe our last
breath. Double deliverance, beloved.
It's wonderful. So truly this promise is fulfilled
for us in Christ. The Master told us that in this
world we'll have tribulation, didn't he? But he said, be of
good cheer, I've overcome the world. The fifth promise I'd
like us to look at here says, I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him. There's only one name in
which the believer finds honor, only one name that God will honor,
and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. And what blessed benefits we
have as God's people in Christ. Scripture says we have all spiritual
blessings in Him, all of them. And we know from what we read
earlier that all the promises of God are yea and amen in Him.
So what blessed benefits we have in Christ. All of God's people,
all the saints of God are honored by God in Christ. We are adopted
by God in Christ. We are part of the family of
God, part of His chosen people. We have fellowship with God now
in Christ. And we are adorned with the graces
of His Holy Spirit. We've been granted communion
and fellowship with God in Christ. Fellowship with the sovereign
of the universe. We have that in Christ. And it's
all come to pass according to His almighty power and by His
almighty power. So what an honor and a privilege
it is to be one of God's chosen blood-bought children, accepted
in the beloved, accepted in Christ Jesus our Lord. The next promise
I'd like us to consider is found, the sixth promise is found in
verse 16. With long life will I satisfy
Him and show Him my salvation. Perhaps a long life here on earth
But we know that this life is like a vapor. Long life here
is reference to eternal life. Eternal life in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 21, if you want to turn
there, let's turn there just quick. Psalm 21, we'll read verse
4 and 5. Psalm 21, verses 4 and 5. He asks life of Thee, and Thou
gavest it Him, even length of days, forever and ever. His glory
is great in Thy salvation. Honor and majesty hast Thou laid
upon Him. The Scriptures say this from
the lips of our Master. Search the Scriptures, for in
them ye think ye have eternal life, and they which testify
of me. Christ is eternal life, and all
who are in Christ have eternal life. Do you know the saints
in glory are no more secure than we are here on this earth? That's
something to think about. Robert Murray McShane bought
that out. The saints on earth are just as secure as the saints
in glory. We're just not in his presence
yet. But we're just as secure, just as sure to be in heaven. God has ordained a people unto
eternal life in Christ. The scriptures declare, and when
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word
of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed. They believed. Our great God
has promised eternal life to his people in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Grace reigns through righteousness
unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The last promise of
God to his people I'd like us to consider from this psalm is
found again in verse 16. With long life will I satisfy
him and show him my salvation. Look at that, show him my salvation. He will manifest His glory. He
will manifest His glory, and He will manifest His grace to
His people. And He has done that to every
one of His people in Christ. Turn, if you would, to Luke.
We're going to finish with this chapter, this little bit in Luke.
Luke chapter 2. Remember, and we see here what
Simeon exclaimed when he held Christ in his arms. And I want
us to focus on this. I will show him my salvation. See, God has revealed something
to us, hasn't he? He's revealed our sinfulness
as God's people, and he's revealed our mighty Savior. He's showing
us Christ. Look at this in Luke. Now Simeon
had been told he would not see death before he had seen the
Lord's Christ, the Lord's Messiah, until he saw the Redeemer of
God. the Redeemer of God's people. Look what he says here in Luke
chapter 2, Luke chapter 2 verses 25 to 32. And behold there was
a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and the same man was
just and devout. Now remember it says there he's
just, he's only just in Christ beloved. But he's devout. He
has faith in Christ. He has faith in God. He's waiting
for the Messiah, waiting for the consolation of Israel. Oh,
my. And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, until he had
seen the Messiah, beloved. The Messiah sent from God, the
sent one. And he came by the Spirit. into
the temple, and when the parents bought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him in
his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thy servant
depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. You know God's people can say
the same thing, can't we? By faith we look to Christ. We've
seen God's salvation. Lord, now let us thy servant
depart in peace. And we have peace with God in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ, according to thy word. For mine
eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people. A light to lighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of thy people Israel. And Christ is the glory of spiritual
Israel, isn't he? He's the glory of God's people.
God's people have been given eyes to see, to behold the salvation
of God. And we look to the Lord Jesus
Christ, don't we? And we live all by the almighty
power of God. One day though, we're going to
see Him face to face. What a day that will be. We have
but a little time to tarry here. Our life's like a vapor. It's
just a little time. One day to the Lord is as a thousand
years. So it's like a millisecond that
we're here. Just like a vapor. So let we who are the redeemed
rest and trust in these precious promises which we've looked at
tonight. Because all these promises which
we've looked at tonight are yea and amen in Christ, who is our
Savior. Glory to his name.