if you would tonight to Psalm
5. Psalm 5. I had in my head there the psalm
that I read for the Bible reading. Psalm 5. Tonight we'll look at this wonderful
psalm and we'll see a contrast between the righteous and between
the wicked. The righteous are those who have
been made that way by Christ, by God, and the wicked, that's
our natural state, of course, and we're considered a believer
in God, trusting in God who alone is our refuge. Psalm 5, let's
look at the first three verses and let us have an eye to Christ
too here as the representative of the church and the people
and this will give us a confidence and the strength to take our
petitions to He who is our Redeemer and we come to God before the
mercy seat. with similar partitions through
Jesus Christ our Lord. And think upon this, what unquestionable
authority we have in Christ when we look up to Jehovah in Christ's
name. He is the very one who said,
I ascend unto my Father, to my God and to your God, to my God
and to your God. And he said that to Mary when
she supposed him to be the gardener in John chapter 20. Now let's
look at the first three verses here. To the chief musician upon
Netheloth, the psalm of David, give ear to my words, O Lord,
consider my meditation. Note this appeal is directly
to Jehovah. Directly to Jehovah. Give ear
to my words, O Lord, Jehovah, the self-existent one. It's He
alone who we worship, and our worship means nothing if we do
not come to Jehovah. We must come to Him. Faithful
men of the past have taught us that we can only come to Him
through Christ. There's no other way. There's
no other access, and we'll see that tonight. There's no other
access to God except through Christ and Him alone. Hearken
unto the voice of my cry, verse two, my King and my God, for
unto Thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the
morning, O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto
Thee, and will look up. And here we see prayer in its
threefold form, words, meditation, and crying out to God. And also
note the pronouns here in the second verse, my King and my
God. They are the essence and heart
of the plea here before us. And here before us is a grand
argument why God should answer prayer, because He is our King.
He's our King. And He's our God. And He's our
God. And we come before Him, we know,
in and through Christ alone. We have been adopted in Christ.
We are his people. We're no longer strangers and
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. But now in Christ
Jesus, we are made nigh by his precious blood. Ephesians 2 tells
us this very clearly. It says that at that time, being
before we were saved, before we were born again, ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. But now in Christ Jesus, Ye who sometimes were far off
are made nigh by the blood of Christ. This is how we have access
to God, by the blood of Christ, Ephesians 2, 12 and 13. And now,
God is king of our hearts. There was a time when he wasn't.
You remember that? There was a time when he wasn't. And kings, kings are expected
to hear the appeals of their own people, aren't they? People would bring, back in the
days, people would bring before kings their concerns, their cares,
and they looked to that king to take care of them. So kings are expected to hear
the appeals of their own people, and David would know this because
he's a king himself. He's a king himself. Now let
us remember, we who are God's blood-bought people, we're people
of the King, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And we're
His by choice, and we're His by purchase. We're not strangers
to Him. We're not strangers to Him. We're
His worshipers. And what is He? He's our God.
He's our King, and He's our God. And He's made it so, hasn't He?
He's ours by covenant, too, and He's ours by promise, and by oath, and He's ours by
blood, through the precious blood of Christ, and we are His born-again,
blood-bought people, aren't we? Turn one psalm over, look at
Look at verse 1 of Psalm 4. It says this, hear me when I
call, O God of my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. Now note there, he says, hear
me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer." And then in Psalm 2, Psalm 2 makes clear that the
Lord is king. He's God's anointed king. And God the Father calls Christ
my son. Look at this in Psalm 2.7. It
says, I will declare, or I declare the decree the Lord has said
unto me, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And
David pens by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that the Lord
is king. Look it over in Psalm 10. Look
over in Psalm 10. So the king who we approach is
our savior. Look at Psalm 10, 16, it says
here, the Lord is what? King. For how long? Forever. Forever. The heathen are perished
out of his land. Think of that too. All the folks
that have opposed Christ through the ages, all the people who
have opposed the church through the ages, they're perished. And
he's still king. He's still king, beloved. He's
king forever. Forever and ever. So this is
who David's crying out to, and this is who we as God's born-again,
blood-washed saints, this is who we cry out to. Christ our
Redeemer, our Lord, this is who we cry out to. So let us take
note the acknowledgement of God as the object of spiritual devotion,
and the fact that the believer in Christ has constant access
to God by prayer for help in every time of need. Just remember
that there's nothing too small in our lives to take to God,
nothing. I know we take our kids, and
we take our family members, and we take our friends, right? We take the furtherance of the
gospel, praying for it to go forth with power, but beloved,
there's nothing too small that's going on in your life to take
to the Lord, to take to the king of glory, nothing. That's comforting
for us. That's comforting for us as believers.
Now let's consider verses four to six. For thou art not a God
that hath pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with
thee. Note the word God here before us in our text. In the
Hebrew, it's the word El, which is here translated God. It means
the mighty God, the Almighty. So we see here that the Almighty
One has no pleasure in wickedness and evil, none. Now look what it says there,
too. Neither shall evil dwell with thee. And then look at verses
five and six. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy
them that speak lesen. The Lord will abhor the bloody
and deceitful man. So let us remember that in prayer
we draw near. Now this is something we need
to remember. Vicki and I were talking about
this today, and it struck me as I was studying this. As we
approach God in prayer, let us remember that we are approaching
the One, the very One who the angels cried out, holy, holy,
holy. The very One who they had to
cover their faces just to be in His presence. That's who we
approach, beloved. The sovereign God of the universe.
And praise God, we approach Him in Christ. That's the only way
we could approach Him. But we have access to Him in prayer. That's our God, beloved. It's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. He's
the one that's spoken by Isaiah, the holy, holy, holy, the Lord
God of hosts. And the court he dwells in is
holy because of him. And the unclean may not enter.
Look at verse four. It says, neither shall evil dwell
with thee. He can't be in its presence.
He's perfect righteousness. No evil can be in the presence
Now ponder the holiness of Him to whom you pray and lips address. It is He who hates sin in every
form. The very angels have no worthiness
before Him. That's our God. Now think upon
this, beloved, and again let us keep an eye to our Redeemer.
Our great Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact that He
came to redeem His people from their sins, and He came to destroy
the works of the devil. And think upon this, we are born
dead in trespasses and sins, right? With no hope. Evil to the core. And the scripture here declares,
in verse 4, neither shall evil dwell with thee. So how can we who are His people
be with Him in glory forever? Well, we must be saved from our
sins. We must be clothed in the perfect spotless righteousness
of Christ. We must be forgiven of all our
sins and the law and justice of God which is against us must
be satisfied, right? We must be born from above. We
must be made new creatures in Christ to be justified and made
holy in order, we must be justified and made holy in order to stand
in the very presence of the God of the universe. Because it says
very, very, very plainly there, neither shall evil dwell with
thee. 11. Christ has done all these things
for us. He's made us holy. He's justified
us. He's given us a righteousness
that we could stand before the presence of God. And we know
the scripture tells us we're holy and without blame, clothed
in that perfect righteousness. And we draw near to God, cleansed
in the precious blood of Christ. Cleansed, clothed in his beauty,
in his spotless righteousness. based all upon His work and His
merits. O Lord Jesus, Thou who art the
Holy One of God, cause we who believe upon Thee to be fixing
our eyes, our whole soul, with love and adoration upon Thee,
who is the Lord our righteousness. And note God hates the workers
of iniquity in verse 5 and contrasts this with a God of modern day
religion who loves everyone the same. Right? We've all heard
that, haven't we? People say that all the time,
but the scripture says, if will shall not stand in thy sight,
thou hatest all the workers of iniquity. Now God is love, we
know that. But God hates sin. He hates sin,
boy. Boy, this goes against modern
religion, doesn't it? And you know that God will destroy
the wicked, but he has mercy on his chosen people in Christ. Look at verse 7. This verse is
wonderful to the believer. But as for me, I will come into
thy house in the multitude of thy mercy, And in thy fear will
I worship toward thy holy temple. Now the temple hadn't been made
yet, so the tabernacle was in the tent in the Ark of the Covenant,
and so this is where he would go. And take note of the word
multitude. But as for me, I will come into
thy house in a multitude of thy mercy. That in the Hebrew means
abundance, a large number. a great number. The Hebrew word is used to indicate
that something is numerous, such as a people, that there's an
abundance of something. God's mercy, beloved God, is
super abounding, super abounding to the believer. In the scriptures,
He's plainly declared that our God is rich in mercy, He's abundant
in goodness and truth, And there is a multitude of mercy, love,
and grace for his people in Christ. In Christ. And this is displayed
by the very fact that God sent his son to be a propitiation
for our sins. To be an atonement. And abundant
mercy is also shown in regeneration, we're born again. And abundant
mercy is also shown in adoption. Abundant mercy is also shown
in the forgiveness of all our sins. What abundant mercy is
shown there? Abundance. And abundant mercy is shown in
the fact that all spiritual blessings are in Christ, in Christ alone.
And abundant mercy is shown in the fact that we are granted
faith to believe. And abundant mercy is shown in
the eternal life, which we have, which comes to the believer only
in Christ. God's abundant mercy has been
manifested to you and I, who are his blood-bought people,
hasn't it? We know him to be abundant in mercy. We don't lean
on our own understanding, but we trust in His mercy and in
His grace, and the goodness of God in Christ. And we find grace
to help in time of need through Christ. And we who believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ no longer rely on our own merits or our
own strength. And we all did that. We no longer
rely on our supposed self-righteousness, which was just self-righteousness.
But we all did at one time. God would not allow us in our
presence if we came before him on our own merit or in our own
righteousness or in our own strength, because we know that everything
we do is tainted with sin. Therefore it's evil in his eyes,
and we know what the scripture declares. Neither shall evil
dwell with thee. We must be clothed in the perfect
spotless righteousness of Christ, and we're thankful for the mercy
we receive. We're thankful that Christ has
clothed us in his righteousness. We're thankful. What mercy and
grace, what divine love, what divine care is manifested to
every believer. by he who is the lover of our
souls. Let's look at verses 8 to 10.
It says, lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of
mine enemies make thy way straight before my face. How suitable a prayer here for
all of God's people. Lord, lead us in thy righteousness
because of our enemies, which are all around us. And take note
also of the words, lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness. Tie this
in, turn, if you would, to Habakkuk 2. Habakkuk 2. Tie this in with
what the New Testament says, the just shall live by faith.
It's also spoken of in Habakkuk 2. Tie this portion in here where
it says, lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness. And tie that
in. Look at Habakkuk 2. It says, behold, his soul which
is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live
by faith. Tie that in again with lead me,
O Lord, in thy righteousness. Now turn to Romans chapter one,
and then put your finger in Galatians chapter three. So we've looked
at the Old Testament where it says there the just shall live
by faith. Now let's look at Romans chapter one, and then we'll go
to Galatians chapter three. And we tie this in with, lead
me, O Lord, in thy righteousness. Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, for
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God,
remember, lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, for therein
is the righteousness of God, what? Revealed from faith to
faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Now
who's the object of our faith? Christ. Turn, if you would, to
Galatians chapter 3. Christ and Christ alone. We live
a life of faith now, trusting and resting in our wonderful
Redeemer, in whom we are justified in the sight of God. Look at
Galatians chapter 3 now. Verses 10 to 14. For as many
as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is
written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in the things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. So if
a man wants to live by the law, he's got to do them all, or else
he's cursed. Well, we can't do one. But that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, is it evident?
Look at this again. The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made the curse for us,
for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree,
that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. So again, tie that in with our text in Psalm 5.8. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness.
The just live by faith. They live trusting in Christ,
who is the Lord our righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. Let's
go back to Psalm 5. And our text speaks again and
note the contrast from the righteous who live by faith and praise
God for his mercies and goodness to us every day. Now contrast
that between them and the wicked which is brought forth before
us in the next two verses. So again, verse 8 says, lead
me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies. Make
thy way straight before me. This is a cry of a righteous
man, one who's being made righteous by God in and through Christ.
Now look at verses 9 and 10. For there is no faithfulness
in their mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness. Their
throat is an open sepulcher. They flatter with their tongue.
Destroy thou them, O God. let them fall by their own counsels,
cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for
they have rebelled against thee." Beloved, we can be sure that
God will destroy His enemies. He will. He destroys enemies. Those who have rebelled against
Him, He destroys. Remember, only those
in the ark were safe from God's wrath, When Noah and his family
entered into that ark, and then God shut them in, only those
who were inside that ark were safe. Only those who are in Christ
are safe. Only those. The wrath of God
shall fall upon his enemies. And note again here the contrast
here before us. David has brought forth the sure
destruction of the wicked, and now note Now notes, in our next
two verses, the joy of those who trust in God. He's their defender and they
love his name and God has blessed those he's made righteous in
Christ, in Christ alone. Do you see the constant contrast
that we have in this psalm? Look at verses 11 and 12, but
let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice. Let them
ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them. Let them also
that love thy name be joyful in thee, for thou, Lord, will
bless the righteous with favor. Wilt thou compass him as with
a shield? So let us take note here of the
character and privileges of the righteous. Know and full well
that we're only made righteous before God in Christ. And that
we have all spiritual blessings in Christ and Christ alone. Let's
look at verse 11. But let all those that put their
trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy,
because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy name
be joyful in thee. Again, here we have a contrast
of the righteous from the wicked, both in character and in privilege.
We've seen the character of the wicked already brought forth
in what we've read in verses five, six, and verses nine and
10 of the psalm. And the righteousness of Christ
exalts its possessor into the presence of God. We are clothed
by God with this perfect righteousness. It's nothing that we can attain
by works. It's nothing that we deserve.
Nothing we merit. It comes to us. This righteousness
is given to us. It comes to us by the pure grace
of God and the mercy of God alone. And contrast that with wickedness
which will only ruin its possessor. Only ruin its possessor. Leading
to tribulation and anguish of the soul forever. We see that
in verses 9 and 10. And let us remember the only
difference between we who are his blood-bought people, we who
are redeemed, and the lost sinner, or the wicked spoken of, the
only difference is the grace of God in Christ between us and
them. That's the only difference. There's no other difference.
It's God who made us to differ, and God alone. And note the character
of the righteous. It says, but let all those that
put their trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy.
because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy name
be joyful in thee. Beloved of God, they that trust
in God love his name. That's what the scripture here
says. God is our refuge and our strength. It is he and he alone
who cares for us and who watches over us and who provides for
us. Just as he did for Israel of
old, which was a picture of the church. All the time they wandered
through the wilderness, he took care of them. He provided for
them. He watched over them. He defended them. And he alone
was their refuge and he alone is our refuge. And what a picture
of the church we have in that picture. because we know that
He alone is our refuge. And therefore the believer cries
out with, Paul, my God shall supply all your need according
to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus. And the blood-bought saint
of God says, Amen. He has. He has. He provided all the sinner needs
in Christ. Look at verse 11 again, it says,
but let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice. Let them
ever shout for joy because thou defendest them. Let them also
that love thy name be joyful in thee. And trusting in God,
it's trusting in God implies a deep conviction of our need
of Christ and our hopelessness and our helplessness to save
ourselves. And we know this to be true because
the master himself proclaims, without me you can do nothing.
Without Christ, we cannot be saved. Without Christ, we cannot be
redeemed. Without Christ, the law of God
is not fulfilled. Without Christ, the justice of
God is not satisfied, and it must be satisfied. Without Christ's righteousness,
none will be in the presence of the Lord. We know that, right,
from what the text said earlier. Evil will not dwell with him. So what a hopeless, helpless
state natural man is in. And those who go into a Christless
eternity without Christ are eternally lost, clothed in their own righteousness. So the believer, by revelation
of God, proclaims, I know that nothing good lives in me, nothing. That's my sinful nature. I may have a desire to do good,
but I can't carry it out. We can't conquer our own sin,
can we? No. We can't do anything without
divine aid. That's why the Lord himself said,
without me you can do nothing. Nothing. Praise God that he's
with his people. Praise God that he strengthens
us and gives us grace to help in time of need. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ
by whom we have the forgiveness of all our sins and by whom only
we can enter into the presence of God. And the believer in Christ
has renounced their trust in the things that they used to
trust in. We've renounced those things, haven't we? Some may
have trusted in their possessions, they don't anymore. Some may
have trusted in their wealth, they don't anymore. Some may have trusted in their
self-righteousness, they don't anymore, knowing they could never
be justified before God by anything they do. Blood-bought believers
have been taught this, haven't we? We've been taught this. And
the believer in Christ may have trusted in their own strength
at one time before they were saved, but now that the Lord
has saved them, they do not trust in their own strength. Their
trust is in the one who is now their strength. the Lord Jesus
Christ and him alone. So all former objects of trust before we were saved are renounced
by the believer. Again, we don't trust in our
own strength. We don't trust in our own wisdom. We don't trust
in our knowledge. We don't trust in our self-righteousness.
We've renounced those. We've renounced those as refuges
of lies, a refuge of lies, and we've renounced them as physicians
of no value. That's what they are. They're
physicians of no value. Can't help us. And one commentator
brings forth that the word trust here is very significant and
its literal force it means to flee to a refuge. To flee to
a refuge. Turn if you would to Psalm 57,
the same Hebrew word translated trust here is translated trusteth
over in Psalm 57 verse one. And we'll see as one commentator
said the literal force of this word. Psalm 57 verses one and
two I'll read. Be merciful unto me, O God, be
merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. He's our refuge. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge until the calamities be overpassed. I will
cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things
for me. So trust in God in our text has
a reference to Christ because he's the only mediator between
God and man. He's the only way to the Father,
and we who believe flee to Him who is the refuge of our souls,
the Lord Jesus Christ. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me, and we know our Savior ever liveth to make intercession
for us. The Lord knows our need and our helplessness, and we
look to God for help in and through Christ alone, and we look to
Him for His glory. The Great Intercessor takes our
needs to the Father and pleads His blood. And to trust in God
is to trust Him for what He has promised to do for us in time
and in eternity. Psalm 62.8 says this, trust in
Him at all times, ye people. Pour out your hearts before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Selah. So to believe on Christ is to
cast our eternal souls upon him, have faith in him, which is a
gift from God, and to wholly seek him is the only refuge of
our soul. He's the only redeemer, the only
savior. Ephesians chapter one says this,
in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation. whom also after that she believed
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Turn, if
you would, to Acts chapter 16. This is what the Philippian jailer
did over in the book of Acts. He trusted the Lord. He trusted
the Lord. Acts 16, verses 30 to 34. He brought him out and said, Sirs,
what must I do to be saved? Now if there was ever anything
to do to be saved, Paul would have told them, right? Look what
Paul says here in verse 31. And they said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Just look to Christ. Just trust him. and the house. And they spake unto him the word
of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took
them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and
was baptized he in all his straight way. And when he had brought
them into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house." He believed. He trusted God. He trusted God. What a picture
of God's great power and the salvation of a sinner before
us in that text there in Acts 16. So the believer in Christ
trusts God. We trust God for the saving of
our soul. We trust God for the conquest
over all our enemies. We trust God for support and
deliverance from all our troubles. We trust God for his guidance
and care for us, all according to his providence. He works all
things out in our lives. And we trust God for the forgiveness
of all our sins and for eternal life, which comes only in and
through Christ alone. And we trust God in all circumstances,
don't we? All circumstances. Circumstances
that we deem to be bad, but are really for our good, and we trust
Him in all things, all things. We trust in His wise providence,
in His wise providence. We trust in His ability, because
He's God, and He has all power. We trust in His promises, which
all find their fulfillment in Christ, in Christ alone. Now let us take note of the latter
part of this verse here, verse 11. But let all those that put
their trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy,
because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy name
be joyful in thee. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
20. Psalm 20. God's people love his name. One
commentator brings forth that the term thy name denotes God
himself. His nature is revealed in the
scripture to us by the Holy Spirit of God. God in all his glorious
perfections, especially his power and goodness to protect and save
those that trust in him. And this is the sense in which
the name of God or Jehovah is frequently used in the scriptures.
Look at Psalm 20. Look at the first verse. It says,
hear thee in the day of trouble, the name of the God of Jacob
defend thee, defend thee. And then look at verses five,
verse five, we will rejoice in thy salvation and in the name
of our God, we will set up banners, the Lord fulfill all thy petitions. So remember that the name, thy
name denotes God in all his perfections, beloved, all his perfections.
Then look at verse seven, Some trust in chariots, and some in
horses, but we'll remember the name of the Lord our God. We'll
remember His absolute sovereignty. We'll remember His power, beloved.
We'll remember His perfection. We'll remember His holiness.
We'll remember His righteousness. We'll remember, because God has
taught us, taught us who He is. He's revealed to us who He is.
Oh, we love our Savior, and we love His name. To love the name
of God is to delight in Him, beloved, to delight in Him, to
highly esteem Him, to earnestly desire Him, and enjoy His favor
towards His people in Christ. And those spoken of in our text
love Him because He first loved us. We know that from the New
Testament, don't we? And we know in our own lives,
there was a time when we didn't love Him. But Scripture says we love Him
because He first loved us. There it goes all the way back
to the everlasting love of God. It's wonderful. We don't deserve
this. So God's people love Him as their
Savior, as their great Deliverer, the Great One who has ransomed
their souls. They love Him as Father, Shepherd,
and King. He left the glories of heaven
to die upon Calvary's cross for my sin, the believer says. We
love Him. He's done for me what I could
never do. He's redeemed me. He saved me. Oh, we love Him. And we love
Him even though we have not seen Him. And we believe Him and trust
in His word, looking by faith, seeing Him by faith, don't we?
We see Him with spiritual eyes. We who are His blood-bought people.
And when we When we see him in scripture and through the preaching
of the word and through our studies, we are filled with inexpressible
and glorious joy, one commentator said. Oh, it fills our heart
with joy. And those spoken of in our text
who love him, love him sincerely. We love him not merely in profession,
but we love him from our heart, don't we? We have a new heart. And we love Him. And Scripture
says the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. In our
hearts. And even the love of Christ constrains
us now. And we who love God's name, love
Him supremely. We forsake all others, don't
we? Some of us have been shut off by family members. They've
shut us out, haven't they? But we cling to our Savior. Some of us have had friends who
have shut us out. We cling to our Savior. We love
Him supremely. We pray for those who do that
to us, but we love Him supremely. We deny ourselves and make sacrifices
for His sake, and we cry out with the psalmist. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 73, verses 25 and 26, and I ask you, is this
not our cry? Is this not our cry, beloved? Psalm 73, verses 25 to 26. Whom
have I in heaven but thee? That's our cry. Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
There is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart fill, but
God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. I love that. Whom have I in heaven
but Thee? Those who love God's name love
his people. They love his gospel, and they
love to be where the gospel's being proclaimed, and they put
other things aside for the furtherance of the gospel. Psalm 5, verse 11 and 12 again. But let all those that put their
trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy,
because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy name
be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the
righteous with favor, wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Now note, those who trust in
God and love his name shout for joy and were joyful. in him because
it is God himself who shields us and defends us. And this joy
springs from the mercy which we've received and the grace
which we've received through the atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ, through his sacrifice for us. And the effect of the truth believed
with the heart through the enlightening influences of the Holy Spirit
of God brings what? Great joy to the believer. And we who believe rejoice with
joy unspeakable, Scripture says. Now we have, what do we have
now? Now we go through things we do and things in life come
up and our peace gets shifted, doesn't it? But do we not have
a peace as believers that passes all understanding, that the world
does not understand? We do, don't we? It's in Christ,
in Christ alone. It's in him. And it keeps our hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus our Lord. And what great cause for joy
the believer has in Christ. Christ has died for my sins. Christ, because of what Christ
has done, all my sins are pardoned. Because of what Christ has done,
I'm justified from all condemnation. Because of what Christ has done
as my substitute, I'm adopted into God's family. Because of what Christ has done
for me, I now have access to God through Him. And because of what Christ has
done for me, I have a saving interest in all the promises
of God, which are in and through Christ Jesus, my Lord. He's everything to me. Is it
so with you? It's what the believer cries,
isn't it? Look at verse 12. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the
righteous with favor, wilt thou compass him as with a shield. No, God's people have joy and
are blessed because it's God who defends us. He defends his
people, remember this too. He defends his people by his
power and he defends his people by his providence. Think of all
the things you went through in life, look back. And no, I was
talking with a saint the other day and we were talking about
how much the Lord just took care of us before we even knew him.
My. We are blessed people. Think
upon this. I want us to think upon this. Think upon this as we're driving
home or as we're going home or through the week. God defends
his people, but he does not defend the wicked. God defends his people, but he
does not defend the wicked. Think upon this. I touched on
this earlier. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. He was spared in this family, but all the wicked
of that day perished. They perished. And the scriptures proclaim that
Baal was a righteous man and he was spared, but his wife and
all of Sodom were destroyed. Three Hebrew children, Shaddach,
Meshach, and Abednego were spared in the fire, but those who cast
them into the fire perished. Daniel was spared in the lion's
pit, but all those who were against him were later cast into the
pit and tore to pieces. Paul went through many perils,
and yet he was preserved. God defended him and God defends
his people by his power. Now let's bring it right home. Think about in our own lives.
Think about all the people we've known in our lives. Think about
the people who perished in their sins in your lives. And God preserved you. and kept
you until the day you would hear the gospel, until the day you
would hear his voice, and God will protect you and keep you
and defend you all the way to glory, beloved. And what made
you and I to differ from all those people around us who perished?
God and God alone. That brings it right home for
us, doesn't it? It brings it right. It's humbling. But does
it not fill our hearts with joy, too, though, to know that we
are one of his redeemed people, that we are one of his blood-bought
people, that we are born again by his almighty power? Oh, what
great joy this brings God's people. God's omnipotent power spans
the heavens. And it is on this almighty arm,
the arm of God that believers trust. The Lord is my light and
my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? The believer says praise is mighty.
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee again for allowing us to gather
together and look in Thy Word, and oh Lord, what great mercy
You have had upon Your people, a multitude of mercy, superabounding
mercy You have had upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord. And may
we remember this this week. May we ponder the great mercy
that has been shown us in Christ. And may we remember that the
only thing that's made us to differ from the people we knew
growing up. And from the people of the past
who perished in their sins is thy grace and thy grace alone. It is you who has made us to
differ, nothing in ourselves, all by thy power and thy grace
and thy mercy. And oh Lord, may we rejoice this
week with joy unspeakable at this wonderful salvation that
we have in thee. And it's in your name we pray.
Amen. Take your hymnals and turn with
me to number 263. And as you're turning there, the pastor talked
about how the Lord's a defender of his people. And that's what
this songwriter believed because he penned four lines about our
Lord being a shelter in the time of storm. 263, let's stand.