Let's open our Bibles again to
Psalm 3. The title of the message this
evening is Salvation Belongs to the Lord. David wrote this
psalm when Absalom had taken the throne from David. And Absalom,
David's own son, his darling son, was trying to kill David,
trying to hunt down and kill his own father. It's just almost impossible to
imagine how David felt at this time. He had to be so low. Just think how low he must have
felt like sorrow and worry and doubt were just going to crush
him, didn't he? That's what he says here, verse
one. Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they
that rise up against me. Many there be would say of my
soul, there's no help for him in God. Even God's not helping
him now. You see, not only had Absalom
taken the throne, his son trying to kill him, David's most trusted
advisor, his close friend Ahithophel, turned against David too. Scripture
says at that time Ahithophel, what he would say, was so full
of wisdom, His counsel was as the oracles of God. And this
man turned against David. It hurt him, his close friend
turned against him. This man who was so wise, giving
counsel to David's enemy, worried David to no end. And then almost
all Israel. Remember how Israel sang songs
about David? You know, Saul's killed his thousands,
David's killed his ten thousands. They danced in the street when
David became king. Now almost the entire nation,
has turned against David. That's why David felt like his
troubles just rose up like a mountain on top of him. He couldn't count
all the people that had suddenly become his enemies. And all these
people thought the Lord had forsaken David. That's why they said there's
no help for him in God. And I'll tell you why they said
that. David is suffering the consequences of his sin with
Bathsheba. at this time. Remember after
Nathan came and told David, you're the man. The Lord had told Nathan. Nathan told David, because you
committed this adultery with Bathsheba, because you murdered
Uriah, her husband, to try to cover up your sin, David the
sword is not going to depart from your house. The Lord said,
David, I'm going to raise up from your own house enemies against
you. That's why Absalom is doing what
he's doing. This is happening as a fulfillment of what the
Lord told David would happen. Do you know why Ahithophel turned
against David? Do you know who his granddaughter
was? Bathsheba. He did not like the
way his granddaughter had been treated. That's why he turned
against David, as consequence for what he'd done. This is what
gave Shimei the courage to curse the king, curse him to his face,
throw rocks at him, call him a bloody man. Because they thought
there's no help for him in God. And there are times when every
believer feels that just the way David feels right now. We
feel like our troubles have heaped upon us. They're just as big
as a mountain. I mean, they're just we can't
move a fraction. We just we're so helpless. We
think my troubles just keep coming and coming. They're just unrelenting
one right after another, after another. And I'm just overwhelmed. I'm afraid to answer the phone
anymore. I'm going to get more bad news. Can you imagine how
poor old Joe felt? He saw another rider coming up
to him. He wanted to tell him, go away. Don't tell me no more.
I can't take no more. And we just feel like there's
so many, we're just, our trouble's going to crush us. Some of those troubles hit awful
close to home. Oh, they pierce the very heart. and the darkness of our trouble,
the overwhelming weight of our trouble, make us think God's
forsaken me. God's forsaken me. In that dark, dark hour, don't ever forget this. Salvation
belongs to the Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
I want to give you two words of comfort when you think, God's
cast me off. God's not with me anymore. Number
one is this. God will never abandon or forsake
his people. I know that's so. You know why
I know that? God said it. God promised it. He has said, I'll never leave
thee nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord's
our helper. I won't fear what man shall do.
The Lord's my helper. He will not leave nor forsake
His people. The Lord never did forsake David,
did He? He won't you either if you believe on Him. Second word of comfort is this.
Don't ever get caught in this trap thinking, Oh, God's punished
me for my sin. God's abandoned me. He's punished
me for my sin. God never punishes His people
for their sin. Never. Now, We do bear the consequences
of our sin, don't we? Drive down the highway 100 miles
an hour, you're going to get a ticket that you got what you
deserve. You suffer the consequences. These bodies are going to die
someday. It's the consequences of sin. Our flesh must die. There's
sin in it. And the Lord will correct his
people for their sin. But the Lord never punishes his
people for their sin. Because he's already punished
Christ our substitute for our All his wrath, his punishment
has been poured out upon his son so that God said, there's
no wrath left in me. It's all been poured out on our
substitute. And I can show you that from this very situation.
Look back to 2 Samuel chapter 12. This is after Nathan had
told David. Now David, you're the man. Because
of this sin with Bathsheba, because you murdered Uriah, her husband,
the sword's never going to depart from your house. From your own
house, I'm going to raise up trouble You'll have trouble the
rest of your days because of this. You'll suffer the consequences
for it. And David thought, oh, this is too much. He says here
in 2 Samuel 12, verse 13, David said unto Nathan, I've sinned
against the Lord. Nathan said unto David, the Lord
also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. You shall
not die because the Lord Jesus Christ has put your sin away.
You'll not die the second death because Christ died for you.
He put your sin away. Salvation belongs to the Lord. He's not going to take it back.
He's not going to take it back. So David draws this conclusion
back in our text, Psalm three, verse three. He says, but thou,
O Lord, our shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine
head. Now that word shield, it doesn't
just mean like a shield, a soldier carries in front of them. It
means it's not even like on every side, it's a globe. It's on all
sides, it's above us, it's below us. This shield protects us from
the arrows of men all around us, men on the same plane with
us. This shield protects us from the fiery darts of Satan below
and the fiery wrath of God above. It's a shield on all sides. Now
that shield can't be anything or anyone other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is our shield. Now let me
ask you, if Christ himself is our shield, if Christ is protecting
us, the Son of God, can anything possibly harm us? Of course not. Nothing can touch our soul to
harm us ever if Christ is our shield. Our soul can never be
harmed. And if Christ is our shield,
the only things that can ever touch our body is something good
for us. Now, I agree with you, our definition of what's good
for us and what the Lord's definition of good for us are two different
things. But if Christ is our shield, nothing can touch our
body except something that's good for us. And David says,
right now, right now, my head is bowed down. My head's bowed
down with grief and pain and troubles that have just been
heaped upon my head. It's a burden. It just got my
head hanging low. This is my conclusion. Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. Deliverance belongeth unto the
Lord. He'll lift up my head and deliver
me in due time. And that's exactly what the Lord
did in due time, didn't He? He lifted up David's head and
brought him back to the throne. And the Lord will lift up your
head in due time too. Yes, He will. Because the Lord's
faithful. And that's our comfort. That's
our assurance when we don't know what's going on. We don't know
what's coming around the corner. All this is too much for us.
All this is too hard for me. But nothing's too hard for God.
He can take care of this matter. David says salvation belongs
to the Lord. I want you to look at verse 4.
What sweet comfort. David gives the believer here.
We can call on God in prayer and be heard. Verse four, I cried
unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy
hill. Now, believers, we ought to be
men and women of prayer. How we should be men and women
of prayer. But I'll tell you one thing that
troubles and trials always do for a child of God. It always
brings us to pray. And I mean pray. I mean pray. Trials will do that to us. Trials
will cause us to call to God in prayer. And for every praying,
suffering believer, David has a word of comfort. When a child
of God calls on the Lord in prayer, the Lord hears. David says he
hears out of his holy hill. Everything the Lord does is holy.
It's right. It's just. Do you know why God
hears the prayers of his children? Because it's right. Because it's
just. God's made them his children.
God's made these people to be his children. It would be unjust
for him to ignore them, wouldn't it? Now the father hears our
prayer from his holy hill. He hears the cries of his people.
because it's just. It's right for Him to hear their
cries. He made them His. Then He's going to take care
of them. And David said, when the Lord brought that to my mind,
that changed everything. Look here at verse 5. David said,
I laid me down and slept, and I awaked, for the Lord sustained
me. David said earlier, before I
thought on the Lord, before I cried unto the Lord, He answered me. He said, my troubles were crushing
me. They were causing me sleepless nights. I tossed and turned all
night long. I couldn't get any rest. My troubles
just weighed so heavy on me. My body couldn't rest because
I could find no comfort for my soul. I just was too worried
about all these troubles that were crushing me. And David said,
then I cried unto the Lord. I wished I had cried a whole
lot earlier, don't you? Then I cried unto the Lord. Then,
when I was brought to the end of myself, I thought about His
salvation. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. I thought about His sovereignty. Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Deliverance belongs to the Lord. He'll deliver me in His time.
He's able. He's a shield about me. Nothing can touch me except
that which He says is good for me. David said, when I realized
that, I slept like a baby. I just laid down and went to
sleep. And when your troubles are overwhelming
you, and you can't sleep, remember this. Remember what David says
here. God heard me out of his holy
hill. God's holiness, the fact that he always does what is right,
that's the most comfortable mattress a child of God can find to lay
down on. God's holiness. He'll never do wrong. And then
God's sovereignty. God always does his holy will. Nothing can ever stop it from
happening. That's the most comfortable pillow a child of God can lay
his weary head upon. So you just go home tonight and
you lay your tired, aching, weary body down on the mattress of
God's holiness. You'll sleep well. You put that
weary, aching head down on a pillow of God's sovereignty. You'll
sleep well. Look over Acts chapter 12. I'll
give you an example of this. Acts chapter 12. Now in Acts
chapter 12, Herod has killed James. And he saw it pleased
the people. So Herod thought, I don't know
what I'm going to do. I'm going to get the people more happy
with me. I'm going to kill me more of these disciples. And Herod
had Peter arrested. and told him tomorrow I'm going
to put you to death. I'm going to kill you because
you made everybody happy. I killed James. Think how happy he's going
to be when I kill another one. Acts chapter 12 verse 6. And
when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter
was sleeping between two soldiers bound with two chains. Here Peter
is bound to these two Roman soldiers and the keepers before the door
kept the prison and behold, The angel of the Lord came upon him,
and a light shined in the prison. And he smote Peter on the side,
and raised him up, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell
off from his hands. Now you know the rest of the
story, but here's my point here. Peter was sleeping. He could
be put to death the next day. And that's not stick a needle
in your arm and you fall asleep. I mean, this is going to be gruesome.
Peter's going to be put to death the next day. The more he suffers,
the more gruesome and horrible it is, the happier everybody's
going to be. Peter, he's chained to two Roman soldiers. He can't
get in a comfortable position. I mean, those soldiers don't
much care if Peter's back's stiff from leaning up against that
mud wall or whatever, you know. There he is. He could be put
to death. And what's Peter doing? He's
sound asleep. I mean sound asleep. Now, I'm
a pretty light sleeper. On the rare occasions I go to
bed before Janet does, and if I would happen to fall asleep
before she would come to bed, if she turns out all the lights
and she opens the door so it doesn't make a single sound and
she walks in the room, 99% of the time I'm going to wake up.
The angel walked in here to open the prison door. Peter stays
sound asleep. The angel, a light shone. I don't know where the
light came from, but a light shone in the prison. If I'm asleep,
Janet comes in the room, flips the bedroom light on, I'm awake
for hours. I mean, I'm just done. Peter's
sound asleep. That angel had to take his rod
and whack Peter on the side, telling him, wake up! He's sound
asleep. How could Peter sleep so soundly?
There he was in that prison, laying on the mattress of God's
holiness and putting his head on the pillow of God's sovereignty.
And he slept. And that's just what David did.
David said, all these people out to get me in the midst of
my trouble. He said, I was surrounded by
my enemies. I just laid down and went to sleep. Slept like
a baby. You got to remember when David wrote to his son, he's
not in a comfortable bed in the palace being guarded by his army.
He's out there in the woods somewhere. You know, he's out there just
in open air. Those woods could be full of
his enemies. He don't know. They're all around him. And Peter
just went down, or David just laid down and went to sleep.
And he said, I went down, went to sleep, and I woke up the next
morning safe because the Lord kept me. Now, while David was
sleeping, he's completely unaware of his surroundings, wasn't he?
His enemy could have snuck up on him. He'd been defenseless.
Natural eye, he looked defenseless. But he wasn't. He wasn't. Look
at Psalm 121. I'll show you why. David was
more safe laying out there in the open air than if he would
have been surrounded by a thousand armed guards. David slept, but
the Lord didn't. David said, I'll lift up mine
eyes into the hills, for whence cometh my help? My help cometh
from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer
thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The
Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in. From this
time forth, even forevermore. And nothing's ever gonna sneak
up on him, because he never slumbers nor sleeps. That let David lay
down and just go to sleep. David said, when the Lord showed
me that, I realized I don't have to fear these enemies at all.
Look at verse six in Psalm three. I'll not be afraid of ten thousands
of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise,
O Lord, save me, O my God, for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies
upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly." This is what David knows. Salvation belongs to the
Lord. He can deliver me any time he
wills. All it takes for the Lord to
deliver His people is just rise up. Just stand up. and the battle's
over. The enemy's defeated. Now there
is no reason to fear our enemies if our enemies are the enemies
of Christ. Christ has already defeated all
of his enemies. David said he's smitten them
on the cheekbone. He knocked them so hard on the
cheekbone, he knocked all the teeth out. Now you just don't
have any reason to fear a toothless enemy, a weaponless enemy. Oh, they can bark, they can make
a lot of noise, but they can't bite and devour. They might scare
you to death with their bark, but they can't harm you. The
Lord's knocked the teeth out. They're weaponless, they're toothless.
And that's why David says in verse eight, salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Deliverance belongs to the Lord. You can rest assured of this.
He will deliver his people. when his time comes. How many
examples of it do we have in scripture? Abraham's going to
have a son in God's time. Jacob is going to have Rachel
to be his wife in God's time. Joseph had that dream. He told
his brothers about it. They mocked and made fun of him.
Joseph's going to be lifted up above his brothers and Joseph's
brothers are going to bow to him in God's time. And then all
in one day, Joseph goes from thinking he's forgotten in the
prison to being set upon the throne of Egypt in God's time. Israel cried out in their bondage. Oh, the sorrow. Oh, what horrible
bondage they were in in Egypt. Let me tell you what, Israel's
coming out of that place in God's time. David is going to come
to the throne in God's time. Saul's going to be taken away.
David's going to be put in. And Absalom's going to take it.
And guess what? David's coming back to the throne in God's time. And you and I will enjoy deliverance
from our trials, from our pain, from our sorrow in God's time
too. Salvation belongs unto the Lord. And until the Lord does bring
deliverance, His people will enjoy the blessings of the Lord.
The Lord's blessing is always upon His people. It's never not
on them. And you have to remember this
now, I'm talking about real blessing. Real blessing, real blessing
is not just the things of this life and this flesh. Even in
times of severe trial, the Lord's people enjoy His blessings. We
enjoy the forgiveness of sin that troubles us. Whatever's
going on in the flesh, can't touch that. Forgiveness of sin
in the soul. We enjoy peace with God, even
though there's no peace in the world. That peace of the soul
cannot be touched because Christ made peace for us through the
blood of his cross. We enjoy his provision. His provision
of mercy, His provision of grace, His provision for things of this
life when we are completely unable to provide for ourselves. The believer enjoys the comforting
presence of the Lord in the heart when there's no earthly reason
to be comforted. I dare say when there you can't
find a reason in this life to be comforted That's when the
believer enjoys the comfort of the Savior in the heart more
than ever, more than ever. The blessing that a believer
enjoys in the heart. I don't want to overly minimize
the blessings of this life, having a house and a job and family
and home and all those things. I don't want to overly minimize
that. But all those things are going
away. They're all going to be gone. The real blessing that
a believer enjoys in the heart is a soul blessing and it lasts
forever. Now, this is not just a feel
good story. I want to make this so clear.
This is not just a feel good story. Janet and I were watching
TV last night, getting ready to go to bed. I like to channel
surf around and up there on the display said Joel Osteen. She
says, Joel Osteen's still a thing? Turn around and see what he says.
He's saying. I said, he's just going to make us mad. She said,
let's just watch for a minute. He made us mad. He was that big
stupid fake grin on his face. And he said, now the Lord's getting
ready to lift from you the yoke of burden. He's going to put
on you the yoke of ease. And he talked about that a long
time. Well, as long as we watch, I don't mind. This is how he defined the yoke
of ease. He's going to take from you the
yoke of burden and your children will be happy and successful.
He actually said, I wouldn't believe this if I didn't hear
it moment to year. This is his definition of the
yoke of ease. People you don't even know are
going to start being nice to you. Your job, you're going to
get a promotion. Your bank account's going to
grow. That sickness that's bothering you, it's going away. The Lord's
going to give you a yoke of ease. Now, I wouldn't mind having all
that stuff, but I want to tell you what, based upon God's Word,
that's not the yoke that our Lord was talking about. I'm telling the truth. Never
one time did He mention sin, did He? Not one single time. All those other things He talked
about, the yoke of ease, that's going away. That's going away.
All he's doing is give people a feel-good story. I don't know
whether those things are going to happen or not. I don't know. We may be like Job and go home
tonight and just one thing after another. I don't know. But I'm
telling you what, there's concrete reason for God's
people to enjoy these blessings and to hang on to this hope of
deliverance, this hope of salvation. And here's the reason. It's a
concrete reason. You find it all through this
book. Salvation belongs unto the Lord. There is salvation for sinners
in our Lord Jesus Christ. If the Lord saved you, think
what it took for Him to save you. If the Lord went to the
extreme to make His Holy Son sin to you, And then he went
to the extreme to punish his son fully with all of his wrath
against your sin. And he poured it out upon his
son as your substitute. He killed his son as a sacrifice
for your sin. If God went to that extreme to
save your soul, what do you reckon God's going
to do with you now? If the Lord has put your sin
away, If He's given you eternal life, do you think some pipsqueak
man's going to come and destroy your soul? Not on your life. No. The believer's confidence
in salvation, the believer's confidence in deliverance from
trials is found in one place. It's not a feel-good story. It's
a concrete reason. It's found in Christ, the Son
of David, who really is the one speaking throughout this whole
psalm. Salvation belongs unto the Lord. He purchased it with
his blood. He bought it. It belongs to him. And he gives it to whom he will,
when he will, because he's the sovereign Savior. Salvation belongs
unto the Lord. Now go back and listen to Christ
the Savior speak in this psalm. Verse one. Lord, how are they
increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Many there be would say of my soul, there's no help for
him in God. Weren't there many, many enemies
of Christ gathered together against the Lord's anointing at Calvary?
They were all there. And it wasn't just the religious
Jews. It wasn't just the chief priests and the scribes and the
Pharisees. It was also the Gentile heathen, the strong, mighty ones,
the Roman soldiers and Pilate the governor. Many of them. Look over a few pages, Psalm
22. This is the Psalm of the Cross. This is the Savior speaking
from the cross about those who have gathered together against
Him at Calvary. Verse 12, many bulls have compassed
me. Strong bulls of Bashan have beset
me round. They gaped upon me with their
mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It's melted in the midst of my
bowels. My strength is dried up like a pot shirt, and now
my tongue cleaveth to my jaw. And thou hast brought me into
the dust of death, for dogs have compassed me. The assembly of
the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet. They are all those enemies of
Christ, all gathered together in one place, doing their worst
to the Savior, pouring out man's hatred of God upon the Son of
God. Yet the Father, delivered his
son from every one of those enemies did. Yeah, they put his body
to death, but only when he gave up the ghost. The father raised
him from the dead. And one day, those tables are
going to be turned. Christ will sit as their judge,
judging all of his enemies. And if we believe Christ, if
we belong to him, those same people who are our enemies today,
the risen Savior is going to stand in judgment of the end.
But I'll tell you the greatest sorrow and the best news that
we find at Calvary. The greatest sorrow, the greatest
trouble that Christ bore at the cross was bearing the sin of
His people. Now that's a mountain of trouble
that would have crushed you and me. But the Father made His Son
sin for His people. And when He did that, mountains
of sin just kept rolling wave after wave after wave upon our
Savior. Christ our substitute suffered. How he suffered under the just
wrath of God for that sin. The Pharisees who delighted in
this whole deal, they sat down and watched him there. And they
mocked. They said, look at that. Look
how he's suffering. There's no help for him in God.
If you be the son of God, come down from the cross and we'll
believe you. He saved others. Himself He cannot
save. He forgave the sin of others.
Looks like He's suffering for sin now. There's no help for
Him in God. Why? You said you're the Son of God.
Let's see if God will have you now. Let's see if God will deliver
you. And the Savior didn't bother
with being dead. The Savior cried out to the Father.
Verse 4. I cried unto the Lord with my
voice. And He heard me from His holy hill. Now you remember in
the Garden of Gethsemane, where our Lord went and wept and prayed
with his father. That is the very same mountain
upon which David wrote Psalm 3. Very same mountain. When David
ran away, when he's on the run from Absalom, he crossed the
brook Chitron and he went up to the mountain. When our Savior
left Jerusalem, wherever it was, he was there having that last
supper. He crossed the the brook Kikon, went to the very same
mountain that David wrote Psalm 3. And there our Lord prayed,
he wept and he prayed, he told his father, he cried out to his
father, my soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death. I'm going
to die right here in this mountain at just the thought of being
made sin for his people. He prayed and the Father strengthened
him. He sent angels to strengthen
him. Now you cry to the Lord, you cry. He'll hear you in Christ. He'll help you. He'll comfort
you. He'll strengthen you. Our Lord cried to His Father.
He said, Lord, if it's possible, if it's at all possible, let
this cup pass from me. Aren't you glad Joel Osteen didn't
go tell Him, now God's getting ready to give you a yoke of ease
and He's going to deliver you from this. Aren't you glad He
didn't? Aren't you glad that cup didn't pass from Him? He
drank the dregs of that cup dry as the substitute for his people. And he did it willingly. He said, nevertheless, not my
will, but thine be done. He went and got the job done.
By his sacrifice, he put away the sin of his people and obtained
eternal life for them. But when he left that garden,
he wasn't done crying under the Lord, was he? As he hung on the
cross, You know what he cried, my God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? There's one the father did forsake.
Look over at Psalm 40. I'll show you what our Lord was
suffering that made him cry, my God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? Psalm 40, verse 12. For innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart fails me. That mountain of sin that had
been laid on Christ caused him to suffer, caused the Father
to desert him, the Father to turn his back upon him. And the
burden was so great, the Savior said, it's bowed my head. I can't
even look up to God. Oh, how he suffered. I'm telling
you, he had to do it to obtain the salvation of his people.
And he got the job done. That's why salvation belongs
unto the Lord. Look at verse 3, Psalm 3. But
thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter
up of mine head. Why did the Father lift up the
head of Christ and raise him from the grave? Because the sacrifice
of Christ put all the sin laid on Him away. There's no reason
for Him to stay dead. His blood put away, blotted out
all the sin of His people. It's gone under His blood. Gone
forever. God doesn't see it anymore. The
sacrifice of Christ accomplished the salvation of His people.
He bought it with His blood. So the Father raised Him from
the dead. Verse 5, I laid me down and slept. I waked, for
the Lord sustained me. They took a dead body down from
that cross, took it and put it in a rich man's tomb, a borrowed
tomb, rolled a stone in front of it, set a guard there. There
is a dead body in that tomb. But that wasn't defeat. Our Savior
lay there resting. He just rested for three days
in the tomb. And his sleep was a sleep of
peace. It was a sleep of a victor who'd
won the battle. He conquered every enemy. Now,
during those three days, our Savior, He slept in peace. No
worries. The victories won. Oh, His disciples. Weren't they full of fear? They're
all hiding in a room somewhere. Got the windows closed and the
door bolted. They're so full of fear. But
there's no need for them to be in fear. Christ had defeated
every enemy. The victory had been won. What
are they doing hiding in a corner? The victory's won. And after
three days, the Father raised Christ our Savior from the grave.
And He walked out of that tomb as the victorious, conquering
Savior. No enemy to be found. He destroyed
them all. So there's no reason for us to
fear any of the Lord's enemies. If they're the Lord's enemy,
don't you fear them. I don't care how many of them
there is, don't you fear them. They're all defeated, verse six. I'll not be afraid of ten thousands
of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise,
O Lord, save me, O my God, for Thou hast smitten all mine enemies
upon the cheekbone. Thou hast broken the teeth of
the ungodly. All of our enemies, there's no
need to fear them. There's just no need to fear
them. Oh, but I fear my sin. My sin
is so awful and black and foul, you just don't know. I agree, but there's no reason
to fear our sin. Christ made our sin, the sin
of His people, toothless. He took the sting away. It can
never harm you. It'll kill your body, but it
can never give you the second death. Christ took the sting
away. There's no reason to fear Satan. Christ has made him toothless. He crushed his head at Calvary.
He's a defeated enemy. Men, there's no reason to fear
them. Christ purchased salvation for
his people. And he also bought all of his
creation so that he owns it all. He gives salvation to whom he
will, to whosoever he will, because it's all his. And one day, he's
going to be the judge. When he returns, he's going to
be the judge of the quick and the dead. There's no reason to
fear me. And until he returns to put them
where they can't harm his people anymore, I'm telling you what's
the truth. They're powerless to do anything without his permission.
Utterly powerless. He knocked their teeth out. Their
teeth. So what conclusion can we draw from that? I believe
we can draw the same conclusion David did. Let's trust in the Lord. Just
trust in the Lord. Let's rest in Christ our Savior. Let's call on Him. Don't be presumptuous. You know, when I say let's trust
in the Lord, don't be presumptuous. Call on Him. Call on Him for
salvation. Call on Him for deliverance.
It all belongs to Him anyway. Why don't we call on Him? And
then just rest on Him to do what's right, because He always does.
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy
people. Salvation belongs to the Lord. And can we rest in this? Salvation
belongs to the Lord. He'll never fail to give it to
His people. He's the victorious Savior. Let's bow in prayer. I hope that's
been a blessing to you. Our Father, which art in heaven,
Lord, we pray, we beg of Thee that You'd hear our cry from
your holy hill, that you'd hear the cry of your children, crying
for mercy, crying for grace, crying for salvation from your
holy hill. Father, hear and save, we pray,
for Christ's sake. Hear us for Christ's sake. We
beg of thee that you'd wash us in the blood of your son, that
you'd clothe us in the righteousness of your son, that you'd make
us accepted in him. Hear us and see us only in him. Father, as your children, How
we thank you. How we thank you for your mercy
and your grace. It's been so abundant to your
people. It's been so abundant to our
brothers and sisters here. How we thank you. And Lord, you
don't have need that we tell you anything. You know everything. But as your children, how we
cry to you. How we cry for deliverance from
the sickness, the sorrow, the brokenheartedness, the uncertainty,
the trials of this life that would so easily crush us. Father, we cry to you for help.
We cry to you for deliverance. We cry to you. We lay these things
at your feet and give us the faith to leave them right there,
knowing salvation belongs unto the Lord. How we thank you that
salvation belongs unto the Lord. Lord, would you think on us?
Would you come and and deliver us, comfort our hearts in these
present distresses. Save us from our sin, we pray,
in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his glory, we
pray and give thanks.