Turn back to Psalm 73. Psalm chapter 73. Verse 1, we read, truly, truly
God is good to Israel. Now often, men say this. Men say this. They say, we've
done all these things. We've worked real hard and we've
built a brand new building. Truly God's good. Or they'll
say, we've prayed and asked God's blessing on this and He granted
it. So God's good. The problem with that is God's
goodness is made dependent on what man's done. They treat it
like they treat their own salvation. What I've done, they say what
I've done is the result of this or that. What I read here, truly, God's
good. Truly, God's good. The reason I believe man thinks
that way is because when things don't go their way, when they
ask for something and it's not granted, then there's always
another reason why it turned out that way. When trial comes, when sickness
comes, when death comes, there's always another explanation. But truly, truly God is good. Truly God is good. God's goodness
is not the result of man's actions. God's goodness It's who he is. It's who he is. And not only
is he good, but all that he does is good, just and right. And that which he does is for
our good. We know this. We read this scripture. We refer to it often. And I fear
that we, I know I often think We go back to that scripture,
all things work together for good. But the beginning of that scripture
is this, we know, we know all things work together for good. To them that love God, to them
that are called according to his purpose, God's people know
that, we know that. Consider all that happened to
Job. Was there ever a child of God tested and tried more than
Job? And Job said this, he said, the
Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed, blessed be the
name of the Lord. In 2 Samuel, David and his men,
they came to a place called Behurim. And a man named Shimei, he came
out and he began throwing rocks and cursing the king. And here
David is surrounded by all of his servants. And one of his
servants, Abishai, he says, he says, who is this dead dog to
curse the king? You say the word and I'll go
over and I'll take his head off. That's our reaction, isn't it? What David say. David said this,
he said, let him curse. Let him curse. The Lord sent
him. The Lord sent him. This cursing, this rock throwing,
the Lord sent this my way. You leave him alone. This is
of the Lord's hand. So whatever the situation, whatever
the circumstance, times of trial, times of blessing, times of heartache,
times of joy. May God give us grace to say
and know truly God is good. God is good to Israel. And here
we see it's a particular people. God's good to Israel. God's good
to his church, his elect. And this infuriates the natural
man. Man by nature hears that and
he's furious. And that's no different now than
it was in the days when our Lord walked this earth. Turn over
to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. Verse 25 of Luke 4, our Lord says this. He says,
I tell you the truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elias when the heavens were shut up three years and
six months. A great famine was throughout all the land, but
unto none of them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta, a city of
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were
in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet. None of them was
cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. All day in the synagogue, when
they heard these things, you know, when we hear God's been
merciful, when one of God's sheep hear that God's been merciful,
we rejoice, we give thanks, but listen, When all they in the
synagogue, when they heard this, they were filled with wrath.
They were filled with wrath and they rose up and they thrust
him out of the city and they led him under the brow of the
hill. That wasn't enough to cast him out of the city. They led
him to the brow of the hill where the city was built to cast him
down headlong. These people didn't like that
message. They were furious. They were obviously upset, weren't
they? It wasn't good enough to throw him over the hill. They
wanted to throw him head first. Well, there are those that message
upsets, but I'll tell you who it doesn't upset. It doesn't
upset God's sheep. It doesn't upset that one to
whom God showed mercy. I think of that widow woman. You think she was upset? She
rejoiced. How about Naaman? Now I know
initially he was all hung up with himself and his pride, but
when he was cleansed, don't you know he rejoiced? Don't you know
he was thankful? In the book of Exodus, Moses
said this, he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he said, I'll make all my
goodness. I'll make all my goodness pass
before thee and I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee,
and I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, I'll be merciful
to whom I'll be merciful." Truly, truly, God is good to Israel. We can say that together, can't
we? Truly, God is good to Israel. And that's amazing. What's probably
even more amazing about that is when you consider who Israel
is. Think about this for a minute. Think about the children of Israel.
They continually, continually broke God's law. They rebelled
against God. They rebelled against His servant.
They worshiped false gods. They constantly murmured and
complained against God's providence. Sitting here thinking, boy, aren't
they awful? Aren't they just terrible? Well, that's us, isn't
it? Isn't that us? He brought them
through the Red Sea. He led them by day and by night. He provided for all their needs,
that water that flowed from the rock, that manna that was out
there every morning, the quail, every need provided, and all
this All this for a stiff-necked people. That's what he called
them, a stiff-necked people. What about spiritual Israel?
What about God's sheep? We've broken God's law. We've
sinned against God, original sin and Adam, actual sin ourselves,
dead in trespasses and sin, deserving of God's judgment and God's wrath,
yet God the Father, God the Father chose us and set His love upon
us from all eternity. God the Son, He redeemed us. We read in the fullness of the
time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law to redeem. To redeem them, they were under
the law, And by his life and by his death, he has satisfied
God's wrath and justified us. Justified us in the sight of
God. And then God, the Holy Spirit quickens us and gives us life. Truly, truly God is good to Israel. Now let's read on in our text. even to such as are of a clean
heart." Now, by nature, we don't have a clean heart. We don't
have a clean anything for that matter. Jeremiah 17, 9 says,
the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? Who can know
it? Psalm 53, verse three, we read,
every one of them's going back. They're all together become filthy. There's none that do it good.
No, not one. But David prayed this. He said,
creating me a clean heart. David knew something about that.
He said, I need a clean heart. Creating me a clean heart, oh
God, and renew a right spirit within me. So if a man has a
clean heart, You can bet, God gave it to him. God gave it to
him. God put it there. He said, a
new heart, I'll give you. Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such as of a clean heart. Look at verse two. But as for
me, now God's good to Israel. Let that be, let that be established.
There's no arguing that. But as for me, oh, that's a whole,
that's a whole different, that's a whole different story. As for
me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. Why didn't they all together
slip? Why is it that in Christ we haven't
all together? How is it that his redeemed have
not fallen? Spurgeon said this, he said, if ever it should come
to pass that sheep of Christ might fall away, my fickle, feeble
soul, alas, would fall. thousand times a day. We're kept. How is it that we're not fallen?
We've not fallen in Christ. We're kept. We're kept by the
power of God. Jude 124, unto him that is able
to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Verse three. Verse three, I was envious. I
was envious of the wicked. I was envious of the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. The psalmist says,
I envied the foolish. I desired, well, if that doesn't
describe what kind of shape we're in, I desired what the foolish
man had. That's what I wanted, what the
godless man had. But isn't it comforting? Isn't
it comforting to read in God's word to see these other men with
the frailties and the weaknesses that we have? They struggled with the same
thing we do, with that old man. Have you ever been envious of
the foolish? That's almost a foolish question in itself, isn't it?
He said, I was envious of the foolish. Oh, that we could say
what Paul said. I've learned that whatsoever
state I'm in, I'm in, to be content. Oh, that we could be content.
But he said, I was envious of the foolish. There's no bands
in their death. There's no pain. There appears
on the outward appearance, there appears to be no pain in their
death. Their strength is firm. Verse five, they're not in trouble. These other men, they're not
in sorrow as other men. Neither they plague like other
men. Therefore pride compassed them about as a chain, and violence
covered them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness."
Not only do they have enough, but they've got more than they
could even wish for. They're corrupt. They speak wickedly
concerning oppression. They speak loftily. Isn't that
what religious men do? They speak loftily. Loftily,
not of God. but loftily of themselves. They
raise themselves up to be equal with God, to say things like,
God's done all He's done, all He can do, and now it's up to
you to finish. Boy, they speak loftily. They speak loftily, with low
thoughts of God and high thoughts of themselves. Verse 9, they
set their mouth against the heavens, Their tongue walketh through
the earth. Verse 10, therefore, His people return hither as waters
of a full cup are wrung out to them, and they say, How does
God know? Is there knowledge in the Most
High? Question God's sovereignty. Is there knowledge in the Most
High? He that knows all things, He that orders and directs all
things, they say, How does God How does God know? Well, look
at verse 12. Behold, these are the ungodly,
the ungodly who prosper in the world. The ungodly, they increase
in riches and they increase in strength. You know, that's a,
Dale mentioned this, that's a far cry from what the religion of
this world says with health and wealth and happiness. He said,
these are the ungodly. These ones that prosper in the
world, these are the ungodly. Behold, they're the ungodly.
But listen, they're prospering. It's in this world. It's in this
world. They increase in riches. We need
to be reminded of this, especially our young ones, our little ones.
There's so much in this world that you see and you want and
you desire. But keep in mind, those are things
of this world. They're temporal. They're temporal. They'll last just for a minute. Our Lord said this, what's a
prophet of man? if he gains the whole world,
has it all, but he loses his own soul. Behold, these are the
ungodly that prosper in this world. Let's read on. Verily,
I've cleansed my heart in vain and I've washed my hands in innocency. For all day long I've been plagued. chastened every morning. The believer is tried. The believer is tested. Psalm 119 verse 71, David says
this, he said, it's good for me that I've been afflicted. God's people are tested, they're
tried. We read this, if you be without
chastisement, then you're not sons. God's people are trying. Let there be no mistake about
that. But he says this, he says, if I say this, if I speak thus,
behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this,
it was too painful for me. But look at verse 17. until I
went into the sanctuary of God, then I understood their end.
Then I understood a few things. I understood their end. Times
of trouble and times of despair tend to keep us from coming to
God's house. But if anything, that should
be a time to drive us there. Times of prosperity do too. These
things tend to keep us away from the worship. But he said this,
he said, when I went into the sanctuary of God, these things
that troubled me, these things that upset me, he said, then,
then I understood their end. You know, when we come into God's
house, it's, it's a place where God is glorified. It's where
we, God's glorified. God's name is praised and exalted
in what he has done for his people. It's a place where God's pleased
to meet with his people. Consider that. He said, where
two or three are gathered in my name, there I'll be in the
midst of you. It's a place where Christ is
revealed through the preaching of his word. He said, I desired what the foolish
man had, the riches and wealth of the foolish man. But we have
wealth untold. We have wealth untold. It's the
unsearchable riches of Christ. It's where the believer is fed.
It's where God is pleased to feed his sheep. It's for the
perfecting of the saints. And it's not to be a place to
be forsaken. But we have an opportunity to
worship. It's not to be a place to forsake. And listen, it's
a place where he hears his people. He hears his people. Over in Psalm 18.6, he said,
In my distress, I called upon the Lord. I cried unto my God. And he heard my voice. out of
the temple, out of the sanctuary. He heard my cry. Oh, that he
would hear my cry, that he would be pleased to hear my request
unto him. He said, when I went into the
sanctuary, I understood their end. Well, the end of the wicked
is ruin and destruction and death. May be living it up right now,
but when it's all rolled up, the end of the wicked, it's destruction
and death. But for the righteous, it's peace,
it's rest, it's eternal life, it's salvation in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Read on in our text here in verse
18. Surely thou did set them in slippery
places, cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation?
As in a moment, they're utterly consumed with tears. As a dream,
when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt
despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved. I
was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I and ignorant.
I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I'm continually
with thee. Thou hast holden my right hand.
He said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. Thou shalt
guide me with thy counsel. Afterward, receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? There's none upon earth that
I should desire beside thee. Not the things of the wicked.
Christ, to desire Him. Verse 26, my flesh and my heart
faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. He only, He alone is my rock
and my salvation. Verse 27, for lo, they that are
far from thee shall perish. Thou hast destroyed all them
that go whoring for Thee." But listen to this summary. Listen
to this summary right here. But it's good for me to draw
near to God. I've put my trust in the Lord
God that I may declare all Thy works. I can remember when I
was a kid, Probably in particular, my grandma saying, putting something
out there in front of us to eat and saying, eat that, it's good
for you. I think, I'm pretty sure Abby
and I have tried that with the boys a few times. I don't know
how successful we've been with it, but it's good, it's good
for you. It's good for you. But listen,
I don't know nothing about green beans. I don't know if, honestly,
kids put your hands over your ears, I don't know if green beans
are good for you or not. They probably, they probably
are, but I know this for sure. Because God's Word says it. It's
good for me to draw near to God. You see that? It's good for me. It doesn't say it's good for
everybody in the world, but it says it's good for me. It's good
for me. That's personal, isn't it? Can
we read that? Can you look at that? Can you
say, it's good for me to draw near to God? You know, we draw
near in worship. When we gather together as His
people, we draw near to God. We draw near when we wait on
Him, when we wait on the Lord. He says, wait on the Lord and
be of good courage. We shall strengthen thy heart.
We draw near to Him in His Word. He's found in His Word. We draw
near to Him in prayer. When we offer up thanks, praise
unto Him, we draw near in faith, believe in God. He said, I put
my trust in the Lord, not in man, not in the works of the
foolish, not in what the foolish man had. I put my trust, not
in myself. I put my trust in the Lord that
I may declare all thy works. And we draw near to Him, and
there's only one way we truly draw near to God, and that's
in Christ. That's in Christ. There's only one mediator between
man and God. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
good for me to draw near to God. Turn to Hebrews 10, just a couple
more scriptures here. Turn to Hebrews 10. Look at verse 19 of Hebrews 10. Having therefore, brethren, boldness. Having boldness, having liberty,
having freedom, having confidence to enter into the holiest, into
the presence of God Himself. How? By the blood of Jesus. The shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for
us through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having
a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near." It's
good for me to draw near with a true heart, with a new heart,
We read there in verse one, truly God is good to Israel even to
such as have a clean heart and full assurance of faith. Having
our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our
faith without wavering. He's faithful. He's faithful
to the promise. It's good. It's good for me to
draw near to God. Now look with me at one more
scripture and I'll close. Turn to Genesis chapter 45. Genesis
45 verse 10. Now, you're familiar with this
passage of Scripture. It's where Joseph is pleased
to reveal himself to his brethren. And we read that they were troubled
at his presence. And I would imagine they were
very troubled. Can you imagine what was going
through their minds? I mean, this is the last time
they had saw him. They had thrown him in a pit
pretty much made up their mind to kill him and ended up selling
him as a slave. And now here he stands before
them as the king. He stands before them. So imagine
their sins revealed to them at this time. There has to be their
wickedness, what they've done. They've got to be seeing two
things there. One, their wickedness. Oh, what is he, what's he going
to do? What's he going to do with us? Well, but Joseph immediately,
he immediately speaks comfort to him. He says, don't be angry. Don't be grieved with yourself. God did this. God sent me and
he sent me to preserve you. He sent me to save you. He sent me to deliver you. God
did it. God did it. And he says, you
go get my father. Go get my dad. And you tell him
your son's alive. Isn't that our message? He lives. He lives. And you tell him this. You tell him, come to me. Tell
Him to come to me. Look at verse 10 of Genesis 45. Joseph said, Thou shalt be near
to me. Now that word, that word near,
it came, it comes from the same root word as the word near that
we read in Psalm 73. And it means this. It means to
cause. to draw near. It means to be
brought near. Who gets the glory in this thing
of drawing near to God? Who gets the glory in that? Is
it because I did something? Oh, no. Oh, no. It means to cause
to draw near. It means to be brought near.
Consider this. Our Lord said this. No man can
come to me. except the Father which hath
sent me draw him." He doesn't. He doesn't. And he said, I'll
raise him up. I'll raise him up at the last day. Now, Joseph
said this. He said, you'll be near to me. You'll be near to me. And consider what he did. He
gave his brothers the land. Look at verse 11. He said, I'll
nourish you. Verse 20, he says, regard not
your stuff. He doesn't need anything we can
produce, does he? The best we have, the best we have is filthy
rags. Look at verse 21. He gave him provision for the
way. Every need, every need provided. He even gave him the wagons.
to haul it in. Verse 22, he gave him a change
of raiment. What I'm wearing, it just won't
do. What's the Lord done for us?
He's clothed us in garments of salvation. He's put that perfect
robe of righteousness upon us. He gave him a change of raiment.
Look at verse 29. Jacob's heart fainted. This is
too good to be true. Consider God's grace. Jacob's heart's fainting. Well,
look back at verse 19. I want you to just see two things
here. Verse 19, the command, what did Joseph tell him? He
said, come, come. In Israel's response in verse
28, Is there any other response? I mean, think about that. I'll
nourish you, I'll give you the land, regard not your stuff,
gave him provision for the way, change your arraignment, loathe
in his righteousness. Israel's response, I'll go, I'll
go. It's good. It's good for me. to draw near
unto God. I put my trust in the Lord God
that I may declare all of His wonderful works. He did it all. He did it all. All right, Brother
Mike.