Well, we come back again, as
I keep saying, to Psalm 119. This is about the sixth message,
maybe the seventh, I'm not sure. But anyway, it's the portion-headed
Cheth, the letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Thou art my portion,
O Lord. Verse 57. Thou art my portion,
O Lord. I have said that I would keep
thy words. I entreated thy favor with my
whole heart. Be merciful to me according to
thy word. I thought on my ways and turned
my feet unto thy testimonies. I made haste and delayed not
to keep thy commandments. So this is David, probably in
later life, David who lived about a thousand years before Christ
came, so about three thousand years ago, three thousand years
ago from where we are now. David, King David, the shepherd
boy, the sweet psalmist of Israel, as he calls himself. That's what
God called him by his spirit in 2 Samuel 23, the sweet psalmist
of Israel. He's writing of his experience
through life. And he's writing in this section
of his possession of God as his portion. You know, what's my
portion? You know, you have a portion
of pie when you're having dessert. You love a portion of apple pie.
That's your bit. Well, God is my portion. He says,
God is my portion. Here is a mortal, sinful man. He died, he's mortal. And he's
a sinful man, we know he is. David is a man after the heart
of God, so God's word says. But nevertheless, he's a sinful
man. Some of the things he did were dreadful. But then, is that
not the case with all of us? Within the heart of each and
every one of us are the seeds of every sin. And he was a man
who, like us, sinners, the holy God, God who is so high and so
holy compared with what we are, He cannot look upon us in our
natural state. That's what His Word says, He
is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. And yet here is a man
who is a sinner, David, saying, Thou art my portion, O Lord.
This is a man who is a sinner knowing God and possessing Him. Do you aspire to know God? Do you aspire to possess God,
to have God as your portion? Do you aspire to be at peace
with the ruler of the universe? You know, it's good to be at
peace with those who are rulers, isn't it? Those who are in charge,
those who wield authority, those who exercise rule. but to be
at peace with the ruler of the universe, the God who is over
all. You see, all religion has this
as its ultimate aim. All religion wants to find a
way of being at peace with God who made them. All religion has
this as its ultimate aim. And all of them prescribe what
you, you, must do. And all of it, every single bit
of it, and the majority of what it calls itself Christianity,
is legalistic. By which I mean that the privileges
of knowing God and the blessings that flow from God come in response
to your performance of duty. That is what all legalistic religion,
whether it's called Christian, or Islam, or Hinduism, or whatever
it might be, Privilege with God, privilege of blessing from God,
depends on your performance of your duty. What they specify
is the duty you have to perform. But do you know every single,
every single one of them, all religion without Christ, all
religion without the gospel of God in Christ, it's all certain
to fail. Because the moral perfection
of God The holiness of God is so far removed from the imperfection
of man. You know, what we are by nature,
the sinners that we are by nature, and how much higher is God. He
says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways.
He's so much higher than we are. You know, the big mistake, the
big mistake that people make, as God's Word says, is you thought
I was altogether as such as one of you. We're not. God is on
an altogether higher plane of omnipotence, of omniscience,
of omnipresence, of He fills the universe. Where can I go
from His presence? I can't go anywhere from His
presence. He is so much higher than we are, and we are so, so
low. We are sinners. who falls so
far short of His glory. And for fellowship with Him,
and to know Him, and to be at peace with Him, we must be reconciled
with Him. The sin that separates us, your
sins, he says, have separated between you and me. The sin that
separates must be dealt with, must be taken away. You know,
the disciples, when Jesus was telling them this, they said,
well, it sounds like it's impossible for a man who is a sinner to
be saved. Who then can be saved? And Jesus
said, yes, you're right. It's easier for a camel, that
great big lump of a beast, to go through the eye of a needle,
a tiny, tiny little thing where you can barely get a thread through.
It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
than it is for a rich man, one who's rich in his own goodness,
his own self-righteousness, his own possessions, his own things.
It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than
for a sinful person to get into heaven. So who then can be saved,
they said. And Jesus replied, with man it is impossible. You're
right. You observe correctly. With man it is impossible, but
not with God. For in the gospel of his grace,
there is the way prescribed. Philosophers have striven to
understand by reason, by human reason, and have failed. They've
failed to see, countless of them, failed to see what Job, thousands
of years ago, wrote. Job 11, verses 7 and 8, he said
this, Canst thou by searching find out God? Can you, who are
sinners, you people who are sinners, earthbound, can you find out
God? Can you fathom the unknowable
God? The God who is the cause of this
universe, the cause of life, the creator of life, the sustainer
of life, the defining standard of all moral perfection. Can
you, by searching, find out God? Can you find out the Almighty
unto perfection? You, a sinner, can you find out
the Almighty to perfection so that you understand who God is?
This knowledge, it's as high as heaven. What can you do? You
can't pull yourself up by your bootlaces. You know, imagine
you're putting your shoes on and you think, oh, I want to
rise three feet off the ground so I'll pull on my shoelaces.
You're not going to get anywhere, are you? It's as high as heaven.
What can you do? You can't attain to it. It's
deeper than hell. Canst thou know it? What can
you know? Such knowledge, says another psalm, Psalm 139 verse
6, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot
attain unto it. Can you? Think about it. Can
you attain to fathoming out the person, the being of the infinite
God? And yet David says here that
he knows that God is his and he is God's. Thou art my portion,
O Lord. David knows that God is his. You are my portion. This is Holy
Spirit inspired and preserved. David's saying, David the sinner,
who cannot, by searching, find out God, who cannot get to heaven,
what can he do by himself? By the Spirit's revelation, he
knows that God is his, and he is God's. Again and again, God
says, as he says in Ezekiel 37 verse 27, he says, speaking of
his people, speaking of the sheep, of his pasture. Speaking of the
people he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world,
he says this, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Do you see? Possession. Possession. Thou art my portion, O Lord.
Is this not the highest aspiration of consciousness? What do you
want to achieve in life? You young ones, as you grow,
what do you want to achieve? Oh, I want to do this, that and
the other. Do you know the highest aspiration of consciousness,
the highest thing that you can possibly attain to, the highest
aspiration is to know God, is to know the living God, to know
the one who created you. and the one to whom you are accountable
when you die. To know this one is the highest
aspiration of human consciousness. But how will you know God? Canst
thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? How? Well, there is a way. as
Stephen read to us earlier in John chapter 14, and I know I
quote it often, but here it is, John chapter 14 verse 5, Thomas,
one of the disciples, the one known as Doubting Thomas, said
to Jesus, Lord, we know not where you're going, and how can we
know the way? We don't know. Jesus said, you
know the way, and he said, no we don't. How can we know the
way? And Jesus said to him, John 14 verse 6, I am the way. He, a man. Jesus, the Lord Jesus
Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus born of Mary, Jesus, God become
man, said to Him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Yes,
you can come to God, but only by Him. No man comes to the Father
No man comes to God who is spirit in his majesty but by the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is how we come to him. This
is how we know him. This is how we have a relationship
with the living God. This is how we possess God. Knowledge
of God is found uniquely in the Son of God, in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Matthew chapter 11. says this, just before Jesus
says, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest, he says this, he says in verse 25, at
that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Oh,
that God would give you a heart of a babe when it comes to spiritual
things, because God reveals his truth unto babes. Not to the
wise and prudent in terms of this world's wisdom. The world
by its own wisdom knew not God. It didn't, it can't, because
it's tainted with sin. The world will tell you, I have
thought about these things and I can see no evidence of God.
Of course you can't, because you're looking in the wrong way
and by the wrong means. God has hidden his truth from
what the world thinks is wisdom and prudence, and he's revealed
them to babes. You know, we must come to the
kingdom of God as little children. Even so, Father, he says, even
so, for so it seemed good in thy sight. God is a God of sovereign
grace. And God will reveal his truth
to whom he will, as he will, when he will. It's in him, born
not of the flesh, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God. It is God that gives spiritual
sight and spiritual light. So it seemed good in thy sight.
All things, he says, Jesus speaking, all things are delivered unto
me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. And neither knoweth any man the
Father, save the Son. Now listen to this. Neither knoweth
any man the Father save the Son, and He to Whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. Will the Son of God reveal the
Father to you? It's the only way you will know
Him. It's the only way you will know God. It's the only way you
will possess God as your portion. This is how David knew God. David
knew God in Christ, in the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, don't
be ridiculous, you've just said David lived 3,000 years ago and
Christ lived 2,000 years ago. How could this be? How could
this be? Look at his deathbed testimony
in 2 Samuel chapter 23. Now these be the last words of
David. David the son of Jesse said,
and the man who was raised up on high and anointed of the God
of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, this is what the Holy
Spirit had in pen, he said, the Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
and his word was in my tongue. He wrote the Psalms, the vast
majority of the Psalms David wrote. He was the sweet psalmist
of Israel. The God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake
to me. He that ruleth over men must
be just. The rock of Israel, that rock
was Christ. This is Christ, the seed of the
woman, the one that God had promised who would accomplish redemption
for the people of his choice. And he shall be as the light
of the morning when the sun riseth. Is that not another description
of the Lord Jesus Christ? In Malachi, the son of righteousness
shall arise. He shall be as the light of the
morning when the sun riseth. Even a morning without clouds,
as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining
after the rain. Although my house be not so with
God, because his house was afflicted with turmoil because of his sin,
yet he hath made with me, this is the testimony of David, he
hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire,
although he make it not to grow. He has a covenant with David.
He has a covenant with him and he spoke about it in Psalm 89.
I know I'm taking you to lots of scriptures but the best commentary
on the scripture is other scriptures. So Psalm 89 and verse 15, verse
15, Psalm 89 and verse 15. This is the testimony of David
concerning his knowledge of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says this, Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. You
know the joyful sound was the sound of the bells ringing on
the robes of the priest when they went into the Holy of Holies
and were accepted and came out and the people represented by
them were accepted. It was a joyful sound, it was
a gospel sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice
all the day. This is the people of his choice,
the people that know the joyful sound. In his name shall they
rejoice all the day. And in thy righteousness shall
they be exalted. For thou art the glory of their
strength, and in thy favor our horn shall be exalted. For the
Lord is our defense, and the Holy One of Israel is our King.
Who's the Holy One of Israel? Is it not the Redeemer? Is it
not the seed of the woman that would come? Is it not God become
man, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the redemption of his people?
He came for the purpose of death, that he might die, that he might
satisfy justice for his people. He is the Holy One of Israel,
our King. Then thou spakest in vision to thy Holy One and said,
I have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one
chosen out of the people. You see who David is talking
about? He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, great David's
greater son. Great David's greater son. You
know that Jesus said, how is it? The Lord said unto my Lord.
If David said, the Lord said, who is his Lord? If he's his
son, if he's his descendant. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found David. He didn't
mean literally David, King David, the sinner himself. He meant
the one of whom David was typical in his kingship, the Lord Jesus
Christ. I have found David, my servant.
With my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall
be established and mine arm shall also strengthen him. The enemy
shall not exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness. Just let
me carry on a bit longer. And I will beat down his foes
before his face and plague them that hate him. But my faithfulness
and my mercy shall be with him. And in my name shall his horn
be exalted. He's speaking of Christ. This
is David a thousand years before he came, speaking of Christ.
I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the
rivers. He shall cry unto me, thou art my Father, my God, and
the rock of my salvation. Also I will make him my firstborn,
higher than the kings of the earth. It's Christ that in all
things he might have the preeminence. My mercy will I keep for him
forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. His
seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the
days of heaven. This is the people, his seed,
the people saved in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the one
by whom David, who wrote this psalm, knew that God was his
portion. He knew God was his portion because
he knew Christ. Before Christ came into the earth,
he knew God in Christ. He knew his Redeemer was coming.
He wrote of him. These Scriptures are they which
speak of Christ. You see, the Scriptures do not
give instructions, as the legalists say, for what people must do
to know God, except, I might say, other than, as the Pharisees
asked Jesus, what might we do to do the works of God? Believe
on Him whom He has sent. Other than believe on Christ,
it doesn't give instructions as to what we should do to know
God. But it declares, the scripture declares, how God has accomplished
redemption for a multitude in the work of a substitute. This
section of the psalm, 57-64, is a declaration of Christ as
man living as substitute for his people in communion with
their God. This is Christ. Thou art my portion,
O Lord. This is Christ speaking, and
His people speaking in Him. Read the little article I put
in from Robert Hawker, in his commentary on this. It's Christ
speaking. In his communion with God, as he walked this earth
as a man, because it says, John tells us, 1 John 4 verse 17,
concerning Christ, because as he is, so are we his people in
this world. As he, Christ, is, so are we
in this world. So we read these verses as Jesus
the man walking in communion with God his Father, and then
we see them apply to those who believe Christ by virtue of their
eternal union with Him. You know the people of God, the
elect of God, were betrothed to Christ before the beginning
of time, were put into eternal union with Christ before the
beginning of time, so that everything that He does he is legally responsible
for, legally the representative of all of his people. So let's
look at these verses and we'll take them in this order. Look
at verse 59 first of all. I thought on my ways and turned
my feet unto thy testimonies. I thought on my ways and turned
my feet unto thy testimonies. It's sounding like repentance,
isn't it? And it certainly is. And you might ask, how can this
be Jesus speaking? How can this be the Son of God
in his redeeming capacity speaking here? He had no sin to repent
of, but nevertheless, think of this. As a man, as a man, Who was God? He limited himself.
You know, it says that being in the form of God, he thought
it not robbery to be equal with God in Philippians chapter 2.
He was God. He is God. He made himself, he
who is God, who shared the glory of God in eternity, from before
the beginning of time, he made himself, it says, of no reputation. Him, he who is highly exalted,
that he has a name which is above every name, that in all things
he might have the preeminence, yet for this time when he came,
he made himself of no reputation. And he says, he took the form
of a servant. And he was made in the likeness
of men, in the likeness of sinful flesh. And he humbled himself. and he became obedient unto death. He obeyed his father's will even
to the point of death, even the death of the cross. As a man
growing, just think on this if you can, just for a moment. Jesus,
born of Mary in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, as a man growing
from infancy, he must have thought on his ways. Mustn't he? He was a man. If he was truly
a man, he thought on his ways and ordered his steps by God's
word. This is why he was tested. This
is why he was tried. This is why he was tempted. His
steps were ordered by God's word. He was who said, when Satan tempted
him, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God. As a man growing from infancy
into the full maturity of manhood, He thought on his ways and turned
his feet to the testimonies of God as a man. But we, as sinful
people, we're incapable of godly thinking. It has to be the Spirit
of God that moves us in accordance with his grace. It must be the
Spirit of God that moves us. It's only that which will cause
us to think on our ways. He thought on His ways in His
mission, about His time, what His time would be, when His time
would be, where He must go, the work of the Father that He must
do. He thought on His ways and turned His steps to the testimonies
of God. But all His people in Him, by
Holy Spirit enlightenment and awakening, by the grace of God
applied, that irresistible call that comes, are made to think
on our ways as to what we are. made to sense alienation from
God, made to sense that we are sinners. A sinner is a sacred
thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so.
Everybody, you say, are sinners. Yes, but the vast majority of
them don't believe that they are. Only those whom the Holy
Spirit has spoken to directly are made conscious of what they
are, to some degree. in the justice of God, sinners,
to feel something of the weight of guilt versus God's infinite
holiness and justice. And all of that is the Holy Spirit's
doing by grace. And this thinking on my ways
and turning, this is repentance. Repentance is simply re-penser,
to think. French, penser, to think. Repentance,
to think again. To think again, not in the way
of sinners, in the way of the generality of mankind, but rethinking
in accordance with God's testimony. And when we think, by Holy Spirit
enlightenment, when we think in accordance with God's testimony,
every mouth is stopped. You know, there's an unrighteous
no, not one. Every mouth is stopped. All the world becomes guilty
before God. All the world is justly condemned. But we find hope. We find hope
in God's testimonies. We find hope there, in gospel
testimony. We find good hope, because in
God's testimony, not only is the justice of God, and God's
hatred of sin and God's condemnation of sinners declared, and justly
and rightly so, but there also, supremely, is gospel testimony
given, the gospel of God, the good hope that is based on sound
reasoning. What's the sound reasoning of
the gospel? It's that the penalty for sinners has been paid. The
penalty demanded by the justice of God has been paid. Christ
has paid it. This is the sound reasoning of
gospel enlightenment, that Christ has paid the penalty for his
people's sins. And having seen that, to turn
our steps unto the testimonies of God. Turn our steps, repentance
and faith. Faith comes. faith, to believe
Christ, to trust Him, to follow Him, to see that justice has
been satisfied in all that He is and has done. In our natural
going away from God as we all are by nature, all heading to
a lost eternity, by Holy Spirit enlightenment brought to think
and turned to go back to God. Does that not remind you of the
prodigal son in the parable of the prodigal son? who said, Father
give me my inheritance and he gave him his inheritance and
off he went and he spent all of the resources that his father
had given him in riotous living, in wasteful living, in wanton
living and hard times came. and he fell upon hard times,
and he became poor, and his fair-weather friends all left him, and he
ended up begging for food, and he ended up going to a swineherder,
somebody who kept pigs, and his job was to feed the pigs. That's
not a very pleasant job. It's a rather smelly job. It's
an unpleasant job. The pigs will eat absolutely
anything, and the prodigal son was so hungry that he even started
to eat some of the things that the pigs were eating because
he was so hungry. And he thought on his ways. I
thought on my ways. He thought on his ways. He thought,
what have I come to? Look what I'm doing here. Think
about my father's house. He remembered his father's house.
He remembered that even the lowest servant in his father's house
was well cared for, was well taken care of. And he thought,
I will turn, I will turn my feet unto his testimony. I'll turn
my feet back to him. Thought on his ways and remembered
his father's house. I will return and beg for mercy. No more give me what is mine,
he will beg for mercy. He realizes he's owed nothing
by his father. I will beg for mercy. So verse
60, I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments.
Did the prodigal son not make haste? He left there in a hurry. I will go back to my father's
house. When God has shined his light into your heart and shown
you something of his majesty, the glory of God, the mercy of
God, the grace of God, the redemption that God has accomplished for
sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ, the peace that that redemption
has accomplished, peace with God, Peace with God. Peace in
the blood of His cross. Reconciliation. Those who are
enemies, naturally enemies of God, made the friends of God
by what Christ has accomplished. Then, seeing that message, the
sinner made aware of his sin. There is no delay. I made haste
and delayed not to keep thy commandments. He entreated, verse 58, I entreated
thy favor with my whole heart. He entreated, he prayed, he pleaded,
God be merciful to me, like that publican at the wall of the temple,
there's the Pharisee boasting of what a good man he is, and
there's the publican beating on his breasts, God be merciful
to me, the sinner, as if he was the only sinner in the world.
And it's in accordance with thy word. For God's word makes plain
his mercy according to thy word. Be merciful unto me according
to thy word. Why should I expect God to be
merciful to me? Because God in his word has told
me he is merciful to sinners who come to him pleading mercy.
Is that not what we saw last time? Remember the word unto
thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. What
word? That God is merciful to sinners. Therefore, God having
promised mercy to sinners, I'm a sinner, and if free grace,
why not for me? I come pleading his mercy. Look
at Exodus chapter 34. You can see There, that it shows
that God is a God of mercy. In verse 6 of 34, the Lord passed
before him, that's before Moses, and proclaimed, the Lord, the
Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands. Is this not the
promise of God? Keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. and that will by no
means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children, upon the children's children, unto the third and
the fourth generation." This was God showing Moses his glory. Merciful and strict at the same
time. There is mercy declared, but
at the same time, don't ever forget that God is a consuming
fire. That God is a God of strict justice.
That He will, as it said, in no wise clear the guilty. Those
guilty of sin, He will in no wise clear. He cannot, He cannot
be just and let sin go unpunished. And so that sin has to be punished
in one of two places. In the sinner who sins in eternity,
or in the substitute who stood in the place of sinners, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And in that gospel declaration,
Psalm 85 verse 10 says this of it. Again, a Psalm of David.
He says, mercy and truth are met together. Mercy that God
is merciful, truth that God is just, and his standard is unwavering. And yet in the gospel, these
irreconcilable things, mercy and truth, are met together and
reconciled. Righteousness, the righteousness
of God, in punishing sin, the righteousness of God in not allowing
any sinner to, will by no means clear the guilty, and yet peace
with God in the Lord Jesus Christ. They've kissed each other. The
righteousness of God, which is incompatible with a sinner having
peace with God, the two kiss in the gospel of God's grace.
And as the prodigal returned to his father, hoping at best
for mercy, and hoping at best for servants' conditions, and
a place in the servants' quarters, what did he find when he comes
back? He found restoration to sonship. To sonship. So a repentant sinner, pleading
mercy, finds in verse 57, Thou art my portion, O Lord. finds
that God is his portion. The sinner pleading mercy in
the gospel of God's grace finds that God is his portion. Thou art my portion, O Lord,
my portion. Verse 57, my portion. How vast an idea is this, that
mortal sinful creatures should possess the infinite God. As Jesus said, we quoted it before,
Matthew 11, 27, neither knoweth any man the Father. That's it.
By nature, nobody knows the Father. God the Father. How can you aspire
to it? He's too high. Nobody knows the
Father save the Son of God. and He, to whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him. Who makes that decision? God
makes that decision. Whose choice is it? It's God's
choice. God, in sovereign grace, reveals
the Father to those whomsoever He will. What can we do? Lord,
be merciful to me. Lord, whilst on others Thou art
calling, O Be gracious, be merciful to me, do not pass me by. I have
only one plea, the Lord Jesus Christ. The one without God in
this world has all his portion in the things of the world. It's
all they can possess, the things that they can possess. It's everywhere,
it's all around us in days of prosperity like people have never
known before so widely. And yet all of it is subject
to moth and to rust and to corruption. Psalm 73 verse 7, the psalmist
before he comes to his senses, he talks of the world around
him and he says, their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more
than heart could wish. Is that not what you see? The
world pursuing and possessing all of its goods and its pleasures
and its resources in this world, everything, its portion is in
this world, its portion is here. But think of this, How much better
to have our good God than all this world's goods. I'll say
that again. How much better to have our good
God as our possession than all the world's goods as our possession.
Better to have our God as our all than to have all without
our God. There are so many in this world
who have so many things but they have not God. And yet how poverty
stricken they are. He is the one who created all.
He owns all. There's a psalm that says he
owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Meaning there isn't a
resource in this world that ultimately is not the possession of God.
For he created it and he sustains it. And there is nothing for
the eternal good of his people that he will withhold from them.
All things he causes to work together for their good. The
infinite goodness of God is the portion of the people who know
God, who do know their God. The infinite goodness of God
is their portion. But without Christ, if you have
not Christ, listen to what this Psalm says, Psalm 11 and verse
6. Upon the wicked, what is it to be wicked? In the judgment
of God's word, it's to not believe his Son. Don't think for one
minute it means those who do bad things, whereas you nice
righteous people don't do bad things. We're all sinners in
the flesh. To be wicked is to disbelieve
God. To be condemned is not to believe
Christ. That's what John 3.18 says. He
who does not believe is condemned already. For why? He has not
believed on the only begotten Son of God. Upon the wicked,
on the unbelieving, God shall reign snares, fire, and brimstone. Oh, well all that terrible hell,
fire, and damnation language of the Scriptures is not relevant
to today. It's as true as it ever was. and an horrible tempest,
as true as it ever was, this shall be the portion of their
cup. Judgment is coming, and outside of Christ there is nothing
other than terrible judgment to dread. But remember, people
like Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Job in this life were all
granted great worldly riches. But that wasn't what sustained
them. That wasn't what motivated them.
They looked, it says in Hebrews 11 verse 10 about Abraham, it
says, he looked for a city which hath found... Didn't he have
quite a lot? What's he looking for? He's looking for a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. This is heavenly treasure. Heavenly
treasure. I am your exceeding great reward,
said God to Abraham. I am your exceeding great reward.
God is my portion. And it's apprehended via God's
words. I have said that I would keep
thy words. All of this is apprehended by his word. It's his word that
shines the light on our path and the lamp on our feet to show
us where to go in this life. And rather than death stripping
a believer of his earthly treasure, which is what happens to those
who have not God, and they have their portion in this world alone,
for the believer, death makes his awareness of heavenly treasure
infinitely more real. And not just for the future,
in eternity, but look what it says, thou art my portion. There's the present tense here.
God is the possession of his people now. As Psalm 73 verse
25 says, after the psalmist has come to his senses, when he went
into the temple, when he saw again the gospel of grace in
the symbols of the temple, he says this, whom have I in heaven
but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. Thou art my portion, O Lord.
This is what it was for David, this is what it is for all of
his people. Here is the infinite, eternal God. Here is the one
who outside of Christ is a consuming fire of holiness and justice,
but who in the Lord Jesus Christ, if you know Christ, If you've
come to Him, if you're trusting in Him, He is my friend. He is
my God, but He is my friend. I call you no longer servants,
He said, but I call you my friends. Why, why, why does He say that?
For I have told you all things that I have heard of my Father.
He's let you in to heavenly secrets. He's your friend, your friend
for eternity. Thou art my portion, O Lord.
I have said that I would keep thy words that God has shared
with us. So then, loss and gain, just
quickly as we close. Verse 61, the bands of the wicked
have robbed me, but I have not forgotten thy law. At midnight
I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous
judgments. I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of
them that keep thy precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of
thy mercy. Teach me thy statutes. You know,
we are, if you're a believer, you are at odds with this world. Be in no doubt. Be in no doubt,
alienation from the world around us. We try, as far as is in us,
to live at peace with all men, to be friendly, to be sociable,
to be kind, to do acts of kindness. All of these things are all compatible
with the gospel of grace and the precepts of the gospel. But
be in no doubt, as Jesus said, the world will hate you. If it
hated him, it will hate you. The world will hate you. It will
hate you for his sake. And there is a cost to be counted.
He said, don't set out following me without first counting the
cost. There is a cost to following
the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of the things of this world which
you cannot have because you cannot serve God and mammon. You have
to, as Joshua said to the people in Joshua 24, you have to choose
this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord. But if God is your portion, then
look at this, verse 63, you will not be alone. I am a companion
of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts.
Fellowship, how sweet it is. We know it's rare in these days.
We know so many are on their own in wilderness separation
from this world, but we bless God for these means of the internet,
enabling the ones and twos on their own to join with others
in the worship of God. Fellowship with others, made
of like mind by the Holy Spirit's irresistible call to repentance
and faith, is such a sweet blessing in this life. We might be separated
by miles, but we know We know, we believe the same thing. We
have friends thousands and thousands of miles from here, and we know
the moment we're in one another's company again, you can hug and
embrace and you are exactly on the same page. It is such a blessing.
I am a companion of all them that fear thee. So then, the
blessings of knowing God, of having God as my portion, my
prayer, is that God, by his Spirit, will irresistibly call you to
his marvellous light so that you can say, with David, the
Lord is my portion, his word is my light through life. Amen.