David the psalmist wrote many
of his psalms in days and in times of great persecution and
the 57th psalm he penned these words when he fled for his life
from Saul and when he found refuge in a cave but though he was pursued
and though he was hated and though he knew his life could be taken
from him though the psalm opens with his cries unto God for mercy
and for refuge when he comes to the latter part of the psalm
We hear, in the midst of his circumstances, in the midst of
great trial, in the midst of great persecution, we hear David
crying out in faith. The faith of David comes to the
fore, his trust in his God. Though all men may hate him,
though men may pursue him, Though he may know his weakness, his
utter lack of strength, his utter lack of ability to stand before
his enemies and his foes in his own strength or his own wisdom,
nevertheless David can cry out in faith of his God and regarding
his heart and the direction of his heart
and his purpose, his trust, his hope. He can cry out, my heart
is fixed, oh God. My heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise. My heart is fixed, oh God. My heart is fixed. He's settled. He's planted upon a rock. His
heart is not wavering, though his enemies may be pursuing him,
though he's hated by all, though most by nature would doubt, would
fear, would wonder, would turn to the left and to the right,
would consider, am I right? Am I doing the right thing? Have
I been right in my beliefs and my persuasions? Am I right in
my belief in God? Though man might come unto him
and say to David, as they say elsewhere in the Psalms, where
is thy God? Where's your help? You trust
in God, well, where is he? Where is he now? Where is he
when you need him most? Here you are pursued for your
life and you trust in God, well where's your help? Why has God
left you in this state? Why has he let you come here?
If your God is real, if your God loves you as you say he does,
why has he abandoned you? Why has he brought you to this
place David? And indeed what they said of
David, what they would say of David to cause him to doubt or
to change his course. They said of Christ himself,
of whom David in the Psalms is but a figure. Of whom David's
thoughts and sentiments in the Psalms are but a figure. When
Christ hung upon the cross, His enemies, the people round about,
mocked him, derided him, cast a scorn in his teeth and said,
where's your God? Why don't you call upon your
God to come to your rescue? Why don't you cry out unto him
to send a legion of angels to deliver you from this place?
Where's your God now? You told us much of him, but
here you are. and we've got you. Here you are,
dying upon a cross. They derided him, they laughed
at him. Here Christ was in his weakest
spot. Unnaturally speaking, any of
us, if we were left in such a state, if man had turned against us,
if all men had turned against us, if they'd taken us and if
they were crucifying us, putting us to death, how we'd fear, how
we'd doubt, how we'd wonder whether what we've done or said or thought
or purposed was right. But Christ never wavered. He
never wavered upon the cross. He never wavered when he was
led to the cross. He never wavered one foot or
one step of his journey through this world. He came into this
world And he was obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. He headed with his face set like
a flint unto Jerusalem. His journey, his pathway was
to go to that place and he never turned from it. He was fixed. His heart was fixed, his heart
was set, his purpose was sure. And that's the sentiment which
David expresses here. that sureness, that certainty
of faith in the heart. Christ's faith was such, he knew,
he trusted in God, he hoped in that inheritance. which would be brought in for
his people. He trusted in the covenant made
between Father, Son and Holy Ghost. He knew that what was
going to come about, though it meant his death, though it meant
sorrow, though it meant hatred and rejection of all men, though
it meant the outpouring of God's wrath upon him, Though it meant
he'd be forsaken of all, even his father. Though it meant suffering beyond
all understanding and comprehension. Christ's faith was such that
his heart was fixed and he would not waver. And so we see a picture
of that. in the sentiments of David here
in this song. My heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will sing
and give praise. What fixed David's heart? What gave him such certainty,
such hope, such assurance, such firmness in his stand? God's grace did. By nature, David's
heart was as wicked and deceitful, was as doubtful and fearing as
your heart and my heart is by nature. He was weak in himself. He was fearful in himself. He was sinful in himself. By nature he was full of unbelief. If you told him God's abandoned
you, by nature he'd have believed you. If you told him there is
no God, his own heart by nature would have said yes. Where is
God? He was a wicked sinner like you
and I. And yet by the time he penned
this psalm he could say my heart is fixed. Oh God, my heart is
fixed because God had met him in grace and God had taken that
weak, broken, foolish sinner and washed him clean in the blood
of the Saviour. God delivered him. God gave David
a new heart and that heart, full of faith, was fixed upon God. No matter what the circumstances,
no matter what came upon Him, no matter how many turned against
Him, or how many desired His death, still His heart was fixed. And if you're given faith through
the Gospel to believe on Jesus Christ, if you have but a grain
of faith, That faith will be fixed upon God and upon His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing will wash it away. No
storm will blow the house that is built upon rock down. If you build your hopes and your
dreams upon sand, If you build your house upon the sandy foundations
of human wisdom and the ideals and values of mankind by nature. If you build your house upon
the wisdom of man, which says in its heart, there is no God. If you build your house upon
a pursuit of what you can gain here below in this world, and
what you can achieve in your own strength, you're building
upon sandy foundations. And when the storms come, you'll
be blown away. There's no foundation, there's
no strength, and there's no refuge to which you can flee. When the
storms come, when a soul pursues you, where will you go? When your enemies come upon you,
where will you hide? When the trials and difficulties
of life break you down to nothing, how will you stand? David found a refuge. David was rooted upon rock. David had a hiding place. Now
literally, in terms of Saul, he found a cave in which to hide. But spiritually, he knew there
was more. Spiritually, in this circumstance,
he knew he had a hiding place in his God. He knew his refuge
was God. And no matter how many souls
came to destroy him, no matter how many people hated him, he
was safe in the refuge of the wings of Almighty God. He opens the psalm, Be merciful
unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send
from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would
swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his
mercy and his truth. What a hope David had. What a
trust, what a confidence, what faith. He had a refuge. He was hid in the shadows. of God's wings. No calamity could
take his soul away. No enemy could touch him. Oh, what a refuge he had. Is
this your refuge? Do you know anything of this
refuge? Do you know what it is to flee?
from your enemies and have a place of refuge to flee to to have
a place that you can go and know that you are safe safe from your
enemies, safe from the storm safe from the evil one safe from
all the trials that may come upon you do you have a refuge? because the believer does Those
who've been brought by the Gospel to trust in Jesus Christ know
what it is to have a refuge. They can go through this world
and it doesn't matter what comes upon them, what storms may come
their way, what trials they may have to wade through, doesn't
matter how many enemies rise up against them, doesn't matter
how many people mock and scoff and deride them because of the
Gospel and the truth that they stand on. and what they believe
in Jesus Christ. No matter what they may say of
Christ and the response of man against it, that laughs and mocks
and scoffs and says, surely you don't believe such things in
these days. Surely you don't believe in a
God. No matter how violent the opposition, the believer knows
he has a refuge in which he can hide. and no enemy can touch
Him. He's safe in the hands of the
Father. He's safe under the shadow of
God's wings. He's safe from all calamities
until their past. He can look up by faith and cry
out, have mercy upon me, hide me. watch over me and he knows
that he has a God who can put his arms around him put his hands
around him and protect him what a wonderful thing this is to
go through life as a believer having such faith knowing that
no lion can rip you to shreds no bear can destroy you no enemy
can lay a finger upon you when you have Such a refuge. When you have such a Saviour
to intercede for you and such a Father in Heaven to watch over
you. What a hiding place. What a refuge. What a God. When Christ was upon
the cross, He knew that though this storm came upon Him, that
though all men raged against him and that though he must drink
the cup of God's wrath of judgment against the sins of his people
which he bore even so his faith was such that he hid himself
in the shadow of the Father's wings. Even at that point when
the Father's hand was outstretched against him in judgment he knew
ultimately that his father was still his, that his father was
still his refuge. He knew in the end that when
the storms were passed, he would rise up and be glorified and
be one with his father again. He could see the end from the
beginning. He could see through the storm to what would be and he trusted and he praised. David says, I will cry unto God
most high, unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send
from heaven and save me from the reproach of Him that would
swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His
mercy and His truth. My soul is among lions, and I
lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of
men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp
sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. They have prepared a net for
my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have
digged a pit before me into the midst whereof they are fallen
themselves. Selah. My heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will cry
unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for
me. What a remarkable thing to be
able to say. What words for David to be able
to write, that God performeth all things for me. God's grace is so great, so magnificent,
and yet so very, very personal. David can write in the sense
that all events, all that happens, all that God performs, is for
Him. It's for His good. All these events that come about
in his life. All the circumstances he passes
through. All the trials and the tragedies. All the movements of men. All
the raising up in the power of this king and that king. All
the movements of the nations around him. All the battles that
Israel faced. as David was a king of that nation. All the events, all the circumstances,
all the nations being, rising up and growing in force and might
and power and coming upon the Israelites. All the deliverances
of God from them. All the rising up of a nation
and the bringing down of a nation. All the events of time, from
the beginning to the end, all God performs for him. All things for me. God in eternity
set his grace, his love upon David. The Father chose him. The Father elected him under
salvation. The Father chose David and said,
this is one. This man is one whom I love and
I will give all things for him. I will give my son as a sacrifice
and an offering for him. I will offer up mine own son
and give away all that is precious to me simply to save and deliver
David from his sins. I will bring about all events
in history up to the coming and the birth of my son purely to
save David from his sins. I will allow Rome to take over
Israel in order that at the coming of Christ He should be born where
I will have Him be born and He should live where I will have
Him live and He should be judged and tried in the manner that
I will bring about in order to fulfil my covenant and my purpose
and bring all fulfilment to all the prophecies regarding the
Messiah who should come, the Saviour who should come, the
sacrifice for sin that should come. I will bring all these
events about in order that my Son is offered up as a sacrifice
in the right place, at the right time, in the right way and the
right manner. All history before the coming
of Christ existed and worked and played out to the exact timing
and the exact purpose of God for His covenant to be fulfilled
and for Christ to be offered up in Jerusalem as a sacrifice
for sinners. He performed all things for David. All things. and all things after
he performs for his people, for David, for Paul, for Peter, for
John, for you believer, all the events of time. all the events
of history before the coming of Christ, from the coming of
Christ to this present day and all the events in the future
until Christ returns in glory. All events are designed, purposed,
ordered and brought to pass by God for the salvation of His
people. and none of the trials and none
of the opposition and none of the movements of the enemies
of God or their hatred of God's people or their machinations
and schemes that they bring about to try to defeat God and try
to destroy God's people and try to bring Christ and His gospel
to nothing, none of them come about except that God has purpose
that they should. They merely do God's biddeth. They think that they are serving
themselves when they are actually pawns in God's hands. He brings
them to do what He would have happen. And He uses these things,
their evil desire, their hatred of God and His ways, their hatred
of God's people and the church and the gospel, their hatred
of Christ. He uses even all their actions
for the good of God's people. And for the glory of Christ in
the gospel. These things don't go contrary
to God's will. They may be set against the righteous
declaration of what should be in the scriptures. They may be
things that people do in raging against God's law and rejecting
the truth. But God's will in terms of what
comes to pass in time, in terms of what happens in time and in
the nations and in the world, in order to bring about his purposes,
they merely serve his will. As Joseph could say, when he
had been cast off by his brothers, thrown into a pit, cast off as
dead, and then taken down to Egypt and thrown in jail when
he felt like things could get no worse and yet then he was
brought out of jail and raised to a great height in that nation
and his brothers and his family are brought under him and he's
reconciled with them in the end, they're reconciled under him
he could say at the end that though man, though they purposed
it for evil God used it for good. And though man purposed the death
of Christ for evil, God saved his people throughout all time
and all nations through that death. God used it for good. And though you, with your wicked
rejection of the gospel and your despising of the truth and your
shutting of your ears to the gospel, though you may rage against
it, You can do nothing in your own strength, out of your own
wisdom, except God cause you to go a certain way, and God
can take your rebellion and take your rejection of the truth,
and he will use it for the good of his people. Oh, do you hear that? You who
hate the gospel. You who hate Jesus Christ, everything
you do to try to silence that gospel, try to dismiss that gospel,
try to silence the people of God, you atheists, you humanists,
all you that go on your campaign to try to get rid of Christ and
the gospel, to get rid of this religion that you so despise. All that you do to trample it
underfoot and blot it out, you're simply furthering God's purposes
and doing the people of God good. Because God will take your evil
and he will use it for good and he will further his gospel. The
more you try to trample it underfoot, the more it will come forth in
power. How often there are those who
so hated the truth and resisted the truth and in the end the
truth has overwhelmed them and delivered them from their folly
and delivered them from death and brought them under salvation.
How fiercely Saul of Tarsus Paul raged against the truth. How
he tried to persecute the church and cause havoc. and how in the
end he met with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. And
Christ said unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And that man, Saul, Paul, was brought
to be used as a mighty preacher of the gospel that brought the
sound of that gospel to the nations all around, to the Gentiles,
to Rome, how far the Gospel went forth by his preaching, how God
took him and turned him and used him for his glory, how great
God is, and how great his purposes in grace are, how David can say
of him, I will cry unto God most high, Unto God that performeth
all things for me. Oh believer can you look to that
and rest in that. God performs all things for you. All things for Christ his son
and through Christ all things for his people. He shall send from heaven and
save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions and I
lie even among them that are set on fire. even the sons of
men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp
sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. They have prepared a net for
my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have
digged a pit before me into the midst whereof they are fallen
themselves. Selah. Yes, here David speaks
with great faith. He trusts in his God whose love
for him and grace shown unto him is so personal and which
he's experienced so deeply. He can say his heart is fixed
and yet he suffers. My soul is among lions. My soul is bowed down. These cries of faith are not
cries whilst he stood on the mountaintop. It's easy when things
go well. It's easy when you're delivered
from trial. It's easy when your past, a great
difficulty, and everything falls out for you well it's easy when
you're up on a mountaintop to then cry out Blessed be God to
then praise your God and be thankful it's easy to be full of joy when
everything has come about well but David's cries here and through
him Christ cries here are cries of praise and trust and hope
when things are terrible David is hid in a cave. Saul is pursuing him. His soul
is among lions. His soul is bowed down. He can
write these things even though his soul is bowed down. Even though he's surrounded by
enemies. He can still praise his God.
And through these sentiments, through these words, we see the
heart of Christ upon the cross. Christ from the cross can cry
out, my heart is fixed, O God. Christ from the cross can cry
out, God performs all things for me. Christ at the cross can
say that God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. But
Christ as he hung upon the cross. could also say that his soul
is among lions. I lie even among them that are
set on fire. They're set on fire, they rage
and burn against me. They're on fire to destroy me. Their teeth are like spears and
arrows and their tongue is a sharp sword. They'd rip me to shreds. They'd bite me to nothing. they've
prepared a net for my steps they're out to trap me to catch me they've
digged a pit before me they're out to destroy me and yet he
could say at the same time they've digged a pit before me into the
midst whereof they are fallen themselves they sought to destroy
him but in so doing they destroyed themselves. They sought to throw
him into a pit, but in so doing they fell in themselves. We're reminded of Daniel, when
he was thrown to the lions, and then those men who were thrown
in the fiery furnace. When they were thrown in the
furnace, the men that threw them in, many of them fell in themselves.
And Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in that furnace were not harmed,
one jocked. For in the midst of them was
one like unto the Son of God, walking in the midst, watching
over them who delivered them. But those who sought to throw
them in that furnace fell in and were consumed. They digged
a pit before me into the midst whereof they had fallen themselves.
Those who pierced Christ and nailed Him to the cross, if they were never delivered
from their folly, if their eyes were never opened by the Gospel
to see what they had done and turn from their sin and cry out
for mercy, if they were left in their rebellion and unbelief,
their destruction of Christ brought about their destruction. and if you put Christ to death
in your heart if you say as it were away with this man I will
not bow down to him if in your apathy you turn away
unto other things you prepare a net for yourself Christ in the midst of his suffering
his soul among lions, his soul bowed down, surrounded by enemies,
surrounded by torment, looks up by faith under his God and
says, my heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will sing
and give praise because his God delivered him from his enemies. His God would bring him through. His God was a refuge in the day
of trouble. His God, in grace, does all things
for him. His God sends forth mercy and
truth. David knew this God. Christ knows
this God. Do you know this God? Do you
have this faith that can say in the midst of
trouble, my heart is fixed, oh God. My heart is fixed, oh God. Only God can give you this faith. Only He can fix our hearts upon
Him. Our hearts waver. our hearts
desire this and desire that they go this way and that way and
when trouble comes they run away from it but the heart of faith stands
in the midst of the furnace stands when surrounded by lions stands
when the enemies are all around when their teeth are upon you
and looks up and says, my heart is fixed on God. In the Acts of the Apostles we
read of how Saul stood by Paul, Saul of Tarsus stood by when
they persecuted and stoned Stephen. They took Stephen and put him
to death because they hated the gospel that Stephen was preaching. They hated the Christ of whom
he spoke. They hated the God whom he followed. They despised his faith. And they stoned him to death.
And yet as they stoned him, Stephen looked up and trusted and praised
his God. His heart was fixed. He would
not move. He didn't recant. He didn't say
some other words to escape. He trusted, even though it meant
the loss of his own life. That sort of faith, that sort
of trust, a heart so fixed, is not natural. Stephen wasn't especially stoical. He wasn't especially strong.
He wasn't one of whom we might say, oh I wish I had such faith. I wish I could stand. I'd never
be able to stand in such a circumstance. He was weak and foolish by nature
like you and I are. But God gave him the faith. God fixed his heart and God caused
him to suffer and not move and God gave David the faith and
God fixed David's heart and God caused David to stand fast in
the midst of opposition and Christ had this faith and Christ's heart
was fixed and Christ stood though all rejected him. My heart is
fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. Awake up, my glory, awake, sultry
and harp, I myself will awake early, I will praise thee, O
Lord, among the people, I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the
heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. I will sing unto thee
among the nations. What a cry there is from David
here at the end of this psalm. What a cry of praise and rejoicing. And what a declaration. I will
praise thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto thee
among the nations, though the nations might hate me. Though the nations might reject
me, though by uttering and confessing the name of Christ I might be
despised and rejected, nevertheless my heart is fixed and I will
sing unto thee among the nations. What a declaration of the power
of the Gospel. How the child of God will stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made him free. How
the child of God that hath faith in the heart cannot keep quiet. He will declare what Christ has
done for his soul. He will declare unto the nations
God's glory. He will sing unto God among the
nations. And though the nations may take
him, and crucify him and put him to death. Still he will sing. How the gospel will go forth. It will be preached. It will
not be silenced. And the more the enemies of God
seek to trample it underfoot, the more they rage against it,
the more the cry of faith from the heart of the believer goes
forth, I will sing unto God among the nations. I will preach the
Gospel, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. This Gospel saved me. This Gospel took me. out of the grip of my enemies
and placed me in a refuge in the wings of my Saviour. This
Gospel delivered me from all my sin and rebellion. This Gospel
gave me the righteousness of God. This Gospel gave me everlasting
life and an inheritance to come. This Gospel delivered me from
all my trouble and all my woe and all my affliction. This Gospel
gave me a new heart. and that heart is fixed. It's
fixed upon God and it's fixed upon Jesus Christ and His people.
It's fixed upon the God that loved me and that gave His Son
for me. It's fixed upon the Saviour who
loved me and gave Himself for me. This Gospel is one which
causes me to cry that thy mercy is great unto the heavens, O
God, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. Oh, what a praise! of his Saviour,
we see here from David, what praise from the lips of Jesus
Christ, and how this prayer, how this praise is answered. God is exalted above the heavens. His glory is above all the earth. And throughout all events in
all time, and all circumstances that come to pass, the Gospel
is preached, and sinners are saved. and their hearts are fixed
upon their God. In the midst of their trouble,
in the worst situations, though they may face death itself, God's
people cry out with one voice, Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. I will praise thee, O Lord, among
the people. I will sing unto thee among the
nations. For thy mercy is great unto the
heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. My heart is fixed, O
God. My heart is fixed. I will sing
and give praise.