initially here. Reading this
psalm, you might think that David, of
course, is talking about mankind in general. What is man that
thou art mindful of him? God is so great and we're so
insignificant. Isaiah said, it's Christ that
sits upon the circle of the earth and all the inhabitants thereof
are his grasshoppers. What is man that thou art mindful?
Him and yet we see in the scripture we have proof That he's not just
talking about mankind in general He certainly has that in mind,
but look at Matthew chapter 21 And let me read verse 2 of our
psalm again as you're turning over there Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings has thou ordained strength because of
thine enemies In Matthew chapter 21, as you may recall from our
study in Matthew, our Lord Jesus Christ is in the temple. And
He had just ridden into Jerusalem, and they had shouted, Hosanna
to the Son of David, blessed is He that cometh in the name
of the Lord. And when He rode into Jerusalem, He went into
the temple. And when He went into the temple, the little children
there in the temple were crying, praises to his name, Hosanna
to the son of David. And the chief priests and scribes
heard them doing that and they were displeased of course. They
were displeased any time the Lord was glorified in any way.
And the Lord said to those scribes and chief priests, He said, Hearest
thou what these say? They said to Him, Don't you hear
what they're saying? And Jesus said unto them, Yea,
have you never read? He was always doing that to the
to the big religious big shots. He'd say, haven't you read the
Bible? He said that over and over to them. And it's just the
truth. We have to say that sometimes
in our day, too. Because it's just evident that
people haven't read the scripture. And he said, yea, have you never
read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected
praise? In other words, God's going to get glory to his son.
And even the little children can see what these great religious
leaders couldn't see and then look at first Corinthians 15 and while you're turning there
let me read this verse 4 in our text what is man
that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou
visitest him for thou hast made him a little lower than the angels
and has crowned him with glory and honor thou madest him to
have dominion over the works of their hands and has put all
things under his feet and of course mankind in general god
gave us dominion over the beasts of the field as he catalogues after that in our
chapter but that's just a picture of the spiritual teaching here
and this is the lesson i want to see in this psalm every psalm
is a messianic psalm what they call a messianic psalm And what
they mean by that is that it's primarily concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. They picked out certain ones
and said, that's a Messianic Psalm, that one's not. They're
all Messianic Psalms. And we see that here. But you'd
read Psalm 8 and you wouldn't see Christ in that unless you
had some spiritual understanding and unless you knew the Word
of God. But look at 1 Corinthians 15, 27 concerning what he said
about man and how God has exalted him. chapter 15 verse 27, for
he hath put all things under his feet. And he just said in
verse 26, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
He's talking about Christ and the victory that we have in him.
And here's why we have victory in him because everything's put
under him. But when he saith, All things are put under him,
it is manifest that he is accepted, which did put all things under
him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall
the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things
under him. That's God the Father, that God may be all in all. Now,
look at Hebrews 2 verse 6. The last verse we'll look at
in support of this thought, or in reference to this thought, that these Psalms all primarily
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether David intended them that
way or not when he wrote them, they're quoted by the Lord Himself
as making reference to Himself. Hebrews 2, 6, and 7. Let me get
over there. Hebrews 2 verse 6, but in one
certain place testified saying, what is man that thou art mindful
of him or the son of man that thou visitest him. Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels. Thou crowned him with glory and
honor and did set him over the works of thy hands. Thou has
put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put
under him. But now we see not yet all things
put under him." Now you know the context here. He's talking
in all of the book of Hebrews about how Christ is greater than
the prophets, than the angels, than all creatures. He has preeminence.
God has set him on the throne and he has preeminence over all
creatures. Right before where we started reading there, he
said, which unto which of his angels has he ever set? sit down
on my right hand. In chapter one and in chapter
two here, he's talking about the Lord. He said, we don't yet
see now everything put in subjection under him. Although it is, we
don't see that yet, but we do see him by faith, by grace through
faith. We see him in the gospel and
we know seeing him, we know that all things shall be put under
him that aren't already. He's already got preeminence
over all. It's just not happened in the
experience. Now, look at verse 9, but we see Jesus who was made
a little lower than the angels. You see that? That's what David
said in our psalm. Yah has made him a little lower
than the angels. Why did God do that? Why did God cause his
son to condescend and to become of low estate, to be born in
a manger? Well, Paul tells us here in Hebrews, for the suffering
of death. that he might come down here
and die in the place of his people and redeem them of their sins,
from their sins. He made him a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death. That's talking about
Christ, not just man in general. But having died, he's crowned
with glory and honor. You remember what he said when
he was going to the cross? He said, the hours come that
the son must be glorified. He's talking about his death.
He's exalted and glorified because of what he accomplished on Calvary
for his people. He's the victorious Savior. He
talked with Moses and Elijah about the death that he should
accomplish. His death is an accomplishment.
His death is the accomplishment. And so he's crowned with glory
and honor, though he was in low estate and submitted himself
into the hands of wicked men. So as we study all these songs,
as we go through the Psalms, this is the first thing I wanted
us to see. Let's continue by God's grace to see Christ and
the gospel in them. If we didn't have these New Testament
scriptures, we might just think, well, he's talking about man
and how low we are and how insignificant we are. And why in the world
would God even think upon us? That's a good, that's true. That's
true. Have you ever wondered that?
Have you ever looked up at the sky like David did here and wondered,
Why in the world would God even have anything to do with a worm
like me? If you hadn't, then you don't know him. If you know
him, then you've thought that way. And so we see that in these
psalms. It's the gospel. It's all through.
It's the gospel. It's the same message over and
over and over in the psalms and in the prophets. He expounded
and testified unto them the things concerning himself. May we see
that as we go through. Now he's talking about the excellence
of his name. An excellent name is established
by an excellent character. How do you, as we say, make a
name for yourself? Well, it's by what you do. You
know, when he says he has an excellent name, it's not talking
about the letters that make up the name Jehovah or beautifully
arranged. It's not about that. It's about
what his name signifies concerning himself. It's about who he is. In order to have an excellent
name, you've got to... Let me mention several things
here. And that being true, the word
name has come to mean the character itself. Does Chris have a good
name? Well, when you ask that, you're
not asking how pretty does my name sound when you say it. You're
saying, what's he like? Does he have any of these things?
And there are several. In order to have an excellent
name, You must have accomplished something. Would you agree with
that? You've got to have accomplished
something. To have an excellent name, you've got to have an excellent
word. In other words, if you can't
keep your word, what happens to your name? You see? You've got to have excellent
credentials. You've got to have some credentials. You've got
to have an excellent demeanor. You agree with that, wouldn't
you? For somebody to have a good name, when you think of, when
somebody says, what do you think about Chris Cunningham? And you
hear my name, what do you think about? You're going to think
about my demeanor among all these other things. You've got to have
some excellent abilities. You can't be a loser and have
an excellent name. And you've got to be excellent
in virtue. And you've got to have an excellent
reputation. If one person says some bad things
about you, well, they may just have a grudge against you. But
if everybody's saying bad things about you, or there's smoke,
there's probably some fire, don't you imagine? And then you've
got to be beautiful. And I'm not talking about just
the way you look, and you know that. But let's talk about these
things. We see all of these things concerning
our Lord Jesus Christ, and we see them reflected in this very
song. Now David bracketed the body
of this psalm with this same statement, how excellent is thy
name in all the earth. He started that way and he ended
with that same statement. So you know in between there
he's talking about the excellence of his name. As to his accomplishments, there are too many to name in
one sitting. And they're too great to describe.
Paul said in Hebrews 9.12, by his own blood, He entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. It took me probably about seven
or eight seconds to say that, but it would take more than my
entire lifetime could suffice to expound to you the monumental
glory of that. With his own precious blood,
he went into the presence of God the Father and obtained eternal
redemption for me and for you, if you know him. He ransomed
his people, vile, wretched sinners, even as others ransomed them
from the holy law, from the condemnation and from the wrath of God, by
the sacrifice of himself. That's why God made him a little
lower than the angels, as Paul said, for the suffering of death.
And the death that he accomplished is salvation for his people.
That's why Paul said, who is he that can condemn me? It's
Christ that died. He rose from the dead victorious
over sin, death, hell, Satan, every enemy that we have. Paul
said, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. In another place, Paul said,
death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory. How did he give us the victory?
Through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, he sent him down here
to win the victory for us. And say, here it is. He gave
it to us. And he won it by living and dying
as our representative and redeemer, our substitute and sinner. Christ is all to the believer.
Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He has accomplished
the salvation of his people. His very name means Jesus, I
shall call his name Jesus. Why? For he shall save his people
from their sins. Not he shall come and do his
best and hope somebody will believe on him. He come down here to
save us and he did it. And when he had done it, he said,
it's finished. What about his word? If there's one thing that
can mar someone's character in the eyes of another, it's if
their word can't be relied upon. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I
have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it,
I will also do it. And he has made good on that
from the beginning, even until now. His word is reliable. His word is also powerful. It carries authority. The Lord
Jesus walked out to his disciples in that ship He said, cast your
net on that side of the ship. And Peter said, Lord, we've been
throwing that net all night, and we haven't caught a fish
yet. Nevertheless, at your word, we'll lower the net. And when
they did, you know what happened. They couldn't drag it back into
the boat. It had so many fish in it. His word is powerful. carries authority, carries weight
with his people because we know that when he speaks, oh, there's power in his word. Everything that he says, he says
for the good of his people. David said in Psalm 45, too,
that when he opens his mouth, grace flows out of it. In the
Song of Solomon, Chapter 5, when the church is asked, what is
thy beloved more than another beloved? O thou fairest among
women? What is thou beloved more than
another beloved that thou dost so charge us? One of the answers
is this, his mouth is most sweet. You know what's sweet about his
mouth? What comes out of it? His precious word. Paul said
we have exceeding great and precious promises from him. What about his credentials? You
say he has an excellent name, where did he get it from? Where
did he get it from? Where does his authority come
from? Who says he's great? Is it by observation only that
we can conclude the greatness of his name? No, the very God
of heaven has declared with his own voice, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. The holy, inflexible, just, righteous
God who can't look upon sin said, I'm well pleased with you. These are his credentials. Philippians
2.9 says, God also has highly exalted him and given him a name. There's his credentials. He has
an excellent name. Where'd he get it from? He got it from God,
the Father. Given him a name, which is above
every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What of his demeanor? Well, according
to God's word, he's meek and lowly in heart. The book of God says he's slow
to anger. and swift to show mercy. He delights
to show mercy. His love is an everlasting love. It's not like ours. We love one
day and hate the next. We promise to love forever and
then a little while later we say, I don't love you anymore. Don't know what love is. No idea
what love is. I'm absolutely convinced that
the only love that any human being experiences in this life
is the love that God puts in your heart. For him, for his
people, for somebody else, for anybody. By nature you don't
love anybody but yourself, and that's not true love. That's
just selfishness, self-righteousness. His love is everlasting. Having
loved his own, he loved them to the end. To the end. He's kind and gentle. As a shepherd,
the scripture says, he leads his sheep beside distilled waters.
He feeds his flock from his very hand. It says that he gathers
the lambs with his arm and carries them in his bosom and gently
leads those that are with him. Have you found him to be that
way with you? Do you see his hand, his working
in your life? What abilities does he have? Another answer to the question
in Solomon 5, what is thy beloved more than another, is this, he
is the chief among ten thousand. What can he do? What do you mean
by that? Well, he has power on earth to
forgive sins. You know anybody that can do
that? I do, but just one. They called
him a blasphemer when he said that. They said nobody can forgive
sins but God only. Exactly. Exactly. He said, I give life to whomsoever
I will. Can you think of a greater ability
than that? He said, damsel, I say unto thee,
arise, and she did. And then he said to the folks
standing around, give her something to eat. He's able to turn a God-hating
rebel into a loving, submissive, willing child of God with a word. Paul said, I'm persuaded that
he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. He's able to keep my soul safe from the very wrath
of God, from the very judgment of God. Do you trust him? When he said to those blind men,
do you believe that I'm able to do this? What if he asked
you that? He does ask you that. He has. What about his virtues? The scripture
says it's impossible for him to lie. That's a pretty good
virtue, wouldn't you say? Would you like to know somebody
like that? Would you like to ask somebody some questions who
can't lie? The unerring word of God on him
is that while he was on this earth, he went about everywhere
doing only good, always good, nothing but good. Wouldn't it have been wonderful
to know him while he was on this
earth? You know what's even more wonderful than that? To know
him in here. There were a lot of people that
knew him while he was on this earth that hated him. But if
he turns the light on in so much that he gives you a knowledge
of him in your heart, you fall in love with him. And you'll
know him, and knowing him, all you'll want to know is more of
him. Paul, having known him, said, Oh, that I may know him. He's God's spotless lamb that
takes away sin. When the woman with the issue
of blood touched his garment, he said, I perceive that virtue
has gone out of me. Who touched me? Somebody touched
me? Who touched my clothes? And that virtue went into that
poor woman who had spent all that she had on doctors and was
only worse. She was dying. And she was healed
by his virtue. What about his reputation? Well,
I think the folks who inhabited the coast of Decapolis said it
for all of us who know him. He hath done all things well. Even his very enemies could find
no cause for slander in him. You think about that. If you
want to stir something up on me, you could probably get it
done. Or anybody. The one who presided
over his crucifixion said, I find no fault in him. Is he beautiful? Isaiah said that there was no
beauty in him that we should desire him. What was he talking
about? Well, there was no natural beauty about him. There was no
outward feature that distinguished him from others in that way.
He was repulsive in every way to his enemies inside and out.
But what about his people? What about his bride? What about
his church? What do they see? Those whose eyes are blessed
that they might see. Again, the question was asked
in Song of Solomon 5.9. What is thy beloved more than
another beloved, O thou fairest among women? Let me read you
the whole answer now from Song of Solomon chapter 5. My beloved
is white and ruddy. He's white and red. You know
why he's white? He's holy. You know why he's
red? You do, don't you? the chiefest among 10,000. His
head is as the most fine gold. His locks are bushy, black as
a raven. Now you listen as I read this.
His features are compared with the most beautiful and valuable
things on this earth. Gold, milk, spices, lilies, ivory,
sapphires, marble, and the cedars of Lebanon. the most wonderful
things that the writer could think of. His features, his countenance
are compared. His eyes are as the eyes of doves
by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
as sweet flowers, his lips like lilies dropping sweet smelling
myrrh, that's his precious word. His hands are as gold rings set
with the barrel. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble
set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet, yea?
And Solomon here has the bride saying, As in other places in
the world, when accolades are all used up and language fails
to do justice to his excellence, he just comes out and says, yea,
he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. And this
is my friend. Oh, ye daughters of Jerusalem.
He's the pearl of great pride. The word there Lovely. He's altogether lovely. That
word means desirable. And when I saw that, I thought
of that pearl. The merchant man seeking goodly
pearls. When he found one pearl of great
price, he went and sold all that he had because that pearl was
so desirable, he had to have it. That's my beloved. He's the treasure hid in a field.
He's the one who can't be let go of. once you know who he is. Jacob said, I will not let you
go until you bless me. You think about that. He's the
one, I guarantee you, if you ever find out who he is, you
won't let go of him either. He's the one that cannot be walked
away from once you know him. Will you go away also? Oh no.
To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. altogether desirable. The prayer of my heart is that
he would be so to you. In verse two, David writes the
words quoted by our Lord in the temple there to put his enemies
to shame. The Pharisees couldn't see what
little children were able to see, that he was worthy of their
praise and adoration. The religious leader, they still
can't. It's obvious. They still don't know who He
is. They still despise the Christ of the Bible. You start talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ, who saves whom He pleases, when
He pleases, the way He pleases, who hates one and loves another
at His sovereign discretion, and they'll gnash their teeth
just like they did then. They'll say just like they did then,
we will not have this one to reign over us. We have our own
Jesus who loves everybody and died trying to save everybody,
if they'll just let it. They got no use for the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is victorious in his redeeming grace. You remember what our Lord said
in Matthew 11, 25, thinking about this, out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings, you've ordained praise. The Lord Jesus Christ lifted
up his eyes unto heaven 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 babies. You know who he's talking about?
Us. Little babies. We don't know
anything unless he teaches us, tells us over and over. My little
babies, I had to tell them over and over and over and over again,
the simplest things. So they would learn, hot, don't
touch, hot, hot, don't touch. Don't go in the street. Over and over and over again. Because their nature was, I'm
going to go in the street. I want to touch that. We're just like, that's us in
it. We're just babies, little babies.
We don't know anything. We're self-destructive by nature.
We're like the sheep that goes astray. He don't know the pasture
from the valley of the shadow of death without the shepherd. His little children were praising
him in the temple while the religious leaders were plotting to kill
him. And that's still what's going on now. But grace that our Lord has passed
by so many more wise, more qualified, more likely candidates for his
mercy and has chosen the foolish, the weak, the base, the despised.
In other words, you, if you know him, and me. And then, David, in verses 3-8
of Psalm 8, he continues this same theme and speaks of the
excellence of the Lord in condescending to even think upon a sinner like
himself. And sure enough, David, he's
talking about himself. Who am I that you would even
look on me? Who is anybody, any sinner, that
you would even think about Him? That you would even be mindful
of Him? in spite of your excellence, and that you might be expected
to be unmindful of such lowly and despicable creatures as us.
He's nonetheless blessed us." David said, when I consider your
heavens, I see. And notice now, from the very
basic understanding of God, we see this. You remember Romans
1? where they didn't have any revelation except just what God
had made. That God held them responsible
there for acknowledging His power in Godhead. And that's what David's
doing here. Just looking at what God made,
he's saying, what a God, and who in the world am I that He
would think about me? You start looking at his gospel,
and you're going to say, who am I? Sure enough, who am I that
He would come down here and shed his precious blood for a worm
like me. When I consider your heavens,
the moon, and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man
that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou
visitest him? You've made him a little lower than the angels
and crowned him with glory and honor. Now we know from 1 Corinthians
15 and Hebrews 2 that this is concerning our Lord Jesus Christ,
who came into this earth as a man, a child was born, but also a
son was given, Isaiah 9. A child, an ordinary child, just
like any other child in the sense that he was born the same way
we are, in a physical sense, made of the same flesh and blood
that we are, in a physical sense, in an earthly sense, Child is
born like every other child is born. Oh, but a son was given
He wasn't born of Joseph and Mary God said that holy thing
Which is born of thee is conceived by the Holy Ghost And so we see by spiritual understanding
of this psalm as all of the scripture and Only by that spiritual understanding
can the magnitude of how God has condescended can be seen. How excellent He is and how far
He did come down and has blessed us though we're nothing. Though
as David said, why would you even think about us? Why would
you even give us a second thought, much less do what you've done
for us? Though we're not worthy of his
notice, as David intimates here, yet he has exalted us. And he
did so not just by giving us dominion over the earth and the
creatures in the earth temporally, as he mentions the sheep and
the ox and the beast of the field. That's true. He has done that.
That's just a picture of the dominion, the true dominion he's
talking about. The true blessing that he's talking
about is that in Christ we lowly Worms of the dust are exalted
to the very heights of glory. He's crowned us with glory, with
His glory. Because He has been mindful of
us, we shall be exalted. And think of what is included
in these words. Mindful of Him. That thou art
mindful of Him. Think about what's included in
that. How mindful of us was He? What an understatement and a
deliberate one to draw out our thoughts to how greatly He's
been mindful of us. I'm reminded of the disciples
on that little ship when the Lord was on the ship with them,
but He was in the bottom of the ship asleep. And the storm arose
and tossed that ship all over the place. They thought they
were going to die. The Lord's asleep. And they ran to Him and they
said, Master, carest Thou not that we perish? Aren't you mindful
of us? Oh, my friends. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, and yet made himself of no reputation, and
took upon him the form of a servant. It was made in the likeness of
men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
You know why he did that? Certainly to glorify his father,
to honor his father, because he loved his father. But you
know what he said that day that he broke that bread? He said,
this is my body that I broke for you. For you, for you, for
you. This is my blood. This is the
new covenant in my blood which is shed for you. And we have
the shameful gall to question whether he's mindful of us or
not. Don't you care? Have you ever thought that way?
You say, oh, those disciples, what a bunch of idiots. Don't
you care that we pray? How could they say something like that? Does a day go by that you don't
think that way? Doesn't God care? Look at what's
happening to me. Why me, you know? We complain
about everything. When God is on the throne orchestrating
every detail of our lives for our perfect good. Well, might we ask with David,
who am I, Lord, that you're mindful of me? And oh, how he has been
mindful. was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And as he went to that very cross,
and as he bore the very weight of my sin that he would suffer
and die for there, he prayed to his Father, Holy Father, keep
through thine own name those whom thou hast given me. He prayed
there that they may be one even as we are one. He prayed there,
Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with
me where I am. that they may behold my glory.
That's why he was going there to that cross so that we could
be with him where he was. There's no other way we can be
with him. We must perish in hell forever unless he goes and pays
for all of our sin with his precious blood. He did it so that we might
be with him where he was that we may behold his glory. That's
what he said. Now, I pray that you that those
whom you've given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which you've given me. Didn't he say as he
went to the cross, I'd go to prepare a place for you. And
if I go to prepare a place for you, I'm going to come again
and receive you unto myself that where I am, there you may be
also. That's what he accomplished on
Calvary. Why would he be mindful of me
at all, much less set his affection on me insomuch
that he had to have me? You see, it's mutual. If you
ever see him, you don't have to have him. You know what salvation is? The Lord from all eternity determined
to have you and has done everything necessary in order to have you. He's loved us with an everlasting
love. And therefore, with his loving
kindness, he drew us to himself. He said, if I'd be lifted up,
I'll draw men to myself. David said in our psalm, thou
hast put all things under his feet. And you know what our Lord
said there in that same prayer in John 17 too? You've put all
things under my feet. You've given me all authority
over all flesh. Why? that I should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given me. He made his son a little lower
than the angels in office, in place, in status, in his humiliation,
but because of what he accomplished by his perfect life and sin atoning
death in that lowered state, he is now crowned with all glory
and honor. As Paul said in Hebrews 620,
he's entered in as our forefather into the very holy of holies.
Entered in as our forefather. As he's glorified, you and I. Paul said it's done. In Romans
8, he said, whom he did predestinate, he called. Whom he called, he
justified. Whom he justified, he glorified. Because he is crowned, that's
what David said, thou hast crowned him with glory and honor. And
Paul said, and this is only true because our Lord is crowned for
us. And we in him, Paul said, henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, not a crown of gold, not a crown
with jewels in it. Religion talk about, well, the
more good works you do, the more jewels you're going to have in
your crown. What are you going to do with a crown with jewels in it
in heaven? What does that have to do with anything? It's all
about Christ there. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day, Isaiah said. Not him and you. The Lord alone
shall be exalted. What exalts us is exalting Him. We're going to be in an exalted
state exalting Him. What's a crown of gold going
to mean to you? The streets are, I think, figuratively made of
gold there. Why? Because gold is nothing
there. It's pavement. It's blacktop. It's a crown of
righteousness that we're talking about here that Paul said, He's
going to crown me with His righteousness. That's worth talking about. That's
a crown worth wearing there. Not a reward or symbol of our
merits, but of His. He is the Lord our righteousness.
And as John records in Revelation 4.10, we're gonna cast our crowns
at his feet, such as they are, whatever they are, attributing
our righteousness unto him. Not on my head, but at his feet.
That's where my righteousness is attributable to him. Revelation
4.10, listen to this now. The four and 20 elders fall down
before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever
and ever. and cast their crowns before
the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory
and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and
for Thy pleasure they are and were created. You've made Him
a little lower than the angels and crowned Him with glory and
honor, and we do We're a crown of righteousness because of what
he did for us, who he is to us, what he's done for us. But we
cast it at his feet. Whether that's figurative or
literal, I don't know. But I know what it means, don't
you? It means what they said. You're worthy. You're worthy. Glory and honor and majesty,
everything that's worth being worthy of. You're worthy, not
us. Not under us, O Lord, the psalmist said. Not under us,
but under thy name, give glory. And I guarantee you that's what
he's gonna do. That's what he's gonna do. And we're either in
on it or against it. We're either in the business
of glorifying the flesh or glorifying God's holy lamb by his grace. I desire to be where He is that
we may glorify Him as He's worthy. Don't you desire that? The older
I get, the more pitiful I see my worship and praise and service and everything else,
if you can even call it that, to be. And I want Him to receive
the glory that's due unto Him. It won't be long. Let's pray
together.