Back in Psalm 17, you'll notice
the title, and we referred to it before we read the psalm a
moment ago, A Prayer of David. And that's all. No more information. It's obvious in reading the psalm
that David was being persecuted by his enemies, very possibly
Saul. That's obvious that he was being
persecuted by someone, But there are no specifics given as to
who it was or when this might have took place. I thought about
that a little this afternoon and I thought, well, that probably
should be a lesson in itself. Because we should, as our Lord
taught, at all seasons, men ought to pray and faint not. It's always
a good time to call upon the name of our God. When would it
not be a good time? Paul in writing in Hebrews chapter
4 said, let us come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help, find grace to help in time
of need. Now when would that not be? Is
there ever a moment, brother Lloyd, from the time God calls
us to follow Him, to take up our cross, to deny ourself and
follow Him, that takes grace. Until we enter glory, to be with
Him forever, is there ever a time that we don't stand in need of
help? That we don't stand in need of
His grace and mercy always? David seems to be, as he often
was, in the furnace of affliction. But he emerges from the flame
triumphant. He's in the furnace of affliction
like the three Hebrew young men, but he emerges unharmed by the
flame. Only the dross is consumed. Peter wrote and said, if need
be you're in heaviness. If need be. There's a need be
to it. Or trials and so forth, or God
wouldn't send them. need be your in heaviness now
through manifold temptations, but the trying of your faith
being much more precious than gold that perishes." Throughout
this psalm, David sets himself in contrast to the unbeliever. He sets himself being a worshipper
of God and those who are not. You remember what The Lord God
told Moses. Just before that night that he
was to pass through Egypt and slay all the firstborn, that
last plague upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, he told Moses,
gather the leaders of Israel, the elders, and tell them, this
night I'll pass through, that they may know, this is in Exodus
11, that they may know that God puts the difference between Israel
and the Egyptians. Grace makes the difference. Greater are they that be with
us, the prophet said, Elisha to his young protege. Greater are they that be with
us than they that be with them. We see this contrast between
David, the man after God's own heart, and those who don't know
God. You see it throughout this psalm
in Psalm 17. For example, look again at verse
7. David says, Show thy marvelous loving kindness, O thou that
savest by thy right hand. David had experienced that. Them
which put their trust in thee, as we sang a moment ago, trusting
Jesus, that is all. That is all. That's enough. If he gives me grace to trust
him, that's enough. That is all. But look how David
sets himself in contrast to those other men. From those that rise
up against thee. Those that don't know God. Again,
verse 8. Keep me as the apple of thy eye,
of thee eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wing. compared to verse 9, from the
wicked that oppressed me from my deadly enemies who compassed
me about. Children of light and children
of darkness. Again, verse 13, arise, O Lord,
disappoint him, cast him down, deliver my soul from the wicked. They're your sword. They're in
your hand. From men, now look at this description. From men which are at thy hand,
O Lord, from men of the world. From men of the world. Do you
remember what he told his disciples that night? Just before he was
betrayed, you're not of the world. You're in the world, of course,
but you're not of the world. And the reason is I've chosen
you out of the world. Deliver me from men of the world
which have their portion in this life. Like the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man had his portion,
his good things in this life. Or like the rich fool that our
Lord spoke about. who that very night God required
his soul love. They lived for this world. They had their portion. Their
heart was set on this world. Be thankful daily, child of God. Let's pray for one another to
be thankful daily that God has not set our hearts on this world,
that we have more. These men that David refers to,
men that have their portion, in this life, they may have more
than others, but they're without grace. They're without grace. Without hope. This world is all
they have. It's all they have. And this
world, everything in it shall be destroyed. This world is all
they have. This is the very best that they'll
ever have. Is it any wonder that John wrote,
love not the world. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. Peter said everything in the
world shall be dissolved. And then look what David writes
in verse 15. With the contrast, fresh in our
mind, of the comparison David makes throughout the psalm. See
how he emerges victorious. As for me, yes, men that know
not God serve this world. All their heart, all their ambition,
all their energy, all their hopes are wrapped up in this world,
in this life. That's all they have. That's
all they want. That's all they desire. But as for me, I will
behold thy face in righteousness. Now what can the world give compared
to that? As for me, I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. As for me. There's that another example of God's distinguishing
grace. David turns away from the men
of this world, the men who have their portion in this life. That's
all they have. But David, by the grace of God,
is able to say, not me, not me. As for me, God's grace has made
a difference. God's grace has opened my eyes
to see beyond this present world to that one that shall never
end. As for me, oh, think of it. Now, let's not, so to speak,
sit on the sidelines. and just view David as spectators. Because what David says here
in verse 15 is true of every child of God. Every believer,
everyone that has experienced God's grace can take these words
as their own. As for me, I say the same thing. Because love within everlasting
love, just like David. And from God's love for him,
David traces God's choice of him and God's constant care of
him. Until this, until that day, that
time, that he shall behold his face in righteousness. Look what he says again in verse
5. Lord, until, until I do, until that day arrives, of my everlasting
satisfaction, when my desire, when the desire of my heart,
the hope of my soul is fully realized, when my satisfaction
is completely full, and that is when I awaken thy likeness.
Until that day, David says, at verse 5, hold up my goings, hold
me up in thy paths, Don't let me stray. Don't let me follow
those men of the world. Don't allow my heart to be set
on things in this world. Hold up my goings in thy paths
that my footsteps slip not. And bless his name, God has promised
to do that very thing. He won't let us go. Your heavenly father keeps you. Isn't that a comforting thought? Your heavenly father keeps you. He won't lose one of his own. It's his pleasure, our master
said, our elder brother said, who went back to the father's
house and now appears in the presence of God, Doesn't stop
there, does it? He appears in the presence of
God for us. He said, it's your father's good
pleasure to give you the kingdom. God takes pleasure in giving
us the kingdom. And until that day that we see
him as he is, when we awake, I'm almost tempted to get ahead
of myself because that part of the verse or text, verse 15,
is on further down in the message. But oh, I keep coming back to
it, thinking of that satisfaction. Oh, that eternal, complete, overflowing
satisfaction when I awake. What a morning. When I awake
in the likeness of my Redeemer. But as David says here in his
prayer, Father, keep me. God, keep me. Don't let me stray. Don't let me slip. Hold me by
your mighty hand. As Peter wrote again in chapter
1 of his first epistle, you who are kept, though you're being
tried, though you're suffering, going through persecution, Peter
says you're kept. You're kept by the power of God. Well, then that ought to do it.
Shouldn't it? The power of God? God's power? That should keep every child
of God by the power of the omnipotent God. Why wouldn't it? Why wouldn't it? Who should overcome
Him? Look again at verse 6 of the
psalm. David says, I've prayed, I've
looked to you, I've called upon thee for thou wilt hear me, O
God. Incline thy ear unto me. Yes, God hears the cry of his
children. Again, before he sent Moses to
Pharaoh, he said, Moses, I've heard the cry of my children
Israel. I've heard their cry. And I've
come down to deliver them. Yes, God hears the cry. He always hears the cry. He bends
his ear, so to speak, to hear the cry just as he did of David. Incline thy ear, O God. Will
you hear this cry? Will you hear the cry of this
sinner? And of course God does. He said
to Moses, I've come down to deliver them. And then verse 7. Show
thy marvelous loving kindness. Thou that savest by thy right
hand. Them which put their trust in
thee. Oh, our God saves. Our God is a just God and Savior. Our God is mighty to save. The captain of our salvation
is able to save to the uttermost not 9 out of 10 or 99 out of
100, but all, all that come unto God by him. And when I say save,
I mean all of salvation. from calling, to preservation,
to perseverance, to being brought without spot or blemish into
the very presence of God Almighty, complete eternal salvation. He is our God that saves from
all those that rise up against us, as was the case with David. But more than that, from the
most fierce enemy of my soul, that sin within man. Not only
enemies without, But oh, the sin within, he's able to save
me from that as well. Salvation to the uttermost. How much is that? How much is that? As much as
necessary. As much as is required. Perhaps
we should say more correctly even more, because in Romans
5 Paul spoke of the grace of God in Christ Jesus as grace
that doth much more abound. Not just equal to the task, but
over and abundantly abounding. Grace that reigns where sin reigns. Grace that is greater than our
sin. Nothing less than that. Nothing
less than that will help this sinner. Grace of the mighty God. Look at verse 8. Keep me. Keep me. Oh, if we're kept, he
must keep us. Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. Hide me. until these storms be
past. Hide me, O my great and mighty
God, the rock of my salvation. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. When the storms of life are raging,
hide me, hide me. O thou who rulest wind and water,
stand by me, hide me. Let's look now at verse 15. As
for me, let the world have the world. David says, as for me,
I will behold thy face in righteousness. Can a man speak so matter if
I could? I mean, David doesn't give any
elbow room to ifs, or maybes, or perchances. He speaks very
matter-of-factly. He says, I will. I will behold
thy face, and I shall be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. And so it is. Because he was
looking not to his own strength, but the strength of his redeemer.
He know he was kept, not by his own keeping, but he was preserved
by that one who said, my sheep are in my hand. Did he not say
that? Should the sheep not find comfort
in that? If the shepherd says, nobody
can pluck out my sheep, then the sheep can rest easy, can't
they Lord? Shouldn't they? Just rest easy
in the hand of their great shepherd. I read a story in a sermon by
Mr. Spurgeon. He used this as an
illustration, and I want to do it as well. There was a preacher,
perhaps you've heard of many years ago, named Roland Hill. And a person of means gave Mr. Hill a pretty large sum of money,
a hundred pounds, which was a large sum. to give to another poor
minister. But he specified that you should
give him five pounds at a time, not all at once. So Mr. Hill did what he was requested
to do, and he forwarded five pounds in a letter with only
these words within the envelope, more to follow, more to follow. In a few days' time, the good
man received another letter five more pounds contained with the
same words, more to follow. Till the whole sum had been received,
the astonished minister was made familiar with the cheering words,
and more to follow. Every blessing, every blessing Every blessing that comes from
God is sent with the same message, and more to follow. I forgive
you your sins, but there's more to follow. I justify you in the
righteousness of Christ, but there's more to follow. I give
you grace upon grace, but there's more to follow. I've helped you
even to old age, but there's more to follow. He giveth and
he giveth. I will uphold you in the hour
of death, I will uphold you into our death. And as you are passing
into the world of spirits, my mercy shall continue with you.
And when you land in the world to come, there shall still be
more to follow." That's pretty much what David says here, isn't
it? More to follow. I will behold
thy face in righteousness. What a joy it is by faith to
behold Him even now, when we gather together to worship, and
He is pleased, He who has gathered us, to meet with us. What a comfort! How refreshing it is to our hearts
when He visits us with His grace, as He did to those two disciples
on the road to Emmaus that day. He pretended he was going to
go on so they would constrain him to stay and he did. And as
he thanked his father for the meal, their eyes were opened,
and they knew him, and then he was gone. And remember what they
said to one another, did not our hearts, did not our hearts
burn within us as he expounded unto us the scriptures? Indeed,
even his enemy said, never a man spake like this man. Oh, just
one word, one word. dropped into the hearts of his
children is enough to revive them. It did so for Mary, did
it not? Mary came to the tomb that morning
after very hurriedly, because the Sabbath drew on, preparing
the body of the Lord Jesus, she comes back to finish the job. Supposing him to be the gardener,
she said, where have you laid him? Tell me where you've taken
the body of my Lord. And he that speaks like never a man
spoke. You've experienced. Nobody could
do this. He said, Mary. Mary. That was it. That's all
he said. Mary, and all her heart was lifted
up to see her Lord. Still though, blessed as those
times are, still here we walk by faith and not by sight. But then, as David says, then
we shall behold his face, our bridegroom. our Lord and our
God. We shall see Him as clearly and
as really as the church in heaven does right now, at this very
moment. Think about that. Think about
that. the redeemed in glory, the church
in heaven, right now beholds the face of their blessed redeemer. So shall you and I, as clearly
as they do, what will that be like? Don't expect me to answer
that, I can't. What will that be like when we
see him? What will that first moment be? when we look into the eyes of
that One who from eternity past looked and saw us fallen in sin
and agreed to come in the fullness of the time that the Father would
send Him and do everything. necessary to secure their everlasting
salvation. There's no illustration, there's
no comparison that I can find to illustrate that. David says,
as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. Christ
who is our righteousness. Paul said there is one God. And one mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus. Oh, but between Christ Jesus,
we need no mediator. No preacher, no priest, because
He is the mediator. And we shall be righteous. We
shall be like Him. God made Him to be seen that
we might be to make the righteousness of God in Him. And it's not a
second-rate righteousness, is it? What did the Father say concerning
the returning prodigal son? Well, he's going to have to earn
his stripes. He's going to have to prove himself. Just not sure we can trust him
anymore. No, he didn't. He said, bring
forth the best robe. The best robe. Put the best robe around that
returning rebel. And in that best road, I will behold thy face in righteousness,
the very righteousness of Christ. And dressed in that robe of Christ's
righteousness, you know what happens. It makes us stand before
the throne of God without thought. without fault before the throne
of God. It also means it will be a righteous
thing for God to do so. It's right for God to do so.
because Christ by his life and death enabled God to be just
and justify the ungodly. It will be right on the merits
of Christ and what he accomplished for his people for God to bring
them all to glory and to welcome them there. No wonder David says
between these two wonders of beholding his face and awakening
his likeness, David says, I shall be satisfied. Why wouldn't he
be? Satisfied. Oh my, how rare, rare
it is to meet with a satisfied person. Someone who's content. How many we know that live their
lives unfulfilled, unsatisfied, never content? Oh, but godliness
with contentment, we read, is great gain. Concerning the world,
They thirst again, never satisfied. The wise man Solomon said, vanity
of vanity. It's all vanity, meaning empty,
unsatisfying. He that loveth richest shall
not be satisfied with richest. Oh, but look at the believer.
With David, every child of God can say, as for me, as for me,
satisfied. Content instead of asking why
we should be asked why we should not be We have Christ We have
Christ We have the unspeakable gift of God's everlasting love
and Christ is all and I'm accepted in him and I can never be unaccepted
Should I not be content? Rest my soul right here. I'm
found in him and Not having my own righteousness, but His. He is the very righteousness
of God in Christ. I'm in Him. And I can never be
condemned. There's no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. Having satisfaction, having Christ
rather, having Christ, the satisfaction of the believer is well grounded. Consider. Consider. Does he not say to every believing
sinner, thy sins are forgiven thee? Now you may lie down tonight
with pain, you may lie down tonight with heartache, but you won't
lie down with sin, because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. But the time David speaks of
He speaks of that time when God gives us that more which is to
follow. When I awake, David says, when
I awake. Not if I awake, but when I awake. The Lord, our Lord, the resurrection
and the life said the hour is coming when all that are in the
graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and they that
hear shall come forth. Those that have done evil to
the resurrection of damnation, those who have done good to the
resurrection of life. I came down from heaven In the
next chapter of John's Gospel, chapter 6, I came down from heaven
to do my Father's will. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that all which He had given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise them up again at the last day, and be with
Him in glory. When? Not if Christ who is our
life shall appear, then shall we appear also with Him in glory. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15,
as we have borne the image of the earthy, and don't we know
it, don't we know it, hourly, daily, We're aware of it. But he said, as we have borne
the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of
the heavenly. Notice what the psalmist says,
when I awake. When I awake in thy likeness. And look, look who wakes us up. It's the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Let me read from to you rather
from from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Look at that voice that shall
awake all those who sleep in Jesus Christ, all those who have
died in Him. They'll hear His voice. Wake
up! Wake up! In 1 Thessalonians chapter
4 verse 16, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout. Here comes our bridegroom. Here
comes our redeemer. Here comes that one who wills
that all those be with him where he is at the father gate. For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Wherefore, wherefore with such
a prospect before us, O how soon it may take place, wherefore
comfort one another with these words. The psalmist said, I shall
awake to a morning that shall never end. A day without darkness
of any kind. A day in which I shall be eternally
satisfied because I shall awake in His likeness. To be like Christ. To think like Him. To love like
Him. and to be with Him forever. Turn, if you will, to 1 John
chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. The hymn writer wrote, bold shall
I stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge shall
lay. While thus thy blood absolved
I am, while through thy blood absolved I am, from sin's tremendous
curse and shame. No wonder John says in verse
1 of chapter 3 in his first epistle, Behold, behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. I pray God remind us of that
as we leave here tonight and face whatever we may in this
world tomorrow. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. Nothing can change that. And
it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when
He shall appear, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.
For we shall see Him as He is. Amen. Amen. God bless you.