David begins Psalm 7, crying out to God, O Lord, my
God, in thee do I put my trust. This is something that we've
seen in the Psalms and Proverbs already. David is crying into God. Solomon
said, cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding. And he teaches us there not only
to seek wisdom with our own God-given faculties, spend your time, spend
what temporal wisdom the Lord has
given you, spend your resources seeking out wisdom, but also
ask for it. of him who is the source of all
wisdom. And here David cries for protection
and vindication against his enemies, but he does so in the manner
in which we saw that wisdom should be asked for. So we see a common
theme in the manner of asking here. Remember James 1.5. Let me read it to you. If any
of you lack wisdom, Let him ask of God that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But
let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. That's what David's
doing here. He said, Oh Lord, my God, I trust
you. Ask in faith. For he that wavereth is like
a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let
not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
If you come to the Lord, and you ask for things of him that
are contrary to his word, to his glory, to his honor, you're
asking a miss, James said. And so David teaches us something
here. Long before James ever wrote that, David knew to pray
this way. He said, Lord, I trust you. I
put my trust in you. Now save me. Save me. Ask in faith. Ask trusting Him. Ask believing His Word that He
is a God who saves such as we are. Who does have mercy. I trust you. I believe what you
said. You said I'll have mercy and
I'm asking you for mercy. I believe you. I trust you. Now this thing of asking in faith
Religion has turned into some kind of idiotic power of positive
thinking scheme. But it's not that. Do you know
how much power your positive thinking really has? You know,
don't you? Absolutely zilch. None. Your positive thinking has no
power whatsoever. Nor mine. And I actually think
it's very important to have a positive attitude. Don't always assume
the worst. That's our nature, isn't it?
Don't always think, well, the worst thing that can possibly
happen, that's what's going to happen, so I'm going to start
worrying about it before it ever happens. And it probably never
will. But I'm going to worry about it anyway. That's just
wrong. It's dishonoring to our God to
do that. People can cause themselves needless
suffering and bring on themselves the disdain of others by having
a bad act. Nobody wants to be around somebody like that. I
am like that, but I don't want to be around you being like that.
And you either. You don't want to be around me
being like that either, do you? But understand this, a good attitude
has to be based on something substantial. Not just if you
think positively it's going to happen for you. Nonsense. If
God is willing, it will happen for me. James said, go to now
you that boast about what's going to happen tomorrow. You don't
know what's going to happen tomorrow. What you ought to be saying is
if the Lord will, This sinner will live, and he'll do some
things, if the Lord will, you see. And we trust Him. That's why we have a... David
had a good outlook on this. He believed that he would be
delivered from his enemies. The rest of the psalm bears that
out. He said, they're going to fall
in their own trap, and I'm going to praise the Lord. But he had
a good reason for thinking positively. What was it? He trusted his God. That's what it was. He trusted
his God. Now that's substantial. If God
be for us now, and he said he's for his people. He's for those
who honor his son, who trust him. I'm going to believe him
by his grace. I'm going to believe him and
I'm going to ask by his grace. Believe him. Ask in faith. That's what he's talking about. He said, I put my trust in you. Now this is important to see
also. He said, I put my trust in you. Trust is something that is put
somewhere. You're going to put yours somewhere. You and I are going to make a
conscious choice. as to where we are going to place
our trust. But Chris, I thought you said
before many times that salvation is not by choice. I have said
that, and it's not. But you know the truth about
this, but I'll just remind us. Those who are lost are lost because
of their will, because of their choice. Adam made a choice. He made a free will choice, didn't
he? Of course, even that, the word free is a pretty strong
word with regard to us even in the garden. Because that was
God's design all along. It didn't surprise him that Adam
sinned. But it was our will. Our will
is the problem. It was then and it still is.
The Lord said you will not come to me that you might have life. That's your problem. That's mine
by nature. And he's going to have to make us willing in the
day of his power if we're going to be saved. And so It's not
because of our will that we're saved, but we're not saved against
our will. We're saved against our natural
will, but God's people are made willing. Those who are lost are lost because
of their will, and those who are saved are willing in the
day of God's power. We're going to choose Christ.
Isn't that right? Now, what we mean by refuting
religion's claim that salvation is by the choice of man's will
is simply this, and we do refute that claim. Salvation is not
by the choice of man's will. And here's what we mean. Jeremiah
asked, can the Ethiopian change his skin? Can the leopard change
his spots? And he just decided, well, I
don't like these spots. I'd like to have some stripes
now and make it so. If he can do that, and when he
does that, that's when you'll do something good. That's what Jeremiah said. That's
what this book teaches. You know that. All through this
book teaches that an evil, depraved sinner can no more decide to
do good than a leopard can decide to have stripes rather than spots
and make it so. It's not going to be so. You
can make all the decisions you want to. You're going to be a
lost decision maker until God does something. And he's not
going to do anything in response to your decision. You're going
to do something in response to his mercy. That's how sinners
say it. That's why our Lord said, no
man can come to me. You can't will that. You can't
do the right thing. Someone who is enmity against
God in their very nature can't just decide I'm going to love
God today. But this does not mean that our
will is not involved in both condemnation and in salvation. Our will is fully involved in
both. In condemnation, as Christ said,
you will not come to me. We refuse. Didn't he say that
in Proverbs? You've refused my counsel. Wisdom
crying in the streets and you turned your back and stiffened
your neck. In salvation, our will is involved
by faith. Moses, when he was come to years,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy
pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. For he had respect
under the recompense of the reward. He didn't want gold and silver
and precious stones and a privileged lifestyle. He wanted Christ.
And he had to have him. And everybody who knows him has
to have him. And we'll make that same choice. Matthew 13, 45,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking
goodly pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price,
he went and sold all that he had. He decided that day that
everything he had was worthless compared to that pearl. And he had to have that pearl.
And he sold everything he had and he went and bought it. God's people are made willing
in the day of his power. We can't naturally decide to
love rather than hate, but the power of grace can and does turn
a rebel into a son. A willing, submissive, loving
son. That's what David is putting
on display here. He's evidencing that very fact.
He said, I put my trust in you, my God. And you will too, if he ever
gives you life. If you ever see him, if you ever
see yourself as you are, when he turns the light on, we're
going to put our trust in him. Deliberately. Willingly. You puttin' your trust somewhere
tonight, and I am too. And then David prays, save me.
You know, those words we find throughout the scripture. Peter
said, Lord, save me. And David's sayin', save me.
That's what a sinner says, you know that? Save me. Not I need
a little help, not meet me halfway, save me. This is the cry of somebody in
trouble. I need to be saved. God didn't just give me a chance
to be saved. He saved me. It's just simple
language, isn't it? He saved me. If you ask someone, do you believe
that God has to save a sinner for them to be blessed and have
a life? Does God have to save them? They
say, oh yes, I believe that. But then everything they say
denies that. What they actually believe is that God has to give
them a chance. God has to make it possible. He has to make salvation
available, but then you gotta do something. No. What I asked
is this, does God have to save a sinner? Does he have to save
them? Now David, of course, here is
speaking of earthly enemies. Save me from my earthly enemy.
But this is a picture of our salvation from sin. This is spiritual
language, as all of scripture is. We need the Almighty Savior. He said, Oh Lord, my God, I put
my trust in you. Save me. We need him to come where we
are and do everything for us. We've despaired of self. David
said, My enemies look at verse two. He said, lest he tear my
soul like a lion. If you don't save me, I'm a goner.
That's just a simple realization, spiritually speaking, of us in
our sin before God. We realize we are overwhelmed.
This is not something I can decide my way out of. He will rend me
in pieces. My enemy is greater than I. I
can't do anything about my problem. I can't help myself. Save me. If you don't save me, he will
tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces and there won't
be anybody to deliver. Do you see that? If God doesn't
save me, who's going to? Whom have I on earth beside thee,
David said, and whom in heaven do I have beside thee? But who
do we need beside him? I have precisely no chance of
being saved if salvation is by chance. I'm utterly helpless
against my enemies. David saw this and knew this
and acknowledged this. He was outnumbered and outgunned.
And this is a picture of a sinner beginning to understand the magnitude
of his own sinfulness before God. I'm overwhelmed. I'm a goner
unless God saves me. Unless there's a way that God
can still be God and have mercy on me, I'm a goner. This is when
you and I will also cry to God for salvation. When we see ourselves
in way over our heads. And utterly incapable of doing
anything about it. As long as we can do something
about it. As long as I got a little money, I'm going to spend it
on a doctor that's going to... I think, well this one, you know,
he's got... He's a good one. Everybody recommends
him. I've got some money left, I'm going to spend it. But when
you spend all you have and you're getting worse, what are you going
to do then? If I can but touch the hem of
his garment. If there's one passing by who
with a touch can make me whole, where do you think I'm going
to be? If I'm in that case. David said, if you don't deliver,
there won't be any deliverance. And here's the spiritual equivalent
of that. Look at Romans chapter 7. This is the language of somebody
in over their heads in Romans 7. Somebody overwhelmed. You listen to what Paul said.
Verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the
law of sin? Is the law the problem? Because
the law can't save me, then is the law the problem? Oh, God
forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law. That's how
God revealed my sinfulness to me, was by His law. When the
light reveals corruption, that's not a problem with the light.
That's a problem with what the light is shining on. You don't
walk into a dirty room and say, well, this light bulb is too
bright. No, you say this room needs to be cleaned up. For I
had not known lust except the law had said thou shall not covet.
And that's why God gave his law, to reveal sin, not to inform
us so that we can make up for our sin. to reveal it, so that
all the world, every mouth would be stopped and everybody say,
I'm guilty before God. But sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, using God's law, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence,
for without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without
the law once, not without an understanding of the law. I thought
I was doing fine. Pharisees, the Pharisees, as touching the law blameless
as far as I was concerned and everybody that knew me was concerned.
But when the commandment came, when God revealed his truth to
me, sin revived and it killed me. I died. The self-righteous
me, the me that had confidence in my own ability to establish
my own righteousness died that day. That's the me that died.
Not the flesh. The flesh didn't die. Self-righteous
me died. Hoping myself me died. That's
who died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life I found to be unto death. It's ordained to
life to whoever can keep it. But whoever can't, it's unto
death. For sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, deceived me and by it slew me. Wherefore the
law is holy. and the commandment holy and
just and good. It was then that which is good
made death unto me, God forbid, but sin, that it might appear
sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the
commandment, and this is God's purpose, by His commandment revealed
unto me, He made me see that my sin was exceeding sinful. Like David, looking at his enemies
and saying, I'm a goner. I've got one recourse here. I'm
gonna have to cry to God, and he's gonna have to hear me, and
he's gonna have to come save me, or I'm a goner. That's what
Paul's saying, too. You know, look at what he finally
says at the bottom, verse 24, O wretched man that I am. Who's
gonna deliver me? That's what David said. Lord,
deliver me. Save me. Who's going to deliver me from
the body of this death? I have one hope. I thank God
for this hope. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm going to trust you, David
said. I'm going to trust him. Like David, Paul surveyed his
situation and despaired of self and cried for salvation. Who will save me? I thank God there's salvation
through Jesus Christ, my Lord. And then David said in verse
three, oh Lord, my God, if I have done this, now you think with
me now in gospel terms, what does this mean? If I've done
this, if I'm guilty, if there be iniquity in my hands, if I
have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me, yea, I
have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy. It's just
the opposite. Let the enemy persecute my soul
and take it, yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth and
lay mine honor in the dust." Do we boast our righteousness
before God? Is that what's happening here?
We have to see this in gospel terms. The sinner to whom God
reveals his sin gives him a sense of his sin and makes him know
that only Christ can save him. That sinner who's given life
and sight and ears and spiritual understanding. That sinner doesn't
just want to go to heaven when they die. That's not the salvation
we're crying for. They want it to be right for
God to save them. And that's what's spiritually
being taught here. I want to be justified. I want to be vindicated before
God. I want to be righteous. I don't just want a mansion in
glory. I don't want God to save me if it's not right for Him
to save me. God gives a sinner that sense now. When He saves
them, it's not just about going to heaven when you die. It's
about the holiness of God being honored. It's about His justice
being satisfied for me when I have life, when I have understanding. And that's what David is saying
here. We want justice to be served in God saving us. They want God
to count them guiltless in this matter. And that's what David's
saying here. Lord, look and see this situation.
In this earthly situation, David was innocent. They didn't have
any cause to come seek in his life. They didn't have any reason
to do what they were doing for him. And that's what he said,
but in spiritual terms. Isn't that what we desire before
God? We want God to save us and we
want it to be right for him to do it. It's got to be. We know it's got to be that way.
That's the hope that we see and lay hold of in Christ Jesus.
Not just a ticket to heaven, but we see by God's grace that
by virtue of the Holy Lamb of God giving His life a ransom
for our soul, that God can be just and justify us. We can stand before God righteous. David is saying here, Lord, if
it's not right to save me, then let me fall. Isn't that what
he said? He said, if I'm guilty in this, then let my enemies
overcome me and bring me down. Has God given you a sense of
that? A desire for justice to be done
in saving me. If it's not right to save me,
let me fall. Peter said, Lord, depart from me. I'm a sinful
man. He had a sense of this, didn't
he? He knew what he was before God. And we, our desire, as I
said, is not just to go to heaven. Our desire is to be righteous
in the sight of God, for God to look at me and see me holy. If there had been any iniquity
in our Savior's hands, and we consider these words also as
coming from Him, these are the words of our Savior, as well
as ours. If there had been any iniquity
in His hands, then He would have fallen and we with Him. But bless God, there was no guile
found in His mouth. He was punished. There were nails
in his hands, but no cause for them, save the mercy of God toward
his sheep. There was punishment. Wrath poured
out upon him, but in him was no sin. And David here is a picture
of him unjustly accused, unjustly pursued unto death. Because he
bore my sins in his own body on the tree, but he himself was
just and righteous. Because He did, He bore the wrath
of God against my sins. I'm now justified. There's no
iniquity in His hands or mine now. And only this manner of salvation
can satisfy God. If God's going to save you, you've
got to be holy. You're going to have to do it
in a way that's consistent with His justice. That's the only
kind of salvation that will satisfy God. And here's the lesson here
too. That's the only kind of salvation that will satisfy the
sinner whom God saves. You're not going to be happy
with just a mansion in glory. It ain't about that anyway. David said, I'll be as satisfied
when I awake with your likeness. That's what's going to satisfy
us. Not just getting benefits from from being in heaven. We want to be like Him. We want
to be standing in His presence holy and justified and vindicated.
And that's what David's crying for here. We want to be like our Savior
and with our Savior. The only way to be with Him is
to be like Him. And here's what we rejoice in. Turn to Colossians
1. This is what, this is the Colossians
1 12. This is the testimony of every
believer now giving thanks unto the father. What for Paul? Because he made us meet. You
see that he made us worthy to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. How did he do it? Well, he delivered
us from the power of darkness. and translated us into the kingdom
of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
even the forgiveness of sin. He forgave our sins, that's how.
And we're worthy to be partakers of this inheritance, of His saints. The word saints is derived from
the word sanctified, holy, righteous. That's what David's crying for.
He's crying for an earthly vindication against his earthly enemies.
But this is spiritual language. The sinner wants to be meeked
to be a partaker of the inheritance of his saints, not just the benefits
of the partaking. We have redemption through his
blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him
were all things created. that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him.
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have
the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself. That's salvation. Not just going
to heaven, being reconciled to God. You see the difference?
I want to go to glory, to be with him in heaven forever, but
it's more than just going somewhere. It's being reconciled to God
by the death of his son. You see that? That's the salvation
that we rejoice in. And you who were at one time
alienated in enemies, verse 21, in your mind by wicked word,
yet now hath he reconciled. How did he do it? In the body
of his flesh through death. He died for that purpose. Not
so you'd have a great place to live. so that you could be with
Him, righteous and holy and accepted in the Beloved. To present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. That's why He died. Religion's
heaven is as fleshly as all the rest of their religion. It's
all about the flesh. It's all about just the pampering
of the flesh. But oh, to the believer, It's about being reconciled
to God and being standing before him. Righteous, holy, unblameable. Because of his precious blood.
Now verse six, David said, arise, oh Lord, in that anger, lift
up thyself because of the rage of my enemies and awake for me
to the judgment that thou hast commanded. Now again, we have
to think in gospel terms here. For God to be just, and me be justified, David said,
if it ain't right to justify me, then don't do it. If it ain't
right to save me, then don't save me. But save me. Save me
in a way that's right. For him to do that, his wrath,
his judgment must strike. And his judgment must be vindicated.
And so that's what David's saying. He said, I'll rise in that anger,
Lord, He speaks here of the judgment that God has commanded. That
word commanded there is ordered or ordained. The judgment that God has ordered
or ordained. Now what is that with regard
to the gospel spiritually speaking? This is without question the
wrath of God poured out upon his son. There is only one instance
of God's justice, wrath, and judgment ever being satisfied. One instance. And it is when the Lord Jesus
cried, it is finished. Only then, only there is God's
justice satisfied ever by anybody. Well, what about all those people
in hell? Why are they in hell? They're not satisfying God's
justice. If they did, they'd get out someday. That's what
he means by he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He
has no satisfaction in their death. They can't ever make satisfaction. Throughout all the endless ages
of torment and suffering, they can never make satisfaction for
one sin they committed, ever. This is the judgment that God
has commanded, that he has ordained, that he has ordered. When his
wrath was poured out upon his son, that's how David can be
saved and it'd be right for David to be saved. Spiritually speaking,
by God awaking to the judgment that
he ordained. This is clear proof that our
Lord Jesus Christ did not die under the wrath of God. for the
sins of those who suffer in hell. Justice satisfied can demand
no further punishment. Surety and sinner cannot both
suffer for the same sin. And this is why and how His sheep
are eternally justified. Justice unsatisfied demands in
quantity what cannot be provided in quality. And so hell is eternal. There's never enough. Never enough
suffering, never enough payment. But we are eternally justified
because God's judgment has been poured out upon his son for my
sin, in my stead, as my representative. He acted as my high priest when
he said, I pray not for the world, but for those that you've given
me. The hours come. And do you see this in our text
now? David said, awake in judgment, Lord, so that my enemies will
be destroyed. That's what he's saying now. How's that going to happen spiritually?
How are all my enemies going to be destroyed? God's judgment. And there's only one way that
my spiritual enemies can be destroyed. For God to pour out his judgment
and for his judgment to be satisfied. Zechariah 13 7 says awake o sword. Isn't that what David just got
through saying? Awake in judgment. And God says in this language
of Zechariah 13 7 awake o sword against my shepherd and against
the man that is my fellow saith the Lord of hosts smite the shepherd
and the sheep shall be scattered And I will turn my hand on the
little ones. For God to destroy my enemies
as David's crying for you. And justify me and save me. He
got to pour out his judgment, the judgment that he has ordained. It's poured out upon his son.
in my place." And then David said in verse
7, so seeing that this is true when this happens and we know
it and acknowledge it and rejoice in it, the congregation of the
people are going to encompass about you. We're going to gather
around. Isn't that what we're doing tonight? We're encompassing him about
because of what he's done. Because he has saved us. Because
he has delivered us from all of our enemies. And He did it
by pouring out His judgment upon our substitute. He destroyed
every enemy that we have. When the Lord saves us by justifying
us, by pouring out judgment upon our enemies, which is tantamount
in a spiritual sense to pouring out His wrath upon His Son. My
enemies were destroyed by Him pouring out His wrath upon His
Son. There's no other way that I can
overcome my enemies than if my Savior dies in my
stead under the judgment of God. And David says here, when we
see this come to pass as it has, we will congregate around you
in worship and praise and adoration. And we do. Not only because we
see that you're worthy, we do that. That's our motive, but
it's also What makes it possible? How could we gather around Him
unless He's done what He's done? How can we congregate around
Him unless His judgment is poured out and all of our enemies are
vanquished? Our Lord Jesus Christ said in
John 12, 32, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me. That's why we congregate around
Him. brought us there. And we worship him for that precious
blood that he shed. And look at that last phrase
David said, for their sakes, Lord, for your sheep's sake,
for whom thou hast wrought judgment and salvation, return now on
high. Sit up on your throne and rule
all things for their good and your glory. For our sakes. because he loved us, because
he's determined to save us. Ephesians 4, 8 says, wherefore
he saith when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. And so we congregate around his
throne and praise his holy name. All of our enemies are destroyed.
He has poured out His judgment. And we stand in His sight righteous,
vindicated, holy, saved because of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
pray together.