Psalm 41 opens as follows. To the chief musician, a Psalm
of David. Blessed is he that considereth
the poor. The Lord will deliver him in
time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and
keep him alive. And he shall be blessed upon
the earth. and thou wilt not deliver him
unto the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him
upon the bed of languishing. Thou wilt make all his bed in
his sickness. I said, Lord, be merciful unto
me. Heal my soul, for I have sinned
against thee. Mine enemies speak evil of me. When shall he die and his name
perish? This is a psalm of David, written,
as with so many of his psalms, out of the depths of his experience,
out of the bitter trials of the pathway which he trod, being
led of God unto the truth of the gospel, led of God to worship
him, but knowing the bitter opposition of men against him, knowing the
trials and the persecution common to the believer. Knowing what
it is to have those enemies who would not only seek his downfall
and his hurt, but would seek his death. Knowing what it is
to have those who hate him for the truth's sake. And knowing
what it is also to have even his friends Those whom he once
trusted betray him. He knew from experience what
it was to be poor and oppressed, to be in trouble, to be hated,
to be sick, to be downcast, to be cast down, to be hounded from
place to place. to have all men speak evil of
him, to be misunderstood and misrepresented, to have the good
that he spake twisted and presented as evil. He knew what it was to be hated.
He knew what it was to suffer. But he also knew what it was
before God to be a sinner. to have sinned against his God. And he knew what it was to feel
the conviction of his sin, to feel sorrow for his sin, to know
that God would be just to deliver him up to his enemies, to let
his enemies have their will against him. He knew that God would be
just to judge him and to destroy him. He knew that the troubles
that he waded through were nothing more than his sins deserved. He did not deserve the blessing
of God. He did not deserve to be spared
from the difficulties and the trials through which he walked. Because he was a sinner through
and through and he knew it. And he had not only sinned against
man, he had not only wronged others, but he knew that the
worst of his sin was that he had sinned against God. I said, Lord, be merciful unto
me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. I have sinned against thee. Now in that David was a sinner
he was not a rare thing for all have sinned and fallen short
of the glory of God you and I included each and every day of our lives
and all have earned the wrath and the judgment of God and that
wrath is declared from the heavens above against our sins, so that
if we have no answer for them, no cover for them, no deliverance
from them, we will rightly be plunged into outer darkness.
When the great and terrible day of the Lord comes upon us, when
this world is brought to a close, when we pass from time into eternity,
and when we stand before a holy God to give an account for all
that we have done, fought and said in this world. If we have
no answer for those sins, He will be just and right to condemn
us for those sins. That's the state of all man.
And man has no claim, no answer against it. It is just. It is
good. It is right. We deserve it. But that's common to all. What
is not common to all that we see here is that David could
say of himself, I have sinned, Lord, against thee. Lord be merciful
unto me, heal my soul for I have sinned against thee. Few are
brought to the point of both knowing they have sinned and
confessing before God that they have sinned against Him. That you are a sinner is a fact
but it's a fact that you will only confess unto God if God
so opens your heart to see what you are by nature, and what you
are before Him, and the terrible state in which you stand. This
is what set David here apart from other men. They all sinned
too, but few saw it, few confessed it, as few confess today. You can tell anyone that they
are a sinner before a holy God and they will rage in your face. The sin of this world in the
day in which we live is brazenly paraded throughout this land
as man in his trumped up pride proclaims how great and wonderful
he is. when he wallows in the filth
of his own iniquity, and when the wrath of God burns from heaven
above, it's but a matter of time before that wrath is exacted
upon these fools who shake their fist in God's face. And if you're
one of them, the clock ticks, ticks, ticks, until you shall
answer. But David knew the wonderful
grace of God that God intervened that God shone light into the
darkness of his soul that God arrested him in the foolishness
of his ways that he was not left to himself but God showed David
what he is before him and David could cry out as a consequence
I have sinned against thee, Lord be merciful unto me. He knew what he was, he knew
the state he was in and he cried out to his God for help. Now
have you been brought there? If you are, it's a wonderful
place to be brought. It's a terrible feeling to know
that you've sinned against God. It's a terrible feeling to know
that he would be just to plunge you into hell. But it's a wonderful
place to be brought that you can see it and acknowledge it.
For all those brought into that place, all those whom God brings
to cry out under Him, will be answered. David's prayer here
is answered. Lord be merciful unto me and
the Lord was merciful unto him. The Lord abounded in mercy unto
David. The Lord answered his cries and
answered them abundantly. He answered them double. He washed
David in the blood of the Saviour. He washed David in the blood
of the Lamb of God. He delivered David from all his
sins and all his corruptions. He delivered David from the wrath
to come. And he delivered David from the
hands of all his enemies. Mine enemies speak evil of me. When shall he die? And his name
perish. All that hate me whisper together
against me. Against me do they devise my
hurt. Mine own familiar friend in whom
I trusted, which did eat of my bread, have lifted up his heel
against me. Oh, his enemies raged against
him, but God delivered David from all his enemies. Ultimately, David would one day
stand before his God and his saviour in the world to come,
clothed in righteousness, washed from his every sin and iniquity,
triumphing over all who speak against him. not for anything
that he was or had done himself because as he acknowledged he
had sinned against God as all men but because God set his love
and grace and mercy upon him. God blessed him. God blessed
him. Do you know anything of the pathway
of David? Do you know anything of the experience
of which he speaks here? Do you know anything of your
sin? Do you know anything of poverty? Do you know anything of trouble
and trial? Do you know anything of the hatred
and opposition of sinners against you? Mine enemies speak evil
of me. When shall he die and his name
perish? Oh what a dreadful man they say. Oh how they hated David. Oh how
they hated what he stood for. Oh how they hated what he said. How they hated his gospel. How they hated his discriminating
message. How they hated the grace of God
which he declared. How they wanted his hurt. How
his message His God, His Saviour, stood in stark contrast to the
God that they worshipped. They may have claimed to worship
the same God, but their idea of that God was that that God
would reward them for the good that they did. They thought they'd
earned their way to glory. And they despised David for he
said, we cannot There's none good. We're all full of sin. And we're all in his hands. And
we need him to look upon us in mercy. Oh how man hates such
a message and how they hated David who preached it. How they
hated him. But of course David here is but
a figure of David's greater son. David here is but a picture as
in so many of the Psalms and his experience here is but a
picture as in so many of the Psalms of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Psalm opens to the chief
musician. Christ is the chief musician. These are the songs, the psalms,
the hymns that he brings forth from his children, from his bride,
from his church. He puts these psalms into the
hearts of his people. But he leads forth the praise,
he leads forth the song, he leads forth the music. He's the chief
musician. The psalms are dressed unto him.
And when it opens with these words, blessed is he that considereth
the poor. The he is Christ. He's the one that considers the
poor. And oh how wonderful that he
considers the poor. Because that's what we are, poor. We have nothing before God. Nothing, nothing with which we
can earn our salvation. Nothing which we can present
before him of any worth. If we know anything of what we
are by nature, we know we've got nothing. We know we're poor,
poor in spirit. We have no righteousness, we
have no good deeds that we can claim before him. We have no
riches that we can present before him. We are poor. But we read
of a God here, a saviour here, who is not said to condemn the
poor. Who is not said to be against
the poor. but is said to be blessed because
he considereth the poor. With the very opening words,
the psalm presents unto us the wondrous grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is a saviour who considereth
the poor. Now if you're poor, if you know
something of your poverty before God, something of how bankrupt
you are before Him, something of how full of sin you are, and
how unrighteous you are, something of how broken you are before
Him, if you're poor, you'll immediately see that as a wonderful hope
presented to you. Because when you come to this
psalm as one who's poor, You read of one who's blessed, who
considers the poor. A saviour who's come to die for
sinners. A saviour who's come to save
sinners. A saviour who's come for the
poor. The poor in spirit. The poor
and needy. And we read, not just of what
David experienced, but of what this saviour experienced. Blessed
is he that considereth the poor. The Lord will deliver him in
time of trouble. Now the him here is not just
the poor, but the him is the one who considers the poor, for
he comes into time of trouble. And the Lord will preserve him
and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth. and
thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies. The
Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, thou
wilt make all his bed in his sickness. I said, Lord, be merciful
unto me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. Mine enemies
speak evil of me, when shall he die and his name perish? Now this is not so much David
but Christ. Christ was brought into trouble. Christ came into this world.
He came unto his own, the Jews, and they received him not. All
men despised Him. All men rejected Him. He came
doing His Father's will. He came speaking of God the Father. He came speaking of His righteousness. He came speaking of the Kingdom
of God. He came speaking of His salvation. And men rejected Him. They hated
Him. They despised Him. They said,
when shall He die? And His name perish. And yet God says the Lord will
preserve him and keep him alive. And he shall be blessed upon
the earth, though all men rage against the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, though they sought to put him to death. They sought
to put him to death, they hated him, they rejected him. And in
the end God allowed them, God purposed that he should be nailed
to the cross. But though they sought to put
him in the grave and leave him in the grave, he said I have
power to lay down mine own life and I have power to take it up
again. They could not take it from him. He laid it down and he laid it
down that he should deliver his people from their sins. And he
took it up again. They could not have their will. They wanted him dead. They wanted
his name perished. They wanted his name to be blotted
out from this world. And they still do. All mankind
today rages against the name of Jesus Christ. They wish it
wasn't there. And they wish he wasn't there.
And every heart seeks to put him to death afresh. Yours and
mine included. We hate him. And yet he rose
again from the dead. And he ascended up into glory
with a shout. And he reigns in heaven above
this day at the right hand of God the Father. And he reigns
until all his enemies will be made his footstool. and fast
approaches that day when he will return, he will return with his
angels. This world will be burnt up in
fire, the heavens will melt, the stars will fall, the earth
will be burnt up and all men, women and children will stand
before him, before he who is the Lord of Lords, the King of
Kings, before this one, whom men sought to destroy, but
who God sent as the Saviour of sinners, the Saviour of the poor. and who could not be destroyed
but was lifted up from the dead, raised up from the grave to reign
in everlasting life. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
from everlasting and to everlasting. This Saviour is God, He has no
beginning and no end and man cannot destroy Him. The Lord
will preserve him and keep him alive no matter what you try
to do to him and he shall be blessed upon the earth. Now this
earth didn't want him and yet his name is blessed. This earth didn't love him And
yet His name is preached to the four corners of this world that
all those for whom He died shall be gathered in and shall bow
the knee and shall praise His name. Mine enemies speak evil
of me, He said. When shall He die and His name
perish? Well, He died upon the cross
but He rose again in newness of life and His name will never
perish. For everyone shall bow, bow at
the name of Jesus. And you will bow either today
in this world or you will bow in the world to come when you
stand before him. But every knee shall bow. His
name will never perish. Thou wilt not deliver him unto
the will of his enemies. His enemies sought his death
while he died, but they sought that he should die forevermore. They sought that he should remain
in the grave, and they could not have their will, for the
grave could not hold him, for he is Almighty God. And having
died, and having taken away the sins of his people, and having
taken away the sin of the world, there was nothing to keep him
in the grave. For he conquered sin, and he
delivered his people. And God's justice could do nothing
but demand that he reign forevermore, for in him there was no more
sin. He'd taken it all away. He paid
the price forevermore. The Lord will strengthen him
upon the bed of languishing. Thou wilt make all his bed in
his sickness when he was nailed to the cross. when he bore the
sins of his people, when he was made to be sin, he went into
a sleep of death, a valley of sickness, but the Lord strengthened
him. He strengthened him. I said,
Lord, be merciful unto me, heal my soul for I have sinned against
thee. When he was upon that cross,
this perfect, this holy, this righteous God and Saviour. He
who never sinned, He who knew no sin, He who was without sin,
when He was upon that cross, God took the sins of His people
and laid them upon Him. God made His own Son to be sin
for them, that they should be made the righteousness of God
in Him. and so identified was he with them, so united was he
with David, and Paul, and all his people, that he owned those
sins as his own. And he could cry out, for I have
sinned against thee. Though he personally never sinned,
he too took those sins as his own, that he cried out as the
one who was guilty. He cried out as the one whom
God's justice demanded his death, I have sinned against thee. And
bearing those sins, oh the sorrow, the torment he felt. How God's anger and wrath was
poured out from the vaults of heaven above upon him. Oh the
sorrows he went through in his soul. Oh the travail he went
through as he waded through the rivers of death for his people.
cast out by all men, rejected by those who cried out with one
voice, crucify him, crucify him, let down by his own disciples
who weren't there for him at the end. There he was alone,
nailed to a cross, bearing the sins of his people and as a consequence
even his own father. with whom he had always walked
by faith, with whom he had always communed, his own father whom
he loved, looked upon him as a sinner. because he bore those
sins for his people and had to judge him as a sinner and had,
as it were, to turn it back upon him when he beat him and bruised
him. There he was alone and in that
suffering his enemies walked alongside. They passed by the
cross, they wagged the finger and cried, Aha! Aha! They despised
this one who said he was the son of God. They mocked him. They jeered him. They sought
his hurt. Mine enemies speak evil of me. When shall he die and his name
perish? And if he come to see me, he
speaketh vanity. His heart gathereth iniquity
to itself. When he goeth abroad, he telleth
it. Oh, they go and tell others how
they despise him. They encourage all men to reject
him. When he goeth abroad he telleth
it. Don't follow him. All that hate
me whisper together against me. They whisper together against
me, against me do they devise my hurt. An evil disease, say
they, cleave if fast under him. And now that he lie, if he shall
rise up, no more. Oh, how they looked upon him
upon the cross and triumphed over him. Look at him now. An evil disease cleaveth fast
unto him. Now that he lieth, he shall rise
up no more. We've got him. We've slain him. We've got rid
of him. All that hate me whisper together
against me. They devise my hurt. Oh, the
hatred and the opposition he knew, both in his lifetime upon
this earth, and even as he died upon the cross. And how that
hatred continues from all men against his name to the end of
time. How we've hated him. How you've
hated him. Perhaps you still do. Perhaps
you still do. Perhaps your heart has no care
for this man who considers the poor. His enemies despise him,
they hate him, they plan his hurt, they speak lies about him,
they whisper about him, they misunderstand him, they misinterpret
him, they take his words and twist and change them. They speak
evil of him. And why do they do this? Because
ultimately they hate his God. They hated David and hated his
God. They hated the Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. They hated Him and rejected Him. And they hate all those who speak
of Him and follow Him. Believer, if you know this Saviour,
if you're poor and he's considered your poverty, if he's shown you
your sins so that you've cried out, Lord be merciful unto me
for I have sinned against thee, if you've known his salvation,
if you've known his blessing that the Lord has preserved you
and delivered you, you will know as you journey through this world
the hatred of man that was poured out upon your Saviour. The servant
is not above his master. Just as they took his words and
twisted them, just as they found fault in everything he did and
said no matter what, just as he sought and did good and they
portrayed it as evil, so you as you render a faithful testimony
to his name, so you as you are kind to others. So you as you
walk through this world uprightly will be despised and rejected
and maligned by all men. They will make out that your
good is evil. They will make out that your
gospel is treacherous. They will make out that the truth
which you stand for is a pernicious lie. They will make out that
you are a liar and a deceiver. They will take all that you say
and twist it and change it because they hate your God and Saviour. And they're moved with a malevolence
which in many ways is not logical, is not reasonable, does not make
sense. But it's because there's a spirit
in them that wars against the spirit that indwells you. Because the flesh in us and in
the world around us, rages, rages against the spirit. And it's
not just those who are afar off, it's those who are close, those
who you would think are your brethren, those who you would
think are your friends, those who once walked with you. David knew this in his own household,
he knew it at the end of his days, when he would say that
his house had not been as he would wish it to be, but the
Lord had made an everlasting covenant with him. He knew what
it was for his family, for his own sons, to rise up against
him. to seek his hurt, to seek his
death. He knew what it was for his own
household to be his own enemies. He knew what it was for brethren
to turn against him. And believer, you will discover
that those who profess Christ's name, those who walk in the gatherings
of the church, those who claim to be gods, will turn and rend
you. Those who you first thought were
your brethren and sisters, those who you thought loved the same
gospel you love, will take your words and find fault and pour
scorn upon you. Those who should be the ones
who love and walk with you, your own familiar friend, in whom
you once trusted, who ate of your bread, lift up their heels
against you. It happened with Christ, it will
happen with you. He says here, Yea, mine own familiar
friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, have lifted
up his heel against me. And how Christ knew that, how
he knew his disciples, how he knew those others, other disciples
who were offended at his words, who left him. How he spake to
his own few who remained, will you also go away? Peter said,
to whom else shall we go? Thou, Lord, has the words of
eternal life. But even in that few who remained,
there was one who betrayed him, Judas. Judas ate of the table. Judas was there at the supper.
Judas take the same sop and dipped it in the water. Judas ate the
same bread. And Judas betrayed his master
for a few bits of silver. And when Judas knew what he'd
done, he went out and hung himself. Such was the crime. Oh, don't eat of the bread of
Christ's table. Don't come and sit at the gospel
feast. Don't take of the bread of life
and eat of Christ's bread. hear his words, take his name
upon your lips, preach his name to others, and then betray him
in the end. If you do, your judgment will
be like Judas's. You will go out and hang yourself. Such will be the bitterness in
your soul. And yet there were those who did this under Christ. Judas did. His own friend. one who claimed to be his. And
the believer will know many who claim to be one with them, walking
with them, who take the truth upon their lips and in the end
turn and rend them. Turn and rend them. But God remembered this man,
the man Christ Jesus, his own son. And God preserved him. And God heard his cry, Lord,
be merciful unto me. God heard his cry in verse 10,
Lord, be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite
them, that I may answer them, that I may rebuke them, that
I may have an answer for their opposition. Raise me up. And
God heard him. They raged, they triumphed, they
fought, they had the victory. But the one they put to death,
the one you've put to death in your heart, when you shut your
ears to the Gospel of Christ, when you close your ears to the
message of His grace, when you turn your thoughts and attentions
from His ways back to the ways of the world and your own selfish
desires, When you turn from him, when you despise him, when you
hate him, when you put him to death, know that you cannot,
you cannot keep him in the grave. Your hatred will not keep him
in the grave. Your shutting your ears and shutting
your eyes to him and his gospel will not put him out of sight. You may walk through this world
for the next 70 years with your eyes and ears shut pretending
not to know Jesus Christ, peaceful in your own contented little
enjoyment of this world and its pleasures, thinking all is well
with your soul, but there comes a day when your eyes will be
forcibly opened and when your ears will hear a voice that you
cannot quench, and that one whom you persecuted will cry out unto
you like he cried out unto Saul on the Damascus road, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? And you will hear the voice of
Jesus Christ crying out unto you from his throne of glory
as you stand before him. and you will have no answer for
your sin and your rejection and your eyes will not be able to
blot out the sight and your ears will not be able to silence his
voice but you will hear his voice and you will hear his sentence
because he lives even though you sought to put him in the
grave. The grave could not hold him.
Lord be merciful unto me he said and raise me up that I may requite
them and there comes a day when he will requite your every opposition. He will stand before you and
declare unto you I am Jesus whom you persecuted. I died for the
sinner, I died for the poor, I died for those upon whom I
had compassion, I came unto you speaking grace and mercy, I came
unto you with food and water and you would not. I came unto
you with love and mercy in my gospel and you said unto me away
with this man we will not have him to reign over us. He lives. He lives. This is his answer to those who
sought his death. This is his answer to all his
enemies, you included. I live. I live forevermore. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the ending. I am God from everlasting and
to everlasting. I am the Lord of Lords, the King
of Kings. I live. Yes his hope was in God. This
man, the Lord Jesus, he hoped not in man. Man sought his death
but he had a God who he trusted and that God was faithful and
that God raised him up from the grave and he knew he was favoured
by his God. By this I know that thou favourest
me because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. and as for me
thou upholdest me in mine integrity and settest me before thy face
forever. He knew he was God's, he knew
he was God's favoured, he knew God had chosen him, he knew he
was elect, he knew he was God's favourite. and he knew his enemies
could not triumph over him he knew he was God's elect because
they did not triumph over him but he did rise from the dead
and he did deliver all his people for whom he died from their sins
he considered the poor he came for the poor, poor like you and
I He came for the bankrupt, He came for the lost, He came for
sinners and He came to set them free and none could prevent Him. His enemies said much, they say
much today, they do much but God was with Him and God has
Him in His hands and God has all His people in Him in His
hands. For they cannot be plucked from
God's hands. Because David, like his master,
was in his Saviour's hands. He was in God's hands. God had
him in Christ and God had Christ in his own hands. None could
destroy Christ and none can destroy any in Christ. My sheep will
hear me, my sheep will follow me. They will not hear another,
they will not follow another, and none can pluck them from
my hand. They shall never perish. Christ
says in John 10, they shall never perish. Because Christ is God's
elect, His chosen seed, and in Him all His people are elect
and chosen. They're a chosen seed in their
Saviour. They're safe in their Saviour's
hands. And no matter what the enemy
may do, no matter what those who persecute and rage against
you, believer, may say and do, they can do nothing against you
because you're in His hands. And you're in the hands of Him
who was not only raised from the dead, of Him who will not
only triumph over His enemies, as Him who is before the face
of God forever and ever, but you're in the hands of the One
who reigns on high today, who reigns over all this world, who
reigns over all the events in this world. He is the Alpha and
the Omega. the Son of God, the mighty King
of Kings. He is our Saviour. He is the
One who is blessed and shall be blessed upon the earth, for
He considereth the poor. He's the One that reigns over
all. You look around you today, you
see the triumph of the enemies of God. You see their raging
and their excitement at the advances they feel they have made for
their causes. Oh, how they silence the gospel
of Christ. Oh, how they have their freedom
for their sin and iniquity to go forth. Oh, how they pronounce
how free and how blessed they are. yet their voices are but
for a moment and there is one who sits above on high who reigns
over all and they only speak because he allows them they only
speak because he gives them utterance it's but a moment and then the
end will come and then all those whom they rejected then those
few lost sheep, then those few scattered sheep of God who were
once were lost but now are saved, then those who were trampled
underfoot, then you believer, who today are trampled underfoot,
hounded from here to there, hated and despised, put in jail perhaps,
maybe some one day put to death, you believer, no matter what
your circumstance, You have this God above in heaven, who lets
your enemies speak for a moment, but in the end will hear your
cry, your cry out unto him, your cry, Lord, be merciful unto me,
heal my soul, deliver me from my enemies. Lord, raise me up. He hears your cry. He hears the
cry of the poor. He hears the cry of the oppressed.
He hears the cry of sinners. He hears your cry. And if you
cry unto Him in faith, with that faith which only God can give,
if you cry unto Him in faith, looking unto this Saviour who
suffered for sinners, looking unto this Saviour who reigns
on high, then He will hear and hearing, you will be saved because
He will send forth His salvation. You will know it and you will
be brought to stand before Him in the end. And unlike those
unto whom He says, depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I
never knew you, And to you he will say, well done, a good and
faithful servant. And all the struggle, all the
trial, all the persecution, all the poverty, all the hardship,
all the doubts and the fears will all come to an end and you
will enter into that wonderful place wherein the Lamb of God
dwells, around whose throne you will sit. drinking of that water
of life forevermore, that place where there are no tears, where
there is no sorrow, that place, that new heavens and new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness, there you will reign forevermore,
knowing that you are with Him who considereth the poor. Amen.