Turn back to Psalm 34. It is truly a humble privilege
to be among this number. And I'm not talking about just
us who are preaching. I'm talking about all of God's
children. It's a real privilege to be put
among the Savior's family. You're the family. This is the family that's going
to last. I said to the church at Asheville the other day, I
said all relationships, all of our fleshly relationships are
going to be dissolved. I have two sons. They have confessed
Christ. That which is of me, that is
in them, is going to be laid in the grave. God's going to
lay that in the grave. But that which is born of God
in them and that which is born of God in me is going to last
forever. And that's the family. We'll
stand there as brothers one day in Christ, praising God. And
I'm glad that that which is in me, that's in them, is going
to be laid in the grave. I'm glad it's not gone with us.
We've got to put up with it until the Lord takes us home. But I'm
glad he's leaving it behind. There are some things I want
left behind. That old man is one of them. I want us to look
at Psalm 34. This poor man cried. When I read
scripture like that, I can just feel it in my heart. I can just
feel what this man is saying, not just read it, but I can feel
this poor man, this poor sinner cry. Now, he says here, In verse
one, we see the poor man's praise. He says, I will bless the Lord
at all times. It takes a real work of grace
to be able to do this at all times. I tell you what, it takes
time. We don't grow up in a day. It
takes time to be able to bless the Lord at all times. The child
of God knows that all his times are in his hands. All our times
are in his hands. Look over in Psalm 31. Look at
Psalm 31. Look in verse 14. But I trusted
in thee, O Lord. I said, thou art my God. My times are in thy hand. Aren't you glad of that? I am
thankful, I can truly say I'm thankful that my times are in
His hands. I can lay down and rest at night
because my times and your times, you who believe God, really everybody's
times, everyone's times is in His hands, but especially our
times. And all that we shall endure
in time comes from infinite wisdom, not random, it comes from Infinite
wisdom, every tear that I'll ever shed, God took it into counsel,
saw that it was good, and established it, and decreed it, and purposed
it in infinite wisdom. God has decreed all of our good
times and hard times for His glory and our good, and we will
bless the Lord at all times. Why? Because He's God. That's why we will bless him
at all times, because he's God. I'm not going to bless him just
when I'm feeling good. And if I have a bad day, I don't.
We bless the Lord at all times because he's God. He doesn't
change. You know, the scripture says the Lord is good whether
I'm having a good day or a bad day. It doesn't change God. God
is who he is. And we will bless the Lord at
all times. Oh, Job. God took everything he had. And
he said, The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. And his praise shall continually,
constantly be in my mouth. Praise replaces cursing, doesn't
it? It replaces cursing now. What
a change is made when God takes possession of the heart. There's
a real change made when God takes possession, and he boots the
Satan out of there. Grace in the heart is evidenced
by our speech. Paul said, let your conversation
be seasoned with grace, like you would season your meat with
salt and make it taste good. He said, let your conversation
be seasoned with the grace of God. And then here's the poor man's
resolve. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. Here is another
evidence of a work of grace in the heart. It's who we boast
in now. There's a real evidence of grace
in the heart. It's who we boast in now. The
Lord. The Lord. He used to be self. Used to be. But now it's the
Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that I should glory
saved in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this,
Jeremiah 9, 23. Thus saith the Lord, let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. God gave it to him. Neither let
the mighty man glory in his might. God gave it to him. Let not the
rich man glory in his riches. I make poor and I make rich.
But let him that glorieth, and we will. We're going to glory
in something. We will glory in something. But
let him that glorieth glory in this. Here's what we glory in. That he understandeth. He's not
ignorant anymore. God's removed our ignorance and
that darkness that we were born into. That he understandeth and
he knoweth me. Do you understand the gospel? Do
you understand how God saves sinners? Do you understand how
God can be a just God and a Savior? God revealed that to you. God
gave that to you. Let him hear that I am the Lord,
that he knows me, that I am the Lord which exercised lovingkindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things
I delight. These are the things God delights
in, saith the Lord. And listen here. Here's the poor
man's company. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. There are some glad people here
tonight. We've heard some gospel, haven't we? In the last two days,
we've heard some gospel. And we're glad. We are glad. The only ones that will be glad
are the humble, the broken in spirit. To him,
it's good news. You know, the gospel is good
news, but only to sinners. It's not good news to everyone.
There's a whole lot of people in this world doesn't give a
flip about what we have to say, and they're not glad about this,
not glad about the messages we've heard. But the humble, everyone
whom God saves, he humbles. And they are glad, they are glad
when they hear this gospel, this gospel message concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ, they're glad. They're not mad, they're glad. God makes them glad. When they
hear, when they hear of the mercy and the grace of God Almighty
in Christ the sinners, they're glad. God makes them glad. And then he says here, as if
he cannot hold back when he thinks about this, he says, Oh, magnify
the Lord with me. This matter of magnifying the
Lord is not a secret matter, it's a family matter. Oh, magnify
all of us together, magnify the Lord with me. We have our closet
prayer, but we have our family praise and magnifying of God. And that's what we're doing here
tonight. Together, we are magnifying the Lord. And let us exalt his
name together. Be of one mind and one accord. Paul tells us in the New Testament,
he says to be of one mind and one accord. I tell you this,
if the gospel that we preach, the gospel I've heard over the
years, if it makes someone uncomfortable, it's because we have nothing
in common. Our faith is not in common. Our hope is not in common.
But those of us who have been born of God, we believe the gospel. Let's do this together. Let's
exalt his name together. Let's praise him together. If
the whole of creation were to do this all at the same time,
we'd still come up short. We'd still come up short, Paul.
If all of creation did at one time, in unison, at one time,
we'd still come up short. But my soul, let us do it anyway.
Let us not make excuses. An old businessman I worked under
years ago, he told me this, and it's always stuck with me in
everything I've put my hand to. He said, remove all excuses to
fail. Do not give yourself an excuse
to fail. You say, well, I know I'm Don't
give yourself an excuse to fail. He said, let's do this and let's
do it together and make no excuses not to. Magnify his name and exalt his
name together. And here's a poor man's personal
experience and encouragement to other poor men and women.
I sought the Lord. Here is real encouragement for
the humble. I sought the Lord, and he heard me. If one humble
man, if one humble sinner, if one broken, doomed, damned sinner
sought the Lord and was heard, so can another one. So can another
one. This is encouragement. So can
another one. The Scripture says, Seek ye the
Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. How do we do that? Well, we seek him in prayer.
We seek him in his Word. He cannot be known apart from
his Word. It is not possible to know the
Lord Jesus Christ in mercy and grace apart from his Word. Seek him in his Word. Seek him
in the preaching of his Word. My soul, seek him. Seek him. He says to do it. And he says
here, and he heard me. Who heard me? The Lord heard
me. Think about who heard. And he
delivered me from all this is my fears. Or do we have many
fears? We had many fears, they came
with the fall. And when God awakens a sinner,
by what fears he has. But in Christ, he delivered us
from all our fears. It says this in 1 John 1 9. This
is a favorite verse to me. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. He's faithful to do it. Our God's
faithful and he'll do what he says. Listen to Hebrews 7, 25. Wherefore, he is able also to
save them to the uttermost. I heard someone say to the gutter
most. That come unto God by him. Seen he ever liveth now. You
know, we look to and believe on one that lived, not one that
lived. We look to him who lived. Seen he ever liveth right now
to make intercession for them. Whatever your fears are, he can
deliver you from them. He's able. He's able. Listen, here in verse 5, the
poor man's encouragement again. They looked unto him. Who's they?
Abraham. Abraham saw my day and was glad.
Isaac, Jacob, all the saints of old, all the saints that have
ever been saved, looked to him. They looked unto him and they
were enlightened and their faces were not ashamed. You cannot. You cannot look unto God. You
cannot look unto the Lord Jesus Christ and remain the same. You can't do it. You can't do
it. Look over in Exodus 34. Exodus 34. Let me see what my verse is. Look
in verse 29. And it came to pass. When Moses came down from Mount
Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when
he came down from the mount that Moses wished not, he knew not
that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. You
can't talk to God and remain the same. He didn't know his
face was shining, but I tell you what, everyone else around
him knew it. Everyone else. We don't detect
that as much as those that are around us. Because when we really
meet God in Christ, in the gospel, we feel about that being feel
like you feel like you can crawl under a snake's belly, but others
that around you say this something happened that boy. Moses knew
not that his face shined, but everybody around him knew it.
You cannot meet God and stay the same. There is a real change
in everyone that meets God Almighty. Look over in 2 Corinthians chapter
5. There's a real change in everyone that meets God. 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. Look in verse 17. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Even you. If God saved you, you've
become new. He's made you a new creation
in the Lord Jesus Christ, a new man, a new heart. You've got
new desires. You have a new love now. You're
new. He said in Revelation, Behold,
I make all things new. Nothing old is going to be there.
Only the new. Only the new. You cannot meet
God without a real change taking place. Those who were once darkness
are now light in the Lord. Those who were once dead are
now alive. Those who were once mean are
now kind. Was it Roland Hill said, as a
man's religion, it wouldn't get anything for it if his dogs and
cat didn't benefit from it. I wouldn't either. I wouldn't
either. They looked unto him and were
enlightened, and their faces were not ashamed. And everyone
who has ever been saved have looked to him. They've looked
to the Lord Jesus Christ, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. When those people were bitten
by the serpent, and they put that serpent of brass on the
pole, everyone that was healed was healed by looking to that
serpent of brass on the pole. And everyone whom God saved is
saved looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Saved looking to Him. And here's
the result. They were not ashamed. They were
not ashamed. And they will not be ashamed.
For they have nothing to be ashamed of. All their sins have been taken
away. Did you hear what Jesus said to me? They're all taken
away. Why do we have to be ashamed
of? If my sins are gone, I have nothing to be ashamed of. And
if the Lord Jesus Christ did it, I sure have nothing to be
ashamed of in Him. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation. They were not ashamed. There's encouragement. And then
he says here in verse six, he returns to his own experience
to encourage the humble. But here's something that jumped
out of me today. This poor man cried in verse five. He said
they looked unto him. And then in verse six, he said
this poor man cried. They cannot look for me. No one
can believe for me. No one can look to God for me.
He said in verse six, now this poor man looked, this poor man
cried and the Lord heard him. and saved him out of all his
trouble. Not the king. I'm glad he didn't
say that. I'm glad he did not say this
king cried or this rich man cried. Because I couldn't identify with
him. I'm not a king and I'm not rich.
But he said this poor man. Everyone here can identify with
this one. This can let anybody in here.
Anybody. This poor man, he said, cried. All can join in here. This is
all that we are at best for men and women. And every now and
then we have to be reminded of it, but this is all we are at
best for men and women. What do we have? What do you
have that you didn't receive? I didn't have anything. That's poor, isn't it? That's
poor. That's poverty. This spiritually bankrupt man
cried and the Lord heard him. We are poor, as old Cecil Roach
would say, mercy beggars. Mercy beggars. That's what we
are. Mercy beggars. Spiritually bankrupt. That means you lost it all. You lost it all. David said in
one place, I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thanketh upon me."
That's the ones he thanks upon, poor and needy. Blessed are the
poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What a paradox.
They're poor in spirit, they're spiritually bankrupt, and yet
they have all that belongs to God. What a paradox we are. God hears and he saves poor sinners. That's what he says. He saves
poor sinners out of their troubles, especially soul trouble. You
have soul trouble, sin, guilt. He saves poor sinners out of
those things. He saves old Pilgrim out of all
his troubles. This man is so poor that even
his words are few here. Peter, when he started to sink
in that water, the only thing he could say was, help. You know,
that's enough. Now, here's more encouragement.
The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him,
and delivereth them. The angel of the covenant orders
his heavenly angelic host to encamp around his saints. God has given his angels charge
to keep his delight. We are surrounded by them. I
said this last Wednesday night. We are not the only ones in this
room. We're not the only ones here. We are encamped round about
by God's angels. Camped. We are a camped people. Camped. God has given his angels
charge. We are never alone. And it doesn't
take a lot of them to keep you either. It just takes one, the
angel of the Lord. Look over in 2 Kings. Let me move along
here. I want you to see this. The second Kings, 1935, or I
could just go ahead and read, I had it marked. I want you to
notice this. And it came to pass that night
in second Kings, 1935. And it came to pass that night
that the angel of the Lord went out and he smoked in the camp
of the Assyrians, a hundred, four scores and five thousand. And when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. Just one angel,
the angel of the Lord. Look how many he slew. What do
we have to be afraid of? Oh, he says here, let's go on
verse eight, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed
is the man that trusteth in him, not just look and see, but taste
and see. By faith, feed on the Lord Jesus Christ, feed on him
in his word. We cannot know the sweetness
of something or the nourishment of food unless you taste it.
Don't just take my word for it. Taste and see. Peter said, if
you've tasted, the Lord is good. Taste and see. And blessed is
that man that trusts to continually Trust that his confidence is
in him. Words fail me in describing this
blessed man, but Psalm 1 describes him. When you get time, read
it. He's like a tree planted by the
rivers of water. And then this poor man's instructions
here in verse 9. Oh, fear the Lord. He does not
say, oh, fear hell. We're not to fear a place. I
asked a man one time years ago, I said, what are you afraid of?
He said, I'm afraid, I fear, and I'm afraid of going to hell.
I said, well, if you find favor with a judge, you won't have
to go to prison. You fear the wrong thing. You've got this
thing wrong, and religion, just false religion, they've got you
fearing hell. That's how they get you to do
things. He says, oh, fear the Lord. I can say it like this,
too. Oh, worship. I told him the same thing. Oh,
worship the Lord, ye his saints, not you rebels, you saints, you
elect of God. For there's no want, there's
no lack to them that fear him. Oh, worship the Lord in spirit
and truth. Give unto him the glory due unto his name. He hath
made us and not we ourselves. We are the sheep of his pasture
and the work of his hand. Tom, you know why you believe
the gospel? Because you can't help it. You believe the gospel because
you can't help it. God has revealed it to you. God
has given you a new nature, a new creation, and it believes the
gospel. It believes God. It believes
God Almighty. He has made us. He has made us believers. He's
made us believers. I didn't make myself a believer.
He did. He did. And there's no want,
there's no lack to them that fear him. We have everything
we need in Jesus Christ. Everything. Now, he said the
young lions, they do lack and they suffer hunger, but they
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Those who
trust themselves and themselves that they're righteous, he said,
they're going to lack, they're going to hunger, they're going to come
up short. But they that seek the Lord shall not want. Any
good thing. They will not come up short when
this is over. Not at all. They that seek the
Lord for mercy, for grace, for righteousness, for forgiveness,
we seek him for all that we need. You'll not come up short. You'll
have all you need. All of it. We have his word on
it. Come, you children. Here's the poor man's lesson.
Come, you children, hearken unto me. Listen, and I'll teach you
the fear of the Lord. He doesn't just say, I'll teach
you two fears of the Lord. The Lord said in Isaiah, their
fear of me is taught by the precept of men. I don't want, that's
not the kind of fear we're talking about here. We're talking about
a fear that brings worship, a fear that brings respect, a fear that
brings an awe. You stand in awe of God Almighty. You stand in awe of Jesus Christ. You stand in awe of God's grace. Come, come, you children. That's
the only one that'll learn, that'll learn this fear. I'll teach you
the fear of the Lord. And that instruction comes from the Lord
in you, from Christ in you. He's the one who teaches it.
This message is for the children. And he says, come and listen,
and I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. We cannot learn a greater
lesson. We cannot learn a greater lesson
than the fear of the Lord. It's the beginning of wisdom.
It's the beginning of worship. It's the beginning of happiness.
It's the beginning of joy and peace, this fear of the Lord. What man is he that desires life,
real life, and love of many days, that he may see good? Now, I'm
going to take you over to 1 Peter and let him just read to you
from what 1 Peter 3 says. I don't know that he says, come
or what man is he that desires life? We desire life, spiritual
life, eternal life, the life of God. That's what we desire,
isn't it? I don't know that we desire to
live here a long time. I said to the people there Wednesday
night, I said, I'm not interested in making a smucker's yard. I
don't want to be on that jar. If you watch the weather, you
know what I'm talking about. I'll drop it there, Sandy. I'll leave
it there. But he that desires life and
loves many days, that he may see good. Keep thy tongue from evil and
thy lips from speaking guile. The tongue is a little member,
but it causes great problems, doesn't it? James says that it
is set on fire of hell. Keep it shut up in your mouth.
There's a reason why God put it in the mouth. You can shut
it up. Learn to shut it. You ever hear someone that bite
your tongue? Keep it from evil talk and evil
words. Put a watch on it. Put a watch
on it. And depart from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it. Evil companions. Teach your children
this. Evil companions corrupt good
manners. You are who you run with. If you want peace, pursue it.
I've learned this. I've lived long enough to learn
this. People pursue what they want. We pursue what we want. Now, let me read to you in 1
Peter 3, 10. No doubt he's quoting from this.
1 Peter 3, verse 10. For he that will love life, and
seek good day, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his
lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and ensue
it." Boy, the Old Testament and New Testament, they just run
together, don't they? Total agreement. Total agreement. And then he
says in verse 15, The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous,
and his ears are open unto their cry. Now look in verse 12 if
you're still in Peter, in 1 Peter 3 there. For the eyes of the
Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their
prayers. But the face of the Lord is against
them that do evil. He's got to be quoting from this
scripture. We are never out of his sight. We are never out of his sight.
The very hairs of our head are numbered. He said not one shall
perish. Listen to this in Luke 21, 18.
But there shall not an hair of your head perish. I'm not saying this to be funny,
but this is how complete I believe salvation is. I expect a full
head of hair when it's over. I expect not a head of your hair
will perish. God has redeemed a whole you
and he's going to help you. He's going to have you. And you're
never out of his sight, not even as long as it takes to blink
an eye. Blink your eyes, see how fast that is. You're not
even out of his sight that long. But his ears are open to their
cry. We have God's ear, so we have God's complete attention.
Use it. Use it. Why does it take us so
long to cry to our Father? Why does it take so long? I guess
because so much sin still remains, I reckon so. The faith of the
Lord is against them to do evil, those false teachers. I don't
just think that this is talking about a brothel or somebody in
a drunken stupor. I tell you what, there'll be
more evil tomorrow standing in the pulpit than in any bar. I
guarantee there'll be more evil done tomorrow in pulpits than
in any dive out there. But the Lord is against them
that do evil. And He will cut off the remembrance
of them from the earth. You know, Psalm 1, after Psalm
1 describes the blessed man, it says, Not so with the ungodly. Not so. One day He'll cut off
their remembrance, and when their name is mentioned, you know what
you and I are going to say? Who? Who? Their remembrance is going
to be cut off. Their names are not going to
be brought back up. You're not going to be cut off. The remembrance
of you, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. But
he said the wicked, the remembrance of them is going to be cut off.
The righteous cry and the Lord hear us and delivers him out
of all his trouble. When they cry, he hears and delivers them
out of all their trouble. He never tires of hearing his
children crying to him. Now, that's different from murmuring.
We're not talking about murmuring here. We're talking about when
his children cry to him for mercy, for grace, for help in time of
need. He hears them and delivers them
out of all their troubles. And the Lord is nigh unto them
that are of a broken heart, as save as such be of a contrite
spirit. This is one of the greatest things
God can give to anyone, a broken heart over sin. Is there any
greater thing God can give you than a broken heart over sin?
Why? He says, because he saveth such. Let me be like that which he
saves. Let me have that which he saves.
God has never saved anyone whose heart he has not broken over
sin. No, he hasn't done it. Any other kind of heart will
keep you from the Lord, but a broken heart will cause you to run to
the great position. The Lord Jesus Christ. Many are
the afflictions of the righteous. We don't deny that. But the Lord
delivers him out of them all. Not one, not one will do us in. Not one. He keepeth all his bones. Not one of them is broken. We
know this applies to Christ. We know this over in the Gospels. But this can also be applied
to us, the body of Christ. Not one of them will be broken.
Listen. Now listen. The branch will always
abide in the vine, no matter how rough the storm is. It will
never be broken off. Not one of them will be broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked, his own evil shall slay him, and
they that hate the righteous shall be guilty. What an awful
word to hear, guilty, especially when God says it. And when He says it, you're in
trouble. You're in real trouble. But the
Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants, and none of them that
trust in Him shall be desolate. Why shall none of them that trust
in Him be desolate or guilty? Because He redeemeth the soul
of His servants. He paid the price. He suffered under the
wrath of God, and he paid that sin debt, shed his blood. He
redeemeth the soul of his servants. In Christ we are justified from
all things from which we could not be justified by the law of
Moses. This poor man's praise, this
poor man's hope, this poor man's message, this poor man's comfort,
this poor man's fear, is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. That's who it is. That's who
it is. And this should encourage any
poor man or woman here to trust him. To trust him. Okay, Tom.