Let's turn together to the book
of Psalms. The word Psalms, from which this
book gets its title, simply means Psalms. It comes from a word
which has the idea of praise. This book is God's book of praise. Throughout the book he teaches
us to worship him. to worship him always, at all
times, in all our circumstances, to worship him. The Psalms teach
us to be occupied with God, to have our hearts and our minds
occupied with our Redeemer, his greatness, his glory, his wondrous
works. The Psalms teach us to bow before
him and worship him. Here we find strength for the
labor of the day. Here we find comfort for the
troubles we must endure. Here we find solace in our sorrows,
only as our hearts and minds are occupied with our God. The Apostle Paul put it this
way. set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. And the Psalms teach us to do
just that. In fact, we will open our study
this evening in verse 7 of chapter 2. The psalmist is here speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ as our great King in verse 6. The Lord
says in verse 7, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten
thee. Now look at verse 9. He says,
Thou wilt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them
in pieces like a potter's vessel. Everyone who rebels against God. Now hear the counsel of God's
word. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye
judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and
rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son. Kiss the Son. The word we use for worship comes
from a word that has this connotation. It is a dog licking his master's
hand. That's the connotation. Kiss
the Son. prostrate yourself before the
throne of grace and worship God. Not just this hour when we come
together in the public assembly of God's saints, but throughout
your day, no matter what comes your way, in all the circumstances
of your life, the only way to live in this world in peace is
to lick the Master's hand, kiss the prostrate yourself before
him, and you will walk in peace. Prostrating before him, we adore
his supremacy, taking our place in the dust before him, acknowledging
his goodness in all things, and remembering his wonderful works. That's what it is to worship
God. Now, I want you to learn this. The Psalms are about Christ,
and I'm going demonstrate that for you clearly in just a moment.
But as you read through the psalms, do not imagine that because the
psalm speaks prophetically of Christ, because in its ultimate
analysis it can be applied strictly only to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do not imagine for that reason that the one who writes the psalm
is not expressing the deep emotions and feelings and passions of
his own nothing could be further from the truth. When these men
wrote these psalms, they were expressing their deepest, inmost
passions, desires, feelings, emotions, frustrations, doubts,
fears, cares, burdens, the same things that you and I go through.
So that as you read the you can be assured that you will never
find yourself in any state or condition spiritually for which
you cannot find a psalm that expresses exactly what is going
on in your heart. Let me show you one very prominent
example, Psalm 22. These psalms were written by
a number of men The Psalms are quoted in the New Testament more
often than all the rest of the Old Testament scriptures put
together. The Psalms are written over a period of 900 years or
more, from the time of Moses until the time that Israel was
brought out of their Babylonian captivity. So the Psalms cover
a long, large period of time, and they express so very much
what you and I as believers endure, experience, and feel and go through
in this world, trusting our God. David writes in Psalm 22, verse
1, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so
far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? I had a fellow say to me just
recently, Well, that's Christ speaking. Yes, it is. Yes, it
is. And that's David speaking. That's
David speaking. How many times in your soul do
you feel exactly what David expresses in those words? How often? You say, well, I know the Lord
never forsakes me. I know it too, but I don't always
feel it. How often you cry out in your
soul, Lord God, why won't you help me? Why won't you hear the words
of my roaring? Why won't you hear my cries? Why won't you answer me? And that's exactly what you find
throughout the Psalms. Now, these Psalms, read them
all, 150 of them, and you will find that even those Psalms that
begin in the lowest despondency, begin with the greatest sorrow,
begin with the heaviest care, every one of them ends in divine
praise. Every one of them ends up with
giving praise and adoration and worship to God for his goodness.
Because the psalmist, writing by inspiration, would teach us
from their experience what we ought to know from our own experience
as well as from God's word. Our troubles, our heartaches,
our sorrows, no matter what their source, no matter how intense,
no matter how bitter in their experience, are brought to pass
by our God and are designed by his infinite wisdom to bring
forth glory to his name and cause us to enjoy the goodness that
he has in store for us. the trials and the heartaches
and the troubles, God intends to make blessings to you if you're
his. And what God intends, he does. He will cause your tears to be
matters of joy. He will cause your bitterness
to be matters of sweetness. He will cause your sorrows to
be reasons for rejoicing before him. But these psalms not only
express the emotions of our hearts, express the desires of our souls,
and teach us to be honest before God, they also speak of Christ,
speak of him imminently. In fact, as you read through
the psalms, there are lots of folks who refer to certain psalms
as messianic psalms. There's just one problem with
that, they're all messianic. You remember our Lord spoke to
the disciples on the road to Emmaus and referred to the scriptures
and showed them the things in the Psalms concerning himself,
concerning his person, his work, redemption by him, the forgiveness
of sins, the repentance that's preached in his name. I said
to you a moment ago that all of the Psalms that begin in sorrow
and lamentation and despondency end in praise and adoration and
worship and joy, all but one. A psalm written by Heman in Psalm
88, you can read it at your leisure at home. It's all lamentation. It's all sorrow. Not a word of
rejoicing in it, because the psalms throughout the psalms,
these psalms of sorrow and lamentation, speak of the sufferings of our
Lord Jesus Christ as our great Savior our Redeemer, our sin-bearer. And when he was made to bear
our sins in his own body on the tree, when he was made to be
sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him, the Lord God poured out on him the fury of his unmitigated
wrath to the full expenditure of his holy justice. And there
was not one, not one thing to comfort him, just sorrow and
pain and torment and judgment and death, abandonment and isolation
when he was made to be sin, so that you and I would never be
subject to the experience of any such thing as God's holy
wrath, so that we might forever be made to rejoice before him.
Now let's look at the Psalms. Let me just pick out some highlights
and show you our Redeemer in these Psalms. Psalm 1. Here is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the blessed man. Now, it's all right to apply
this to Don and Lindsey, but it's not Don and Lindsey. It's
not Don and Lindsey. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly. I try not to, but too often I
do. He never Nor standeth in the way of sinners. Doesn't matter whether you apply
that to standing in the way in which they go, or standing in
their way. Bobby, you and I both are guilty.
We're just guilty. Not Christ. Nor standeth in the
seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law
of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate all the time. Lo, I come to do thy will, O
my God. You say, well, Pastor, how can
you say that strictly? That can only be applied to Christ.
Look at verse 3. He shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water. that bringeth forth fruit in
his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he
doeth shall prosper." Now, that's not true of Skip
Gladfelter. It just isn't. And that's not
true of Don Fortner. Oh, God makes our bumbling efforts
at serving him to prosper in spite of our But everything the
Son of God set his hand to from eternity as our covenant surety,
everything he did while he walked on this earth, everything he
does as he sits yonder on the throne of glory, prospers exactly
as he will. Because this man is the only
man who ever earned God's blessedness by his obedience. The only one. He earned it for us. But he earned
it for himself, too. In Psalm 2, our Lord Jesus is
described as the King. This one who by his obedience
unto the Father has now been given dominion over all flesh,
his obedience even to death. And the heathen rage against
him, the people imagine vain things, and the kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed. And they say, Let's
not have him rule over us. Let's not battle his dominion.
Let's not submit to him. And yet the Lord God speaks,
and he says in verse 4, He that sitteth in the heavens shall
laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak
to them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." Verse 7,
I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Sit here on my right hand
till I make your foes your footstools. That's how Paul interprets it.
say, Ask of me, and I'll give you the heathen for your inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Father, give me the glory I had with
you before the world was. You've given me power over all
flesh. You've given me dominion over
all flesh. All flesh. that I should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. Christ Jesus sits
then upon his lofty throne as the King of glory, begotten again
from the dead. Alright, let's skip over to Psalm
16. Psalm 16. In verse 5, the Lord is the portion
of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. Verse 7, I will bless the Lord
who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in
the night seasons. Now verse 9. Verse 8, he said,
I have set the Lord always before me. Verse 9, therefore my heart
is glad, and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. Now there's no question David's
talking about this thing. There's no question David is
expressing his hope with regard to death and the resurrection.
No question he's talking about our hope with regard to death
and the resurrection. One of these days, some of you
will probably still be around, you're going to go to the graveside,
and some of you will probably be there till they dump some
dirt in my face. And I'll be resting in hope,
this body resting in the grave. and sleeping in the dust of death
until the resurrection of the body. But this body shall rise
again, read on, for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, in
the grave. But now wait a minute, neither
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. If I die and
I stay dead more than a couple of hours, I'm going to start
having some corruption. That's not talking about me, and that's
not talking about you. David says in Psalm 2, he's talking
about, this is Christ speaking. He said David's, David's been
in his grave a long time, boys. This is not talking about him.
This is talking about David's Lord. He says, you will not suffer
your Holy One to see corruption. You remember what Martha said
to the Lord Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus? She said, Lord, he's
been dead four days already. By this time, he's corrupt. By
this time, he stinketh. And here is a prophecy being
given of our Lord's resurrection from the dead on the third day,
just as it came to pass. Verse 11, Thou wilt show me the
path of life, in thy presence is fullness of joy, at thy right
hand are pleasures for evermore. The Lord Jesus goes to suffer
and die in our room instead at Calvary, as our substitute. bearing
all the horrible wrath of God in our room instead, but he does
so with the full anticipation that when he has finished his
work, when he has paid the price for our atonement, he shall rise
from the dead and he shall enjoy the pleasures of the Lord forevermore. What does Isaiah say? Isaiah
53, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hands. So the psalm is talking about
our Lord's resurrection from the dead. It's a prophecy. He
who was made to be sin, having put away sin, is now raised from
the dead and seated at the right hand of the majesty on high in
the heavens when he makes intercession for us. Now, turn to Psalm 22. Here we come to Calvary. Psalms 22, 23, and 24 have been
referred to as the shepherd psalms, because they speak of Christ,
the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep, the great
shepherd who reigns in glory, and the chief shepherd who is
coming again to gather his own unto himself. The gospel narratives Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John give us the history of our Lord's earthly
life and ministry. They tell us about his incarnation. They tell us just briefly about
his boyhood. They tell us about his life as
a man in this world. They tell us about the works
that he did, the miracles he performed, the wonders he wrought.
They tell us about his word and his doctrine. They tell us about
the things that he taught. They tell us about his death.
his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, his exaltation
at the right hand of God Almighty. That's the history of our Lord's
outer life. The Psalms record the history
of his inmost being. The history of that which he
experienced as the man of sorrows in the depth of his soul. The
Psalms tell us what went on inside him when he suffered the wrath
of God for us. Psalm 22 put it together with
Psalm 69, and you'll learn something of what our Lord Jesus endured
for us. Let's read. I'll just pick up
the highlights here. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Verse 2. O my God, I cry unto
thee. in the daytime, but thou hearest
me not in the night season, and am not silent. And thou hearest
me not in the night, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O
thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. But I am a worm, and no man,
a reproach of men, and despised of the people. Oh, they that
see me laugh me to scorn, they shoot out the lip, they shake
the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord, that he would deliver
him, let him deliver him now, seeing he delighted in him. But
thou art he that took me out of the womb. Thou didst make
me to hope when I was upon my mother's breast. I was cast out
upon thee from the womb, thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me, for trouble
is near, and there's none to help." Verse 14, I'm poured out
like water. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax, it's melted in the midst of my bowels. My
strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue clings to the roof
of my jaws, and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. The
dogs come past me. The assembly of wicked enclose
me. They pierce my hands and my feet. Verse 18, They that part my garments
among them, and cast lots upon my vesture, be not thou far from
me, O Lord. O my strength, haste thee to
help me. Deliver my soul from the sword,
and my darling from the power of the dog. Now look at verse
22. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise
thee. Verse 25, My praise shall be
of thee in the great congregation. Verse 26, the meek shall eat
and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that
seek him. Your heart shall live forever. He makes that promise to you
because he endured the wrath of God for you because he suffered
all the shame and ignominy the reproach of being made sin, and
the reproach of the scurrilous accusations of men in our room
instead. And now we shall eat and be satisfied,
and our hearts shall rejoice forever. Then Psalm 23. The good shepherd who gave his
life for his sheep is the great shepherd who rules
the universe for us. The Lord is my shepherd. I've told you this many times
as a little Sunday school child trying to recite scriptures and
as they, uh, I want to do, she got it a little mixed up. She
started to recite Psalm 23 and she said, the Lord is my shepherd.
He's all I want. But she got it just right. He's
all I want. How can that be? He makes me
lie down in green pasture. He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. And yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art
with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest
a table before me, bright and smack dab in front of my enemies,
my head Thou knowest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Now since the Lord's my shepherd,
since he's my shepherd, since he died for me and rose again,
since he has satisfied all the wrath of God for me, since he
has made me to be the very righteousness of God in him, since he's my
shepherd, since the Lord has given him dominion over all flesh,
and he does whatever he will and what he will always prospers,
then surely, surely, surely, there can't be a question about
this, goodness and mercy shall chase me, pursue me, follow me
all the days of my life. He who sets yonder on the throne
with universal dominion is my shepherd. He assumed total responsibility
for me before the world began. He's my shepherd. He has purposed
and pledged himself for my everlasting good. He's my shepherd. That
being the case, whatever comes to pass in this world is but
the exercise of goodness and mercy, constantly following me,
constantly pursuing me. I acknowledge that often it doesn't
appear that way to most people, and I acknowledge that often
it doesn't appear that way to me. Like you, I go through times
of fear and doubt. Like you, I go through seasons
of what feels to be utter abandonment by God. Like you, my soul is
often so empty, my heart so utterly void of anything like life. But goodness and mercy are following
me. And the Lord God Almighty will
by his goodness and mercy at last chase me into his house,
and I will dwell in the house of my God forever." Then Psalm
24 speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ, our great King, the Chief Shepherd. The Lord Jesus is that one who
has entered into glory for us. He is called here in verse 7,
the King of glory. Verse 8, Who is this King of
Glory? Why, the Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. So
lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King
of Glory? He's the Lord of hosts. He's
the King of Glory. Turn to Psalm 40. Again, we have a psalm depicting
our Savior, and we know this is the case because we are told
by the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 10 that these words are the words
of Christ. We read in verse 7, starting
in verse 6, "'Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt
offering and sin offering thou hast not required." Doesn't that
look strange, right in the middle of that verse? Mine ears hast
thou opened? Seems strange. What he's saying is the very
thing Paul tells us in Hebrews 10. He says the blood of bulls
and goats could never take away sin. These things could never
satisfy the anger and wrath and justice of God. These things
could never bring us to God. But because these things typified
something greater, mine ear hast thou opened. I am your bond-slave,
your voluntary, willing servant. Now look at verse 7. Then said
I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. And then he says, I preached
righteousness to the great congregation. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke in
covenant mercy and said, Lo, I come to do your will. As he
came into this world, as he was breaking the womb of the Virgin
Mary, he cries, Lo, I come to do thy will. Oh my God, I've
come here to accomplish your purpose. By the which will we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. So back here the psalmist speaks
of the Lord Jesus coming to take away sin. And in verse 12, we
hear this cry. You see, sin could not be put
away, except he who is God in human flesh be made sin. And
he takes our sins to be his own. I said all of the Psalms speak
of our Savior. Even the penitential Psalms can
find their ultimate fulfillment only in him who was made to be
sin for us. When you read the Psalms and
put these words in the mouth of the Redeemer, you'll find
great instruction and comfort for your soul. When David spoke
in Psalm 51, for example, and confesses his sin, and he's confessing
his sin, he says the sacrifices of God are a broken heart, a
broken and contrite spirit, O God, thou wilt not despise. the sacrifices with which God
is pleased, the sacrifices for which God will build again the
walls of Jerusalem, the sacrifices upon which God will build his
church and accept his people and find pleasure and delight,
not my broken heart or yours, not my contrition of spirit and
soul or yours, but our Redeemer's. who died of a broken heart as
our substitute. And here's what caused the breaking
of his heart. Verse 12. For innumerable evils
have come past me about, and mine iniquities have taken hold
on me. Oh, my God! God Almighty, the everlasting
Son of God, took on him, so really and truly, my sin, my iniquity,
that he makes it his own. I don't know why this seems so
strange to so many. Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Jeremiah,
Isaiah, Ezekiel, all confessed the sins of their people and
of their fathers unto the Lord God as their own sins, though
they were not personally guilty of the sins they confessed. They
took them to be their own. and pleaded in the room instead
of others who would not plead for themselves before the throne
of God. Now they did so only as a vicarious
representative thing assumed by themselves. Our Lord Jesus
Christ took our sins in himself and upon himself. and made them
his own, and intercedes on our behalf even as he suffers the
wrath and justice of God in our womb instead. He says then, innumerable
evils have come past me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
on me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than the
hairs of my head. Therefore my heart faileth me. Verse 16. Let not those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee, let such as love thy salvation,
say continually, The Lord be magnified. but I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh on me,
thou art my help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God."
Turn to Psalm 45. Again we have a psalm of the
King. My heart is indicting a good
matter. I speak of the things which I have made touching the
King. My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is
poured into thy lips. God put all his grace in his
Son. Therefore God hath blessed thee
forever. gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
O Most Mighty, with thy glory and with thy majesty. And in
thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth, and meekness,
and righteousness. And thy right hand shall teach
thee terrible things. Verse 6. Thy throne, O God, is
forever and ever. And the scepter of thy kingdom
is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness, and
hatest wickedness. Therefore thy God hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. He is our
King, and he has chosen us to be his bride, and adorned us
with the garments of his own righteousness and grace. Look at Psalm 65, this great key. Verse 4. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. There are some folks in this
world chosen by this key. the objects of his everlasting
love. Oh, we hate him by nature, just
like all others. We will not seek him, we will
not turn to him, we will not bow to him, we will not yield
to him, we will not give up the rule of our life to him, except he has chosen us that
we may dwell in his courts. And in order that that be brought
to pass, the psalmist says, Blessed is the man whom thou choosest
and causest to approach unto thee. Folks say, well, you folks believe
God just saves sinners against their will. No, no, no, no. No, no. He makes them willing
in the day of his power. Thirty-seven years ago, I met
this young lady here, and we started dating the 29th of June,
1967. I think that's 37 years ago,
maybe 36. And we hadn't been dating any
time. I told her I was going to marry
her, and she looked at me like I was crazy. You don't know what
you want. And she didn't have any interest
in marrying me, didn't have any interest at all. a 17-year-old
boy, and she just wasn't interested. Didn't think I knew what I wanted.
And you know what I did? I proceeded to court her and
woo her. I didn't have a thing on earth
to offer her except me. That's all I had, just me. And I put
on my best face. Every time I'd go see her, I'd
get dressed up to the nines. I mean, just the best I had.
I was always clean shaven, and we'd go out. Usually couldn't
go anywhere but McDonald's, but I'd go get her some french fries
or a strawberry milkshake. I would drive six, seven miles
across town just to be there when she came out of her dormitory
to carry her books a half a block down the road. Did it all the
time. And after a year of that, we
were up in Spruce Pine, North Carolina one night, staying with
my aunt and uncle, and everybody else was going to bed. We were
sitting on the couch talking, and I got down on my knees. I make a long story short, I
said, will you marry me? And I thought she was going to
jump off the couch. She was just as anxious to marry
me as she could be. Well, what happened? Well, I
twisted her arm and made her want to marry me. No, no. I twisted
her heart and made her want to marry a man. You understand the
difference? She didn't want me until I showed
myself to her. Now, granted, I didn't show her
everything, but our master came to us when
we wouldn't have him because he chose us in everlasting love. And when he revealed himself
in you, you had no will to resist his love, did you? No longer any resistance. Just this morning the sinner
cries, No God! And then he sees Christ and he
cries, Give me Christ or else I die. I've got to have Oh, blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto
thee." We won't turn there now, but you can read the 107th Psalm
and see the wonder of God's providence. All that he did in all your life. David, I guess you've been around
more in the country than anybody here. every move from before
you were born, while you were still in your mother's belly,
every move, God and his providence is working. And he brings you
down to the depths of the sea, and he brings you into trouble,
and he causes you to reel to and fro as a drunken man, and
you're at your wit's end. And he does it so that he graciously
forces you to seek him and to seek his mercy. This is the wonder
of God's providence, working with his grace by his word, causing
us to approach him to him. And it's all because of a covenant
described in Psalm 89. A covenant. Psalm 89. After that 88th Psalm describing
our Master's great sorrow, as our substitute. We read about this psalm of a
covenant. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.
With my mouth shall I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall
be built up forever, and thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the heavens. Verse 4, Thy seed will I establish
forever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Now stop
and think about that. And he speaks about David. But
as you read the psalm, a greater than David is here.
This is Christ. This is covenant God made with
his Son. And he says here in verse 19, Then spakest thou in
a vision to thy holy one. and said, I have laid help upon
one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found Christ my servant,
with my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall
be established, and my arm also shall strengthen him. Verse 27,
I will make him my firstborn to be higher than the kings of
the earth, and this is God's promise. My mercy will I keep
for him, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you? My mercy
will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast
with him. His seed also will I make to
endure for ever." Now he's talking about you and me, his seed. And
his throne as the days of heaven. If his children forsake my law,
guilty. And won't not in my judgments,
if they break my statutes, guilty, and keep not my commandments,
then will I build their transgression with the bar and their iniquity
with stripes. I'll chasten them because I love
them. Oh, but how I love this next word. Nevertheless, nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I spoken
in my holiness that I will not lie unto Christ. His seed shall endure forever,
and his throne as the sun before me. Let me give you one more
psalm. Psalm 130.