Good morning. Got in last night at 1.30, so
I'm not, if I fall asleep while I'm talking to you, you'll understand.
Had a good meeting in Tennessee, Psalm 70. Make haste, O God, to deliver
me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded
that seek after my soul. Let them be turned backward and
put to confusion that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back
for a reward of their shame that say, uh-huh, uh-huh. Let all
those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. And let such as love thy salvation
say continually, let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God, thou
art my help and my deliverer, O Lord, make no tarrying. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you'd make haste and help us. Make haste and deliver us. We ask that we might be privileged
and blessed by your grace to hear your gospel in the power
of your spirit. Lord, we confess our sins. We
pray that we might be found in Christ. We pray for the forgiveness
of our sins. We pray that you would allow
us to worship thy dear son. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. Accept our thanksgiving. Lord,
we're so thankful for who you are. We're so thankful for all
your glorious attributes. We're so thankful for your blessed
son that you'd give him to die for our sins. We stand amazed.
Bless us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Now you'll notice. in the title
that David calls this a psalm of remembrance. A psalm of remembrance. Now what is the significance
to that? We forget. We quickly forget. You know, I think of the Lord's
table. The Lord said, this do in remembrance of me. Why would
he say that if we weren't in danger of forgetting? And David
calls this a psalm of remembrance. Now, he says in verse one, make
haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me. Look at the end of the verse,
of the psalm. O Lord, make no tarry. Make haste to help me. Now, what is meant by that? I've had several surgeries. I've had a esophagectomy. I've
had a splenectomy. I've had a hole drilled in my
head. And when I have those surgeries, they hurt. There is genuine pain. And I don't say, well, I'd like
some help with this tomorrow. I want it now. I want it now. Make haste, not
tomorrow, right now. And that's what David is saying
in his desperation. Make haste to help me, oh Lord. If I'm not in a hurry to be delivered,
my talk of needing deliverance is just talk. Make haste to help
me Oh Lord, I love this desire for help. I thought of the Syrophoenician
woman when the Lord said, it's not right. It's not me to take
the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. He said, I'm not
sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now think
of the way he was talking to her. She asked for mercy. He says, I'm not sent but to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I've only come to save
the elect. That's exactly what that means. You know what she
said? She came and worshiped him and
said, Lord, help me. Help me. If you don't help me,
I won't be helped. I need your help. Don't we need the Lord's help
this morning? Make haste to help me, oh Lord. Verse two, let them
be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them
be turned backward and put to confusion that desire my hurt. Now these are first of all the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ when he prays against those who
will not believe. That's throughout the Psalms
called his imprecatory desires where he desires justice and
judgment against those people who hate him. But David's also
talking about himself and we've all had people who wish us ill. And that's a painful thing, isn't
it? When someone actually wishes me ill. It may be a malicious
person. It may be somebody who has no
love for our gospel and wishes to see us fall so they can say,
ah, there's nothing to his gospel. Look what it's done for him.
Look how he's conducted himself. and it's difficult to have somebody
wishing you ill and that's what David is speaking of this time. Now notice he says, let them
be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them
be turned backward and put to confusion that desire my hurt. Now I love The way we can say,
with regard to everyone that wants to put us to confusion
and have us hurt, have us exposed, and that's what somebody wishes
toward you. If they desire you're ill, they
want you to be exposed as a bad person. They want you to be destroyed. They want you to be seen in a
light of, you know, There's nothing to their faith. Look, look at
their conduct. Look at their act. Well, what's
the answer to this? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Nothing to be laid to my charge.
Not guilty. And that's the only thing that
satisfies my conscience. When people are wanting, wishing
us ill, remember who I am in God's sight. Because of what
Christ has done for me, I'm without sin, I'm without guilt, I stand
just before God. And that's the only comfort,
really, when someone wishes you ill, they're in God's hand. and everything they're doing
anyway, the Lord's in control of. For your good and for his
glory. I love what Shemai, when Shemai
was cursing David and Abishai said, you want me to go take
his head off? He said, no, the Lord said, curse David. Whatever ill
somebody's wishing you, they're in the Lord's hand. And it's
for your good and his glory. I wish I'd always believed that
instead of getting upset. Just believe that. God is in
control and, but he says, uh, let them be put to confusion.
The desire, my hurt verse three, let them be turned back for reward
of their shame that say, aha, aha. Now that's the word somebody
uses when they say, gotcha. Aha. You've been exposed. And
that's what they said, um, to the Lord on the cross. Uh-huh,
so would we have it. They would wag their heads in
mocking shame. And you know, that's so evil,
isn't it? May the Lord, it's in my heart,
but I don't want to see anyone, uh-huh, you've been found out.
You've been exposed. I hope everybody sees what you
really are. Do you want everybody to see
what you really are? I was listening to, Bruce Crabtree
preached, I think it was last night. He said, if you knew what
I've done, I'd have to run out of here. And everybody, every
believer feels that way. Every believer understands that.
And this thing of aha, aha, so would we have it. You've been
exposed. Now, verse four. Let all those that seek thee. Now, here's the difference between
a believer and an unbeliever. A believer seeks the Lord. Everybody seeks something. Everybody
seeks peace. Everybody seeks happiness. Are
you happy? I'll be honest with you, I hate that question. Are
you happy? What's that got to do with it? Are you in Christ? What else needs to be? You know,
I, I always, uh, I'm always concerned when I hear somebody say, I want
to be happy. I think, Oh, who they're going to step on to make
sure they stay happy. Um, happiness is not the issue. Knowing the Lord is the issue.
Being in him is the issue. And as far as that goes, do what you're supposed to do.
And whether you're happy or not, that's fine. Amen? May the Lord put that in
our hearts. But here's what a believer does.
He seeks the Lord. David said, when thou said, seek
ye my face, my heart said, thy face, O Lord, will I seek. Now that's, there's where we're
at. We want to seek the Lord, don't we? That's the best thing.
Somebody says, what should I do? Seek the Lord. I don't know what
you should do, but I know you ought to do this. Seek the Lord.
What should I do? Seek the Lord. He said, seek
ye my face. Seek the Lord. Now, let all those
that seek thee, and that's every believer, let all those that
seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. Now here's the key. I want to rejoice and be glad. Well, I do too. But, um, the
key to this verse is in the, in the, all of God's salvation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And listen to this scripture.
Ephesians one three says, blessed be the God and father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. Every blessing God has is in
Christ, and every believer has them all. Now, isn't that a reason
to rejoice and be glad? Accepted in the beloved of him
are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made into us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That's a reason
to rejoice, isn't it? Rejoice and be glad in thee. You know, the Lord said this,
He said, these things have spoken to you that in me, you might
have peace. In me, not in your works, not
in your experience. In me, you might have peace.
In the world, you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have
overcome the world. Oh, to think that I'm complete
in him. Complete. I rejoice in that. I'm glad about
that, aren't you? Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee, and let such as love thy salvation,
say continually, let the Lord be magnified. Now here's what
I see. Let such as love thy salvation. Don't you love the way salvation
is called his salvation? Salvation is of the Lord. Now,
I hope that's never just a cliche with us. Salvation is of the
Lord. If I'm saved, it's of the Lord. He did it. Salvation's of the
Father in electing me. Salvation's of the Son in redeeming
me and giving me his righteousness. Salvation is of the Spirit in
regenerating me and giving me a new heart, faith to believe,
repentance. Salvation is of the Lord. Every
aspect of salvation is of the Lord. Now, The salvation of the
gospel. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ for it's the power of God into salvation.
There is no salvation apart from the gospel, is there? It is the
power of God into salvation, the gospel. Salvation is of the
Lord. The writer to the Hebrews called
it so great a salvation. It glorifies every attribute
of God. Listen to how great this is.
The salvation of God glorifies and honors every attribute of
God and completely saves the sinner. What's better than that? Salvation is of the Lord. Now, if you rejoice in his salvation,
let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee and
let such as love thy salvation. Do you love his salvation? Do
you love being saved by Him? Do you love that the salvation
is all of grace? Do you love that Christ is salvation? Do
you love being complete in Him? Do you love that? I do. I love His salvation. His salvation
is so glorious that takes somebody like me and makes me acceptable
to God, that makes it to where I am without sin before God.
that makes everything work together for my good and his glory. Yeah,
I love his salvation, don't you? Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, nonstop, all the time, let God be magnified. Oh, his salvation glorifies him. And we love him being magnified
in his salvation. Now, I want to spend the rest
of the time on verse five. And this is David's, um, statement
with regard to himself. And he says this over 10 times
in the Psalms. And once again, it's the Lord
speaking from the cross too. You know that he became poor.
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was
rich yet for your sakes he became poor. Christ being poor that
you through his poverty might be rich. But this is David's
description of himself. Ten times at least this man who
was fabulously wealthy financially. He was a king and he was very
wealthy. But here was his assessment of
himself. I am poor and I am needy. I am poor. What's the first beatitude? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Now what are you when you're
poor? You don't have one thing to recommend you to God that
comes from you. You can't claim anything before
God. Well, at least I have this. No,
if you're poor, you do not have anything to recommend you to
God. The only thing you have which
makes you rich is Christ alone. Are you poor? David said, I'm
poor. I have nothing to recommend me. I'm poor and I have great needs. I'm poor, but that doesn't mean
I'm not needy. I have great needs. Poor and needy. Now, I love that scripture. He healed
them that had need of healing. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. Poor and needy. Now, let me express my need,
and I know I'm gonna be expressing your need as well. I'm poor. I don't have anything to recommend
me to God that comes from me. Not one thing, not one feeling,
not one thought. poor. I need God to be sovereign
and will my salvation. I need him to be sovereign. Not only do I believe that he's
sovereign, and that means he controls everything and everybody.
That means he's the first cause of everything. Not only do I
believe he's sovereign, I need him to be sovereign or I will
not be saved. Do you need a sovereignty? This
is not the doctrine of God's sovereignty. This is the doctrine
of my need. I need him to be, I need him to will my salvation.
I need him to give commandment to save me. Like David said,
thou has given commandment to save me. Oh, I need that. I need the Bible to be the Word
of God. This is not just a doctrine. We believe the Bible is the inspired
Word of God. Yeah, we do. But I need the Bible to be the
Word of God because if we don't have the Word of God, what do
we have? My opinion and your opinion. My thoughts and your
thoughts. My ideas of God and your ideas
of God. If that's all we have, we're
in trouble. I need the Bible to be the Word of God, to tell
me who God is. I can't be dependent upon a man.
I can't be dependent upon man's thoughts. I want there in writing,
there it is, the Word of God. I need that. I can't trust anything
else except the inspired Word of God. I need the Word of God
to reveal the gospel to me, to reveal to me who I am. You know,
I need the Word of God to explain to me who I am. It's the Word
of God that lets me know I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Let me repeat that. I'm a sinner.
I'm not proud of that, but that's what I am in and of myself. Nothing
but sin. How would I know that without
the Word of God? And God saw the wickedness of man was great
in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. Would you understand that about
yourself without the Word of God? I'm so thankful for the
Word of God. And you know what else I need?
Being what the Word of God describes me to be, I need God to elect
me to salvation. Election is not just a, well,
yeah, the Bible teaches election. Well, it does. There's no doubt
about that. Somebody doesn't preach election,
doesn't preach the gospel. Let me repeat that. Somebody doesn't
preach election, doesn't preach the gospel. According as he has
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Who chose who? He chose us. When? Before the
foundation of the world. But I need God to elect me because
if he doesn't elect me, I won't be saved. This is need. This isn't just, well, I believe
the five points. Well, congratulations. This is
more than I need God to choose me or I won't be saved. I need Jesus Christ to die for
me and pay for my sins and accomplish my salvation The only hope I have right now
while I'm talking to you is that Jesus Christ paid for my sins. That's it. If you take that away
from me, I won't be saved. This is one of the reasons, and
I hope I can speak this the way it ought to be said, but I hate
that teaching that says that Jesus Christ paid for everybody's
sins, and yet some of those people's sins that he paid for are going
to wind up in hell anyway. I hate that. I hate it. You know why? Because it takes
away my only hope. I know for sure that if he can
If he can pay for your sins, you can wind up in hell anyway.
I know I'll wind up in hell. My only hope is that he actually
paid the debt when he said it is finished, my salvation was
accomplished. I need that to be so. I need God the Holy Spirit. I
need God to elect me. I need Christ to die for me and
accomplish my salvation. I need God, the Holy Spirit to
invincibly and irresistibly give me life. I need to be birthed
of the spirit. I need to be given a new heart. I know exactly what David meant
when he said, create in me a clean heart. Oh God, if you don't create
in me this heart, I won't be saved. I need a new heart. I need to be, I need God's grace. You know, it's called irresistible
grace. Somebody says, I don't like that.
I do. I need irresistible grace. I need him to give me grace. And you see, I hate it. Here's another thing. I'm talking
about what I hate right now. I hate it when people say God
offers you this or God offers salvation or God offers forgiveness
or God offers anything. No. He doesn't offer salvation. He saves. Big difference. He doesn't offer you forgiveness.
He forgives. He doesn't offer you life, he gives life. Big
difference, isn't there? I need his grace to be invincible
and irresistible with regard to me. Lord, save me by your
grace. Cause me to believe, cause me
to repent, cause me to love, cause me to walk with you as
Enoch walked with God. I need his grace. You know what else I need? I need, David said, I'm poor
and I'm needy. I need him to preserve me. I
need him to cause me to walk with Christ all the way until
I die. I need him to preserve me, to
keep me, because I know this, if he doesn't keep me, I won't
be kept. Kept by the power of God through
faith. unto salvation, I need to be
kept. Keep me. Keep me. Now, I'm poor. I don't have anything
to bring to the table. I don't have one thought, one
feeling, one work that God could accept. I'm poor. But although I'm poor, I have
great needs. I need the Lord to do for me
what I cannot do for myself. I'm poor, and I am needy. And so when he says I'm poor
and needy, he can't say, well, I'm poor and needy. If you're
poor and needy, you know what you're gonna say? Make haste,
oh Lord, to help me. You're not gonna be indifferent
about this. You're not gonna be apathetic about it. Make haste
to help me right now, Lord. I need your grace. You know,
this thing of making haste, if you're in pain, you're not interested in relief
for tomorrow. You're interested in relief for right now. Make haste to help me, oh Lord. I love the song, I Need Thee
Precious Jesus For I am full of sin My soul is dark and guilty
My heart is dead within. I need the cleansing fountain
where I can always flee. The blood of Christ, most precious. The sinner's perfect plea. I need thee. I'm poor and I'm
needy. And guess what? He saves every
poor and needy sinner. You come to him right now as
poor and needy in your heart, you know what? You'll be received. He said, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out.