Lynn and I had a great time on
our belated 40th anniversary trip. And if you've never been
to Green? Lewisburg, West Virginia. You
ought to visit. It was really nice. We enjoyed
it very much. Turn with me to the 68th song. This is a long psalm, and I've
kind of had it in my mind that I want to do one psalm each time
for just one lesson until we get to Psalm 119. I'll stretch
that one out a bit. Psalm 68, let's read this together. Let God arise. And I have no doubt that refers
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let his enemies
be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee
before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive
them away. As wax melts before the fire,
so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the
righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God,
yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing unto God, sing praises to
his name. Extol him that writeth upon the
heavens by his name, John. And that is a shortened version
of Jehovah. And rejoice before him, a father
of the fatherless. and a judge of the widows is
God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families. He bringeth out those who are
bound with chains, but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. O God, when thou wentest forth
before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness,
the earth shook, The heavens also dropped at the presence
of God. Even Sinai itself was moved at
the presence of God, the God of Israel. Thou, O God, didst
send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance
when it was weary. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein. Thou, O God, hast prepared of
thy goodness for the poor. The Lord gave the word. And I think that's a reference
to the scriptures. The Lord gave the word. Great
was the company of those that published it. Kings of armies
did flee apace, and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. Though you have line among the
pots. Somebody says, what's a pot?
Well, the definition I found was a double stall. Yet shall
ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver and her feathers
with yellow gold. When the Almighty scattered kings
in it, it was white, and you'll notice that's in italics. It
was as snow, cold, and salmon. The hill of God is as the hill
of basin. That means fruitfulness. And
high hill is the hill of basin. Why leap ye high hills? This
is the hill which God desires to dwell in. Yea, the Lord will
dwell in it forever. The chariots of God are 20,000,
even thousands of angels. And the Lord is among them as
in Sinai in the holy place. Thou has descended on high. This
is quoted in Ephesians chapter four. Thou has ascended on high. Thou has led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for
men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might
dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily
loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He
that is our God is the God of salvation. And unto God the Lord
belong the issues from death. I was laying in bed last night
just thinking, I can die any second, and you can too. And that's in the Lord's hand,
and that's a good place for it to be. But God shall wound the head
of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth
on still in his trespasses. The Lord said, I will bring again
from nation. I will bring my people again
from the depth of the sea. Once again, I believe that's
a reference to the resurrection. That thy foot may be dipped in
the blood of thine enemies and the tongue of thy dogs in the
same. They have seen thy goings, O God, even the goings of my
God, my King in the sanctuary, the holy place. The singers went
before, the players on instruments followed after. Among them were
the damsels playing with the timbrels. Bless ye God in the
congregations, even the Lord from the fountain of Israel.
There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah
and the council, the princes of Zebulun and the princes of
Naphtali. Thy God hath commanded thy strength. Strengthen, O God, that which
thou hast wrought for us. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem
shall kings bring presents unto thee. Rebuke the company of spearmen
and the multitude of bulls and the calves of the people till
everyone submit himself with pieces of silver. That's talking
about the atonement money. Scatter thou the people that
delight in war. Princes shall come out of Egypt.
Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Sing unto
God, yea ye kingdoms of the earth, oh sing praises unto the Lord.
To him that writeth upon the heaven of heavens which were
of old, lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty
voice. Ascribe ye strength unto God. His excellency is over Israel,
and his strength is in the clouds. O God, thou art terrible out
of thy holy places. The God of Israel is he that
giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God. Let's pray. Lord, how we. Thank you for who
you are. How we thank you for your word.
How we thank you for the freeness of your grace. How we thank you
for the glory of your salvation that's in your son. Lord, we
would hear from you. Deliver us from hearing the words,
the thoughts, and the opinions of a sinful man. But enable us
to hear from you. Enable us to believe your gospel. Enable us to rejoice in who you
are. Enable us to love you supremely
from our hearts by your grace. Enable us to walk, talk, And
think in a way that honors. Your gospel and your son. Forgive
us of our many sins, cleanse us for Christ's sake. Be with
all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, we pray
for your blessing upon us. In Christ's name we pray, Amen. The Young's literal translation. Of. Verse one says, rise doth
God. I like that. That's referring
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and all of our salvation
is found in him being raised from the dead. God is pleased
with everyone he rose for. What a way to start this psalm. The Lord Jesus Christ is God.
And God arose from the dead. Now notice in these first two
verses, there are three descriptions of those who do not believe.
Let God arise. Number one, let his enemies be
scattered. Let them also that hate him flee
before him as smoke is driven away. So drive them away as wax
melted before the fire. So let the wicked perish at the
presence of God. Now there are three descriptions
of the natural man, his enemies. You know, God has
enemies, the natural man. would put God out of business
if it were in their power. They're called those that hate
him. Do you know that you were born
into this world with an actual hatred of God? A hatred of the
living God. That demonstrates the sinfulness
of the natural man. And I know in my own experience,
I found out I hated God. when I found out that God had
elected a people and I couldn't do anything to make myself one
of them. And that made me realize that I resented him, that I hated
him, that I didn't think he was fair. That's when the Lord, I
believe, really taught me that I was a sinner, someone who was
guilty of hating God. And he calls them the wicked.
Verse three, but let the righteous be glad. You know, there are the wicked
and the righteous. That's the only two kind of people there
are. The wicked and the righteous. And I'll say what I've said so
many times. This is a quote from Pascal, the French. I don't know what he was, but
he made this statement that was, I thought, fantastic. All the righteous believe themselves
to be wicked and All the wicked believe themselves
to be righteous or at least have the potential to be righteous. Quite a statement, the righteous
and the wicked. Let the righteous be glad in
the resurrection of Christ in the gospel. Let them rejoice
before God, yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. And my dear friends,
we have a reason right now to exceedingly rejoice in the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything God requires of me
right now, I have. I'm accepted in the beloved. And what a reason to rejoice. He says, sing unto God, verse
four, sing praises to his name, his excellent name, his excellent
attributes. Aren't you thankful for who he
is? Aren't you glad he's holy? Aren't you glad he's absolutely
just? Aren't you glad he's merciful
and gracious? Aren't you glad he's all powerful?
Aren't you glad he's sovereign? Aren't you glad he's love? What
a glorious God we have. Sing praises to his name, extol
him that rideth upon the heavens by his name, John. And rejoice
before him. And this is really him riding
over the heavens, just pictures his absolute control of everything. Now he's called in verse five,
a father of the fatherless. and a judge of the widows is
God in his holy habitation. He undertakes for those who can't
undertake for themselves. Father of the fatherless, the
judge, the one who takes up for the widows, the one who saves
those who can't save themselves. That's what that's a reference
to more than anything else. This is the character of God.
He's a father to the fatherless. the judge of widows, is God in
his holy habitation, his holy dwelling place. God, verse six,
said of the solitary, those people who are alone and all by themselves
and separated and isolated, he sets them in families. He bringeth
out those who are bound with chains. Now this is something
that only a believer understands. An unbeliever cannot understand
this thing of being bound, the binding of a sinful nature that
they cannot escape. And an unbeliever doesn't really
have any understanding of that. He thinks, what's wrong with
you? I've got a free will, I can do what I want, but a believer
knows something of this thing of binding, but this is who he
delivers. He bringeth out those which are
bound with chains, but the rebellious dwell in dryness, a dry land,
a wilderness. Verse seven, O God, when thou
wentest forth before thy people. I love to think of that imagery.
The scripture says he's before all things. Whatever it is, he's
before it. He's before it. Oh God, when
thou wentest forth before thy people, I think of the Lord Jesus
Christ going before his father in my behalf. When thou wentest
forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the
wilderness, the earth shook. The heavens also dropped at the
presence of God. Even Sinai itself was moved at
the presence of God, the God of Israel, the place where the
law was given was moved at the presence of God. Thou, O God,
did send, verse nine, a plentiful rain. Now that word plentiful
actually means a free will rain. Now God freely, gives his reign,
the reign of his grace. The reign of his grace freely
falls on you because of the freeness of his grace. Aren't you thankful
streams of mercy never ceasing? Call for songs of loudest praise. Thou didst confirm thine inheritance
when it was weary with the reign of your grace. Thy congregation,
this is every Church, thy congregation, the church of God's elect, the
bride of Christ, thy congregation, hath dwelt therein in this free
reign of grace that is poured upon us. Thou, O God, hast prepared
of thy goodness for the poor. Now his goodness is his saving
mercy. And who's his saving mercy for?
What's the first beatitude? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Those who have nothing, that's
who his goodness is given to. The Lord gave the word. This
is talking about the scripture, I believe, the transmission of
scripture. The Lord gave the word. I'm so thankful for the
Bible. We're not dependent upon any
man to tell us who God is. We have his word that he wrote
and gave us. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Don't ever lose the importance
of the word of God. The Lord gave the word and great
was the company of those that published it. That's the preaching
of the gospel. Now kings of armies did flee.
They ran in fear, but she that tarried at home is the one who
got the spoil. I love that. The kings of armies,
they run in fear, but the ones who just tarried home that have
nothing to recommend them. I think of 1 Samuel 30, when
David was going after his banished family, and there were 600 men,
the Amalekites had stolen his family at Ziklag, and there were
600 men, and they came to the brook, and 200 of them were too
weary to go. They had to stay behind. And
the 400 men went and delivered the families and brought back
the spoil, and the scripture says all the sons of Belial,
all the wicked men said, these fellas, these 200 who stayed
back, they don't get any spoils. It all goes to us. David said,
no. The ones who stayed back, they're going to get the spoils
the same as us, and that's what this is really referring to. Kings of armies did flee apace,
but she that tarried at home, she got the spoil even though
she didn't do anything for it. Though you've lied among the
pot, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver
and feathers with yellow gold. Now, what in the world does that
mean? You've lined with the pots that you've laid with, and that
word pots, the only definition I could find for it was a double
stall. That's what it means, a double
stall. And though you've lined among the double stall, yet shall
ye be as the wings of a dove. And that's referring to the Holy
Spirit, covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold
and said, you're lying right now. You can't rise because you
still have this nature. You have two natures. You still
have this one nature, but when that nature is gone, you're going
to rise with wings of gold. Verse 14, when the almighty scattered
kings in it, It was as snow and salmon. It was cold. There wasn't any warmth when
God scattered these people. But the hill of God, verse 15,
the hill of God is as the hill of Bashan, fruitfulness. A high
hill is the hill of Bashan, and I love this thought of fruitfulness.
Every believer bears the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And only
the believer has the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,
Every believer, without exception, has the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And remember, it's the fruit
of the Spirit. It's not the fruit of your works. It's the fruit
of God, the Holy Spirit, given us in the new birth. This is
the hill of bastion, the hill of fruitfulness. The hill of
God is the hill of bastion, and a high hill is the hill of bastion,
above the grasp of the natural man. Why leap ye ye high hills? This is the hill which God desires
to dwell in. The church, the body of Christ,
the house of God, the Lord will dwell in it forever. The chariots
of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels. I think of what the
Lord said, do you not think that I could not pray for my heavenly
father and he'd send me 12 legions of angels right now when he was
before his enemies and he was saying to his disciples at this
time before the cross, don't you think I have, I've got control
over this. I could pray for my father right
now and he'd send 12 legions of angels. Remember what one
angel did when it killed 75,000 people? What about 12,000 of
them at this time? The chariots of God are 20,000,
even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them as in
Sinai in the holy place, the giving of the law. Now, this
is what Paul quoted in Ephesians chapter four. Thou has ascended
on high. That's talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ and his ascension. I love to think of him leaving
heaven, coming to this earth. How many times did the Lord say,
I came down from heaven? I bet people thought, what's
he talking about? I came down from heaven. He came down from
heaven. He kept God's law perfectly. He put away the sins of everybody
he represented. He died. He was raised from the
dead. God completely satisfied with
what he did. And he ascended back to heaven.
And this is what this is a reference to. Thou has descended on high
and look at this next statement. Thou has led captivity, captive. Captivity. Now, if you can get
out, you're not captive. If you can open the jail door
and walk through, you're not captive. You're captive when
you cannot get out. And it is only the believer that
has any understanding of this. An unbeliever doesn't understand
sin, but a believer does, and it's a miserable captivity to
him. But look at this promise. Thou
has led captivity captive. That is sovereign grace. Thou has led captivity captive. Thou has received gifts for men. Yea, for the rebellious also.
Aren't you thankful for that? Yea, for the rebellious also
that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord
who daily loatheth us. with benefits, the benefits of
his grace, forgiveness of sins, justification, redemption, preservation,
faith, repentance. Everything we have is him loading
us with these benefits. The God of our salvation, he
that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord
belong the issues from death. I have no idea when I'm going
to die, but I'm going to die when the Lord determines it.
You're going to die when the Lord determines it. And isn't
that comforting? I'm in his hand and I will die
and I will be in his presence. And I won't be thinking about
this place at that time. I think of people say, oh, I want to
leave my legacy. I could care less about legacy.
I mean, when you're in heaven, do you think you're even going
to be thinking about anything down here? No, you'll be in the presence
of Christ and you won't be thinking about anything else. And the
issues of death belong to the Lord. I'm in his hand. Verse
21, but God shall wound the head of his enemies. And the hairy
scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses."
That person who has no... love for God or thought for God,
but they just go on still in their trespasses. The Lord said,
I bring again from Bashan, that's the place of fruitfulness. I
will bring my people again from the depths of the sea, and that's
talking about the resurrection, being brought up from the depths
of the sea. That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine
enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs are the same. The enemies
of God's people are not gonna prosper, whether it's talking
about men or their sins, they're not gonna prosper. They've seen
thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my King in the sanctuary,
in the holy place. The singers went before the players
on instruments following after among them were the damsels playing
with timbrels. You see this joyful procession. Bless ye God in the congregations,
even the Lord from the fountain of Israel. And I hope that's
what's going on now. God's people in the congregations,
meeting all over the world, blessing God for who he is. Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean
we can confer a blessing on him, but his blessing is conferred
on us when we say, by his grace, blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Bless ye God
and the congregations, even the Lord from the fountain of Israel.
There is little Benjamin with their ruler and the princes of
Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun and the princes
of Naphtali. Now I believe that this is a
reference to Judah and Benjamin. You remember the story in Genesis
43? Obviously it is. That's who's
spoken of. Um, Benjamin, uh, Jacob thinks Joseph is gone. Benjamin's his favorite. Um,
they can't get anything to eat unless Benjamin goes back to,
to Egypt. Joseph has said, they didn't
know Joseph yet. Joseph said, you're not going
to get anything unless I see Benjamin. So they say to their
father, Jacob, we need to go back to get food. And the man
said, if we don't bring Benjamin, we won't get anything. All of
a sudden, Reuben stands up and said, I'll bring him. And if
I don't bring him back, you kill my two sons, as if Jacob would
want to do that. He said, I know you, Reuben.
He's not going with you. Then Judah said, I will bear
complete responsibility for him. If of my hands shall that require
him, if I bring him not back to thee and set him before thee,
let me bear the blame forever. Judah. Christ came from Judah.
Now, Judah and little Benjamin, and then there is the princes
of Zebulun and Naphtali. Just let me give you their names.
Zebulun means exalted, extolled. Naphtali means wrestle. And that
would, it describe the life of the believer. He's exalted in
Christ. He wrestles. He wrestles with
so many things that he will one day not wrestle with. Verse 28,
thy God has commanded thy strength. Strengthen, O God, that which
thou has wrought for us. Any strength I have, it's because
of God's command. And I'm asking the Lord, strengthen
that which you've done for us. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem,
that's representative of the Lord Jesus Christ, the temple,
the holy of holies, the place where the high priest went in.
Because of thy temple at Jerusalem, shall kings bring presents unto
thee. Rebuke the company of spearmen,
the multitude of bulls with the calves of the people, till everyone
submit himself with pieces of silver. Now here's what true
submission does. This silver is a reference to
the atonement money. Everybody was to give the exact
same amount, the silver atonement money. The rich people, the poor
people, the same amount. I'll tell you when someone who
submitted, they submitted to God when they see the absolute
necessity of the atonement of Christ and would not bring anything
else. What can wash away my sin? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Now, someone who comes into God's
presence with the silver atonement money, nothing but the blood
of Christ, they, by God's grace, have submitted themselves to
him. Scatter thou the people that
delight in war, that delight in contention, that delight in
fighting. Oh, blessed are the peacemakers.
Princes, verse 31, princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall
soon stretch out her hands unto God. God controls everybody.
Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth. Oh, sing praises unto
the Lord. To him that rideth upon the heavens
of heavens which were of old, he's eternally riding upon the
heavens, eternally in control of all things. Lo, he does send
out his voice, and that a mighty voice, oh, the voice of God in
the gospel. The hour is coming, and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and
they that hear shall live. Verse 34, ascribe ye strength
unto God, His power, His excellency is over Israel. And His strength
is in the clouds, in the heavens. Oh God, Thou art terrible. Thou art awesome. Thou art awe-inspiring
out of Thy holy places. The God of Israel is He that
giveth strength and power unto His people. Now the reason you
believe right now is because He strengthened you. The reason
you persevere in the faith and continue walking with Christ
is because he's empowered you. He's the one who does all this. Blessed be God. And everybody that hears that,
that loves him, that knows him, says to that, amen. Blessed be God.