Psalm 28. A Psalm of David. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord,
my rock. Be not silent to me, lest if
thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the
pit. Hear the voice. of my supplications
when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle. Draw me not away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors,
but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their
deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them
after the work of their hands. Render to them their dessert,
because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation
of his hands. He shall destroy them and not
build them up. Blessed be the Lord, because
he hath heard the voice of my supplications. When you see that
word supplications, particularly in the scripture, it means my
entreatment for divine favor, my need of divine favor. Blessed be the Lord because he
hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength. and
my shield. My heart trusted in him and I
am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices
and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength
and he is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people
and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them
up forever. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that you would give
us the grace To cry unto thee our rock. Teach us. What it means that
you are the rock? Lord, we ask that you would save
us. That you would bless us. That
you would feed us. and that you would keep us. Lord, enable us to worship thy
dear son. We are so thankful for this blessed
privilege of gathering together in your name, and we pray that
we might hear the gospel and the power of your spirit. Lord,
don't let us merely hear from a man. But let us hear from thee,
the living God. Speak to each heart here from
your word according to your will. Lord, we confess our sins, but
Lord, how we thank you that you save sinners. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. We pray for your blessing on
those of our number that are sick. We pray for your hand to
be upon them according to your will. Accept our thanksgiving. We're so thankful for who you
are. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Unto thee. Will I cry, O Lord,
my rock? Now, what is necessary to pray
that particular prayer? You have to know him as your
rock. Now, what all does that mean?
Turn with me for a moment to Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32. Verse one. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak. And hear, O earth, the words
of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech
shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender
herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Because I will publish
the name of the Lord. Ascribe ye greatness unto our
God. Notice he is, it's in italics. Ascribe ye greatness unto our
God, thee rock. Don't you love that? Thee rock. And look what it says about thee
rock. And what do you think of when you think of a rock? Well, I think of strength, strong as a rock. And I think
of immovability, you know, rock that can't be moved, which equates
to immutability. Now look what it says with regard
to the rock. And this is who David is praying
to. This is who the Lord prays to,
his rock. Look what it says with regard
to the rock. His work is perfect. Now that's speaking primarily
of his work of salvation. Yes, all his works are perfect,
but his work, we are his workmanship, the scripture says. His work
is perfect, complete, entire, lacking nothing. And you know
what that means? If he saved me, I am perfect
in Christ Jesus. That means when God looks at
me right now, he's pleased with me. I can't become any more pleasing
to him because his work Don't you know, if you're a believer,
I don't have to convince you of this. You know your salvation
is his work, don't you? You know your works don't have
anything to do with it. It's his work. His work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment. This rock, all his ways are judgment. You know what that means? That
means that my salvation is a just salvation. It's not simply God
being merciful to me, although He is. It's not simply God forgiving
me, although He does. And I wouldn't in any way say
simply like dismissive of that. That's glorious. But His salvation
is an absolutely just salvation. And that means the law of God,
the justice of God, the holiness of God says, save him. He deserves
to be saved because of what Christ did for me. Remember, his work
is perfect. All his ways are judgment, a
God of truth and without iniquity. Just and right is he now that's
our rocket. The rock now back to our text. Psalm 28. I hope this will make this more
meaningful as we read that passage in 32, but you know, 17 times
in the Psalms, David refers to the Lord as his rock. His rock,
I love that. Unto thee. Well, I cry, oh Lord,
my rock. Be not silent to me, don't turn
a deaf ear to me. Hear me, is what he said, hear
me. Lest if thou be silent to me,
if you don't speak to me, I become like them that go down into the
pit. If the Lord doesn't speak to me, I'm going to hell. That's
what he's saying. If the Lord leaves me to myself,
and if he doesn't speak to me, I'm going to hell. And I know
that. Verse two, hear the voice of
my supplications. Now that is asking for divine
favor. If God be for us, who could be
against us? Don't you want the Lord to be
for you? I want his favor, I want his mercy, I want his grace.
And that's what David is asking for at this time. Hear the voice
of my supplications when I cry unto thee, when I lift up my
hands toward thy holy oracle. Now, what is the holy oracle?
That's the holy of holies. In the temple, it was called
the holy oracle. In the tabernacle, it was called
the holy of holies. It's where the mercy seat is. over the Ark of the Covenant,
where the priests would go in one time a year. That is so awesome. Nobody could look in there, only
one time a year when the high priests would come in with blood.
And what David is saying, I'm looking only to what takes place
in the Holy of Holies, when God The priest comes in, the Lord
Jesus Christ presenting his own blood to the father and making
me accepted before God. That's all I'm looking to. That's
what he means when he says, I lift up my hands toward the holy oracle. I look only to Jesus Christ and
him crucified as the way into the holiest, as the way into
the presence of God. Now he says in verse three, draw
me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity,
which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. Draw me not away with the wicked,
with the workers of iniquity." Now, let me remind you of this
fact. There's only two kinds of people
in this world, the righteous and the wicked. There's no intermediate
group. Right now, before God, in God's
sight, I am either righteous or I'm wicked. You know, I always
love to say this when I talk about the righteous and the wicked.
This statement, I looked it up. It was made by somebody named
Pascal. Somebody said, did you make that
up? No, I read it somewhere else. I couldn't come up with anything
as good. But the righteous all believe themselves to be wicked. And the wicked all believe themselves
to be righteous. That's so. That's so. Draw me not away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity. Now, when David says this, I
know these are the words of the Lord as well as every psalm is. But when David is saying this,
he's not saying this in a holier than thou attitude. Draw me not
away with that bunch. He is saying that from a knowledge
of himself. He knows if I'm drawn with him,
I'll be just like him, because I am just like him. So I'm asking
you to put a hedge around me. Keep me. Preserve me. Draw me not away with the wicked
and the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors. Oh, they have smooth language.
but mischief is in their hearts. Give them, now look what he says
here, give them according to their deeds and according to
the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them after the work of their
hands, render to them their dessert and don't stop because they regard
not the works of the Lord. Now he doesn't say, Vindicate
me and punish them. Look at the way they've done
me. Go ahead and punish them." That's not what he's saying at
all. He's saying, give them according to their deeds, pay them back
according to the wickedness of their endeavors. Give them after
the work of their hands rendered to them their dessert because,
not because they've done me wrong, but because they regard not the
works of the Lord. nor the operation of his hands."
Now, they don't regard the works of the Lord. Now, what are the
works of the Lord? Well, his work of creation. You know, it's a horrible thing
to not ascribe to God everything in creation, because when I do
that, I'm not seeing myself as his creature subject to him.
They regard not the works of the Lord in creation. They regard
not the works of the Lord in providence. They curse their
bad luck. They're happy for their good
luck. They believe in things like bad karma and good karma.
And that's how things take place. And they have no regard for the
fact that God is the first cause of everything. They regard not
the works of the Lord. He is the first cause of everything. He said, I form the light. I
create the darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. That's who he is. He's God. And to not regard him in his
glorious works of providence, the earth is the Lord's. I love
that scripture. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. Everybody
here, you're God's property. He can do with you whatever He
is pleased to do, and whatever He does is right. The earth is
the Lord's. We have our address, 2380 Millbrook
Drive. That's my property. No, it's
the Lord's property. And me and you, we're subject
to eviction at any second if He's pleased to do it. Now, they
regard not the work of the Lord's providence. They regard not the
work of the Lord in salvation. Salvation is His work. We are
His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Salvation
is of the Lord. And to not regard that, to not
give Him all the glory, because it's all His anyway, why, that
person ought to be damned. Amen? That person ought to be
damned. who gives no regard to the works
of the Lord. Now, what's it say? Because they
regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands. I love that. Salvation is the
work of his hands. But because they regard not the
works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy
them and not build them up. Blessed be the Lord. He's blessed. He's the blessed
one. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the blessed one. He's altogether
glorious. Blessed be the Lord. And David's saying, I'm not saying
I'm bestowing on him blessing. He's the blesser. Blessed be
the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. You know, this is an awesome
thing to think, and this is the heritage of every believer. When
I pray, he hears. What do you think about that? When I call upon his name, he
hears. He hears me. Now, I know why
he hears me. He hears me for Christ's sake.
The reason he hears my prayer, the reason he hears my supplication
is because Christ takes that prayer and presents it to the
Father and it smells good. It's a sweet smelling savor.
Now, without Christ, it would smell foul and vile, but in Christ,
it smells good and I am accepted. I have the favor of God. What a glorious thing to think. He hears me. I'm somebody, and
I'm not just somebody. Everybody that's a believer,
everybody in Christ has the ear of God. When I cry, he hears. Blessed be the Lord, because
he hath heard the voice of my supplications, my need of his
favor, my need of his grace. I need his grace. I need his
mercy. I need his acceptance. I need
him. Verse seven. The Lord is my strength. I love. Philippians 213. It's God that worketh in you.
That's the Lord is my strength. It's God that worketh in you
both to will. Do you want to be found in Christ? God worked that in you. And to
do do you believe on Christ? God worked that in you. You know, I love what Paul said.
I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Now, that
doesn't mean that I can be, I can succeed at anything. I can, I
can just forget that kind of stuff. I mean, you know, if you
do succeed at anything, it's because the Lord enabled you
to. It's not because of anything good in you, but the point is,
I can do what I could not do through Christ which strengthened
me. I can believe the gospel. I can rest in Jesus Christ. I can love him through Christ
which strengtheneth me. He is my strength. It's not any
resolve on my part. It's not any strength on my part.
The Lord is my strength and my shield. What's a shield for?
Well, you know, the shield takes the blows. Oh, what a shield
Christ is on Calvary's tree when he took all the arrows of God's
wrath that should have come to me and he bore all of God's wrath
as my sin-bearing substitute. He's my shield. My heart. Now, my heart is My understanding,
my affections, and my will. That's what's meant by the heart.
You know, when people, and I've worried about this, what if I
believe only with my head, not with my heart? We're making a
distinction the Bible doesn't make when we say that. The heart
is the whole man. The heart is the understanding.
The heart is the affections. The heart is the will and the
desire. My heart trusted in him. Now, I think the best way to
get a hold of the concept of trust, my heart trusted in him. As I think of that passage in
Ephesians chapter one, where Paul says that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Who first
trusted in Christ? The Father. Before time began,
he entrusted the salvation of all of the elect to Jesus Christ. And when he entrusted us to Christ,
he looked to Christ to do everything. Can I take that too far? He looked
to Christ to do everything. Everything. And he didn't look
for anything out of us, only to his son. Now, the way the
father trusted Christ is how we trust Christ. Everything God
requires of me, I look to Christ for. Now, I can't take that too
far. Somebody says you can take that
too far. No, you can't. No, you can't. That is the concept of
trust. We trust him, and look what he
says in Psalm 28, and I'm helped. What's more helpful than to simply
trust Christ? You're helped, aren't you? Oh,
what a helping thing that is. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoiceth,
and with my song will I praise him." Now, when by the grace
of God, I am enabled to trust the Lord Jesus Christ, number
one, I'm helped. He helped me to do it. The only
reason I did it is because he helped me. And when I'm enabled
to trust Christ, you know what else? My heart does greatly rejoice. My heart greatly rejoices that
everything God requires of me, he looks to his blessed son for. And that makes my heart rejoice
right now. Now, if anything's up to me,
all my joy dissipates. It's gone. I'm scared to death,
but if everything God requires of me, he looks to his son for,
and I'm trusting him for that, my heart greatly rejoices. Verse eight, and this is how we praise him.
Verse seven, my song while I praise him. The Lord is their strength. The power, their power to do.
And he is the saving strength of his anointed. Now that word
saving strength actually is the refuge. The refuge, the safe
place, the sanctuary. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. Righteousness, perfection, salvation. The righteous run into it and
are safe. I want to simply be found in
Christ, God's sanctuary, God's saving strength. The Lord is
their strength. He's the power to do. He's the
saving strength of his anointed, of the Lord Jesus Christ and
everybody in him. Now, when I think of you, when
you think of the anointed, who do you think of? Christ. He is the anointed. He is the
anointed and everybody in him, he's the saving strength, he's
the anointed, he's the one that every believer finds favor in.
He's the saving strength of his anointed. Now, in verse nine,
here's the four things David asked for. Save thy people, bless
thine inheritance, feed them also, and lift them up forever. And here's four things he asked
for. First, save thy people. Lord, save me. Save thy people. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Is there ever
a time when this prayer is not applicable to you? Lord, save
me. I didn't pray this one time. I don't need to pray anymore.
I'm already saved. No, save me. Save me. And the next thing he
says is, bless thy inheritance. Don't you want the Lord to bless
you? Lord, give me your blessing. And then he says, feed them. You know, that's the same word
shepherd, same word David uses when he says, the Lord is my
shepherd. Oh, I want the Lord to be my
shepherd. Don't you? If the Lord's my shepherd, scripture says,
I shall not want, I want him to feed me, shepherd me. And then it says, lift them up
forever. Now that word lift up forever
simply means carry them, carry them continually. And when I
think of this thing of being carried by the Lord, I couldn't
help but think of Mephibosheth. Lame in both of his feet. Couldn't
walk. Couldn't fight. Couldn't work. And when I think of David saying,
is there any of the house of Saul that I can show kindness
to for Jonathan's sake? That covenant he made with Jonathan
years before. Yeah, there's one, Mephibosheth. But he can't do anything for
you. All he can be is carried. That's it. David said, go and fetch him.
And God says, is there any that I can show the kindness of God
to for Christ's sake? Yeah, there's one. But he's lame
in both of his feet. He can't work. Go fetch him. He's going to be carried by my
grace. Now, what a prayer that's applicable
to us all the time. Lord, save me, bless me, feed
me, and carry me continually." Continually. You all have probably
seen that poem and footprints in the sand, and it has two footprints,
and then all of a sudden there's only one footprint, and then
there's two footprints again, and somebody says, Lord, there's
only one footprint there. Why did you quit carrying me? There's always only been one
set of footprints. He is carrying me all the time. Amen.