Would you turn to the 17th Psalm? Now I'm gonna read this Psalm,
and while I'm reading it, think of these being the words of David,
and they are. But even more than that, you
can see the words of Christ in this psalm, and one of the things
I was thinking about the psalms, I think I've learned more about
the person of Christ through reading these psalms and seeing
how he prays. Now, verse one, psalm 17, hear
the right, O Lord. Have you ever prayed that way?
Hear the right. Well, I can certainly understand
it in Christ praying. Hear the right. He can pray that. Let's go on reading. Attend unto
my cry. Give ear unto my prayer that
goeth not out of thine lips. Let my sentence come forth from
thy presence. Let thine eyes behold the things
that are equal. Thou has proved mine heart. Thou has visited me in the night. Thou has tried me and shall find
nothing. I am purposed that my mouth shall
not transgress. Concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips, I've kept me from the paths of the
destroyer. Hold up my goings in thy paths
that my footsteps slip not. I have called upon thee for thou
wilt hear me, O God. Incline thine ear unto me and
hear my speech. Show thy marvelous loving kindness,
O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust
in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the
apple of thine eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies which
compass me about. They are enclosed in their own
fat, With their mouth, they speak proudly. They have now compassed
us in our steps. They have set their eyes bowing
down to the earth, like as a lion that's greedy of his prey, and
as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Arise, O Lord,
disappoint him, cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked,
which is thy sword. for men which are thy right hand,
O Lord, for men of the world which have their portion in this
life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure, that full
of children and leave the rest of their substance to their babes,
as for me. I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied. when I
awake with thy likeness. Let's pray. Lord, how thankful we are for
who you are and how you saved by your son. Lord, we ask that you would give
us grace to be still. And to know that thou art God. We ask that we might be enabled
to hear your gospel. We ask that we might be enabled
to worship in spirit and in truth. We ask that we might not be left
to our own understanding and our own will. but that your grace
would reign indeed in us. We ask that our sins might be
forgiven and cleansed for Christ's sake. Lord, what a joy to open your word
and see something of the glory of your son. Bless us, bless
all your people wherever they meet together for Christ's sake.
In his name we pray, amen. Now, I have always loved this
psalm, particularly because of verse 15. David says, as for me, I will
behold thy face in righteousness. Now, what a glorious thing that
is to think about me, beholding the face of God, the face of
the Lord Jesus Christ in perfect righteousness. Now, I can't imagine
it, I can't begin to grasp just what that means, but this is
the heritage of every believer. I'm going to behold his face
in righteousness. And then he says, I shall be
satisfied. Not before this. I'll be satisfied
when I awake. You know, when I die, and this
is true of every believer, When I die, I'm going to awake in
His likeness. Now is that a reason to look
forward to death? Sure is. I'm going to awake in
His likeness. Now like I said, this is a Psalm
of David, that's what it says. And we're gonna read it as a
Psalm of David once, and then we're gonna read it as a Psalm
of Christ speaking in the first person, which in some respects,
I think that's all it is. But let's read it the other way
as well. Hear the right, O Lord. I suppose David is saying in this
case, he's talking about being persecuted. And he's saying in
this case, I'm right. You can look at it that way.
I don't know that I've ever felt that way, but David was saying
this. Hear the right, O Lord. Attend
unto my cry. Give ear unto my prayer that
goeth not out of faint lips. I'm very sincere about this. Let my sentence or my judgment
come forth from thy presence. Let thine eyes behold the things
that are equal, that are right, that are fair, that are just.
Now he's not appealing to men. He's appealing to God for this.
Thou has proved mine heart. You've tested my heart. You visited
me in the night. Thou has tried me and shall find
nothing. Now, the only way I can understand
that is David really believing that the life of Christ is his
life. And he could say with regard to that, you've tried me, you've
examined me, you've proved me, and you found nothing, nothing
but that which is holy, righteous, good, just. I am purposed that
my mouth shall not transgress. And I think there, if this is
David speaking, he's saying, I'm not gonna try to vindicate
myself. I'm not gonna try to justify myself. I'm gonna keep
my mouth shut, is what he's saying. I'm not going to try to defend
myself. The Lord is the judge of this case. He's the one who
knows what is taking place. David says, concerning the works
of men, by the word of thy lips, I've kept me from the paths of
the destroyer. only by your words and by your
grace that I've kept me from the paths of the destroyer. Hold
up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. Now, if
you don't hold me up, I'll fall. And my footsteps will slip if
you don't preserve me. I've called upon thee for thou
wilt hear, O God. Incline thine ear unto me and
hear my speech. David says, show me thy marvelous,
loving kindness. O thou that savest by thy right
hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise
up against them. Now, his right hand is Christ. He saves by his
right hand. And he saves by his right hand
those who put their trust in him. Now what does it mean to
put your trust in Christ? It means you are relying only
on Him as everything you need to make you acceptable before
God. That's what it is to believe Christ. You're relying on Him.
You're not looking to yourself. You're not looking to your works.
You're relying on Him to answer those who rise up against you.
Now, who rises up against me? My sins. My sins. He answers that. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Keep me, David says in
verse eight, as the apple of thine eye. Keep me in your favor. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. I need your protection from the
wicked that oppress me. from my deadly enemies, which
compass me about." Now that can be men, no doubt, who hate his
God and his gospel and him. But I think his deadly enemies,
as much as anything else, are sins. That's what, nothing else
is a deadly enemy. It's a sin. Sins that is a deadly
enemy. They are enclosed. in their own
fat. Now that's not talking about
obesity, that's talking about they're just enclosed in their
own ways, in their own works, in their own thoughts, in their
own, they're just enclosed by it. With their mouth they speak
proudly, arrogantly, They have now compassed us in our steps. Now, David goes from me to us. They have now compassed us in
our steps. This is all of God's people's experience. They have
set their eyes bowing down to the earth like as a lion that's
greedy of his prey. And as it were a young lion lurking
in secret places. Arise, O Lord. These people that
are like these lions coming at us. Arise, O Lord, disappoint
him. You know, you can pray that with regard to anyone that is
seeking your life or your enemy of God. You can say, Lord, disappoint
their purposes. Disappoint them. That's what
David said. Don't let them have their way. Arise, O Lord, disappoint
him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul
from the wicked. which is a sword. And listen
to what David's saying, these wicked men are yours. They're
your sword doing your will. Isn't it glorious to know that
everybody is in the Lord's hands, no matter who they are. When
he's even talking about the wicked, he says they're your sword doing
Your purpose, he says it even stronger in verse 14, from men
which are thy hand. Every man, everybody you run
into this week, they're his hand. He's in control. It's his work. And that's why all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose, because he controls everybody and everything
and every event. Men, they're thy hand. For men
of the world, which have their portion in this life, and they
do have their portion in this life, they're having a good life,
so to speak. They have everything they want.
Their portion is in this life, whose belly thou fillest with
thy hid treasures. They're under your judgment.
You fill in their belly. Oh, they think everything's great,
but they're under your judgment. They're full of children, and
they leave the rest of their substance to their babes. Oh,
they have plenty of money to leave an inheritance for their
children. But as for me, my portion's not in this life. Their portion is in this life.
That's a miserable portion. It's so temporary. We're all
gonna die soon. As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness. Now, that can only be understood
in light of the gospel, because Christ is my righteousness before
God. I'm gonna behold the very face
of God in righteousness, and I'm gonna be satisfied, not in
this life. As long as I still have my sinful nature, I can't
be satisfied with anything about me. but I will be satisfied,
completely satisfied, completely content when I awake in thy likeness. The words of David. Now let's
read these words strictly as the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear the right, O Lord. Who's
the right? The Lord Jesus Christ. Hear the
right, oh Lord. Hear me, I'm the right. Attend unto my cry, give ear
unto my prayer that goeth not out of faint lips. Now, I was
thinking about that. Do you know everything, every
time I pray, I feel like there's an element of faint lips in it.
I'm never sincere enough. I never love enough. I never
feel enough. I never, my experience is always
inadequate, always, without exception. Now, does that mean I don't pray?
Of course I pray, of course you pray. But every time my lips
are moving, I feel like that there's a measure of faintedness. Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. Somebody says, too many hypocrites
in the church. Well, you ought to feel right
at home then, because that too fills the church. But here the
Lord says, my prayer doesn't come with thin lips at all. Verse
two, let my sentence, my judgment come forth from thy presence.
Let thine eyes behold the things that are equal, that are absolutely
right, just, fair, equitable, me. Now this is the way the Lord
prays. Thou hast proved mine heart.
Thou has visited me in the night. Thou has tried me and shall find
nothing. Now who is that but the Lord
Jesus Christ? Could you say to the Lord, you've tried my heart
and you've not found anything but that which is pure, holy,
right and true? Of course you couldn't, but the
Lord does. He said, the Prince of this world
hath come and found nothing in me, nothing he could get hold
of. Even when he was in the utter
darkness of the cross, he never sinned. He says, I am purposed that my
mouth shall not transgress. Now, if you make that statement,
how long will that last? Well, the next time you open
your mouth, it'll be transgressing, I guarantee you. But the Lord
could say, I am purposed with my mouth that I will not transgress. Concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips, I have kept me from the paths of the
destroyer." He's completely dependent upon the Lord, but he says, I've
kept me. Only the Lord Jesus can speak
like this. I've kept me. Can I say I've kept me from sin?
I've kept me from the past? No, I can't say that. Lord can. hold up my goings in thy paths,
that my footsteps slip not, be not moved. Now, as a man, as
a man, Jesus Christ became flesh. The blood that pumped through
his veins began when he began to be in the flesh. And as a
man, he was completely dependent upon his father to hold him up
and keep him from slipping. Now, could he have slipped? No.
Did he pray for the Lord to keep him from slipping? Yes. Explain
that. I can't. That's just who he is. He's the God man. Verse six,
I have called upon thee for thou wilt hear me, O God. What confidence he could speak
to his father. And we can speak with the same
confidence because we come in Christ's name. But this was the
Lord saying this to his father. Incline thine ear unto me and
hear my speech. Verse seven, show thy marvelous
loving kindness. Now, when the Lord, I guess it
began in Gethsemane. I don't know when it began, but
he was cut off from seeing his father's marvelous loving kindness. Remember when he said, my God,
my God, why have you forsaken me? When he stood as the sinner's
substitute, he felt nothing of his father's marvelous, loving
kindness. Now, you might have gone through
times when you didn't feel anything either, but you weren't cut off
from it. You may have thought you were, but you weren't. He
was. Show me thy marvelous, loving
kindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which
put their trust in thee. from those that rise up against
them. And oh, how the Lord put his trust completely in his heavenly
father and his protection. And then he says, keep me as
the apple of thine eye. That's what the, oh, the union
that exists between the father and the son, the fellowship that
exists between the father and the son. He says, keep me as
the apple of your eye, your favorite, your darling. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings from the wicked that oppress me. from my deadly enemies, which
compassed me about." And I really think that's talking about the
sins of the elect that became his sins, that compassed him
about, that he bore in his own body on the tree. He put them
away. But oh, who knows the suffering
of the Lord Jesus Christ over sin? And he says, verse 10, they are enclosed. In their own fat, which they're
with their mouth, they speak proudly, arrogantly talking about
unbelievers. They have now compassed us. Now
notice how the language changes. He says they've compassed us. In our steps. Who's the US? Every believer. When he makes
this statement, he's speaking of you. They have compassed us
and you see everything the Lord did he did is in us. Thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. They have now compassed us in
our steps They have set their eyes bowing down to the earth
like as a lion that is greedy of his prey. This is his description
of those who have no love for him. As it were a young lion
lurking in secret places. Arise, oh Lord, disappoint him. Cast him down. Now, this is the
Lord praying against his enemies. That's a solemn thing. Don't
you want him to, Bring your name in mercy to the Father as your
representative. When he said, Father, forgive
them, they know not what they do. Everybody he prayed for were
forgiven. But what about those he prays against? Those who do
not believe, they're his enemies. And he says, Arise, O Lord, disappoint
him, cast him down, deliver my soul from the wicked. And oh,
how the Lord knew these wicked men who were driving the nails
in his hands and his feet. They were godsword. God was doing
this. Both Herod Pontius Pilate with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Now, even while the Lord is having
his hands and feet nailed to a cross, He knew this was God's sword. Awake, O sword, smite the shepherd.
These men were nothing but pawns in his hand, performing his will. For men which are thy hand, O
Lord. Verse 14. There was an article in the paper
today. I don't know why I read it. Paul Prather in the Herald-Leader,
his religion article, it's kind of like, I read it every Sunday
morning, and it's kind of like driving past a wreck. I mean,
I guess that's what's going on, but he made the statement, both
predestination and free will are true. Okay, explain that one to me. I mean, that's just, God, now men's actions are free. You do what you want to do. If
you sin, can you blame God and say, God caused me to do that?
No, your sin's all your fault. You do what you want to do. God is completely sovereign over
your free actions. And his will is always being
done. Now, that's just how glorious
and infinite God is. He is in control of everything.
Yes, men are responsible for their sin. You're responsible
for it. I'm responsible for my sin. But
God is completely sovereign over the actions of every man. And He's always doing His will.
There's nothing insignificant. His purpose is always being done. Do I see it all? No. Do I believe
it? Yes, I do. Men are His hand. For men which are thy hand, O
Lord, for men of the world, men of the world, there's those who
are of God, there are those who are of the world. For men of the world which have
their portion, their inheritance, what they desire in this life,
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure. They're full of children and
leave the rest of their substance to their babes. But as for me,
and I know this is him speaking in the darkness that covered
the land when he was hanging on the cross. As for me, I can't
see you now. I've been cut off. I can't see
you. I can't see your face. I can't
even imagine. I can't even imagine what the
Lord experienced on Calvary Street. But even then, he never quit
believing God perfectly. Now, when me and you feel like
we've been cut off, we think, well, I've been cut off. Lord's
done with me. He's out. I'm going to be rep.
The things that come through our mind where the Lord really
was cut off really was, and yet he spake with this absolute confidence. As for me, I will. Behold thy face in absolute righteousness. He knew what his death was accomplishing. He knew what his life was accomplishing.
He knew what his death accomplished. He knew that he and every single
one of his people would behold the very face of God in absolute
righteousness. He says, I shall be satisfied
when I awake. And I don't have any doubt that
that's talking about the resurrection of Christ. Don't you love to
think about that? Him being in the tomb, dead. Who understands that? The God-man
died. There he is in the tomb, dead.
All of a sudden, his eyes open. He breathes. His heart's pumping. And he says, I'll be satisfied.
Satisfied right now He's been made sin, and I don't know what
all that means, but it's horrible He's been made seeing But he
says I'm gonna wake I'm gonna die and I'm awake and be raised
from the dead with thy likeness Now let me say something about
Jesus Christ. I He's not like God. He is God. And when the God the Father looks
at His Son, He doesn't say, He's like me. He says, He is me. And He will awake in who He is,
the very express image of His Father. So I see that Psalm,
yes, I see it as David's words, I guess in a limited way, but
oh, how clearly we see this as the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that hope of him being satisfied,
awaking in the very likeness of his father, the hope of every
believer. We're not gonna be satisfied
until we awake in the very likeness of Jesus Christ, the Lord, okay.