Would you turn to Psalm 6? Psalm 6, and when we read this
Psalm together, look at verse eight. Depart from me all ye workers
of iniquity. Who is the only one that can
say that? Only the Lord Jesus can say that. And he did say that on Judgment
Day, if you'll remember. Then shall I say to them, depart
from me ye that work iniquity. So remember these words. Yes, David spoke them, but these
more than anything else are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ
in Gethsemane's garden. Look in verse one. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in thine
anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for
I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones
are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed, but
thou, O Lord, how long Return, oh Lord. Deliver my soul. Oh, save me
for thy mercy's sake. For in death there's no remembrance
of thee. In the grave, who shall give
thee thanks? I am weary with my groaning. All the night make I my bed to
swim. I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because
of grief. It waxeth old because of all
mine enemies. Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity. For the Lord hath heard the voice
of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed
and sore vexed, let them return and be ashamed suddenly. Let's pray. Lord, how amazed we are that your son willingly according to your will,
became our savior and took our sins and our sorrows
and made them his very own and bore your hot displeasure and
your anger that we deserve. He took upon himself. And Lord,
we give thanks. We're so thankful for your gospel.
We're so thankful for who you are. We're so thankful for all
your glorious attributes. Oh, that we might be found in
your son. Lord, forgive us of our sins for his sake. May we
have your spirit. May we have your presence. Lord,
we. Pray. For special grace. Lord, indeed all thy grace is
special, but we pray for your special grace. Bless us for Christ's
sake. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now this is what is known as
the one of seven penitential Psalms. psalms of repentance. Now that's about as helpful as
the 22 messianic psalms. The comments men make on the
scripture sometime I'm amazed by, you know, well, okay, so
this is one of the penitential psalms. But David is indeed very
sorrowful. He talks about his bed being
watered, his couch with tears. And he says, you've heard the
voice of my tears. And whenever I've read this psalm, I've thought my experience just
doesn't measure up with this. When I think of my sorrow for
sin, I wonder How much of it is sorrow for the consequences
of that sin rather than the sin itself? The humiliation, the
embarrassment, the problem that my sin brings. I wonder how much
of my sorrow is over the consequences of my sin and not really the
sin itself. I have to ask myself that question
because every time I have come to this psalm, I thought I just
don't measure up with the sorrow expressed in this psalm. And
as a matter of fact, that's a good description of me. I don't measure
up. I don't measure up, not in my
experience, not in my sorrow, not in my sincerity. just go
on down the line, I do not measure up. I am inadequate as far as
my sorrow, the depth of my tears. I think of him saying, the Lord
hath heard my weeping. I think of the power of that
statement. Well, my tears have never been like his tears. This is the Lord expressing his
sorrow in Gethsemane's garden. Now, when he says, O Lord, rebuke
me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
No believer has ever experienced that. His hot displeasure, his
wrath, his anger. Now, the only way we can understand
this sentiment by the Lord is from the fact that he really
was made sin. Now, what all that means, me
and you just don't know. You know, people have used this
scripture to kick it like a football, you know, arguing over it, what
all it means, who knows what all it means. But I know this,
He was, whatever that means. He was actually made sin on Calvary
street. Second Corinthians chapter five,
verse 21, for he hath made him to be sin. Who can understand what all that
means? He had made him to be sin. Who
knew no sin? Now, stop right there for just
a second. He's the only one of whom that
could be said. He knew no sin. He was sinless. Me and you, all we've ever known
is sin. We were born that way. He knew no sin. He knew nothing but perfect communion
with his Father. And he was made sin. I think of Isaiah chapter 53. Let's turn there. Hold your finger
there in Psalm 6 and look at Isaiah 53. Yet it pleased, verse 10, Isaiah
53, verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to crush
him. To bruise him, to crush him. He had put him to grief. This grief we're reading of in
Psalm 6. He had put him to grief. when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Now that word, offering
for sin, it's also translated in the scripture, sin. It's the
same thing, 2 Corinthians 5, 21, when he made his soul sin. It's also translated guiltiness. When he made his soul Now this
is one of the great mysteries of the gospel, but it's one of
the things that gives me such assurance of God's favor toward
me. How God can love me, how God can accept me, how God can
embrace me, how God can save me. Because Jesus Christ on Calvary's
tree, it was not the innocent being punished. It was the guilty. He was made sin. He became guilty of the commission
of that sin, although he never sinned. You know, it's interesting. Some people say, well, are you
saying Christ committed sin? No, I'm not saying that. He knew
no sin, but he became guilty on Calvary Street. He became
guilty of the actual commission of that sin. And God's wrath,
God's just wrath, God's anger, God's hot displeasure came upon
him. And that's what Psalm 6 is about. As I said, my experience doesn't
measure up to this. You know, when he talks about
his crying, watering his couch with tears, and the Lord hearing
the voice of his weeping. Remember there in Hebrews chapter
five, when it says, he was heard in that he feared, he had this
strong cryings and tears, was heard in that he feared, that's
speaking of the Son of God. And this is what this is about.
This is, yes, David felt forsaken. David felt sorrow over sin, just
like you and I do, but this is not David. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ expressing his great sorrow from Gethsemane's garden. And
there is so much difference between what he experienced and what
you and I experience. You see, when he, was forsaken
by his father. He had known nothing but perfect
communion, perfect conformity. Now, me and you, he loved his
father. We're by nature not even lovers
of God. We don't even see sin in such
a horrible light the way he did. I mean, we're just, we're so
taken up with our flesh, our sin, but he and his holy soul,
when he was made sin, you know, for him to experience God's wrath. He experienced the fullness of
it. No man ever has. I mean, even the people in hell
have not experienced the fullness of God's wrath because there's
no satisfaction. But he experienced the fullness
of the wrath of God. Now that is such a sobering thing
to think about. Let's look at this Psalm, verse
one. Oh Lord, Psalm six, verse one. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot
displeasure. Now that's talking about experiencing
God's wrath, his anger and his hot displeasure. And the Lord
loved his father and it grieved him so much that he was experiencing
the anger and hot displeasure of God, his wrath against sin. And oh, how it grieved him in
his heart to be experiencing this. He says in verse two, Have
mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. Now, somebody says, how
can he who is omnipotent, and he is, isn't he? He is. How can he who is omnipotent
become weak? Well, didn't Paul say something
about the weakness of God is stronger than men? and on Calvary's
tree when he was made sin before God. Oh, how weak he became. His own testimony with regard
to himself, I am a worm. That's what Christ said from
the cross. and not a man, not even fit to
be called a man. I'm a worm and no man, a reproach
of men. And when he was on Calvary's
tree, that's what he said with regard to himself. I am weak,
O Lord, heal me for my bones are vexed. Now who are his bones?
Remember how the scripture says not a bone of him shall be broken?
His bones is his body, it's his people. I think in Psalm 22,
he said, my bones look up and stare upon me. Now he's talking
about his people, that's his bones, that's his body. And he
said, my bones, you know, the Lord, here's what is amazing. While the Lord was experiencing
that, he had you on his heart. His bones, his people. Not one time was his people ever
separated from his thoughts. My bones, my bones. Oh, his love for his elect. My bones, my people are sore
vexed. Turn with me for a moment to
Psalm 41. Remember he said, Heal me, O
Lord. Look here in verse four. I said, Lord, be merciful unto
me and heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. Now somebody says, how can the
Lord Jesus Christ say that when he never sinned? Well, Verse one, blessed is he that
considereth the poor. The Lord will deliver him in
time of trouble. Who's that? That's the Lord himself, isn't
it? Look in verse nine. Yea, mine own familiar friend
in whom I trusted hath did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his
heel against me. That's quoted in the New Testament.
That's the Lord speaking of Judas betraying him. So this is the
Lord Jesus speaking. Yes, it's David speaking, it's
David confessing his sins, but this shows how truly the sins
of the elect became his sins so that he became guilty of the
commission of those sins. Look what he says in verse three.
I said, Lord, be merciful. Or verse four, I said, Lord,
be merciful unto me and heal my soul for I have sinned against
thee. Now my sin is against him. And
I can pray this prayer, I've sinned against thee, but here
the Lord says it because of the sins of his people so truly and
really becoming his. Now this is where we understand
justification. He really was condemned for sin.
and his righteousness really does become mine. For he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Back to Psalm three. He said in verse three, my soul
is also sore vexed But thou, O Lord, how long? Now, what that
is talking about is him being forsaken by the Father. How long
is this gonna last? Once again, I'm sitting here
talking about what the Lord experienced on the cross, and I'm thinking,
you idiot, trying to express that which is inexpressible.
But the Lord gives us some idea of what he experienced by these
psalms. And he says, how long? He really
was forsaken. David never was really forsaken.
He might've felt it, but he wasn't, but the Lord really was. And
he says, my soul also is sore, vexed, but thou, O Lord, how
long? Return, verse four, return, O
Lord. Deliver my soul, oh, save me
for thy mercy's sake. He really was forsaken. And he's saying, Lord, return.
He could not bear the absence of his father's favor. He loved
his father so completely, he could not bear that. Verse five. For in death, there is no remembrance
of thee. In the grave, who shall give
thee thanks? Now, what went on during those
three days of death? Who knows? That's something the
Lord has not given us any information about. But we do know this. He whose life really died. Now that is one of the great
mysteries of the gospel. The God-man died. I never will forget somebody
wrote me and said, well, the man part died and the God part
didn't. Oh, you can figure something out like that? The God-man died. And God raised him from the dead
because he was completely satisfied with what he did. Satisfied with
everybody he did it for. Now look, for in death there's
no remembrance of thee. In the grave who shall give thee
thanks? He was thinking of his coming death. And then he says
in verse six, I am weary with my groaning. You know, all of
his life, he knew what was coming. He knew this was coming. He said,
I make my bed to swim, verse six, I water my couch with my
tears. Now, I've never cried like this. I've
never experienced this kind of sorrow. But the Lord Jesus Christ
did. And you know, when it comes right
down to it, I'm so thankful to say this, I'm trusting his experience. I'm trusting his sorrow for sin. Mine's never as real as it should be. I'm
trusting his confession of sin when he said, I've sinned against
thee. How many times have you confessed your sin and known
that you weren't anywhere near sincere enough when you did it?
You were thinking, I'm not sorry enough, I'm not sincere enough,
I'm lacking, it's inadequate. There's only one person who truly
confessed his sin before his father, and that is the Son of
God. The only one who ever truly experienced
the sorrow that is appropriate for sin against God is the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is his experience of making
his bed. Oh, how he wept because of his
sin before his father. That's how truly my sin became
his sin. He watered his couch with tears. He made his bed to swim. He said, mine eye, verse seven,
mine eye is consumed because of grief. It waxeth old because
of all my enemies. Now he who has the dew of his
youth, Waxed old. When he was made sin,
he waxed old. The eternal youthfulness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, David waxed old. You and I are waxing old. Every
one of us are getting older, headed toward death. But this
is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, what he experienced when
he was made sin. Mine eye is consumed because
of grief. It waxeth old because of all
my enemies. Oh, how his enemies hated him. Now look what he says in verse
eight. Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity. Now, what if I, in my own self-righteousness,
made the statement, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity. You know what that would be?
That would be an act of hypocrisy. It would be false. It would be
just totally untrue. I couldn't say to anyone, depart
from me, ye that work iniquity, as if I was better than that
person. Stay away from me, I'm holier
than thou. There's only one who could say
this, and he did say this. In the New Testament, when he
talked about Judgment Day, when he's gonna say, depart from me,
ye that work iniquity. Now here, from the cross, the
Lord says this, with regard to all of his enemies. And let me
say this, the Lord does have enemies. Somebody says, doesn't,
how can you say the Lord has enemies? Well, anybody that doesn't
believe the gospel is his enemy. Anybody that doesn't love his
father is his enemy. And these people, he says, depart
from me, all ye workers of iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the voice
of my weeping. Now, even when he was forsaken,
he never quit believing. That's the faith I'm trusting,
his faith, his faithfulness. He said, the Lord has heard the
voice of my weeping, even when he was in utter darkness. Now,
as soon as something goes wrong in our lives, we're filled with
unbelief. Questioning, you know, just all
upset and making, not the Lord. Not the Lord. He was utterly
forsaken. And yet, he says, the Lord hath heard the voice of
my weeping. Well, his weeping had a powerful
voice, didn't it? No words expressed. You know,
I think that prayer without words is probably the truer prayer
than any other kind of prayer. He heard the voice of my weeping. Verse nine, the Lord hath heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. Now, every believer can say this. The Lord's heard the voice of
my supplication. And the reason we can say that
is because Christ presented it to his father as the great intercessor
of his people. And that makes my supplication
heard by God. But the Lord is saying this with
regard to himself, even when he was forsaken and had no conscious,
well, he really was forsaken. And he didn't have the Father's
favor. He didn't have the Father's presence. Yet, he still says,
though he slay me yet will I trust him. That's scripture. The Lord's
the only one who ever could truly say that. Though he slay me,
yet will I trust him. The Lord hath heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies Be ashamed
and sore vexed, those who hate his gospel. Now, remember this. When the Lord said, Father, forgive
them, everybody he prayed for were forgiven. Everybody, without
exception. This is not some kind of generic
prayer. Everybody he prayed for was forgiven, was accepted, and
everybody else is his enemy. The carnal mind, is enmity against
God. The natural man actually hates
Jesus Christ. And that's seen so clearly in
the cross. When men were left to themselves,
what did they do? They nailed the Son of God to
a tree. Men are his enemies. Men would
kill him if they could, if they were in their power. Right now,
if it were in a natural man's power, he'd put God out of business.
He'd kill God, he'd kill his son, he'd kill his spirit, he'd
be done with him altogether. Men really do hate God. That's
the truth. And they're his enemies. And
look what the Lord says, let all mine enemies be ashamed and
sore vexed, let them return and be ashamed suddenly. This Psalm, I'm so thankful for
this Psalm. I'm thankful for every Psalm.
But this Psalm gives me some idea of what the Lord did for
me. And anything that does that is
a blessing of his grace. Thank God that the Lord took
my sin and my sorrow. and he made it his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. Oh, how marvelous. Oh, how wonderful. And my song shall ever be. Oh, how marvelous. Oh, how wonderful
is my Savior's love to me. Amen.