I can't quit grinning, being
so happy to be able to meet publicly. Look at this 34th Psalm. And look at the title. These
are inspired. They are in the original. A psalm
of David when he changed his behavior before a Himalek who
drove him away and he departed. Now that was the reason this
psalm was written. Let's look at that for just a
moment in 1 Samuel 21. I'm not gonna say much about
it, but David wrote this psalm on this occasion. Verse 10 of
1 Samuel 21. And David arose and fled that
day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said
unto him, Is not this David the king of Israel? Did they not
sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul has slain
his thousands, and David his tens thousands? And David laid
up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish,
the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before
them and feigned himself mad in their
hands and scrabbled on the doors of the gate and let his spittle
fall down upon his beard. He tried to act like he lost
his mind. Then said Achish unto his servants, lo, you see, this
man is mad. Wherefore then have you brought
him to me? Have I need of a madman that you brought this this fellow,
this zero is what he means, to play the madman in my presence?
Shall this fellow come into my house? David therefore departed
thence and escaped to the cave Adalim. And when his brother
and all of his father's house heard it, they went down thither
to him and everyone that was in distress and everyone that
was in debt and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves
And he became a captain over them. And there were with him
about 400 men. Now, these are the men who come
to Christ, aren't they? Everybody who is in debt, distressed, and
discontent. Now, upon this action, he wrote
this song. Now, I want to remind you that
the songs The first way I have to look
at him is Christ speaking in the first person or something
concerning Christ. Now that's just true in the Psalms. And if I don't see it first as
Christ speaking in first person or something concerning Christ,
I am missing much of the meaning. This is very important. Now look in verse one. I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. Who's the only one who could
say that completely? Christ. My soul. shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof
and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me
and let us exalt his name together. Now, those are the words of David,
yes, but those are the words primarily of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want to confine our thoughts
to verses four through six. I've entitled this message, Sought,
Looked, and Cried. I sought the Lord and he heard
me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him and were
lightened and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried
and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. Now, before we look at this passage,
I wanna repeat once again, it's so important that we understand
with regard to the Psalms, they're the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, they're the words of David.
Remember when David began Psalm 22, verse one, saying, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Do you know every one of
the words of the Lord from the cross are found in Psalms? And
that is primarily the words of the Lord Jesus Christ from the
cross. Now that's David crying, that's David feeling forsaken,
but he wasn't forsaken, but the Lord was. And that's speaking
the very words of the Lord from the cross. Turn with me for a
moment to Psalm 40. I want to establish this from
the scripture. I want you to believe this, not simply because
I say it, but because you see it's what the Bible actually
teaches. Now we know from Hebrews chapter
10 that these are the words of Christ. And it's quoted in Hebrews
chapter 10, verse six. Psalm 40, verse six. Sacrifice
and offering thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt
offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said
I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book it's
written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. Now, those are quoted in Hebrews
10 as the words of Christ. Now, when can you safely say
these are no longer the words of Christ? You can't. This is Christ speaking in the
first person. Look in verse 11 of Psalm 40. Withhold not now
thy tender mercies from me, O Lord, Let thine loving kindness and
thy truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have
compassed me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me so that I'm not able to look up. They're more than
the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased,
O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Now how can those be the words of Christ? Christ owned the sins
of his people as his very own. And you can't really understand
the cross without that. When Christ was suffering on
Calvary's tree, my sin literally became his sins. God was not
punishing the innocent. He was punishing the guilty.
He became guilty of the commission of those sins. Now what all that
means, I can't explain, but it's, I believe. It's the truth of
the scripture, Christ's substitutionary work on the cross. The only way
I can feel that I have no sin is if he bore those sins and
put them away. That is how I have no sin. So
Christ owned the sins of his people as his own. So this is
just another example. Let me show you one other scripture,
Acts chapter 22, or Acts chapter two. Now this is Peter preaching on
the day of Pentecost. And he says in verse 25, for
David speaketh concerning him. When David was writing this song,
he was speaking concerning him. I love that. And then he quotes
this Psalm, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he
is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh
shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. This
is Christ speaking. Thou hast made known to me the
ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance. Now, men and brethren, let me
freely speak unto you. He's quoting the Psalm, and now he's making
his comment on it. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you the patriarch David that he is both dead and
buried and his sepulcher is with us into this day. Therefore being
a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He seeing this before
spake of the resurrection of Christ. You see, that's what
David was speaking of and he knew it. You know, sometimes
people think of the Old Testament as some kind of stream of consciousness
where they're speaking and they don't know what they're talking
about, but they're being inspired. David knew exactly what he was talking
about. He was speaking of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And all the Psalms have to be
looked upon in that light or we're not really going to understand
them. Now let's go back to Psalm 34. And I want to look at this first
as the Lord's words, and then we're gonna look at it as our
own words. Verse four, I sought the Lord. Now, when I think of my own seeking
of the Lord, inadequate. I've never sought him as I ought
to, nor have you. My own seeking of the Lord has
been inadequate. Oh, I might go by fits and starts,
but I can be taken away from it easy enough. I can be distracted
easy enough. I can be not as heartfelt as
I should be every time. My seeking of the Lord, the only
thing I can call it is inadequate. But oh, how he sought the Lord. He sought His Father with all
of His heart, soul, strength, and mind. He gave Himself to
seeking His Father's face. Notice He says, I sought the
Lord and He heard and delivered me from all my fears. What fears? The fears of Gethsemane. The
fears of Golgotha. when He, the only one who knows
what sin is, me and you don't really know. We can quote what
the scripture says, but we don't really have an understanding
of it. He does. He did. He said, Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. This cup of being made
sin, of drinking sin, of this cup of being cut off by God,
Those were his fears. You say, well, how did he feel?
I don't know. I mean, you read these things and you believe
them. There's no way I can enter into all the emotions of the
Lord Jesus Christ, but we are in all of them and we worship
him for who he is. He heard me and delivered me
from all my fears. Verse five, they looked unto
him. Who's the they? Everybody in
Him. Everybody in Him. They looked
to Him and were lightened. Looking to Him, being in Him,
I have light as to how God could love me, how God could accept
me, how God can save me for Christ's sake. They, everybody in him,
looked to him, the Lord Jesus Christ, and were lightened, and
their faces were not ashamed. His face wasn't ashamed. You
know why? Because he perfectly pleased
God in his life, and he perfectly put away sin in his death, and
he can look to his Father without shame, and every believer can
look to their Heavenly Father without shame. They can say with
David, as for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. No
shame there, is there? I'll be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. You see, if Christ put that sin
away, I don't have any. I don't have anything to be ashamed
of. Stand perfect in Christ. Now look in verse six. This poor
man cried. No one has ever known poverty
like the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ that though he was rich, Yet for your sakes, he
became poor. How poor he became. He had no
sense of his Father's presence, no sense of righteousness, nothing
but forsaken by God. Me and you would never understand
that. You see, sin, we say we're poor
in spirit, but we don't much understand what that means. He
does. He knows what it is to be completely
forsaken by his Father. He knows what it is to be completely
destitute of righteousness and acceptance because my sin actually
became his sin. That's what he was owning and
committing. So he became poor. No, he never sinned in his person.
You know that. But he bore my sins and he became
poor. And the Bible says that. You
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes became he poor that you, through his poverty
might be rich. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard. I think of that passage of scripture
in Hebrews 5, 7, speaking of Christ, who in the days of his
flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with
strong cryings, and tears. And I have no doubt that's when
he was saying, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me. He offered up strong cryings
and tears unto him that's able to save him from death and was
heard in that he feared, though he were a son, yet learned he
obedience by the things that he suffered. This poor man cried
and the Lord heard and saved him out of all his troubles. Oh, he's even now, as I'm speaking,
seated at the right hand of the Father. Oh, how secure! King
of kings, Lord of lords, and the savior of poor sinners like
me and you. Oh, the Lord heard him and saved
him out of all of his troubles. I love to think of him sitting
at the right hand of the Father right now, undisturbed by opposition,
in absolute regal control, yet merciful and gracious, meek and
lowly in heart. Isn't that amazing, the glory
of this person, the Lord Jesus Christ? But these are the words of David
as well. And I hope by the time this message
is over, they'll be my words and your words as well. David said, I sought the Lord. I sought the Lord. Do you know that the reason you
have been put upon this earth is to seek the Lord? Nothing compares to the importance
of this. I don't care who you are. Acts
chapter 17 makes this statement. You can turn there if you want,
but I'm going to read this from verse 26. Acts chapter 17. God hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth. Everybody
comes from Adam. He's made of one blood, all men. That's one of the reasons why
racial prejudice is so ridiculous. Everybody comes from the same,
we all have the same father, Adam. He's made of all nations
of men to dwell on the face of the earth and determine the times
before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. You're right
where God put you. He's determined all this before,
all your circumstances, where you're at, He's determined all
this before for this purpose, verse 27, that they should seek
the Lord. That's your purpose, that they
should seek the Lord. Now, do you know that no man
by nature seeks the Lord? It says that in Psalm 14, says
that in Psalm 53, and says that in Romans chapter three where
he quotes both of those Psalms. There is none righteous, no not
one, there's none that understands, there's none that seeketh after
the Lord. What a crime. How evil that a
man feels no need, that a woman feels no need to seek After Him
that's altogether lovely. The Supreme Being. The Glorious
One. The God of glory. The One who
created you. The One who is absolutely independent. Who has no needs. He's so glorious. He's dependent on no one and
no thing. He's God. Do not seek Him. The Lord Jesus Christ. The altogether
lovely One. to not seek Him? You know, if you seek Him, you
won't seek Him in vain. Everybody who seeks Him finds
Him, and that's not important. It's intolerably evil to not
seek Him. Now, some of us are seeking happiness,
and we're not seeking Him. Some of us are seeking stuff,
and we're not seeking Him. Some of us are seeking just to
survive and get by, yet we're not seeking Him. There is none that seeketh, no,
not one. It was said of Rehoboam, the
son of Solomon, listen to this, he did evil. and did not prepare
his heart to seek the Lord. In Asa's good reign, we read
that he and the people entered into a covenant to seek the Lord
God of their fathers with all their heart and soul, and whosoever
would not seek the God of Israel should be put to death, whether
small or great, men or women. Psalm 10 verse 4 says, the wicked
through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Now, if I'm not seeking the Lord, it's evil. And I'm worse than a beast. I'm
worse than a beast. And that's so. all men ought
to seek the Lord. Isaiah said, seek the Lord while
he may be found. Call upon him while he's near.
There's another scripture. You remember when Uzzah touched
the ark, tried to help out God, tried to help keep the ark on
the cart, God killed him. And David was afraid at first,
but he ended up saying this, the reason the Lord did this
is because we sought him not after due order. after the scriptural
order. The Lord tells us in his word
how he is to be sought. David said, I sought the Lord
and he heard me. If you seek the Lord, he will
hear you and deliver you from all your fears. Ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
to you. That's the promise of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, look in verse five, and
here's how we can tell if we have sought the Lord. Because
in some ways that can seem kind of nebulous. How you go about
this? What does it mean to seek the Lord? What are you doing
when you seek the Lord? What's it look like when you
really are seeking the Lord? Well, I know this for sure. Anyone who seeks the Lord, this
is where they'll be. They look to him and were lightened. That is the evidence of seeking
the Lord. Folks who seek the Lord look
to Christ only. And they're lightened from that
look. Someone who doesn't look to Christ
only as everything in their salvation, they've never really sought the
Lord. They might have been religious, but they haven't sought the Lord
because if you seek the Lord, this is where it'll lead you.
You'll look to Christ only and be lightened from that look. And it says, also, and their
faces were not ashamed. And there's one singular reason
their faces are not ashamed, justification. What Christ accomplished. I can come into God's presence,
the thrice holy God. without shame, because I don't
have anything to be shamed of, because Christ has put away my
sins, and he's given me his own glorious righteousness. Bold
shall I stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge shall
lay, fully absolved from these I am from sins, tremendous curse
and shame. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there's none else. Now the scriptures give us a
beautiful picture of what it means to look to Him and be like
Him. Would you turn with me to Numbers
chapter 21? The book of Numbers, chapter 21, verse 4. This is during the wanderings
in the wilderness, the 40 years they spent wandering in the wilderness. This is one of the events. And they journeyed from Manhor
by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom, and
the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. Anybody know anything about that? Discouragement. Humanity's common conundrum. Discouragement. To be grieved. To be vexed. To be impatient. Things are not as you visioned. They're not the way you thought
they would be. And you are discouraged. Things have not turned out as
you purposed. and you are discouraged. Do you know anything about discouragement?
Discouragement along the way. But here's where they went bad.
I can understand the discouragement. Verse five, and the people spake
against God. Right where Adam was, the woman
that you gave me, she gave me of the fruit. and I did eat.
They spake against God and the one who was preaching the gospel
to them, Moses. It wasn't so much Moses they
were against. As a matter of fact, in reality, it wasn't.
It was against God they were speaking. He's the one who allowed
this. He's the one who caused this.
And all of a sudden, we become judges of God. This is how I
can tell that we're While we believe we're sinners, we're
still so self-righteous because we can sit in judgment on God.
That's what they were doing. And the people spake against
God and against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there's no bread,
neither is there any water. Do you know both of those statements
are lies? They had manna coming down from
heaven. and they had water coming out of the rock. So what they
were saying was utterly untrue. And our soul loatheth this light
bread. This manna that came down from
heaven has changed to being the food of angels to light bread,
insufficient bread. You know, during this time when we couldn't get bread,
I got the cheap, they only had the cheapest bread left at Kroeber's.
And I got a loaf of that bread, and I ate it, and needless to
say, I didn't eat another piece. I took it home, and we tore up
and gave it to the birds. I mean, I was not going to eat
that bread. Light bread, insufficient bread,
it didn't do anything for me. Oh, how sad. And I've seen this
happen. I've seen it happen on numerous
occasions. It'll happen to me and you, apart from the grace
of God. Seeing the gospel as light bread. No longer seeing
the awesome glory of it, but it's just doctrine. Doctrine. This manna is light bread. Insufficient to satisfy. We need something else. That's
what that means. Here's what the Lord thought
of that, verse six. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the
people, and they bit the people. And much people of Israel died.
Now, put yourself in that place. All these snakes, fiery serpents,
poisonous vipers, biting everybody. They're everywhere. You can't
keep them out. Now some of you are, I know,
just horrified by snakes. I guess all poisonous snakes. Verse seven, therefore the people
came to Moses and said, we've sinned. Now here they confess
their sins. We have sinned. Not excuse, not
justification, we have sinned. For we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that he take
away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people
and the Lord said unto Moses, make a fiery serpent. Now, before
I go on, how glorious is his grace that there would be salvation
for people who found his gospel as light bread. Isn't that glorious? The Lord is so gracious. He's
so gracious to look at his gospel that one time perhaps you felt
was glorious and now it's light bread and you complain. And God
provides the remedy. And the Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. Remember when the Lord said as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must
the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. That's the way the Lord
applies this. Let's talk about the cross. You know, the cross
is always powerful. It's powerful then, it's powerful
now, it's powerful before the foundation of the world. He's
talking about Jesus Christ and him crucified. How he was made
to be sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Just another look at the gospel, at the cross. May the Lord give
us that, even right now. Everyone that's bitten, when
he what? Looketh. Not works. Not tries to find
a way to keep the snakes out. Everyone that looketh. It's actually
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look. Look. I can't. If you were blind, if you would've
looked, you would've seen. You look to Christ. You look
to who he is and what he accomplished. Verse nine, and Moses made a
serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. And it came to pass that
if any serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent
of brass, Looking unto Jesus. Now when I say, look at me, none
of you wonder, what do you mean by that? No, you look at me. Looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ,
who he is, and what he accomplished. You look to him and you'll be
lightened. If you're not light and you're
not looking, you look to him and you're light. And I'm talking
about the light of John chapter eight, verse 12. And the Lord
said, I am the light of the world. And he said that right after
that woman who was caught in the very act of adultery. There's
no question with regard to her guilt. She was guilty. And the
Lord said, I don't condemn you. Why? There's nothing to condemn
her for. Her sin was put away. by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the gospel. They looked
to him and were lightened. Their faces were not ashamed. Nothing to be ashamed of. I stand
before God without guilt. Now, I know this. Everybody who
seeks, without exception, here's where it ends. They look to Christ
and are lightened. Now look what it says in verse
six, back to our text. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard and saved him out of all of his troubles. This poor man. Now this, I'm sure, if you look
to Christ, you're gonna see yourself as a poor man. That's the only way you can view
yourself, is as a poor man. Someone who is destitute of anything
to recommend them to God. Are you poor in spirit? Well, I'm afraid I don't feel
very poor. Well, you probably don't. You
don't feel like you ought to. I know that. But are you poor
in spirit? What I mean by that is, do you have no personal righteousness? You know that. You know you really
don't have anything to bring to God. You really don't. You know that by nature, you're
dead in sins. You know the only way you can
be saved is if he saves you. I'm not asking you how poor you
feel, but are you poor in spirit? This poor man cried. What's the first beatitude? Blessed
are the poor in spirit. That's where the Lord begins
with what a believer is. He's somebody's poor. It's a
good thing to be poor. How many times did David say,
I'm poor and I'm needy? He had great wealth, but he was
poor and needy. Now, if you're poor, you don't
have anything to commend you to God, You're bankrupt, you
have nothing but sin, and God would be absolutely just if he
passed you by and gave you no mercy. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard. This poor man cried. He cried. Now that's the same word that
is also translated called, calling upon the name of the Lord, but
here it's translated, He cried. He cried. True story. True story. During the Civil
War, there was a man who found out while he was in battle, somebody
sent him a message that his mother was on his deathbed. And he wanted
to see his mother before she died. And he found out the only
way that you can go to see your mother and leave the battle is
if the president himself gives you permission. He was a Union
soldier, and somehow he got to the White House. I don't know
that part of the story, but he got to the White House to try
to get the president to give him permission to go and see
his dying mother before she died. And he asked the guards, and
they said, we can't bring you into the president's office.
He said, but you don't understand. My mom is dying, and if I can't
see her now, I'm never going to see her again. They said,
look, I'm sorry for your plight, but we can't do that. We can't
bring you into the president and get him to do it. We can't
do it. And when the man kept trying, he kept being rejected,
and he saw there's no way I can get in to see him. He sat down
on the porch of the White House and started crying inconsolably. He knew he would never see his
mother again. He was crying. He was weeping. He was so distraught. And a teenage
boy said, what's wrong? He said, you wouldn't understand.
He said, no, tell me what's wrong. And he told about how he couldn't
possibly see his mother unless the president himself gave him
permission to do so, and I've got no way of getting to him.
And the teenage boy said, I'll get you to him. And he walked
past the guards with the man following, walked through several
rooms, opened up a door, and heard these words. Hello, son.
What can I do for you? I can't come into God's presence.
I cry, Christ hears my cry. What a savior. Christ hears my
cry and brings me as the son into the very presence of God,
accepted, heard, loved. And this word, this poor man
cried, is also the word called. Abraham built an altar and called
upon the name of the Lord. Now this I know. If I seek the
Lord, I'm gonna look to Christ only. If I look to Christ only,
I'm gonna be poor. And the Lord is gonna hear me
when I cry. And, I will be heard of him calling
on his name. Now what do you do when you call
on his name? It doesn't just mean audibly articulate his name. It's the person behind the name.
I'm calling upon his sovereign will, will my salvation. I'm
calling on His power to put away my sins. You know, when you come
into the Lord's presence about your sin needing, you ask the
Lord to do something for you. You ask Him to do something about
your sin. You know you can't do anything about it. And you
ask the Lord to do something about it by all of His glorious
attributes, calling upon His name. Whatever attribute, by
your wisdom, by your holiness, by your justice, by your grace,
whatever attribute he has that he's revealed in his word, you
call upon that Lord, save me. This poor man, this poor man
cried unto the Lord and the Lord heard and saved him, saved him. By grace are you saved. Have you realized that? By grace,
not by works, by grace are you saved. Through faith, and that
not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any
man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Seek, look, and cry. That's the experience of every
believer, isn't it? Let's pray.