That song was a blessing that
makes me think of the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing to be able to
say, I am my beloved's and he is mine. We're going to look
at Psalm 40, those first four verses, but I'd like to read
some scriptures first. The Lord said to his disciples,
and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto
them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. And then he said in verse 44,
and he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. Now we turn back to Psalm 40
and the first way to view every psalm is to view it as the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself speaking in the first person. Every psalm ought to be read
that way. All 150 psalms are messianic
psalms and should be read first as the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now you can be reading the Psalms
and I love to read the Psalms and the closest I think I ever
come to prayer is when I read a Psalm and it speaks so really
to my heart. And there are times when it's
David speaking along with the Lord and David is giving the
experience of his heart. For instance, when David says
in Psalm 22 verse one, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken
me? You know that those are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross, but they were also
words from David, how he felt. He felt like he had been forsaken
by the Lord. So these are Christ's words,
but we can also see where they're David's words as well. But look
in verse six of this Psalm. 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. Oh
my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. Now, are those the
words of David? No. Yes, he penned them, but
this is not a reference to David. This fits only one person, the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. David couldn't say this, except
as Christ is speaking through him. And this is quoted in Hebrews
chapter 10 as being the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look in verse 11 of Psalm 40. Withhold not thou thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy 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 those are David's words. That's David's confession of
his sin and how it distressed him. But these are also the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. He owned our sins
as his own. So yes, David is expressing himself
and you've expressed yourself that way. But this is also the
words, the direct words of the Lord Jesus Christ. when he was
made to be sin. Now let's look at verse one. I waited patiently for the Lord. Now you and I could say, I waited
impatiently for the Lord. And that would be an accurate
description, wouldn't it? Is there any time in your experience
you could say, I waited patiently for the Lord? The Lord Jesus Christ did wait
patiently for the Lord. It takes perfect faith to have
perfect patience And he possessed both. When he was unjustly accused,
he waited patiently for the Lord. When he was brought before the
high priest and those accusations are brought against him, he didn't
open his mouth. He waited patiently for the Lord. When he's brought before Pontius
Pilate and Herod and they make fun of him and mock him, he waited
patiently for the Lord. When he's brought before the
soldiers and they beat him with a cat of nine tails on the back
and brought pharaohs in his backs, when they ripped out his beard
by the roots, when they spit on him and hit him, When they
nailed him to the cross, he waited patiently for the Lord. When he cried out, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? You see, he really was forsaken.
Something you and I don't really know anything about. He really
was forsaken. But even then, when he cried
out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Even then,
Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. And he waited patiently
on the Lord. The patience of Christ, because
he trusted his father perfectly, and he was perfectly patient
through all of this. I waited patiently upon the Lord. And he inclined to me and he
heard my cry." Now let's look at verse two. He brought me up
also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set
my feet upon a rock and established my goings. I have heard people
use this as their experience, and I understand that to some
degree. You know, we sing the song, he lifted me out of the deep
Maori clay and settled my feet on the straight, narrow way.
We sing that song. And as I am united to him, he
did lift me out of this Maori pit. and out of this myric clay
as I'm united to him. Hold your finger there and turn
to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 20, I mean. Verse 20, Matthew chapter 20,
verse 20. Then came to him the mother of
Zebedee's children with their sons worshiping him. and desiring
a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, what wilt
thou? She said unto him, grant that these my two sons, James
and John, may sit the one on thy right hand and the other
on thy left in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said,
you know not what you ask. Are you able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism
that I'm baptized with? And they said unto him, We're
up to the task. We're able. Yes, we can do this. Now, the Lord doesn't rebuke them.
And he saith unto them, you shall drink indeed of my cup and be
baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with. You see, when
Christ suffered, I suffered. That's the point. Whatever he
experienced, I experienced in the person of my substitute.
When he was baptized under the wrath of God, I was too. Now, what is being spoken of
by the Lord through David is what Christ went through on Calvary
Street. He brought me up out of an horrible
pit, out of the miry clay. Now a pit, what that is a reference
to is a place where you were lowered down into and a stone
was put over it and you were in complete, utter darkness. The miry clay was mud and human
feces mixed together. And what a horrible existence
that would be. And that's what he's referring
to when he was cut off from God, when he was forsaken by God.
This is what he's talking about when he was in Christ, was in
hell on the cross, total darkness. The Lord Jesus experienced what
only he could, the fullness of hell. Me and you can't experience
that. You know, the reason somebody
goes to hell, the reason it lasts forever and it will never end
is because that sinner suffering that wrath can never satisfy
the justice of God. God could never say with regarding
the death of any sinner. That's enough. I'm satisfied. I'm completely satisfied. I don't
need anything else. But when the Lord Jesus Christ
suffered God's wrath, he experienced the full equivalent of hell. And his father said, it's enough. I'm satisfied. Nothing else is
needed. And this is what is being referred
to chiefly. Yes, David felt like he was brought out of the miry
pit, no doubt. But what this is referring to
first is the Lord Jesus Christ and what he suffered on Calvary's
tree. He suffered the fullness of hell
and he made complete satisfaction. But look in Psalm 38 for a moment.
This gives us some idea of what our Lord was experiencing on
Calvary's tree. Look at Psalm 38. Oh, Lord. Now, this is David
speaking, I realize that, but first, this is Christ speaking.
Oh, Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in
thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in
me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in
my flesh because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in
my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over my head, as in heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My
wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness." This
is Christ speaking from the cross. I'm troubled. I'm bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all the day long,
for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and there
is no soundness in my flesh. I'm feeble and sore broken. I've roared by reason of the
disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before
Thee, and my groaning is not hid from Thee. My heart panteth. My strength faileth me. As for
the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and
my friends stand aloof from my sore. My kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my
life lay snares for me, and they seek my hurt, speak mischievous
things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I as a deaf
man heard not, and I was as a dumb man that opened not his mouth.
Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and whose mouth are no reproofs.
For in thee, O Lord, do I hope. He never ceased to hope in God. Thou wilt hear, O Lord, by God,
for I said, hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me when
my foot slippeth. They'd magnify themselves against
me, for I'm ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually for
me. Yes, David felt that way, and
you felt that way, and I felt that way before as well. But
these are the words of the Lord from the cross. And then he says,
for I will declare mine iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin. Do you know he's the only one
who experienced true sorrow for sin? I mean, you don't really
understand what that means. I mean, we're too hard hearted.
We don't we don't understand the gravity of sin. He did what
it is to sin against God. And he was sorry. He experienced this true sorrow
for sin. But mine enemies are lively,
and they're strong, and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
They that render evil for good are mine adversaries, because
I follow the thing the good is. Forsake me not, O Lord, O my
God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord,
my salvation. Now, that is what, good grief,
I'm talking about things I don't have any understanding of, I
realize that. But that's what the Lord experienced
on Calvary's tree when he was made sin for his people, when
he was brought into that pit and the miry clay. But making complete satisfaction
and paying the sin debt, he brought me up also out of this horrible
pit. And he set my feet on a rock
and he established my goings. Now those are the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this refers to the resurrection.
He brought me out of that pit. I made complete satisfaction.
He brought me out of that pit and he set my feet on a rock. He established my goings. I love
that scripture. Yet have I set my king on my
holy hill of Zion. He is delivered from the pit
and everybody in him is delivered from the pit. You see, I was
in that pit with him. Paul said, I was crucified with
Christ. I was in that pit with him. All
the horror of hell that he experienced, I was with him. I was in him.
And when he came out of that tomb, I was with him. Now turn back to Psalm 40. I waited patiently for the Lord.
And he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also
out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet
upon a rock and established my goings. And he hath put a new
song in my mouth. Even praise unto our God. Now we know the subject matter
of this new song, praise unto our God. That's the subject matter
of this new song. And we're going to come back
to that in a moment, but I want us to consider this phrase, a
new song, a new song, fresh. The gospel is always news. It's not yesterday's news. It's
news you've never heard before. And if I hear the gospel right,
I'm hearing it for the first time as news every time I hear
it. That's the way the gospel is.
It comes as news. As long as I'm hearing as a sinner,
it's always going to be new and it's always going to be fresh. And when I'm not hearing as a
sinner, that's when the heavenly manna will become light bread. May the Lord deliver us from
that good news. Singing a new song. It's a new
song they sing in heaven. I love these. His compassions
are new. Every morning great is thy faithfulness. A new heart will I give thee,
one that was not there before. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. He's a new creation. Old things
have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. Now,
it's a shame the way preachers have talked about that passage
of Scripture. I've even heard preachers say,
I don't have the same sinful desires I used to have. Old things
have passed away. All things have become new. What
that's talking about is the new creation. That's talking about
the new man. That's talking about the new
nature where everything is new. The old man's just as bad as
it ever was, but you got a new man where everything is new.
If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are
passed away. All things have become new. I
love this statement our Lord made in Revelation 21 5. Behold,
I make all things new. I can't make anything new. I can't change my history. Up
to this point in my life, I can't change anything that I've done. But he who is all powerful has
given me a new history, a new history, and it's all good. This
is this new song. It's what the Bible calls justification.
I stand before God without guilt, perfect in His comeliness, without
sin. Now that's a new song, isn't
it? And you know, praise the Lord, and I say that reverently,
this is more glorious to me now than it's ever been. This new
history, this perfect standing before God, it's a new song.
It's a fresh song. How many songs have you heard
that you like for a long time, but they get old, they get stale,
and they become irritating? Not this song. This song is new. First time you've ever heard
it. Every time you hear it. And as long as I'm here as a
sinner, that's the way I'm going to hear this new song. It's a
new song. And if and if and if this you
can be sure in this new song, all the praise, all the glory
goes to God. Notice what he says. Verse three,
he had put a new song in my mouth. Even praise unto our God. How much of the glory of your salvation
goes to God? It all does, doesn't it? God the Father, God the Son,
God the Spirit. It all goes to God. You see,
it's what he has done. Look back at Psalm 22. Psalm 22. This is what is known
as the psalm of the cross. That's where he talks about his
then piercing his hands and feet and so on. But look in verse
30. A seed. A seed, God's seed shall serve
him. It shall be accounted to the
Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare
His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, birthed,
given life to, that He hath done this. That's our message, isn't
it? He hath done this. Now, back to our text. Here is the result of all of
this. And this is actually what I named
or titled this message. Many shall see fear and trust. Verse three, he had put a new
song in my heart, even praise unto our God. Many shall see
it. and fear, and shall trust in
the Lord. Seeing, fearing, and trusting. Now the first word I like thinking
about is many. Many, not everybody, but a whole
lot, many. The son of man gave his life
a ransom for many. Now Christ died for an exact
number of people, There's not going to be any empty chairs
in heaven, but it's a great multitude. It's many. And if you're someone
who needs his grace, there's room in heaven for you. You don't
have to worry about not having a chair. If you're somebody who
needs his grace, you're one of these many. Now many shall see,
perceive, understand, gaze upon. Many shall see. That's where you got to begin.
There's something to be seen. You can't believe something you
haven't seen. You can't believe something you haven't heard.
There's something to be seen. You're going to see who He is.
Now, many shall see Him. Now, turn back to Psalm 22. And
while you're turning there, I want to quote a scripture from Ephesians
5 30. We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. And you remember how it said,
not a bone of his shall be broken. Now we are the bones of Christ.
We are the body of Christ. The bone, not one bone is broken. Now look at this verse in Psalm
22 verse 17. This is the Lord speaking from
the cross. He says, I may tell, I may count, I see all my bones. They look and stare upon me. And isn't that what we're doing
right now? Looking and staring upon him. When our Lord was on
the cross, he saw his bones, his body, his bride, every one
of his people, And what were they doing? Same thing we're
doing right now. We're looking upon, staring upon
Him. What else is there to look at?
Who else is there to look at? Christ crucified is the most
glorious thing, and we look, the bones, even then, looking
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. See, Paul said to Ananias, the
God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou should know his
will, and see that just one, and hear the voice of his mouth,
for thou shalt be his witness to all men of what you've seen
and what you've heard. Now you're gonna see who God
is through the sight of the cross. The only way you're ever gonna
really know God, who he is, what he's like, It's through the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every attribute of God is manifested. You're going to see who you are
in light of the cross. You're going to see that you're
nothing but sin. And you're going to see through the light of the
cross that you're nothing but pure holiness and righteousness.
You see both things. You see that in and of yourself,
you're nothing but sin. But by that one offering, he
hath perfected forever, absolutely perfect them that are righteousness.
I love what that woman at the well said in John chapter 4 when
she came to the people in the village. She said, Come see a
man who hath told me all things I ever did. All I ever did was
sin. That's it. All I ever did was
be perfect in the Lord. Now, that's what you see when
you see Him. You'll see who Jesus Christ really
is. I love that hymn in evil long I took delight unawed by
shame or fear until a new object caught my sight and stopped my
wild career. Here's the evidence that someone
is seeing. Now many shall see and here's
the evidence of seeing. They'll fear. Now, that's the evidence of Satan.
He's talking about that reverential awe and fear of God. Now, I'm not talking about the
fear of punishment. That's not what the Lord's talking
about. You know, you can be an unbeliever and be scared to death of being
punished. You can be scared to death of being sent to hell and
have all kinds of fear in that sense. A lot of people have that.
But that's not the fear that's being spoken of. that fear of
reverential awe of the Lord, His glory, His greatness, His
majesty, His power, His holiness, His justice, who He is, who He
is, and there's a fear. That's the fear of the Lord that's
the beginning of wisdom. And in reality, this is worship. Fearing God is worshiping God
for who He is. And this fear is something that
only the believer has, and it's actually the summary of what
the new nature is. It fears God. And when you fear
God, you know what? You're afraid to look anywhere
but Christ only as everything in your salvation. You're scared
to death to look anywhere but Christ when you really have this
reverential fear and awe of God. It's not just the fear of punishment
or the fear of pain or the fear of loss. It's an awe of God. Turn with me to Psalm 130. This is the new nature. You know
the old nature. Well, let me read this. Psalm
130. Verse one, out of the depths
have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Let thine
ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou,
Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But
there is forgiveness with thee. that thou mayest be feared."
Now, if you and I ever come to understand how God forgives sinners
through Christ, you know what it's going to create? Fear. Awe. Reverence. What a glorious God. What a God
glorifying thing to do. There's forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be feared. Now turn to Psalm 36. Psalm 36.
Verse 1. The transgression of the wicked
saith within his heart. There's no fear of God before
his eyes. Didn't read that right, did I? Didn't read that right
at all. Look at this. The transgression
of the wicked saith within my heart, my heart, that there's
no fear of God before his eyes. You know who that wicked is?
Me. My old man and the transgression of the wicked say is within my
heart. There's no fear of God in the natural man. There's fear
of punishment. There's fear of loss, but there's
no fear of God. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. You know, people talk about good God fearing people.
There's no such thing. Somebody might be religious,
but they're not a good God fearing person. Only the believer truly
fears God. Now, many shall see. And what's
the evidence of seeing? You fear. And what do folks do
who fear? Look back in our text in Psalm
40. Many shall see, many shall fear,
and shall trust in the Lord. Now here's what happens when
somebody sees. Here's what happens when somebody
fears. They trust in the Lord. All their hope is in the Lord. Nowhere else. Paul put it this
way. He said, Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, I don't want to have anything to do with
that. I want to simply be found in Him so that all God sees when
He sees me is Jesus Christ. I'm in Him, united to Him. We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence, no confidence, no confidence in the flesh. Now, what is it to trust Christ?
I said this in the last week or two, but I think it bears
repeating. I think it helps me to understand what it is to trust
Christ, because I want to trust him, don't you? I want to trust
him. I, myself, I want to trust Jesus
Christ the Lord. What does it mean to trust him?
I love that passage in Ephesians 1, 12, that we should be to the
praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Now, God the
Father trusted the Lord Jesus Christ with the salvation of
the elect when Christ stood as their surety. Now, when Christ
stood as my surety and I was given to him by the Father, how
much did the Father look to me for my salvation? He didn't look
for anything, did he? He looked wholly to his Son,
my surety. Now we're to trust the Lord Jesus
Christ the same way the Father trusted Him. We trust Him only. Everything God requires of me,
He looks to Christ for. Everything God requires of me,
I look to Christ for. Many shall see, many shall fear,
and many shall trust in the Lord. Verse four, blessed is that man. Blessed by God. Blessed by God. God's done this. This is the
work of his grace in his heart. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust. He's not trusting himself. He's
not trusting in his works. He's not trusting in religion.
He makes the Lord his trust. He will not look any other way. And you find me somebody who
looks to Christ only, and I'll show you somebody that God, the
God of glory, has poured his blessing upon. Blessed, oh, how
happy, how blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust. And you know what happens when
you trust the Lord? This is part of it. If you trust
the Lord, you don't respect the proud, or such as turn aside
to lies. Somebody that's proud of himself
and his salvation, taking credit for it, you've got no respect
for that. It's offensive to you. That person who turns aside the
lies of salvation by works, salvation by something other than Christ,
you've got no respect for that. You've got no regard for that.
Why? Because you've seen him you fear, and you trusted him
only, and you reject everything. Now, if you don't do this, you
haven't really trusted. If you trust, you'll reject that
which brings on pride, human works, that which is lies, not
according to the truth of the gospel. I like what Spurgeon
said, he that doesn't hate the false doesn't love the true.
And David, the man after God's own heart said, I steam all thy
precepts and all things to be right, and I hate every false
way. Now the need of the hour is to see and I can't see unless
he gives me eyes to see. Lord, give me eyes to see. You give me those eyes to see
and I'm going to fear and I'm going to trust in the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that we might be enabled to see. Who that son is. What he did. Lord, reveal him to us. Enable us to. See him, Lord,
we're like those men of old. We would see Jesus. And Lord,
we want to see him. And oh Lord, that it would produce
this holy fear, that fear that's clean, enduring forever. Oh Lord, we want to fear you.
Unite our hearts to fear your name. And Lord, enable us to
trust in him only. And bless this message for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
All right, Lisa, I'm closing in, please.