Thank you, Todd. If you'd like to turn there with
me, I will be in the fifth psalm. Thank Brother Frank for the message. I, like Frank, appreciate this
congregation, appreciate your pastor and his wife and his daughter
and his son-in-law, the grandchildren that are to come. It's sort of warm up here, ain't
it? I tell you, I've got a feminine
side. I know it doesn't look like it. I've been cold all since Friday
night. I've been cold, but it's hot
tonight. Well, I hope, I hope that I've
got some things to say, hopefully, that I have thought on for years,
and maybe you have too. Some things that has been a mystery
to me, and I hope tonight that you say that I have thought on
this myself, and I hope both of us get some light. Let me
read this psalm. It consists of 12 verses. And
let's begin in verse 1 and read it. Psalms chapter 5 and verse
1. Give ear to my words, O Lord. Consider my meditation, my groaning. Consider my words, what I say,
what I ask you, my praise, my worship. Consider my groanings,
my meditation. Hearken to the voice of my cry,
my King and my God. For unto thee will I pray. My
voice shall thou hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning
will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up. For thou
art not a God that has pleasure in wickedness, neither shall
evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak lies and lies, falsehood. The Lord will abhor the bloody,
the murderer, and the deceitful man. But as for me, I will come
into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy. In thy fear will
I worship towards thy holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness
because of my enemies. Make thy way straight before
my face. For there is no faithfulness
in their mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher. They flatter with their tongue.
Destroy thou them, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude
of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against thee.
But let all of those that put their trust in thee rejoice.
Let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them.
Let them also that love your name be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, will bless the
righteous. With favor will thou compass
him as with a shield. Our thoughts tonight are on verse
five. This is what I want to talk about a few minutes. And it's a fearful declaration. Thou hatest. all workers of iniquity. I first want to prove this doctrine.
It's very simple, and I want to stay here in the text and
prove the doctrine. And then I want to consider the
context in which this declaration was made. David was in prayer. And then thirdly and lastly,
I want to know who could possibly profit from such a declaration. That's this. First of all, let's
look at the doctrine. It's very plain. God hates the
workers of iniquity. Now, no doubt God hates sin.
He loves righteousness and hates iniquity, but that's not what
my text says, is it? God hates sin, but God hates
those who commit sin. God hates the workers of iniquity. He hates the origin of sin. Where does sin originate? In the heart. It's out of the
heart that proceed evil thoughts. It's out of the heart proceeds
murders and fornications and false witness. It's out of the
heart these evil things come. When God hates the workers of
iniquity, He goes right to the origin of iniquity. He hates
the heart that commits iniquity. It's their inward part that God
hates. Somebody said, well, He hates
the sin. Of course He hates the sin. But
would He hate the fruit and yet not hate the root? He hates the very origin. He
goes to the heart. He looks where sin comes from. And that's the heart. And he
hates the workers of iniquity. We're told here in verse 9. There
is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their inward part is very wickedness. It's their inward part. That's
where God hates. He hates the workers of iniquity
in the very heart. But it extends farther than that,
doesn't it? He goes to the root of the matter.
He hates the origin of sin, the heart of a man, and yet it goes
farther than that. It extends to the members of
the body that agree with the heart. and yield themselves up
to be servants of sin. He hates the members. We are
told there in verse 9 again that there is no unfaithfulness in
their mouth. Their throat is an open sepulcher. The throat has yielded itself
to be a conduit through which the heart shoots its evil into
the mouth. God must hate the throat. It's
a member of sin. We're told that He hates the
tongue that lies, that deceives. He hates the lips that contain
poisonous words. He hates the mouth that's full
of cursing and bitterness. He hates the feet that are swept
to shed blood. He hates the ears that are dull
of urine. He hates the eyes that are never
satisfied with beholding sin. I would conclude from this text
and this context that God hates the workers of iniquity from
their innermost being. their heart where sin has its
origin to all of their memories. God hates thoroughly the workers
of iniquity. This is why I say this is a fearful
declaration. David never put an asterisk here
and offered an apology for God for this declaration. But he does do this. He gives
us some hints as to why God is alienated from the workers of
iniquity. He gives us some hint as to why
God detests the foolish. He tells us here in verse 4,
and it has to do with who God is. Because of God's very nature. He says in verse 4, for thou
art not a God that takes pleasure in wickedness. Why does God hate
the workers of iniquity? He can do nothing else. Sometimes
you and I are deceived by sin and we chuckle at it, don't we?
Sin deceives us and we like fools mock at it. But God cannot be
deceived with sin. He takes no pleasure in it. He
is of two pure eyes to behold it. He takes no satisfaction
in it. Thou art not a God that hath
pleasure in wickedness. And He tells us also in the last
part of verse 4, Neither shall evil dwell with thee. God cannot abide it in His presence. He is pure light. When the scriptures
want to represent God to us in His infinite holiness and purity,
how does it do it? It represents God to us as light
in whom is no darkness. Evil, sin, wickedness cannot
dwell with this God. Gabe told us this morning about
God separating light from darkness. And he said there'd be no night
there. Why won't there be any night there? The night cannot
dwell with God. He's light. And he tells us something
else here in verse 5. He goes on and gives us another
hint. That's why God hates all workers of iniquity.
Why the foolish cannot stand in His presence. He says there
in verse 5, the foolish shall not stand in thou thy sight. Why is that? God's made no grounds. He's given no status for them
to stand upon. How could any wicked man, how
could any foolish person stand before God unless God has made
provision for him to stand there? The foolish cannot stand in His
presence because when God marks one iniquity, nobody can stand. The ungodly shall not stand in
the day of judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Now you ask foolish people, you ask them for their opinion, how
they suppose that they might come before God and stand in
His presence, you'll get many opinions. But stack all of those
opinions together and all together will not give them one sure foundation
that will stand their way. when they actually stand there.
The foolish shall not stand in His presence. And look at something else. Look
in verse 6. He mentions three characteristics
of those who work iniquity and the foolish. Those who speak leasing, the
falsehood, the liars, and the bloody men, the murderers, and
the deceitful men. Why does he mention these? Of
all the characteristics of wicked people, of sinful people, why
give these three characteristics? Well, I think he does it for
this reason. These are three cheap characteristics of Satan
himself. Listen to our Lord in John chapter
8 in verse 44. You are of your father the devil,
and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning. He's bloody. He was a murderer.
Who did he murder? Our first parents. And we're
told that Cain killed his brother because he was of the wicked
one. Men's hearts are full of hate
and murder. because they lack Satan. You begin to see just a little
bit why maybe God hates the workers of iniquity. And our Lord went on in John
8 to say this about Satan. And he abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own, for he is the liar, the father of it. He is a liar and the father of
it. Workers of iniquity are liars.
And that's the chief characteristic of the devil. He's the father
of lies. It originated with him. And I'm
a worker of iniquity. And I've got the same characteristic
as Satan. And deceitful. Deceitful. Why did Eve disobey the Lord
and eat of that fruit? She was deceived. Why does a
lost world, when they hear the gospel of the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, not embrace it immediately? Why don't they say,
this is my hope, this is my life. We're standing on the brink of
eternity and one after another are stepping over the edge and
ruining themselves. And yet the gospel is being preached. Why is men's minds so blinded
to it? Well, there's a reason. And it
has to do with this deceiver. Satan has blinded the minds of
them which believe not. We're told in the book of Revelations
that he's cast out into the world and he deceives humanity. He deceives the whole world. And what does the scripture say
about the natural man? His heart is deceitful. The characteristics
of Satan. Well, that's not flattering,
is it? That's not flattering at all. I'm more like him now. than I
am God who created me. You're more like him now than
the God who created you. Well, there's the doctrine. And
it's simple and it's plain in this text. Are you repulsed by
it? Are you offended by it? When I say here, read my text,
God hates the workers of iniquity. Do you say, surely David has
made a mistake about this? I know it says that. But obviously, you're not getting the sense
of the text. Somebody's made David mad. These wicked men have
been hunting him and they've harassed him and finally he's
lost his temper and he has an axe to grind. And in his haste
he said, God hate you fellas. David was just in a bad attitude.
That's why he said that. Well, let's look at the context,
because I think the context is very important. I read it to
you in verses 1 through verse 3, and here's the context. David was in prayer before his
Lord, his King, and his God. He was asking the Lord to give
him a hearing. As he often did, he was saying,
Lord, bow down your ear and hear me. Hear my cry. I know that you're high. I know
that you're higher than the heavens and you have to humble yourself
to behold the things that's there. Would you condescend to hear
me? If you hear me, you're going
to have to stoop to hear me. Sounds like somebody that's very
humbled over the fact that he's seeking the Lord and he addresses
Him here as his King, my King. Here's the great King of Israel.
And what's He doing? He's bowing before His King.
He calls Him my King, hearkening to the voice of my cry, my King
and my God. Who is He praying to? Well, He's
praying to the Son of God, isn't He? Who is God Himself. God's King that He said on His
holy hill of Zion. David said, He's my King. And
those preachers in the early church went everywhere preaching
that there was another King, one Jesus. And He's called the
King of Saints. He's called the King of Kings.
He's King. He has a kingdom. And His kingdom
is full of saints. And the saints have a king. And
it's Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He's the head. There's been a
controversy now for some hundreds of years. We've had popes who
declare they're the head. And Jesus Christ declares that
He's the head. They're the head of their church.
He's the head of his. He's king. King of saints. He's called king of nations. You and I are so afraid now of
what's going on in our country and what's happening in our country.
We shouldn't be afraid. Here's the king. Do we realize whose presence
we're going into when we say let's pray? We're going into
the presence of the king. All the other king who has hearts,
those hearts are in the hands of this king. And he turns them
wherever he will. And David said, this is who I'm
praying to, my king. Oh, my king and my covenant God. My Lord and my God. Prayer is an enlightening thing,
isn't it? It's right in the midst of David
seeking the Lord here that he makes this statement. God hateth
the workers of iniquity. Why would he make that statement
in the midst of this humble prayer seeking his King and his God?
Well, this is what prayer does. Prayer takes us out of the natural
realm, doesn't it? It sets aside these fleshly feelings,
these carnal ties that we feel with our family and our loved
ones and humanity. It lifts us above that. It gets
us in the Spirit. We are praying in the Spirit
with understanding. And when David was there, he
suddenly realizes, where I am standing, the foolish can't stand. Oh, you're such a God. You're
so vast. You're so holy. You're so high. You're so pure. The foolish can't
stand you and your presence. And he said, I see such an eternal
distinction between you and myself and you and all humanity. There's
no comparison in you and them. You surely hate all workers of No, David wasn't mad at anybody.
As a matter of fact, he was a lover of God. He loved the Lord's church. He had no axes to grind. He realized
that when God hated the wicked, that's just a fact. That's just
the truth. But he saw that when he was in
prayer. And those who are repulsed by
this statement, and those who deny it, and those who say it
can't be so, I doubt if they've ever prayed. Haven't you learned more in prayer
before God than in reading all the works of man put together?
And what have you learned there? that there isn't an eternal difference
between this God that you're praying to and fallen sinners. David goes on in verse 7, look
at this. As for me, but as for me, now
somebody might say that sounds like a Pharisee. But as for me,
now I'm different. You know, I don't do things like
that. Oh, maybe I used to, but I've got my act together now,
and I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes, and I go to church,
and all these other things. I'm just not like them. There's
a difference in me. See, he's just a Pharisee, but
don't stop reading there. That's not all he said is. Oh,
but as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of
thy mercy. No, he wasn't a self-righteous
man at all. He wasn't a legalist looking
down his nose to simply judge other people. This was a man
who had trusted in mercy. He had entered God's presence
through the door of mercy. He started the way just like
you did, by mercy. I don't know when the Lord saved
David. I imagine he was just a little kid. Probably his dad or one of his
brethren had taken him out on the hillside and set him down
to watch the sheep. And his conscience was disturbed
and he felt his need of forgiveness, his need of salvation. And he
began to cry out, God be merciful to me a sinner. You say, Bruce,
how do you know he did that? Everybody begins that way. Here's
a little child beating on his chest. God be merciful to me,
the sinner. And he found mercy. He obtained
mercy. And here he is an adult man,
a great king. And what's he still talking about?
Mercy. And it's not enough now for him
to say mercy. Oh, it's been years and mercy's
been following him. cleaning up his messes that he's
made in his life. He sees mercy all around him,
protecting him from his enemies. He sees mercy between him and
heaven. Everything that comes to him
comes through mercy. He sees mercy in front of him
and knows that things are going to end well. And he said it's
not enough to say mercy. It's a multitude of mercies.
No, this is not a self-righteous man. This is not a legalist. This is a man you could approach
into. He's a king, but he's a friendly man. He's a good man, but he's
a man that's trusting in mercy, and he makes this statement. Thou hatest, thou hatest all
workers of the And we could go on in verse 8, we won't, but
we could go on in verse 8 and see there what he says about
praying for the Lord to lead him, lead me in your righteousness. Don't let me forget whose righteousness
it is that has saved me. You know why the world is shocked
by this declaration? They have little or no conception
about the holiness of God and the exceeded sinfulness of sin. That's it, isn't it? That's it. Well, there's the doctrine, and
it can't be denied. God hateth workers of iniquity,
and it was said by a humble man as he prayed before the throne
of grace, trusting in mercy. What can you and I learn from
this fearful declaration? If you're here tonight and you're
a saint, the Lord has called you. You're a believer in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let me say to you like this. When you lay dead in trespasses
and sins, was there any difference in you and every other worker
of iniquity. Was your mind not full of enmity
against God, even as others? The moral law of God looked upon
your heart And did it not condemn you? When the law of God searched
your heart, your desires, your motives, did it not curse you? Cursed is everyone that continues
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
this. Romans 5.18, By the offense of one judgment came upon all
men to condemnation. Did you not fall in Adam? Did
God not judge him and condemn him? And were you not in him
condemned? Guilty. Not just in the court
of my conscience. Not just in the court of your
conscience. But in the court of heaven. Guilty
before God. I think we have to recognize
that, don't we? Justice. Indignant justice. stood in view. God's justice
looking upon us, finding nothing in us that pleased Him, finding
everything that repulsed Him and everything He aided. Brother
Scott used to say, God has to do something for Himself first
before He can do anything for us. And what did He do for Himself?
Go ye under to Calvary's tree. There hangs Jesus of Nazareth,
the Son of Mary, the Son of God. And He's hanging in darkness.
And sometimes He sobs. Sometimes He cries out, My God,
My God. Sometimes He cries out, I thirst. And He hangs there. and shame and probably utter
nakedness. Until finally he says it's finished
and he bows his head and the breath is gone from his lung.
He's dead. And we say to this indignant
justice, is that enough? Are you satisfied? And he says
no. Not till you empty his veins. Not till you empty his cells
of his blood. I demand blood. I demand Emmanuel's
blood. And I will not be satisfied until
it's poured out at his feet. There it is. There it is. All his blood flowed from his
heart and his cells. And what happens then? Here is
something that must happen. Here is what must happen. In
time, in time, God the Holy Spirit comes to every elect soul and
finds him dead in his sins, just like everybody else. And there
is not anything in that elect soul that can please God. He abhors it. Why? Because it's sin. It's a heart that's producing
sin. It's members that has become the servant of sin. And God looks
upon it and God says, I abhor it. I abhor his heart. And what does He do? He washes it. He washes him. He cleanses him. He takes out that old heart of
rebellion and sin and puts in a new heart. He purges the guilt
away. And He picks him up and He sets
him in front of Him. And he says, here's the foundation,
here's the rock that you will stand before me on from now on. And he stands him upon Jesus
Christ. The same God who put Moses in
a rock. and showed him his glory and
took David from the mirey clay and set him on a rock and established
his going. He takes this poor elect soul
and he stands him on Christ and says, now you have a ground to
stand in my presence. You're accepted in the beloved. And he says, here's this fountain.
I've opened at a great cost to myself. Always be washing. When you come into my presence,
always be washing. Here is where I'll save you and
here is where I'll keep you clean. In Emmanuel's fountain. And he brings this robe, this
beautiful robe of God's own dear Son. And he clothes his shame. And God looks upon him and sees
nothing but his own image in him. And said, I love it. I love it. And then he says something
to that poor elect soul that clears up so many mysteries.
He says this, in a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a
moment. Oh, it was wrath. You felt it,
did you not? But it was only for a moment.
It was only for a while. But with everlasting kindness
will I have mercy upon you, saith the Lord. You say, Bruce, how in the world?
How could God have loved me if I was a worker of iniquity? And
the Bible says He hated all workers of iniquity. How could He have
loved me? Well, love you, there's no doubt,
because the Bible says He loved you with an everlasting love.
But maybe this is to teach us that His love was not found by
anything that was in you. Maybe He didn't love you because
there was something in you that attracted that love. Maybe the
cause was found in Himself. Reckon? Oh God, God's wrath may be upon
you, dear elect soul. But you're under everlasting
mercy if you want to hear it. There's people who are under
temporal mercy, but everlasting wrath. But God's elect, even though
they haven't been called, they're under temporal wrath, but everlasting
mercies. To the lost, what can the lost
can learn from this dreadful declaration? hateth all workers
of iniquity. What can the lost? Are you here
tonight and you're lost? Are you without the Lord Jesus
Christ? You're an unbeliever. Can you find any just cause why
God shouldn't hate you? If you treated your friends like
you've treated him, you wouldn't have any friends. If you broke the laws of the
state like you've broke His, you'd be in jail or worse. Can you actually find any fault
with God for hating you? People have told you for a long
time God loves you. On what grounds could He possibly
love somebody like you? You know what, dear soul? You
will not spend eternity cursing God for hating you. You'll spend
eternity cursing because you loved yourself. You loved your sin. You loved
your darkness rather than light. And one of the things that's
going to aggravate your damnation except repentance for men is
this. Your damnation is of yourself. God hated Esau before he was
ever born, before he did any good or evil, but we're not told
that about you here. He gives good reason why he hates
the workers of iniquity here. And he gives us good reasons
why he'll damn them and destroy them. Accept repentance from
him. Destroy thou them, O God, let
them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude
of their transgressions. They dig the pit, let them fall
in it. They've laid a net, let them
be taken back. If a man could blame God for
being in hell, it may ease a conscience a little bit. But God is so just, he'll never
be blamed for it. He'll clear his name on the dead
judgment. Let me give you this advice.
No, let the Lord give you this advice. Take this advice. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he's near. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thought, and let him return unto the Lord,
and he'll have mercy upon him. You can't find any reason why
he would save you? That's good. Maybe you'll quit
looking for a reason in yourself. You can't find a reason why He
would love you? That's good. Maybe you'll stop
looking for a reason. And turn unto Him as the hell
deserving sinner that you are. As the one who has provoked God
all your life. And then when He has mercy upon
your soul, you'll be pleasantly surprised. And you'll be amazed
that in some mysterious way, all along, He loved you. He loved
you. God bless you. Thank you, Pastor.