You know, men have been calling
upon the name of the Lord for a long time, haven't they? I
read that passage of scripture in Genesis chapter four at the
very beginning. Then men began to call upon the
name of the Lord. And I want to be somebody who
calls upon the name of the Lord. I want that right now more than
anything else. I want to call. upon the name
of the Lord, because the Scripture says, Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. So David says in Psalm
4, verse 1, Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Hear me. I am calling hear me. I want the Lord to hear me. You know, if he hears you, your
prayer is answered. If he hears. Remember that sorrow
Phoenician woman where the scripture says he answered her not a word
when she was calling upon him for mercy. I know he didn't answer
at that time, but he heard her. He heard her. Now, I want to
be somebody who the Lord actually hears. He said, Hear me when
I call, O God of my righteousness. Now, this is the only time this
phrase is found in the Scripture. It's an interesting way of putting
things, isn't it, to say the least. O God of my righteousness. My righteousness. Now you listen
to me real carefully. I, Todd Nybert, every believer,
I have a personal righteousness that is called my righteousness. Mine, not somebody else's. Mine. Isaiah 54, 17 says their righteousness,
their personal righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. It's what John called in Revelation
chapter 19 verse 8, fine linen, clean and white. This is the
righteousness of the saints. Now, notice how David called
the Lord God, God of my righteousness. He's the God of my righteousness.
Now, what's that mean? Well, first of all, he's the
author of it. And let's take it a step further. It's literally his righteousness. Their righteousness is of me. It's the obedience. It's the
perfect law keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is my personal
righteousness. Don't you love this way of saying
this? Oh, God of my righteousness. Now, how can that be? How can
He be the God of my righteousness? Well, just as truly as He became
sin, He became what I am on the cross. He became sin, and just
as truly as He became sin and suffered the wrath of God, I
become the very righteousness of God in Him. And He is the God of my righteousness. Now, he says in verse one, thou
hast enlarged me when I was in distress. And how many times
has the Lord enlarged you? Have mercy on you. Revealed himself
to you when you were in distress. He said, you've enlarged me when
I was in distress, I'm in distress now, hear me again. Hear me again,
O God of my righteousness and have mercy on me. You only ask
for mercy when you realize you're a sinner and you have no claims
on God. And you can't have anything by
way of merit. That's the only time you ask
for mercy. When you really believe that you have absolutely no claims
on God. That's when you say, have mercy
on me. Now, that's what David's asking.
He says, hear me when I call, O Lord. God of my righteousness. Hear me when I call. Have mercy
on me. You've heard me in the past.
Hear me again. Now, don't you want the Lord
to hear you? I don't want to be one of these fellows who finds
satisfaction in the mechanics of prayer. Well, I've said my
prayers. It's not going to do any good to say my prayers. I
want to be heard. I want the living God to hear
me when I call upon Him. And isn't that an amazing, awesome
thought that the God of the universe actually hears me. As insignificant
as I am, the God of the universe actually hears the prayer of
every single one of his people. Now, he's been speaking to God,
and he now begins to speak to men. In verse 2, O ye sons of
men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will
you love vanity and seek after leasing? When you have some awareness
of who God is, you see men for what they are, don't you? That's
the only time you really see men for what they are and who
they are when you have some awareness of who God is. Now, David turns
around and he says, after thinking of God, he says, Oh, ye sons
of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? Now, first
of all, I can see these as the words of the Lord Jesus Christ
and really with regard to every psalm, Always look first for
Christ speaking, because that's the first application of it.
I remember one time I was reading about somebody in the Psalms. He was giving a study of the
Psalms. He said there's 22 Messianic Psalms, where obviously Christ
is speaking. No, there's 150 Messianic Psalms. It starts in Psalm 1. Look in
Psalm 1. Verse 1. Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. nor standeth in
the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth
he meditate day and night." Who's that speaking of? The Lord Jesus
is that blessed man. Now, his people are blessed in
him, too, and we're the blessed men in this. But this is primarily
a reference to Christ. And every psalm is like that.
All 150 psalms there, Messianic psalms, they all speak of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And you can see in Psalm 4, the
Lord saying this regarding his detractors. How, O ye sons of
men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will
you love vanity and seek after leasing and seek after lies?
But these are the words of David also. And when you see who the
Lord is, You see, men for who they are, men who would turn
the glory of God into shame and who actually love vanity and
seek after lies so much for men. But he's going on to speak to
these men in verse three. He says, but no. And he's speaking
to these men who he says, how long will you turn my glory into
shame and how long will you love vanity and seek after leasing?
But no, but no. I want you to be aware of this,
that the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call
unto him. Now, who is this person that
is described in this psalm as godly? But know that the Lord
has set apart him that is godly for himself. Who is this godly
person. Well, this describes every single
believer. I'm looking at some godly men
and women tonight. This is a description of every
believer. He fears God. He trusts God. He loves God as he is, as is
revealed in the scriptures. He wouldn't change him if it
were in his power. He loves the God of the Bible. He knows God. And he's like God. Every believer
bears a likeness to the living God. Now, how can that be when
you talk about how sinful man is and everything? Well, every
believer is born of the spirit. They're born of that holy seed.
They are given that new nature. That's what takes place in the
new birth. Being born again, not a corruptible seed, but an
incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. And because of that new nature. God, the Father, loves the Lord
Jesus Christ. I've got something in common
with God the Father. I love the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a likeness there. God the Father entrusts the salvation
of his people to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I trust the Lord Jesus Christ
for my salvation. To God the Father, the glory
of Jesus Christ is more important than anything else. And to every
believer, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is more important
than anything else. You see, every believer truly
is godly in that sense. I used to have a hard time with
that term just because I looked at my flesh and thought about
how I was. I thought, can I call myself
that? Well, God does. And this is a description of
every believer. By the grace of God, by his work
in me, every believer is godly. What a wonderful description
of a believer. And even saying that, I'm still
aware to some extent of how sinful I am, but I'm also aware of the
Lord's work with grace in me. And here's how I see it most
clearly. I know that God the Father loves
his son, and I do too. I adore him. I see him as altogether
lovely. Now, that is godly. Now, David
says, no, that the Lord has set apart him that's godly for himself. Now, what's this word set apart
mean? What's that mean? Well, turn to Exodus 11. Let
me show you how this word is used. Exodus 11. Well, let's begin reading verse
6. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of
Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it
any more. But he's talking about the killing
of the firstborn. But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast. that you may know how that the
Lord doth put a difference." That's the same word as set apart. How that the Lord doth put a
difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Now, how did these
people get to be godly? This is a description of every
believer. Godly. How did they get that way? Because
God set them apart for that. He's the one who caused them
to be that. It's not because they were this
in and of themselves. It's because God set them apart
for this. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 4, verse 7. I know this is what Paul's referring
to when he makes this statement in 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Know
that God has set apart. He's made a difference. And what
a difference. Before I read this passage of
scripture, what a difference there is between a believer and
an unbeliever. It's a vast difference. One has the very divine nature,
partakers of the divine nature. What a difference. I mean, there's.
It's an infinite difference. An infinite difference. Or how
did this come? How come I'm so different from
an unbeliever? Well, what do I trace that to? Look here at First Corinthians,
chapter four, verse seven. For who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now who made you to differ? This
is easy for me to answer this question. God the Father made
me to differ in eternal election when he sovereignly chose me
to be his. God the Son made the difference
in eternal redemption when He lived for me. Just what you were
singing about. What He did for me. He lived
for me. He kept the law for me. He died for me. He was raised
for me. He made a difference. He didn't
do this for everybody. He did this for His elect. He
did this for those the Father gave Him. He did this for those
who believed. The Lord made the difference.
And I know this, so I know the only reason that I'm a believer
is because He made me to be one. God, the Holy Spirit, made the
difference in eternal regeneration when he birthed me into the kingdom
and gave me life. God set me apart. Know this. He's even said this to unbelievers.
Well, why do unbelievers need to hear this? Well, he said,
you know this, this is who he's speaking to. Know this, that the Lord
has set apart him that is godly for himself. Now, believer, you
belong to the Lord. You are not your own. Isn't it great to belong to the
Lord? It's wonderful. You've been bought with a price.
Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God's. Know this, that the Lord has
set apart him that is godly for himself. And because he set me
apart, look what he says in verse three, but know that the Lord
has set apart him that's godly for himself. The Lord will hear.
when I call unto him. Now isn't that a blessed truth?
The Lord will hear. I'm calling, and you know what?
He hears. And this is true with regard
to every believer through the intercession of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Every time I call on the Lord, He hears me. That's
a blessed promise. He shall hear when I call. Now,
David has been Speaking to the Lord, hear me when I call, O
God of my righteousness. And then he speaks to the natural
man, O ye sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love vanity? How long will you seek after
lies and deceit? I want you to know this, the
Lord has set apart him that's godly for himself. He's been
speaking to men and now he speaks to himself. And what he says
is so very important. May God give us grace to enter
into this. He says in verse four, and he's
speaking to himself, stand in awe, literally tremble, shiver. Stand in all. Quiver. Stand in all at the greatness
of the Lord God. That's something to do with the
fear of God. Stand in all. Think of the greatness
of God. Take any one of His glorious
attributes and you think of the greatness of God. You think of
the fact, for instance, that He's omnipresent. You can't go
anywhere where He's not. He's there. David said, if I
make my bed in hell, thou art there. You can't go anywhere
where He's not. Stand in awe. What a glorious
being. Stand in awe at His holiness. He's altogether other. He's altogether
different. He's not like me and you. There's
nobody we can even compare Him with. Stand in awe. Stand in
awe at His sovereignty. He controls everything. He controls
everybody. He controls everything. He's
the first cause behind everything. He's got a will. He's got the
power to make sure his will comes to pass. His will does come to
pass all the time. Completely. Does that glorious
mean? Think of his power. Whatever
he wills, he has the power to perform. Think of His justice. He's altogether just. Shall not
the judge of the earth do right? Whatever he does is right. Stand
in awe. Stand in awe of His awesome power.
Stand in awe at His grace. Stand in awe that He would give
His Son for somebody like me or you. Stand in awe that Christ
came here. Stand in awe that Christ died.
Stand in awe of His resurrection. Stand in awe. You know, this
generation we live in is a flippant and an irreverent generation.
I can't stand the way people talk, particularly religious
people, the flippant way they talk about God, the flippant
way they talk about the Scriptures and the Lord. It's just fear,
tremble, shiver even when you use His name. Thou shalt not
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Stand in awe and
sin not. You see, if you don't stand in
awe, you're sinning. Isn't that so? If you don't stand in awe
of His glorious person, if you don't tremble in His presence,
in your heart, His glory, His greatness, if I don't stand in
awe, I'm sinning. Stand in awe and sin not. And let me say this about this
thing of sinning not. Make it your aim. Make it your
objective. to never sin again from this
time forward. That is to be the goal of everybody
here. John said, these things I write
unto you, that you sin not. And when you do, thank God we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. But
stand in awe, awe at His person, And sin not. And then he says,
commune in verse four, stand in all and sin not. He says,
commune with your own heart upon your bed. Now, some people never
do this, they never examine themselves, they never look at themselves,
but a believer does. He looks at himself. You know,
you can't look at God and have a spiritual view of who he is
through the Lord Jesus Christ. without having some idea of who
you are. And you commune with your own
heart on your bed. You see, really, you see how
evil you are. You see how sinful you are. You
see your need of His grace. You see your need of His mercy.
You commune with your own heart on your bed. Examine yourself,
whether you be in the faith. Examine your calling and election.
Make it sure. Commune with your own heart on
your bed. Some people are just so busy, just so busy. Now, wait
a minute. Commune with your own heart on your bed and be still. Be still and know that I am God. Here's something I fear we know
far too little about. Be still. Be still. Be still and know. Isn't it wonderful to just be
still and know that God reigns and that he's in control of everything
and everybody? Be still. You know, you can't
hear when you're speaking. It's impossible. I always think it's interesting,
and I know I've done it. I know I've done it a lot. It's always
interesting when you're talking to somebody and they're looking
right through you, waiting for you to stop so they can start
talking again, and they're not listening. Listen. That's what you do when
you're still. You listen. You listen to what
God says in His Word. God is in the heaven and you're
on the earth. Therefore, let thy words be few. Be still, my soul. The Lord is
on thy side. Now, if I stand in awe at the
greatness of God, I'll take a look at myself and I'll shut up. That's what will happen. Be still. And then he says in verse five,
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. Now, is he saying, offer up to
God the sacrifices of your good works and your righteousness?
Is there anybody in here that's crazy enough to think anything
you've done could be acceptable to God? When he's saying, offer up the
sacrifice of righteousness, he's not talking about something you
or I have done. When I offer up the sacrifice of righteousness,
what am I offering up? The Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
hear me for His sake. I come no other way. I come in
the name, the righteousness, and the merits of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We offer His righteousness. And
if I ever stand in awe, this is what I'll do, I'll offer the
sacrifice of righteousness. I'll come to God by Christ in
no other way. And He says, you offer the sacrifice
of righteousness, and that's what I'm doing right now. Remember,
He's the God of my righteousness. That's how I come. He's the author
of my righteousness. He is my righteousness. And I
offer the sacrifice of righteousness. And then he says, put your trust,
what it says next, put your trust. In the Lord. Put your confidence. In the Lord, don't trust princes,
don't trust men, put your confidence in the Lord now. In the Lord. This is not a more important
phrase in the Bible. In the Lord. He hath made us
accepted in the beloved. In the Lord Jesus Christ. All
of God's love. All of God's grace. All of God's
mercy. All of God's acceptance is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Every blessing that God has to
give is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And there aren't any blessings
that God has to give outside of Him. Put your trust. Put your confidence in the Lord. Paul put it this way in 2 Timothy
1, verse 12, I know whom I have believed, the Lord, and I'm persuaded. I am convinced beyond a shadow
of a doubt, I'm sure of this, I'm persuaded that He is able. Are you persuaded of that? He is able, with no help from
me, no contribution from me, He is able to keep that which
I committed to Him. And this is whatever believer
does. They commit the salvation of their soul to Him. No works. Now, if you believe in works
in any way, to any degree, as being a part of your acceptance
before God, you've never committed. Never have. They who commit are
those who entrust the entire salvation of their soul only
to Him. Trust. Have confidence and rely
in the Lord. I'm persuaded He is able to keep
that which I've committed to Him against that day. Now, David says in verse 6, There be many that say, Who shall
show us any good? Who's going to make us happy?
What can be done to make us feel good about this life we're living?
Who can show us any good? Many make that cry. And if you're
looking for good in this world, You're going to be like this
person. You're going to say, who will show us any good? You're
going to become cynical. You're going to become disillusioned.
This is a very cynical statement. Who will show us any good? Who
will show us any good? And I can see how you can become
cynical and disillusioned if you're looking for good in this
world. You know, the unbeliever cannot possibly understand the
believer. There's no way. But an unbeliever
can understand an unbeliever. I understand the way the natural
man thinks. I understand because I thought that way. I understand
exactly what the natural man's thinking. Somebody says, you
don't understand. Oh, yes, I do. Yes, I do. Now, I understand
their cynicism. I understand them saying, who
can show us any good? I understand those desires and
cries of the unbeliever. I've made them myself. You have
to. We understand where they're coming
from. They can't understand where we're coming from. They lack
the ability to do that. But we understand exactly where
they're coming from. But look what David says. He says, while
they say, who will show us any good? He says, Lord, lift thou
up. The light of thy countenance
upon us. Now, what is the light of his
countenance? It's his face. It's his favor. I think there's
three things that this light of his countenance means, and
this is what every believer desires. I want to see his face. I want
him to know me. And I want to know Him. I want
His, first of all, His reconciled face. I don't want to be like
that group in the book of Revelation where they say to hide us from
the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath
of the Lamb. I don't want to have anything
to do with that face. I want to have His reconciled face looking
at me. Now, His reconciled face means
that His reason for anger is removed. There's no reason to
be mad at me. Isn't that a glorious thing to
think of the Lord not having a reason to be mad at you? Just
being pleased with you, pleased with everything about you. That's
His reconciled face. Lord, lift up your soul-cheering
line of your countenance. Reconciled and soul-cheering. John Newton put it best, How
tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness to me. The midsummer
sun shines but dim. The fields strive in vain to
look gay. But when I am happy in Him, December's
as pleasant as May. His name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music His voice, His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice. I would, were He always thus
nigh, Have nothing to wish or to fear, No mortal as happy as
I, My summers would last all the year, Content with beholding
His face. My all to his pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. When blessed with a sense of
his love, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons would palaces
prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. Now that is his soul-cheering
presence. O Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us. But there's something else about
the light of his countenance. It's transforming. Turn with
me for a moment to Second Corinthians, Chapter 3. Second Corinthians, Chapter 3. But we all, this is every believer,
with an open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord through the mirror of the word, we with an open face behold
as in a glass the glory of the Lord. And what do we do as we
Behold, with an open face, the glory of the Lord, when we look
at his light, the light of his countenance, it says we're changed. Into the same image from glory
to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord, and here's what
that means. You can't look to Christ. And be unmerciful. You cannot look to Christ and
refuse to forgive somebody. You cannot look to Christ and
not be kind. You cannot look to Christ. You
look to Him. You'll be gracious. You'll be
like Him. Now, when you start trying to
be like Him, it never works. You start trying to be like Him.
You just end up being the same way you always are. Your flesh
is what it is. But you look to Him. And this
is the key. Faith. It's faith. Looking to Him. You
look to Him. You'll be like him. You fail
to look to him, you'll be just like yourself. You look to him. But you see, the light of his
countenance is a transforming view. Oh, the light of his...
Oh, would to God that I always simply looked and never looked
away. That's the soul transforming
view of his countenance. Now look at verse 7, back to
our text in Psalm 4. Now, Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us. And as he does, you know, we
can't see him unless he shows himself. Oh, but when he shows
himself, thou has put gladness in my heart more than in the
time their corn and their wine increased. You know, the world
only knows about gladness when their corn and their wine increases.
Look at how upset everybody is right now. Everybody's lost so
much money. And nobody likes losing money. I'm not saying
that's something to be indifferent about. But everybody's so upset.
Oh, things are so bad. Things are so bad. No, they're
not. I'm completing Christ. I'm adjoining
with the Lord Jesus Christ. And my treasure is not here on
earth. It's in heaven. And it can't be taken away. It
cannot be taken away. That's my treasure. And thou
has put gladness in my heart of more than the time when, oh,
everything's so good. My corn and wine's increased.
I've got money in the bank. I've got all of it. No, my gladness
is superior to that. That's what he's saying. Verse 8. Somebody called this the evening
psalm, and I can see why. David finishes with saying, I
will both lay me down in peace. What kind of peace? The peace
that Christ gives. Therefore, being justified. That's the peace he's talking
about. I get such peace from him being my justification for
God. That means I'm not guilty. That means I don't have anything
to worry about. Sin is what brings the worry. If I don't have any
sin, I've got nothing to worry about. I'm justified in God's
sight. I have no worries. Now, because I'm just having
been justified, by faith we have peace with God. God's not mad at me. I'll both
lay me down in peace and I'll sleep. For thou, Lord, only makes
me to dwell in safety. Now, I don't know how many times
I've tried to quote this psalm to myself when I couldn't sleep,
and I didn't fall asleep. I wish I did, but that's as it
is. I thought, well, if you really believe me, that seems like you'd
fall asleep. Maybe so. But I know this. Even when I can't sleep,
I know He only makes me to dwell in safety. Now, that's true in
the feeling of it. Isn't it wonderful to know He doesn't sleep. He neither
sleeps nor flumbers. And His eye is always on me.
And I'm protected. That's a wonderful feeling. But
the thing that's better than the feeling of it is the fact
of it. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for Thou,
Lord, only makest me. to dwell in safety and in security,
under the blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's fold, under
the blood of Jesus, safe while the ages roll, safe though the
worlds may crumble, safe though the stars grow dim, under the
blood of Jesus, I am secure in Him. Let's pray.