Turn with me back to Psalm chapter
four. Psalm four. Titled the message this evening,
a cry to God and a message to man. A cry to God and a message
to man. Let's begin with verse one. David
writes, hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Hear me when I call. David makes his plea here to
God, to Almighty God. And his plea is based on merit. but none of his own. It's his merit. It's God's merit. He says, oh God of my righteousness. God who is made to his people
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. David makes this
supplication, this prayer with an eye to the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Oh God of my righteousness. This specific name here appears
this one time in scripture. Oh God of my righteousness. The God of my justification. The God of my deliverance. The God of my victory. Oh God
of my righteousness. He's saying, you're the author
of it. You're the witnesser of it. You're the maintainer of it.
You're the judge of it. You are my salvation. And there's none other. Oh God
of my righteousness. He said, hear me. Hear me when
I call. How is it that a righteous God
could ever hear the cry of a sinful man? There's only one possible
way. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only in him. The Lord heard me when I cried
for mercy. And he pardoned my sins. He gave
me a good hope through grace. He has heard the voice of my
supplication and has graciously blessed and supplied every need. If you just look up In Psalm
3 there in verse 4, David says, I cried unto the Lord with my
voice, and he heard me. He heard me out of his holy heel. Hear me when I call, O God of
my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. Look at verse two. He says, O
ye sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity
and seek after leasing? How long Will we despise the
Lord Jesus Christ? How long will we seek after a
false gospel? How long will we seek after lies?
That's what that word leasing means. This is a picture of the
depravity of man. By nature, By nature, men despise
the Lord Jesus Christ. By nature, we refuse to obey
Him. We refuse to look to Him. Rather than look to Him, we look
to the vanity of this heart, this flesh. We seek after lies. You know, anything that is not
the truth, it's a lie. There's no such thing as a, we
say white lies, we try to make them less than what they are,
but listen, there's no such thing as a partial lie. It's either
a truth or it's a lie. And anything short of the truth
is just that, it's a lie. Christ is the truth. And anything less than Christ
is just a lie. It's just a lie. And to believe
anything apart from Christ is to believe a lie. Turn with me
to 1 John 2. First John 2, look at verse 22. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. Antichrist. That's anything apart
from Christ. That's anyone who would deny
the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son
of God. He's the Christ. He's the Messiah
spoken of by the prophets. He's that one typified in those
Old Testament pictures. He's the one that those Old Testament
saints were looking to. They were looking for. Our Lord
said this. He said, Moses, now think about
that. Moses wrote those first five
books of the Bible. What did our Lord say? He said,
Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote of me. He's the God
man. He's the mediator. He's our savior. He's the prophet. He's that great
high priest. He's the sovereign king who rules
over all. He's our sin offering. He's our
propitiation. He's our atonement. And anyone
who denies that, anyone, no matter who it is, any man
who fails to praise Him, fails to worship Him for who He is,
denies the Lord Jesus Christ. And that man or that woman or
that young person is a liar. They're anti-Christ. And they
do not know the Father or the Son. Jesus Christ is either the Christ,
the Christ. All that's written of Him in
the Old Testament and the New Testament. He is either the Christ,
that one who was promised, that one who was prophesied. He's
either the Christ or He's the greatest imposter to ever live. He's no imposter. He is the Christ. And we do not compromise this
message. We don't deny it. We don't take
away any aspect of it. He's God. Scripture clearly declares
that Jesus Christ is God. And yet He's man. He suffered. He died. He was buried. He's risen, He's exalted, He's
the Savior. And as such, He gets all the
glory. All the glory is due His name. And any man or woman who denies
that is a liar. Verse three, let's read on. But
know, know that the Lord hath set apart
him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear
when I call unto him. Know this." That's what he says
here, know this. This is the truth, know it. The
Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself. I can say that in one word, election. Election. Now the natural man,
he hates this doctrine. The natural man will refuse to
believe this doctrine. The natural man will try to debate
this truth, but that does not change it. that does not change
the truth of it. It does not change the necessity
of preaching it. David says this, know. Know that
the Lord has set apart him that is godly for himself. You know when Moses prayed to
the Lord, when he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. What was our Lord's reply? What
was God's reply to him? It's what he said. He said, I'm
going to make all my goodness pass before you. And I'm going
to proclaim the name of the Lord before you. And this is what
he said. I'll be gracious. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. and I'm going to show mercy on
whom I will show mercy." Down there in Egypt, the Lord spoke
in Exodus. They're during the Passover,
and He said there's going to be a great cry throughout all
the land of Egypt, like never heard before and never will be
heard again. But he said, against the children
of Israel shall not a dog wag its tongue. Against man or beast, for this
purpose, what was it? That ye may know that the Lord
hath put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Who put a difference? Who did
that? The Lord did. Our Lord in John
15-16, just listen to what He said. He said, You have not chosen
Me, but I have chosen you. In Romans 8, He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who? It's God that justifies
election. Election, it's of God. It's true. Election, it's absolute. Election, it's eternal. Turn with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. Paul writing here to the Thessalonians,
2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. He says, but we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. We were elected to salvation
in Christ from before the foundation of the world, set apart, made
holy, regenerated by the spirit of God, and elect Well, turn
back to Psalm 4. Look at verse 3 again. The Lord hath set apart him that
is godly for himself. And then he says this, the Lord
will hear when I call unto him. Doesn't it stand to reason that
he that chose us to himself will surely hear our prayer? You know,
David knew this by experience. There in Psalm 34, six, he said,
this poor man cried. He cried. Ain't no reason to
be ashamed of crying, is there? This poor man cried and the Lord
heard him and delivered him out of all his troubles. He hears, he delivers. Let's read on in our text. Look
with me at verse four. Stand in awe. I tell you, stand
in awe of who he is. Stand in awe of his sovereignty,
his great name, his mercies. Stand in awe of his son, he to
whom everybody's going to stand in awe of him at some point.
Every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord. to the glory of God the Father.
Stand in awe of Him. Stand in awe of our sin. That word stand in awe, it can
be translated tremble. Tremble and sin not. Good reason to tremble before
Him. because of our evil, because of our sin. To approach him,
to approach him like that prodigal son approached his father. You
remember that? He returned to his father and
he said, I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy to be called thy
son. Some translate that as this, I'll never be called a son again. He sought his father with much
trembling. He knew how grievously he had
offended him. But you know, he never ceased
to be a son, tremble because of the greatness
of our sin. And he says, sin not. Commune
with your own heart upon your bed. And I love these two words. Be still. I wish I could get
a hold of them. I wish I could do exactly what
I'm told to do here. Be still. In the book of Mark,
our Lord spoke these words. He didn't speak them to man.
Remember that there was that great storm that came up out
on the water. And that storm was so strong
that it beat against the boards of that ship, and the ship was
completely filled with water. And we read that the Lord was
in the hinder part of the ship, Now he's there this whole time
and asleep. And his disciples, they came
to him and they woke him up and they asked this question. What a foolish question. It's
a question we ask, isn't it? Carest thou not? Carest thou not that we perish? He cares for us, doesn't he? And he arose, and he rebuked
the wind, and he said unto the sea, Peace, be still. Be still. And at his word, what happened?
Be still. The wind ceased and there was
a great calm. And then he looked at them. He
rebuked the waves and he looked at them. And I believe he said this lovingly.
Why are you so fearful? Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? Just be still. Be still. That means to just sit down and
wait with patience. To wait on the Lord. In Psalm
46.10, God's Word says, be still and know that I'm God. That's truly all we need to know,
isn't it? To just be still and know that he's God. Someone once
wrote these words. Be still. It's good advice. It's good and practical advice. But boy, it's hard to follow. Grace is needed. Grace is needed
to enable one to just be still. Let's look at verse 5 of Psalm
4. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness
and put your trust in the Lord. There is but one sacrifice. Has the Lord made you to know
your sin? Has he caused us to see our sin,
the exceeding sinfulness of sin? Can we like David say, I acknowledge
my transgressions and my sin is ever before me? What can I
do about that? What can I do about my sin? Could I sacrifice an animal? We've got some goats at home.
Could we take one of those out and sacrifice it? I guess we
could, but it sure wouldn't do anything about our sin. It's not possible. That's what
God's Word said. It's not possible that the blood
of bulls and goats should take away sin. What about a personal sacrifice?
Maybe I'll give up something I like. Maybe I'll just try and keep
the law for a little bit. I'll just devote myself to keeping
the law. Scripture says, by the deeds
of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. Maybe I could sacrifice by doing
some good works. I, like many of you, there was
a time when I thought that would save me. Or maybe it would at least make
me savable. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
7. Matthew 7. Look at verse 22. Our Lord's speaking here. He
said in verse 22 of Matthew 7, many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful
works. We didn't do just a few, he says
we did many, many wonderful works. Look at the next verse, verse
23. Then shall I profess, I never
knew you. Depart from me. ye that work
iniquity." Those wonderful works, those men we're talking about,
our Lord calls them works of iniquity. What sacrifice is there for sin? I want to know that. And you
know, it's found throughout the scriptures. It's a sacrifice. It's a perfect sacrifice. It's a blood sacrifice. It's a living sacrifice, a willing
sacrifice, an effectual sacrifice. Paul writing to the Hebrews,
he says this, he, who's he talking about here? The Lord of glory,
he appeared. He came to this earth in the
flesh. He appeared to put away sin. All sin. All the sins of his people. Past,
present, and future. How? How did he do that? By the
sacrifice of himself. He made one sacrifice for sin. He suffered for our sins, He
suffered the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Offer the sacrifice of righteousness. You know His name is the Lord
our righteousness? Offer the sacrifice of righteousness
and put your trust in Him, in Him alone. Well, back to the
book of Psalm, Psalm 4, verse 6. There be many that say, who will
show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us. What's the command here? Look
to Christ. Look to Christ. Look unto me
and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and
there is none else. He's the light. He said the light,
to lighten the Gentiles, the glory of his people Israel. He's my light. He's my life.
He's my portion. And I need no other. If we go
back to the book of Genesis, one of the first things spoke
into existence. In the beginning, what did God
say? Let there be light. And that light, it shines in
the darkness, and the darkness comprehends it not. Back when
God sent that plague of darkness, darkness that could be felt,
It was darkness in the land of Egypt. What about in Israel? Was it dark there? We read that
all the children of Israel had what? Light in their dwelling. The light of his countenance
in eternity. There's a light. Is it the sun? No, there's no need for the sun. The glory of God shall light,
the Son, the Son of God. Well, let's finish. Let's look
at these last two verses here, verse 7 and 8. Here we see the
joy and comfort of the believer. Verse 7, he said, thou hast put
gladness in my heart more than the time that their corn and
their wine increased. Consider our joy. The source
of that joy, what is it? It's Him. It's Him. It's Christ. David says there,
Thou. No mistake in who he's speaking
to, is there? Thou has put gladness in my heart. What's the season of that joy? According to the Cambridge Dictionary,
According to God's word, it's right now. Present. Present. Thou hast. That means this. It means the
same as what we would say as you have it. We have it right
now. Where did he put that joy? Well,
we read here. In the heart. In the heart of
the believer. He gave us a new heart. And then
he talks about the excellence of it. It's more than in the
time that their corn and their wine increased. Those are things
of this world. Well, the joy of his grace exceeds
anything and everything this world has to offer. And then
verse eight, I will both lay me down in peace
and sleep, for thou, Lord, only, makest me to dwell in safety. David's son Solomon. Scripture
declares that he slept in a bed surrounded by 60 valiant men. That must have been a really
big bedroom, wasn't it? Surrounded by 60 of the most
valiant men. Experts in war. These weren't
just people that just showed up. These were warriors. 60 of them surrounded his bed,
all with a sword on their thigh. David. David who wrote this. You know where he slept? He slept
on the ground in a cave. And when he slept there, he was
surrounded by his enemies. Everybody had it out for David.
Saul, King Saul was going to try to hunt him down like an
animal and kill him. But listen to what David says. I will both lay me down in peace. That means safe and sound. It also means this, that word
peace, it means friendship. Not just with my neighbor, but with God. Peace with God. It means this, peace as the result
of a covenant relationship. I will both lay me down in peace
and sleep. Made, made to sleep. We're not capable of doing that
on our own. We're made to sleep. How's that? Look at the rest of the verse
here. The Lord only. He alone makes me to dwell in
safety. Makes me to dwell in a refuge. As only He can. As only He can. I was thinking about this Looking
at this last night and today, several years ago, there was
a fellow that had murdered three people in his family. And he
had got loose, and he wrecked his vehicle probably 100 yards
from our house. And we woke up to see flashlights
all over the place. There were sheriff deputies all
over the place. And I walked out, and one of
them was in our chicken coop, looking around. And I shined
a light in his face, and he said, would you please take that light
out of my face? And I did quickly. But the point
is, he looked at me, and he said, He said, there's a suspected
murderer on the loose here in your backyard. He said, make
sure your doors are locked. Make sure your family's doors
are locked. And he said, go in the house. And if you've got
a gun, I suspect you get it. And so we followed his instructions. Abby had a shotgun on her side
of the bed, and I had a pistol on my side of the bed, and had
the window cracked just listening. And you know, at some point in
the night, I couldn't sleep. But at some point in the night,
over in Psalm 127, this scripture came to mind. Look at verse 1 of Psalm 127. I'll close here. It says, except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain to build it. Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain. What matters? I read that, and
I truly laid down my shotgun, I went to bed and we went to
sleep, didn't we? We're in His hands. We're in
His hands. I wish I could just keep that
in mind. I wish I could just go back to
that other verse, be still. Just be still and rest in Him. All right, Isaac, you come lead
us in.