Turn back with me to Psalm 37. Look with me beginning with verse
39. Psalm 37, verse 39. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He is their strength in time
of trouble. And it would appear that David
wrote this psalm in his old age. If you look back at verse 25,
you'll see where he said, I've been young and now I'm old. And like all of David's writings,
this is written by experience. written under the inspiration
of God. It's a statement. It's a truth. It's a fact. And it's a fact
found throughout the scriptures. Jacob, before he died, he called
his sons together to bless them. And he said this in Genesis 49,
verse 18. Jacob said, I have waited for
thy salvation, O Lord. Moses in Exodus 14 and verse
13, he told the children of Israel this. Moses said to the people,
he said, fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the
Lord. Jonah. Jonah said this, and what
a joy it must have been for him to say it. He said, I'll sacrifice
unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I'll pay that which I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. In Jeremiah 3, verse 23, we read,
truly, the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. The salvation of the righteous,
it's of the Lord. It's found nowhere else. It is
of the Lord. And this sentence, this sentence,
this short sentence, it's the heart of the gospel. The heart
of the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remember Henry used to say this,
he prepares the feast. He invites the guests. The Lord
spoke a parable in Matthew 22. He said, I've prepared my dinner,
my oxen, my fatlings are killed, all things are ready. What's
the sinner to do? Come, come to the feast. Come unto the marriage feast.
And listen, not only does he prepare the feast, not only does
he invite the guests, he makes them willing to come. Made willing in the day of his
power. And he clothes them. Clothes
them. You talk about a wedding garment.
Clothes. in robes of spotless righteousness,
dressed in beauty not my own. It's all of Him. The salvation
of the righteous, the salvation of every believer is of the Lord. These are words to live by. Salvation
is of the Lord. First John 5.11, we read, this
is the record. God has given us eternal life
and this life is in His Son. It's in Christ Jesus. This is the record. This is the
sum and substance of all that is declared. God. Who? God. God hath given us eternal
life and this life, what kind of life is it? Eternal life.
And where is it found? In His Son. Words to live by
and words to die by. We read about Simeon just a few
weeks back. You remember what he said when
he saw the Lord, when he saw the Lord Jesus Christ, Let me read this to you, what
he said. It said, then took he him up in his arms, and he blessed
God, and he said, Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace. How can he say that? Mine eyes
have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared. before the
face of all the people, a light to the Gentiles and the glory
of thy people Israel." The salvation of the righteous, it's of the
Lord. Well, turn with me back to Psalm
37. Look at verse 38. The transgressors shall be destroyed
You see that in verse 38, the end of the wicked shall be cut
off. Transgressors, rebellious sinners,
they're going to be destroyed. Altogether, the end of the wicked
shall be destroyed. Who is that? Those guilty of
sin. Those dead in trespasses and
sin. That's the end of sinful men. The end of the wicked is death.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. I ask you this, are you
a sinner? Am I a sinner? What's God's Word
say? Well, it says you are. It says
we are sinners. All, all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. When the Lord told that parable
of the Pharisees and the publican, What was his purpose in that?
Who was he talking to? What was his reason? Well, Luke
18.9 says this, He spake this parable unto certain men which
trusted, not in the Lord, but they trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and they despised others. Were they? Were they righteous? Again, what
does God's Word say? In Romans 3.10 it says, as it
is written, there is none righteous, no, not one, not one. And besides that, the Lord didn't
come to call the righteous. He came to call sinners, sinners
to repentance. Isn't that a comforting message?
God saves sinners. Look at our text here again,
Psalm 37, look at verse 38. Transgressors shall be destroyed
together, the end of the wicked shall be cut off. Scott Richards
once said this, he said, there is a point where God and men
must meet. And they're either going to meet
in mercy, or they're going to meet in judgment. Regardless, both are going to
be revealed as they are. God who's holy, man who is sinful. And none, none can deliver a
man from his transgression. None but the Lord Jesus Christ. He saves his people from their
sin. That's what we read here in verse
39 of our text. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. I pray we'd go home saying that
tonight. We'd remember that all week.
Not just in our head, but in our heart. Salvation. Deliverance. Victory. It is of
the Lord. And I want us to just with what
time we have left here this evening, I want us to consider five things. Five things with regard to this
statement, the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. First, this statement, it's sound
doctrine. This is sound doctrine. In Revelation
13, 8, we read, that the Lord Jesus Christ was the lamb slain
from before the foundation of the world. Almighty God planned,
purposed, and purchased the salvation of his people. He redeemed his
people. And he did this, listen, from
the beginning, from the beginning. And what he planned and what
he purposed, he accomplished. I can't tell you how many projects
I start and never finish. But that which the Lord's pleased
to purpose, that which he's pleased to, he'll finish it. He'll complete
it. Turn with me to Isaiah 46. Isaiah
46. Look beginning with verse 9 of
Isaiah 46. Remember the former things of
old. For I am God and there is none
else. I am God and there is none like
me. Declaring the end from the beginning
And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand. I shall do all my pleasure, calling
a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executes my counsel
from a far country. I've spoken it. I'll bring it
to pass. I've purposed it. I will also
do it. I have, God says, I've spoken
it. I'll bring it to pass. I've purposed
it. I will also do it. Almighty God made the Lord Jesus
Christ our surety. He made him our representative.
He made him our federal head. And he did this, not for the
whole world, he did this for his elect people. Chosen out
of Adam's sinful race, And He gave them to His Son, this people,
He gave them to His Son to redeem them from sin and bring them
to glory. In Adam, we died. In Christ,
we're made alive. In Adam, we're made sinners. In Christ, we're made the very
righteousness of God in Him. In Adam, we were separated from
God. In Christ, we're brought to God. 1 Peter 3, 18, for Christ also
has suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God. How'd he do that? Being put to
death in the flesh and quickened by the Spirit. This work, it's
His work. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. Not by works of righteousness,
which we've done, but according to His mercy, He saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. There
on the cross, he suffered and died for the sins of his people. He redeemed us to God by his
own blood. Scripture declares by one offering,
just one. What an offering that was, the
offering of his son. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. I said that's good doctrine and
it is, but it's also just plain truth. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. Second, it's a fact. It's a necessary fact. The salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. You know, it must be so. Apart from Christ, there is no
salvation. He said this, he said, without
me, you can do nothing. We read, there's no other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. This is the record. God hath
given us eternal life and this life is in his son. Back in the Old Testament, you'll
remember that story. Remember when Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, they refused to bow down, bow down to that image
of gold, refused to bow down to an idol, and Nebuchadnezzar
thought he was gonna give them a second chance, and they said,
we don't need one. We're not careful to answer thee
in this matter. If it be so, Our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us. And he will deliver us out of
thy hand. But if not, be it known unto
thee, O king, we'll not serve thy gods nor worship this golden
image which you set up. I ask you, did he deliver them? Do we know the rest of that story?
Did God deliver those men? Was He pleased to do so? Go back
sometime, you have time, and read Daniel 3. But in verse 26,
you'll read this, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they came forth
from the midst of that fire. Some of those guards that stood
by the opening of the door, that fire was so hot, it consumed
them, but not these three men. They came forth from the midst
of the fire, and the princes, and the governors, and the captains,
and the king's counselors, they were gathered together, and they
saw this. They couldn't deny it. They saw
it with their own eyes. And what did they see? They saw
these three men upon whose body the fire had no power. There wasn't a hair on their
head singed. Their coats weren't changed.
They didn't even have the smell of fire on them. I think that's
the one that stands out to me. You can't walk by a little fire
without having the smell of smoke on you. These men were in that
fire. The smell of smoke wasn't even upon them. How did that
happen? How is that possible? Did they
just decide? You reckon they just made a decision
and said, we're not going to let this fire consume us? Daniel 3.25 says this, he, Nebuchadnezzar,
the king, he answered and he said, Lo, I see four men. He just put three men in there,
didn't he? He said, I see four men walking in the midst of the
fire. They have no hurt. Oh, how were
these men delivered? King said, I see four men. and
the fourth is like the Son of God. Who is that? Who is the Son of God? Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. It's a necessary fact. The salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. Third, it's a sweet consolation. You know, If my hope is in anything
else, if my hope is in anyone else, I'm lost. I'm without hope. I'm without
help. I'm without God in this world.
Our best works, the best we can muster, all of our righteousness
are as filthy rags in the sight of Almighty God. He said this,
he said, behold the nations, the nations, how large these
nations are. He said, they're just a drop. They're just a drop in the bucket.
That's nothing, isn't it? You take a bucket of water, take
that glass of water and just let one drop fall off. It's nothing. There is a drop of the bucket.
They're counted as small dust. in the balance. Behold, he taketh
up the aisles as a very little thing. David asked, what is man? Truly, what is man that God would
take notice of him? What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Naaman, Naaman we read, he was
a great man. Naaman was an honorable man. He was a mighty man. He had wealth.
He came and, boy, he had gold and silver and he had some extra
changes of clothes with him. He even had a letter from the
king. Naaman had it all. But Naaman was a leper. But God
God, in His gracious providence, put a little maiden girl, a little
slave girl, in their house to serve His wife. And she told
Naaman's wife, Would God, my Lord, were with the prophet that's
in Israel, for he would recover him. That must have been sweet consolation.
She knew something about that sweet consolation. She told her
master, Simeon, again, we read of him just a little bit ago,
he knew something of that sweet consolation. That's what he was
waiting on. He was there in the temple waiting
on the consolation of Israel. Who is that consolation? Well,
he knew it as soon as the parents brought him in, didn't he? It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to John 10. Turn with me
to John. Chapter 10. Our Lord spoke these words. Look at verse 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand." Isn't that sweet consolation? My Father which
gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand." Sweet consolation. The salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. Fourth, it's a reason, it's a
reason for humility. Great humility. Listen to these
words from a familiar hymn. Not have I gotten, but what I
have received. Grace hath bestowed it, since
I have believed. Boasting excluded. There is no
room for boasting, is there? Boasting excluded, pride I abase. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Would anyone have more reason
to be humble than a believer? David said this, he said, the
Lord preserveth the simple. I was brought low and he helped
me. Naaman learned that, didn't he?
Remember that when the prophet told him to go down and dip seven
times in the river Jordan? He went away angry. He said, I thought the prophet
would do this. I thought he'd just wave his hand over it and
I'd be cured of my leprosy. He had to be brought down, didn't
he? Naaman had to be brought down. And his servant finally
said to him, he said, Master, if the prophet would have asked
you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done that? How much
rather when he said to thee, wash. Wash and be clean. Naaman went down, he was brought
down. Nebuchadnezzar, he said, I praise
and extol and honor the king of heaven. all of whose works
are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase." Answer this question. Who maketh
thee to differ? Who maketh thee to differ? Here's another question. What
do you have? What do I have that I did not
receive? And if you received it, why do
you glory as if you hadn't? For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift. What is it? The gift, the free gift. It's
the gift of God, not of works. Why? Lest any man should boast. God's people. Listen, we haven't
earned anything. There's only one wage we can
earn. The wages of sin is death. But the gift, again, the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. All that we have, we have in
Him. All that we have, we have in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we have any reason to be anything
but humble? The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. Last point. With this thought, with this
fact, the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord, we have a reason
for great hope and great comfort Do you still have our text? Look
at Psalm 37. Let me just read this verse in
closing. Psalm 37, beginning with verse
39. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He is their strength in time
of trouble. And listen to this, the Lord
shall help them and the Lord shall deliver them. And he, the Lord shall deliver
them from the wicked and the Lord shall save them because
they trust in him. The salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. I pray he'd be pleased to teach
us these things and keep me mindful of him at all times. All right.