Psalms chapter 57. I have two messages this morning.
I have a short message, then I have my regular message. Before
I read my text, I want to say something to you this morning
that I feel like as a minister of Christ, probably needs to
be said. And it's concerning suicide,
concerning one taking their own life. I think probably this week, especially
this week, some things were emphasized that needed to be emphasized,
but I think something else was not emphasized and for obvious
reasons. We don't put a lot of emphasis
on some things when a tragedy like this takes place. And there's
a reason we don't dwell on them. But I think it needs to be said.
And that's why I want to say something about it this morning.
Suicide is an awful thing. It's a dreadful thing. I cannot
stress how awful suicide is. There's never any justification
for it. It's not a way out. It's not
an escape. It's awful. Suicide is awful. And I want to give you four quick
reasons why it's awful for anyone to take their own life. First,
and it's very obvious, and this is something I think all of us
feel, and we feel. Suicide, in so many cases, is
selfish. It's self-pity. It's desiring sympathy from others
and go to the extremes to get it. It's not wanting to suffer. It's not wanting to be embarrassed.
And that's awful to have such an attitude of self-pity that
one would take their own life. But in so many cases, that's
it. Secondly, it's an awful thing because it breaks the heart of
the loved ones who are left behind. I think if people would consider
that, they would reconsider what they're about to do. And it not
only breaks the heart of the family and those that love them,
but how often does a family member, a spouse, wind up blaming themselves? What could I have done? How could
I have stopped this? I didn't do enough. And they
carry such a burden the rest of their life. That's awful,
isn't it? You take a child whose dad or
grandfather or uncle or somebody that they were new to has committed
suicide, and they usually carry the stigma of that the rest of
their life. I think we've all had family
members that did that. And we go the rest of our life,
my dad, yes, my dad did that. Yes, my uncle did that. It's
a stigma and it should be. Thirdly, if one who is a professing
Christian, one who professes the truth does such a thing,
it throws others into doubt of his profession. Did they truly believe what they
said? Or did they not? Can a true believer commit suicide? You know, I just about imagine
that there is no sin a true believer cannot commit except the sin
against the Holy Spirit. Unpardonable sin. Wouldn't you
say that? Wouldn't you say there is just
about no sin that a true believer cannot commit? But here is the
thing about a true believer. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth him from all sin. I've said this, and I think I'm
willing to stay by this, and I think the Scripture would prove
this. If a person is in Christ, they are in Christ forever. There's
no sin that can get you out of Christ. If you're in Christ today,
you're in Christ tomorrow. A believer may get into such
a state of mind because of depression or chemical imbalance, there's
no telling what he might do to himself or others. But regardless
of the reason, if we know it or we don't know it, regardless
of the reason, if one who professes to know the truth takes his own
life, it leaves us in doubt, does it not? It leaves us in
doubt. We can't help that. If somebody
says, I have no doubt whatsoever. I wonder if you've really weighed
out the issue. Because suicide is a horrible
crime against heaven. It's a horrible sin. Fourthly, suicide is a horrible
sin because it confuses the lost. Great confusion to lost people. Here you have somebody who professed
to know God, who professed that God was sovereign, that God ruled
over every minute detail of life, And he was willing or she was
willing to submit to that rule and be happy in it, and now they've
taken their own life? How can this be? It leaves the
laws confused as to what they should believe themselves. Should
I believe what he believed? Should I believe what they believed?
Look what they did, and they said they believed. Fifthly, it brings a great reproach
on the name of God. It brings a great reproach on
God's name. It reproaches the Lord Jesus
Christ. It gives great occasion to the
enemy to reproach. We do that by our sins when we
sin against the Lord. Sixthly and lastly, we would say that in most cases,
Suicide is self-murder. To take one's own life out of
selfish reasons, out of reasons of fear of the future, whatever
it is, to take one's own life is self-murder. There would be no difference
in taking one's own life and calling it murder as taking someone
else's life and calling it murder. And we know that no murderer
hath eternal life abiding in Him. So that's what we say. It's no way out. It's not the answer. If you've
got that in your head, for God's sake, put it out of your head.
And I don't know about you, but your pastor has been there. I've
talked to other pastors who have been there, but that's no way
out. In these times of trials and
stress and uncertainties, you and I should be more aware of
others. Let us be more aware and more
diligent and attentive to the needs of others. Let us be more
perceptive to people's conditions. Let us be more perceptive to
somebody being down, to somebody being discouraged, and visit
them or talk to them and spend time with them. It could be that
under God we may stop somebody from taking their own life. How
many times has it been said, Someone came to another person
and said, I thank God for you because I was ready to destroy
myself. And you called me. You came and
visited me. You came and encouraged me. John
Warburton went to a place in London to preach down on the
bay next to the river. And there was a little congregation
there that he preached to and he left and walking across the
yard. And a lady come hollering to him, preacher, preacher. And
he stopped and she said, you don't know me. And I didn't even
know this church was here. But she said, I came here to
throw myself in this lake and to destroy myself. I heard you
preaching about this Christ. And she said, I've changed my
mind. I want to be saved. So we need to be more aware,
don't we? More aware of the needs of the
other people. Under God, we may cause somebody
to change their mind. That's my first message. That's
my first message. The second one is found in Psalms
chapter 57. A refuge of mercy. That's our
subject this morning. I want to read it to you, beginning
in verse 1, Psalms 57. Be merciful unto me, O God. Be merciful unto me. For my soul
trusteth in thee, yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make
my refuge, until these calamities be overpassed. I will cry unto
God Most High, unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven and
save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.
God will send forth His mercy and His truth. My soul is among
lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the
sons of men whose teeth are as spears and arrows, and their
tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. They have prepared a net for
my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have
digged a pit before me. Until the mists were up, they
are fallen themselves, salat. My heart is fixed, O God, my
heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise.
Awake, my glory, awake, psaltery and heart. I myself will awake
early. I will praise Thee, O Lord, among
the people. I will sing unto Thee among the
nations. For Thy mercy is great unto the
heavens, and Thy truth unto the clouds. Be Thou exalted, O God,
above the heavens. Let Thy glory be above the earth."
A refuge of mercy. Be merciful unto me, O God. Be merciful unto me. You may have noticed the introduction
to this psalm says that David was in a cave when he wrote,
or when this psalm came to him. And it was probably when he was
in the cage of Enjida. He was hiding in a cave with
a few of his men. And he was hiding in the cave,
sleeping, resting, secure there. And Saul came with several thousand
men and came right into the mouth of that cave and slept there
during the day. And David and some of his men
were hid in little pockets in the back of that cave. They saw
Saul and his men as they came in, but Saul and his men didn't
see them. And David laid there in the still
darkness of the day in that cave, knowing that if Saul and his
soldiers found him, there was no escape. He'd have been cut
to pieces. And he could feel his heart pounding. and the fear arising in his soul,
and underneath all of that he whispered this prayer, Be merciful
unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, my soul trusteth in Thee,
in the shadow of Your wings I have made my refuge, until these calamities
be overpassed. Can you imagine that? And David
said these calamities, boy, if you follow his life story, even
up until the time that he wrote this psalm, the calamities that
had come on this man, this man was amazing. He was separated
from his family. He was separated from the worship
of God in the country. He had lost Jonathan, his dear
friend. King Saul had driven him out
from Israel. Now he had to go over into the
country of Gath to Achish. And he got so fearful there that
they were going to kill him. Remember when he played like
he was a madman? And he began to slobber and let
his spittle run down his beard, and he rode on the wall and scribbled
so he could get away from the soldiers, the enemies. He got
out of that place and come back to a place called Nod. where
the priests were, they gave him bread, they gave him a weapon.
But as soon as King Saul found out that the priest had helped
him, Saul came and killed 85 of those priests. Went in and
killed all the men and women and children of the little community
of Nob, and David said, I blame myself for that. I blame myself
for that. And he had to take his parents
to the king of Moab for him to hide them from Saul who killed
everybody in his path. David said, he hunts me like
a partridge. I'm just like a flea flying from
one place to another while Saul hunts me down. Calamitous. Calamitous
one after another. And then we find him here in
this cave of En-Jedi. And there in the stillness of
the darkness of this cave, He seems to find a refuge in the
mercy of God. That's what he professes. I have
made a refuge under the shadow of Thy wings. That's what he said there in
verse 1, wasn't it? Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto
me, for my soul trusteth in Thee. Yea, in the shadow of thy wings
will I make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed. One sure mark of a child of God,
when calamities come, they seek a refuge in God's mercy. That's the first place they seek,
a refuge in God's mercy. It may be trouble of conscience.
It may be trouble of their souls, their bodies, their families. It may be trouble in the church
or even in the nation. In their calamities, they always
seek a refuge in mercy, in God's mercy. And why do they do that? They do that, that becomes their
nature, doesn't it? They don't even think about what
to do. It's their instinct now to seek
a refuge of mercy. And why is this? It's because
the Lord has taught them their need of mercy. This is one of
the first things He teaches His elect when He calls them to Himself. Their need of mercy. The Pharisee
said to Him one day, he said, why do you eat with publicans
and sinners? He said, I'll tell you why. Because
they that are whole need not a physician, But they that are
sick, go learn what that means, He said. I will have mercy and
not sacrifice. Learn your need of mercy. But
you know none of us can learn that if God doesn't teach us.
They shall all be taught of God. And what does God teach us? Our
need of mercy. Our need of a Savior. That's
the first thing that He teaches us. When the Apostle Paul was
talking about his salvation, the first thing that he attributed
to was mercy. I was a blasphemer, I was injurious,
but I obtained mercy. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Mercy saves us. Mercy had saved
me or else I must die. Shannon, it's mercy, isn't it?
It's mercy. Sovereign mercy can save the
chief of sinners. And mercy can deliver the weakest
sinner from the greatest power known to man, the sin of his
soul and the darkness of Satan. The mercies of the Lord can reach
high down from heaven and deliver a sinner from the deep stain
of sin. Covenant mercies can save a guilty
sinner from a broken law. Mercy can do all of that. By
His mercy He saved us. And those whom mercy has visited
in a saving way, they learn to call on mercy, and to trust in
mercy, and to make mercy their refuge in every calamity that
they face. What do you do when you get in
trouble? You seek mercy. You seek mercy. You begin saying,
God be merciful to me, a sinner. And boy, every time trouble comes,
you go right back. Oh, I need mercy. I need mercy.
Every step of the way of heaven becomes a step enabled by felt
mercy. We not only look back to the
mercy that we obtained when we began this way, but we look around
right now at the present time at the mercy we need right now. Come boldly to the throne of
grace, that we may obtain grace to help us." That wasn't what
he said, was it? You know what he said before
grace? Mercy. That we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help us when? In the time of our need. I don't know what needs that
you may face today. I don't know what needs we may
face tomorrow. There'll probably be many. We
just don't know. But I know one thing we'll need.
There's no doubt about one thing we'll need, and that's mercy,
Wayne. We'll need mercy. And I bet you anything tomorrow,
our covenant God will make us feel it too. Do you want to think about facing
tomorrow without mercy? Do you want to face your calamities
without mercy? Do you want to face a hostile
world without mercy? Do you want to struggle against
principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places
without mercy? Do you want to face dying and
death and eternity without mercy? Well, we don't do it. We don't want to think about
breathing our last breath and ascending to that hill, that
celestial stadium, knocking on those everlasting doors without
mercy going ahead of us to prepare the way, without mercy accompanying
us up there, and without mercy following us up there. Mercy
is what we need. This makes us whisper with David,
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. Paul was praying for his friend
Onesimus, and this is the way he prayed. He said, I pray for
him that he may obtain mercy of the Lord in that day. You say, Bruce, hadn't he already
obtained mercy? Yes. But those who have obtained
mercy, they feel their need of mercy still. I obtained mercy
when I was born. It was mercy that separated me
from my mother's womb. It was mercy that kept me through
all the years of my natural life, dead in sins. It was mercy that
called me. It's mercy that brought me safe
this far. And it's mercy that will be there
when I die and take me up to the celestial city. It's mercy
that we need. When we have no more sins to
forgive, Then we won't need any more mercy. When we have no more
temptations to fall into, we won't need any more mercy. When
we have no more hostile world to face, or devils to tempt us,
or death to die, or eternity to face, or judgment to give
account of. But until then, we need mercy.
We need mercy. Be merciful unto me, O God, be
merciful unto me. I tell you, nothing delights
me any more than to be around a group of people that feel their
need of mercy. I love it, don't you? And nothing
discourages me any more than to be around a bunch of people
that don't. Be merciful unto me. I think
we'd have been right home in David's kingdom, don't you? Can
you imagine a king, the richest man in the world at this time? When he died, he was the richest
king in the world. But here's what he said about
himself. Lord, I am poor and needy. Be merciful unto me. I'd have felt right at home with
him. And you would too. Mercy. There are some people who have
their heads stuffed full of knowledge. They have some kind of system
of theology they trust in. But they don't feel any need
of mercy. They just don't feel any need of mercy. Secondly,
think about this about our text. Not only do the Lord's children
feel their need of mercy and cry to God for it too. But they
live in the trust that mercy can be obtained in every hour
of their need. It's not only looking back to
say, I obtained mercy. They live in the faith that mercy
is still there to be obtained. What did David say? For my soul
trusteth in thee. For what? For mercy. For a refuge
of mercy. Yea, he says, in the shadow of
thy wings will I make my refuge. I make my refuge. I purposely
run to your wings for my refuge. I make it my refuge. When I was growing up down south,
I told you this before I think, when I get too close to one of
the old hens with a bunch of chickens. We had chickens all
over the place when I was growing up on the farm. And sometimes
you'd run out the door, run around the corner and run right up on
a bunch of little doodles. And boy, that old hen would put
both wings on the ground and she'd come at you sideways. And
you thought you were dead. You thought, boy, I'm going to
get eat up with this old hen. She's going to flog me. I've
been flogged by them. Oh, they jump right in your face,
don't they? And they hurt you and scare you when you're a child.
It intimidated me to death. I probably had nightmares about
those hens. But you know something? Those
little doodles, they would run right under those wings to hide
themselves. He didn't scare them at all.
That was a refuge for those little doodles. And that's what David
is saying here. I trust in the shadow of your
wings. I make those wings my refuge. The world flees from the thought
of sovereign power. We talk about sovereign power.
And oh, that's intimidating to the world. But what do you do?
You run under the wings of sovereign power. The world may talk of
the love of God, but we put our trust in it. The world may sing
of nothing but the blood, but that's the refuge for our souls. We don't just talk about it.
We make the blood our refuge. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. And what do we do? We run inside
and hide ourselves behind the blood. It's our refuge. Others may talk of promises,
they may talk of mercy, and they may talk of grace, but the true
believer puts the very trust of his soul in these things and
makes them his refuge, even as those little devils did. They're
mother's wings. What's your refuge? God is my
refuge. The attributes of God is my refuge. the love of God, the sovereignty
of God, the justice of God, the goodness of God, the mercy of
God, the grace of God. All of these things in Christ
is our refuge. And it's a wonderful thing when
we can say with David, My soul trusteth in thee. When a soul
is brought to trust in the mercy of God in Christ, that's a wonderful
thing, isn't it? not just the ascent of the mind,
not just agree with it when you hear it, not just intellectually,
and certainly not just in word, but when your soul is convinced
there's a refuge in the mercy of God, and you flee to it, I
tell you, that's a refuge indeed, isn't it? When you're convinced
and your soul finds its refuge in the mercy of God. But that's
not always easy to do, is it? We can say it. It's easy to be
said. But I tell you, brothers and
sisters, it's not so easy sometimes to be done, especially when calamities
come. One calamity after another. And
you know the only way we'll do it is when God, by His grace,
brings us to do it. I think that is something of
what David meant here when he said in verse 2, "...thou performest
all things for me." I just wonder if he was meaning even this trust,
even this refuge that I found, you performed that in me. You
are working in me to trust you. That is the only way that I will
have you for my refuge. God teaches us. I tell you what,
brothers and sisters, this life is tough to get through. We've
got to face death, yet, and dying. And we won't face these things
and put our trust in the Lord as a real refuge unless we're
convinced that these mercies are indeed a sure refuge. If it's just perhaps or maybe
so, you ain't going to trust mercy like that. It's got to
be mercy that's sure. And listen to what the Scripture
says. Incline your ear, the Lord said, and come unto Me. Herein
your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Sure mercies. It would have been enough for
God to tell us that He would be merciful to us upon our coming
to Him. But He knows how backward we
are to trust, especially in times of calamities, so He calls this
mercy His sure mercies. He wants us to know that we can
put our trust in it because it's sure mercies. One man said there, it's no doubt
about it, mercies. It's promised mercies. It's I'll
never forsake you mercies. When you go through the fire,
I'll be with you mercies. When you pass through the rivers,
they'll not overflow you mercies. The mercies promised to David. I'll give you the sure mercies
of David. Now who is David? You'll find
that promise in Isaiah 55. David had been dead almost 300
years. Who is he talking about? I'll
give you the sheer mercies of David. He's talking about the
greater David. He's talking about Christ Himself.
I want to show you a passage of Scripture on that. Look over
in Acts chapter 13, whole Psalms 57. And look over in the book
of Acts chapter 13. Paul quotes this passage in Isaiah
55. And look here how He applies
it and who He applies it to. Acts chapter 13 and look in verse
27. Let's go all the way back up
to 27. Acts 13, 27. This is a message
that Paul preached. His first full message that we
have recorded. And they that dwell in Jerusalem,
and their rulers, because they knew Him not, nor yet the voices
of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, They have
fulfilled them in condemning him. They put Christ to death,
but in doing so, they just fulfilled the prophets. And though they
found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that
he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all
things that were written of him, they took him down from the tree,
and laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead,
and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from
Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
And we declare unto you, glad tidings, how that the promise
which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto
us, their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as
it is written also in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this
day have I begotten thee. And concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption.
He said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
God. David. It wasn't David, the little
king, that these mercies were given to, but it was Christ,
it was Jesus, the Son of Mary, God incarnate, that these mercies
were given to. Wherefore, he said also in another
psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
For David, after he had served his own generation by the will
of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw
corruption. But he whom God raised again
saw no corruption." God raised Jesus from the dead and gave
Him the sheer mercies of David. He put those sure mercies in
Jesus, His Son. The risen, exalted Jesus. Now, why would God do that? Why
would He put them in His Son? So they would be sure. So they
wouldn't be abused. They wouldn't be wasted. If they're
in Jesus Christ, they're safe in Him. Aren't they not? And
then when you need these mercies and I need these mercies, He
gives them to us as we need them. If He gives us all the mercies
and lets us be responsible for them, what would He do to them?
Well, we'd waste them, wouldn't we? We'd lose them, wouldn't
we? So He puts them in His Son. And that way He can call them
the sure mercies of David. Why can you trust Him for mercies?
Why can you find refuge in His mercies? Because they're in Christ,
safe and sound. If you've ever watched the movie
Newton, I can't remember John Newton, I can't remember exactly
what the title was, but there's a movie, a wonderful movie. It may be Amazing Grace or something
on Newton. But Newton had a dream. He told
about his dream that he had. And he was a captain of the ship.
And he had a dream that this man came to him in his dream
and had this beautiful stone. And he told Newton to reach out
his hand and he laid this stone in his hand and shut his hand
and said, Now listen, as long as you've got this stone, everything's
going to be well. Don't you ever lose this stone.
If you lose this stone, things are going to go bad with you.
And the man left in his dream. And Newton went and talked to
one of the fellows on the ship and said, this is what happened.
And that man began to mock him. He said, how naive can a man
be that would trust in a stone that things are going to be well?
And he mocked him to the point that Newton in his dream was
embarrassed, and he tucked the stone and dropped it over the
side of the ship into the ocean. Immediately there was a blaze. The world became on fire. And
it blazed all around Newton, and he became very fearful. And
then suddenly this man in his dream come back to him and said,
Where is your stone? And he said, I was embarrassed.
The man put me to shame and I dropped it over the edge into the ocean. And suddenly the man dove over
the side, went down and came back up with his stone. And Newton started to reach out
and get it and the man said, Oh no, no, no. If I give this
to you, you'll just lose it again. What I'm going to do, I'm going
to keep this for you and secure it for you, and when you need
it, I'll turn it in for you. That's the mercy I'm talking
about, brothers and sisters. It's in Jesus Christ. God has
put it there for the safekeeping. And therefore, it's sure mercies. And when we need it in the time
of our calamities, it's in Him. And it's sure mercies. And you
can trust in it. And I'd say the heart of Jesus
Christ is so big that there's so much mercy in it. Though He
discontinually hands it out and hands it out and hands it out,
it never diminishes. It's called everlasting mercy,
higher than the heaven mercy. If it's mercy that saves a poor
sinful soul, and if it's mercy that follows a poor man all the
days of his life, and if it's mercy that surrounds him and
goes ahead of him and will greet him there at heaven's door, if
it's mercy from stop to finish, then those mercies need to be
sure. I want sure mercies. Sure mercies. If I'm going to
trust my soul, it better be sheer mercy, or I can't trust my soul
to it. My soul trusteth in Thee. There's one calamity after another
in this life. We need a sheer refuge. One danger
after another we face in this life. And it's a horrible thing
to die, brothers and sisters. It's a horrible thing to die
if we don't obtain mercy. They've got to be sure, don't
they? Some came to the Lord Jesus Christ and they pleaded like
this. Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me." And that tells us that their hearts must have
been opened to know that He was the greater David in whom God
had put all of this mercy. So a blind man came and said,
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Something else about this mercy
that is a refuge. They are not spur-of-the-moment
mercies. They are covenant mercies. Listen
to this verse again. Incline your ear and come unto
Me, here and your soul shall live, and I will make with thee
an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David. Not
only are they sovereign mercies that can save us and keep us,
they are sure mercies and they are covenant mercies. Now what
does that mean? Well, I tell you again that when
God made a covenant, He made a covenant with His Son first
and foremost. When we see in the Scriptures
that I will make with you that everlasting covenant, that covenant
is renewed to us when we come to faith in Christ. But the covenant
of grace was made among the Godhead before time, before it ever was. Listen to Psalms 89. I have made a covenant with My
Chosen. I have sworn unto David." That's
Christ. I've sworn unto Christ, My Servant.
My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant
shall stand fast with Him. God made a covenant of mercy
with His Son. And He swore to His own dear
Son that I will have mercy to all your seed. Well, you read
Psalms chapter 89 sometimes, one of the most comforting Psalms,
because it talks about the mercies of a covenant God. And what does
that mean? When He said over in Hebrews
chapter 8, I'm going to make a new covenant with the house
of Israel, not according to the covenant I made with their fathers,
They continue not in My covenant, and I regarded them not. A new
covenant I will make. I'm going to put My laws in their
hearts, write them in their mind, and listen to this, I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities.
I will remember no more. Why is that so important to call
it covenant mercies? Because God had a long time to
think about it. He thought about it before the
foundation of the world. If he just came up in time and
he said, you know, I'm contemplating on having mercy to everyone who
comes to me in need of mercy. But if we just knew he was contemplating
it, we wouldn't say that was your mercy, would we? But when
we say, before the world, He swore to His own Son and entered
into a covenant with His own Son that said, My Son, I know
what they're going to need. They're going to need mercy.
And I know what I'm willing to give. That's mercy. And settled
on it long, long ago what He would do, that He would show
mercy. That makes it sure, doesn't it? That's covenant mercies. That's promised mercies. That's
unheard of mercies. that God would be willing. You
may come to me and I'm having a good day and feeling pretty
good and you've treated me like a dog and treated me rotten,
but if you catch me at the right time, I may forgive you. Just
don't give me time to think about it. Ain't that the way we are? Well, God hasn't an eternity
to think about it. Here's all the sins that they're
going to commit against me, but I'm going to forgive their iniquity. Why? Because that's the way I
am. I'm merciful. And they're so
unrighteous. Everything they do has got sin
mixed with it. But I'm going to be merciful
to their unrighteousness. And that's something he settled
on in a covenant with his own son before time. And he said,
I've swore to him, I ain't going to lie to him. I swore to Him. Man comes to me, comes to me
for Christ's sake and through Christ, and says, have mercy
upon me, oh God, have mercy. I'm telling you what, there's
no way possible that I will not give Him mercy. You think that publican standing
there in the temple, smiting his chest, and saying, God be
merciful to me, a sinner. You think there's any way under
heaven that he could have not obtained mercy? You think there's
any way God Almighty could refrain from showing him mercy? No! He
had already agreed to it within his own self. I will be merciful. I will be. You can put your trust
in that. You can put your trust in Him
for mercy. That's a sure refuge, brothers
and sisters. You can trust your soul to the mercy of God. You remember when Nebuchadnezzar
had set up his idol out in the plain and everybody had gathered
out there to worship that huge idol that he had set up. There
was three young men there that when the music started playing,
they were the only three that wouldn't bow. And boy, the king
got stirred up and he brought them up there and he said, I'm
going to give you one more chance. When the music starts playing,
you better bow. And they said, King, we're not
careful even. I'll answer you in this. We've already settled
it. We've already settled it. God that we serve is able to
deliver us from that furnace. And He will deliver us from your
hands. And boy, that king went in a
rage. He said, you guys just stand
here just a minute. Well, I'll fire this furnace
up and get it seven times hotter than we usually heat it. And
I want you to think about this. I'm going to give you another
opportunity to think about what you're saying and what you're
doing. And they said, Oh, King, we've done thought about it.
We've trusted our souls to the mercy of God for a refuge. We don't have to think about
it. Buddy, when you're standing before and fire a furnace, And you know you're going to
be thrown in there. And you can say in the face of
that fiery furnace, my soul has hid itself under the shadow of
your wings. You probably found a refuge under
the shadow of His wings. It's easy. Is it not easy to
sit in our living rooms and trust? It's easy to trust to the Lord
when you're walking through the wide open spaces on a warm, sunny
day. But let calamities come. Face
a fiery furnace. That'll tell if your soul is
trusted in the Lord or not. That's what David said. How long,
David, are you going to trust the Lord for this refuge until
these calamities be over? Boy, if you can trust Him during
these calamities, when the furnace has been fired up seven times
hotter, and they bind you and cast you in there, and you can
trust the Lord then, you've probably really found a refuge. Nebuchadnezzar
came up to that furnace and he said, did we cast three men in
there? Yes, King. He said, I see four. One of them
is like the Son of God. I don't know how he knew that.
But that's who he was, isn't it? That's who he was. When you
go through the fire, I'll be with you. That's our refuge,
isn't it? He's our refuge. I've made the
Lord my refuge. I'll say of the Lord, He's my
refuge. And boy, the Son of God, He's
our refuge. And He'll never leave us and
He'll never forsake us until these calamities be overpassed. I'm not saying it's easy. Boy,
you're in verse 2. He said, I will cry unto the
Lord most high. Sometimes it comes through crying.
Sometimes it comes through calling upon the Lord earnestly. I tell you, there's times in
our calamities, it's not just said. Sometimes we find ourselves
going to the Lord, calling upon Him, sometimes pleading with
Him, like Jacob, wrestling with Him. Sometimes just diligently
and carefully laying hold of the promises of God in His Word. But it's possible that through
grace, you and I can find a refuge in mercy, even in the time of
our calamities. David did, didn't he? Isaiah
did. He said, Thou wilt keep him in
perfect peace whose mind has stayed on Thee. Paul found that
refuge. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep me against that day. I have
learned that whatsoever state I'm in to be content. He told
us how to find that refuge. Put our trust in the Lord. All
of us trust in the Lord. And He will keep our hearts and
minds. Last thing is this. Until these calamities be overpassed,
this implies something, and you and I have experienced it. I
can't explain it. I can't explain what I'm ready
to tell you, but I've experienced it. And I bet some of you have
too. Calamities pass. They pass. Tough times pass. Things do get better. Every valley has its large opening.
Every hill has its top. Every night has its sun rising.
Does it not? I can't explain this, but things
are better with you right now than they've ever been. We do
not look back We're always pressing forward. We're reaching forward
to that mark, the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus. And we really and honestly don't
say, things were better five years ago. We just don't say that. I can't
explain it, but we don't say that. Because we're getting closer. The Lord's brought us not to
say that. No, Lord, really, things are better with me right now
than they were a year ago. I can't understand that. But
they are. They are. Things are better.
Things are better with me right now than they've ever been in
my whole life. The God of all grace who has
called you unto His eternal glory after you've suffered a while
After you went through some of these calamities, and even while
you're going through these calamities, establish, strengthen, and settle
you. To Him be glory. And as He does,
what happens? He either delivers you from the
calamities, or the calamities from you, or He gives you grace
to get through them. But it gets better. It gets better. That's why David goes in the
last portion of this psalm that I read to you, and he starts
just praising the Lord. Awake, O my glory, awake, psaltery
and harp. I myself will awake early. I
will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing praises
among the nations. Sing praises to Thee. It's a wonderful thing when the
Lord brings us through these calamities, we find a refuge
in Him, and then He puts this song in our heart of praise to
Him. Wonderful thing. Father, we thank You. Thank You
again, our gracious Lord, for this day, for this wonderful
day that You've been so pitiful to us. Let us find grace in Your
sight. We thank You for such a glorious
Word. These things, Lord, are such
a mystery to us. If You don't open our hearts
and give us faith to see them and believe them, we can't enter
into these things. It's a mystery to us. We thank
You for this, dear people, that come here. And I pray this morning,
Lord, that You will make Your message effectual to them. Let
us not forget these things, but rejoice in mercies until we see
Your face. We ask for Your glory. Amen. Let's sing the doxology. I love
this little doxology. Find it on the front page of
your book. Praise God from whom all blessings
flow. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here
below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly
hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost.