Psalm 71. I want to just read the first
three verses. I read these and you're hearing
them this morning, but let me just read the first three verses.
And I want to refer back to this psalm here in the message, and
I won't keep you too long this afternoon, but I wanted to finish
what we started this morning. Let me read these three verses
for us. In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. I trust you. God knows I do. Let me never
be put to confusion. Let me never be ashamed or disappointed,
confounded. Deliver me in thy righteousness
and cause me to escape Incline thine ear unto me, and save me. Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort, take comfort and rest, thine
protection. Thou hast given commandment to
save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress." Now, we looked
this morning at some elements of trust. that Jesus Christ is
the object of our trust. And as you read this psalm, you
see that. David said there, even in verse 2, he said, deliver
me in thy righteousness. He was trusting in the righteousness
of another. His faith was in Christ, outside
of himself, in him. And we saw that it was a continual
trust. David had been trusting the Lord
all of his life. From the time he was a kid until
he was now an old man, he was still trusting the Lord. And
we saw why a person comes to put his trust in the Lord. I
mean the trust of all your heart. Lean not to your own understanding. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. And we do that because God the
Father has taught us to trust Christ. We trust in Him, the
Lord Jesus. We don't see Him. We've never
seen Him. He's in heaven, and we're up
on this earth. But we're taught in our souls
to put all our trust in Him. We saw these things this morning,
and other things. And this afternoon, I want to
look at two more elements of faith. Two more things of faith. And this first one here is in
verse 2, and it's a mysterious thing. It's a very mysterious
thing, this aspect of trust is. And I would say that everybody
here tonight that is a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you
feel what this verse is going to teach us. You will feel what
he's saying. And you'll know this aspect, even though it's
a mystery to you. In some degree, in some degree,
you'll say, I understand what David's saying. I understand
what he's saying. And the first one is this. Here's
one of the two. Look in verse 2. And I want you,
as you read this, you get a sense that this man is in need. You get a sense that he's very
aware of a situation that he finds himself in. And the sense
that he has this feeling in his heart. That not only has He been
saved, but right now He needs to be saved. I want you to look
at it. You can just feel it as He writes
this down. Deliver me. Deliver me in Thy
righteousness. Cause me to escape. Incline Thine ear unto me and
save me. Deliver me. Cause me to escape. Save me. Here David is, he's
an old man. An old gray-haired man, he tells
us in this song. And he has this certain uneasiness. Did you feel that in that? He
has this uneasiness in his heart, this concern that he finds himself
in this situation that he wants to be saved. He finds and feels
himself in need of being delivered. And when he mixes this need,
this sense of being delivered, with a desire and a knowledge
that he shall be delivered, it brings out this prayer. It brings
out this prayer. Oh, Lord, deliver me. Lord, cause
me to escape. Lord, save me. Is this a lost
man? Well, no. He said there in verse
1, Lord, in You I put my trust. I have trusted You since I was
a child. You taught me to trust You when
I was just a little boy. This is not a lost man, but here
is a man who has been saved. But it doesn't stop there. It
just doesn't stop there, does it? He still has this feeling
that he must be saved. He must be saved. I never will
forget one time, years ago, Brother Henry Mahan. These things stay
with some of us because we have such respect for some people.
And when they make a statement It goes to your heart. It stays
with you. They were having a conference there in Asheville, Kentucky.
Some of the preachers were in the motel room, and Brother Henry
came in just to say hi to some of the folks that were there
talking. And he just sat down on the bed. He just sat down
on the bed and he said, Oh, I've got to know Christ. I've got
to know Christ. That's what David was saying
to him. You mean you don't know Christ, Henry? Yes, but I've
got to know Him. And your David is saying, Lord,
you caused me to trust in you from my youth. You saved me there. But he said, I still need to
be saved. Incline your ear unto me and
save me. I tell you, this is an aspect
of trust. This is something about scriptural
salvation the world knows absolutely nothing about. If a man is saved,
why is he praying to be saved? That's the mystery. But who is
it that truly feels their need of being saved but the man who
is saved? I tell you, I look back at some
situations I got myself into when I was a teenager, Shannon,
and I didn't have sense enough then to be afraid. But looking
back on them now, it scares me to death. I was in two car accidents
and all the vehicles were towed, every one of them. Almost drowned
twice. Almost got crushed to death on
snow and ice. Fell on top of it. I never thought
a thing about that. I went on my merry way. But looking
back on that now, that scares me to death. And here we are,
we go along and we are lost until the Lord shows us we are lost.
He saves us. But the more we learn about our
lost condition, oh, it scares us, doesn't it? Retrospect. Looking back, it scares us. And
David said, Lord, the situation I find myself in now, oh, save
me. I know now more about being saved.
Who is it that feels their need of being cleansed from sin but
that person who has been cleansed? And who is it that feels the
pollution of sin but that one who has already been washed? And who is it sees the necessity
of knowing Jesus Christ but the person who knows Him already? We're satisfied with Jesus Christ. We're satisfied with being in
Christ. We're completely satisfied with
His glorious person and work. But you know something? We're
not satisfied in ourselves. And we're not satisfied in the
situation we find ourselves in, this body of death and sin. And we'll never be satisfied,
fully and completely, until He saves us from it, from this present
evil world. Let God come to a man and give
him peace, and the war begins. Let the Lord come and begin to
save a man, and he'll never quit crying, Lord save me, Lord save
me. A man who has been delivered
from the wrath to come, and from this present evil world, and
so great a debt. He's the very man that feels
his need of being delivered. I want to show you a verse of
Scripture, and it tells exactly, I think, what David is saying.
Hold Psalm 71 there, if you will, and turn over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 1 and verse 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse
9. We were talking this morning
about trusting continually and trusting with all our hearts.
Well, this is one of the things that necessitates a continued
trust, an experimental trust. This is one of the things that
stops us from this whole attitude of saying, well, I trusted Christ
30 years ago. All of that is over with, and
I don't have to be concerned about that. Basically, go on
my burnt merry way. I accepted Christ when I was
young, and that's finished now. I don't need to even jeer about
Him anymore or whatever. But I tell you, when we really
understand where we are, what all is involved in being saved,
that makes a big difference, doesn't it? And Paul understood
that. Look what he said here in 2 Corinthians
chapter 1. And look in verse 9. He's talking about the trouble
that came upon him there in Asia. Boy, he had trouble there in
Asia. Finally, everybody forsook him.
And he said there in verse 9, we had the sentence of death
in ourselves. That we should not trust in ourselves. Ain't that what we're talking
about? Trust in thee, O Lord, do I put my trust? And that simply
means we don't trust ourselves, or what we're doing, or our advancements
in grace, or whatever. But in the living God which raised
us to death. Now notice this. Who delivered
us from so great a death. That's past tense. I don't know
how old the apostle was, but he looked back on the Damascus
Road and he said, there the Lord delivered me. If he wanted to
look back to the cross, he could say, there he delivered me. And
if he wanted to go back before the foundation of the world,
he said, there he delivered me. But our deliverance is in past
tense. But he doesn't stop there, does
he? And you don't either if you're a believer. You don't look back
and say, I trusted Christ 25 years ago. You did. And you may
never forget it. But you don't stop there. Paul
said, He hath delivered us. And He doth deliver us. But He
doesn't stop there. In whom we trust that He will
yet deliver us. He will yet deliver us. How important is it right now,
as you'll listen to me, in the depths of your soul, How important
is it that you're saved right now? I mean right now. It may have been important to
you 20 years ago, but how important is it right now? As we sit here
this afternoon, how important is it right now that God doesn't
hold any sins against you? How important is it? How important is it right now
that you're clothed, all your shame that you feel, that that's
all clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ? How important
is it right now that you're accepted in heaven? Is it important? I'd go one step further. Is it
critical? Is it crucial? That's what David's
feeling. That's what David's feeling.
And those who feel that way, it's not enough to say, I've
already trusted Him. Oh, they say right now, Lord,
deliver me. Lord, save me from this body
of death. Save me. Save me. Do we ever have any apprehensions
of God? of His holiness, of His greatness,
of His inflexible justice, of His law? Do we ever see that
it's spiritual, that it reaches the heart, that it judges our
motives? Do we have any apprehensions
of what we are in ourselves? That everything we do is mixed
with this sin? We can't do anything but what
we see sin mixed with it? Do we think about these things?
Do we see Him clearly? If we do, that's what brings
this cry. It's not enough that I did. I
must trust Him now. I must trust Him now. And we
pray to that end. We pray to that end. We're not
of those who say, I did trust Him. No, we're of those who say,
I'm trusting Him now. I'm trusting Him now. God is so high. David said, and
I am so low, oh, I need Him to deliver me. I need to escape
this body of death and sin that I'm in. I'm in a present evil
world. Oh, Lord, deliver me. Deliver
me. If you and I feel this way, I
tell you, we don't want to go a minute's time without our full
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I tell you how you can know
if you trust in Him. Do you pray like David did? Is
that our prayer? Oh, I can't leave my house in
the morning. Lord, save me. In the middle of the day, Lord,
save me. The night before I go to bed,
Lord, save me. Deliver me. Cause me to escape. We have trusted Christ, we are
trusting Christ, and we will trust Christ. That's what David
is saying here. In the Lord I have put my trust,
I am put in my trust, and I will put my trust in Him. Present
trust, wholehearted trust, David feels. That's a mystery. That's
the mystery. If you want to confuse some of
your lost friends and co-workers, start talking to them about this
aspect of trust and salvation. You'll get them so confused.
They'll think you're strange. I thought the Lord saved you.
Well, He has. I trust Him to save me. But don't you understand
this? You understand the language,
don't you, Glenn? You do. The second thing, quickly, I want
us to look at is this. Not only did David pray, Lord,
deliver me, Lord, save me. The situation he found himself
into. He's in this miserable, sinful
flash of death in this world full of temptations. He had a
desire to be saved. He had the assurance that he
would be saved. And it's brought out this prayer and this continued
trust. But there's something else here,
I think, too, that's involved in trust. And that is when we
know the kind of enemies that we face. When we know something
about the kind of enemies that's against us in our lifetime. And notice here how David prays
to that end in this same chapter, chapter 71. Look in verse 9. Look in verse 9. Cast me not off in the time of
old age. Forsake me not when my strength
fails. And this is one of the things
David was concerned about. Look in verse 10. For my enemies. My enemies. What do they do,
David? They speak against me. Do you
ever have these horrible thoughts in your conscience, your heart?
sometimes blasphemous thoughts. Then you have the thoughts that
you weren't really believing that Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. You don't really trust in Him. Do you know who that
is? That's your enemy. He's pleading against you. He
did this to the very Son of God Himself. If you be the Son of
God, And he comes right to our hearts and boldly confronts us.
You're a child of God, and you've done this, and you've thought
that, and you've said this, and you're a child of God. And I
tell you what, when the devil and his fallen cohorts begin
to plead against you, you'll have your hands full to resist
it. Take the shield of faith wherewith you shall quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. When He starts pleading against
you and accusing you, it will be all you can do but God's grace
to stand. And David recognized this and
said, Lord, they speak against me. And look at this. They lay
wait. They lay wait. They lay wait. Not to take my crown from my
head. Not to steal my kingdom from
me. Not to kill my children. but
they lay wait for my soul." The devil is not interested in what
you have. He's interested in you. And look what they do, David
said. They take counsel together. They
plot. Can you imagine your enemies?
No, we can't. We don't think much about it
yet. David was aware that he had enemies. And he looked at
them as if they're a huge company, and they're in this room. And
here stands Satan up in front of them, and they're all suggesting
what we can do to overthrow David's soul. And one stands up and he
plots this, and another stands up and says, here's a good idea.
Let's let this naked woman appear to him while he's resting in
his house. Oh, that's a good idea, Satan
said. Who is this woman? Well, there's a woman over there
by the name of Bathsheba. And we'll make sure that the
windows open. We'll make sure that she's bathing
at the right time when David can see her. They plotted. Do you believe your enemies are
that mean and vicious? Would anybody attempt to destroy
our precious souls? That's all the devils do, is
plot. to destroy the soul. They're
destroyed themselves, and they want to drag all the humanity
they can down to hell with them. They're tormented themselves.
So they take great delight in tormented people. So they plot
together. Look what they say. Look how
they lie in verse 11. Here's what they're saying. God
hath forsaken him. Pursue him now. Get on his trail
by some awful temptation. Weaken him. Catch up to him. Persecute him. And then take
him. Take him. Peter, Simon, Peter,
Satan has desired to sift you. To sift you. That's what David said. For there is none to deliver
him. Oh, my soul, if that's true,
then we're in trouble, aren't we? If we've lost the help of
God, then we're in trouble. If God has forsaken us and left
us to the devil, we're in trouble. We're in trouble for sure. But
what does David say? Oh, God, be not far from me. Oh my God, make haste to help
me. I have said it so often, but
I want to keep reminding us of this. What are we before these
two great powers? The powers of darkness that seek
to destroy our soul and they plot and connive to that end. What are we before these powers?
You hear men bragging about free will. Oh, I have free will. And they brag about the power
of free will. I'll come when I'm good and ready.
I've got the ability. When I want to, I will. We've
got God's hands tied. Have you ever heard anybody make
that statement? Telling people, you've got God over a barrel.
God can't do anything. Or He's done all you can do.
And now the rest is up to you. The blasphemous statement that
Meikle made that God has cast a vote for you, Satan has cast
a vote for you, and now the deciding vote is up to you. What is that? Brothers and sisters, we live
in a bragging world. We live in an ignorant world.
They're blinded not only to the power of God, but they're blinded
to devils. that has ruled over them and
led them around and blinded their eyes. And here they think they
have power to affect anything. And here was this great king
that knew the ways of the Lord, that had been trusting the Lord
all his life, and he sees these powers of darkness that they're
plotting to destroy his soul. And he's so concerned about it.
He says, Lord, if You don't keep me, If you don't save me, and
if you don't deliver me, then they'll take me down at last."
How does Peter say it? This is not only Old Testament
doctrine, but Peter says, be sober, be vigilant, be careful. Your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, he lays in wait, and he goes about. Seeking whom
He may devour. And what does He tell us to do?
Casting all our care upon the Lord. Because He cares for us. Peter doesn't say you've got
strength. Oh, you can outsmart these powers. You can outrun
them. No, He said your only hope of
being saved from them is casting yourself, cast your care. upon Him. Cast your soul, cast
all you have upon Him. Oh, our enemies. There are many,
aren't there? But they're no match for our Lord. And you put
your trust in Him, all your heart, trust in Him with all your heart.
Trust in Him always. And I tell you, these powers
that be are nothing before Him. But for him, they're nothing. And they'll never pluck a single
child of God from the Lord's hands. And David saw this. He saw the
power of his enemies. He saw the power of the Lord.
And he said, Lord, I trust you. I trust you. With all my heart,
I trust you. That's my experience. Is that
your experience? Do you trust Him with all your heart? Do you
trust Him continually? Do you feel like if you can't trust
Him, you're in big trouble? If He forsakes you right now,
are you in trouble? Oh, you're in trouble. You feel
it, don't you? You feel it. May God bless this message. Let's
pray.