Psalm 40 this evening, I'm taking
the title from way down in verse 17, where it says, but I am poor
and I am needy. That's a good description of
believers who are totally, totally dependent upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
theirs is the kingdom of God. But I am poor and needy. David
was a king of Israel. David was a prophet of God and
a king in Israel, but yet he calls himself poor and needy. I'm poor and needy. Yet the Lord
thinketh upon me, thou art my help, my help. You remember Psalm
121, my help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. I look unto the hill from whence
cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord.
But I am poor. I'm a poor sinner. And I'm needy. I need Him. I need the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet the Lord is mindful of me. Thou art my salvation, my help,
my deliverer. Who else is able to deliver us? He's able to deliver us, isn't
He? be able to save us to the uttermost. Thou art my help,
my deliverer. Make no delay. I need help now. Today's the day of salvation.
You don't have tomorrow. None of us have tomorrow, do
we? We have right now. Right now. Today's the day of
salvation. We'll call upon the Lord. Make
no tearing, O Lord, my God. So I'm going to use as a title,
I'm poor and needy. I looked in the Psalms and that
statement is given at least 10 times. David says repeatedly,
10 different times, I'm poor. I'm poor and I'm needy. Now think about the one who says
this. He's the king, the anointed of God. I'm poor and I'm needy. Here's a couple examples of that.
Psalm 70 verse 5, I'm poor and needy, make haste unto me, O
God. Thou art my help, my deliverer,
O Lord, make no tearing. He kind of repeats himself, doesn't
he? Psalm 70 verse 5. And then again, another reference,
Psalm 72, 13, he shall spare the poor and needy and shall
save the souls of the needy. He's able to meet all our need.
according to his riches in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ.
That sure does describe our spiritual case, doesn't it? Our case, spiritually
bankrupt sinners. Have nothing, know nothing, are
nothing. Our Lord, in his Sermon on the
Mount, he said, blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the
kingdom of God. You know yourself to be spiritually
bankrupt. Guilty, vile, wretched before
God, you're a blessed person. You're a blessed person. We sure are in need of mercy,
aren't we? It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. By the Lord's sovereign will,
the Lord Jesus Christ meets our every need. I'm poor and I have
a lot of need. The Lord Jesus Christ meets every
need I have. He is Jehovah-Jireh, is He not? The Lord, I'm the Lord, I will
provide. Everything that the Lord Jesus
Christ has provided for us, God accepts, and we're accepted in
the beloved. He's made to us everything we
need, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
We can't repeat that too often. How many times have I quoted
that scripture? Hundreds and hundreds of times. But of Him
are you in Christ, who God has made to us. He's our wisdom. By nature, we're just ignorant
fools. Christ is our wisdom. He is all
of our righteousness. He is all of our sanctification
before God. By the one offering, He perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And certainly, He is the Redeemer
who redeems us from all sin. He is our Redeemer. Now, David,
it says there in Psalm 40, verse 1, that David said, It is a psalm
of David, but it's also a psalm of the greater David, the anointed
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many, many of these words, and
some think that every word in this psalm is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking unto his father and calling upon his father.
And we can certainly see that as we read through this psalm.
For who can truly say, I waited patiently for the Lord? but the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now we wait upon the Lord, don't
we? But do we wait patiently? I don't know about you, but we
have anxieties, don't we? We're told to wait upon the Lord.
Turn a couple pages over. You remember, I think it's Psalm
27. Turn back to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. Look at verse 13, Psalm 27, 13. I had fainted unless I'd believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait
on the Lord. Be of good courage. He shall
strengthen thy heart, thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Now, isn't he worth waiting on? Isn't he worth waiting for? Certainly,
certainly that is true, is it not? I waited, and in waiting,
I waited. You see that? I waited patiently
for the Lord. What a blessing to be able, by
God's grace, just to be still and know that He's God. To be
patiently waiting upon the Lord. Everything that God has decreed
and determined for you will come to pass. You're fretting, not
gonna change one thing. It's not gonna change one iota
of God's decree concerning you. So what should we do? Be still
and know that I'm God. Be still and know that salvation
is the Lord. Be still and wait upon the Lord
and know that I am God. His mercies and his blessings
are worth waiting upon. Our God in his faithfulness,
he said, I'll never leave thee, I'll never forsake thee. You
remember we studied Matthew 28, and lo, he said, I'm with you
always, even to the end of the earth. He'll be with us to the
end. He'll be with us in this life,
and when our life here is ended, He still will be with us. He'll
take us home to glory. And there shall we be with the
Lord forever and ever and ever. So he said, I'll never leave
thee. I'll never forsake thee. He has said, so we may boldly
say, the Lord is my helper. And that comes from Psalm, many Psalms, but it's also quoted
in Hebrews 13. And then our God will never forsake
us and he'll never fail us. Our God cannot fail. That's one of my favorite scriptures
in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 42, verse 4. And he shall
not fail. Behold my servant, my elect,
in whom my soul delighteth. Then God says of him, he can't
fail. The Lord Jesus Christ cannot fail. He cannot fail to fulfill
every promise that he's given to us. Of all that he has promised,
not one word has failed. He said, I've spoken it. I bring
it to pass. I've purposed it. I will do it.
We can count on His Word. Our God, think about this. Our God, the Lord our God. I waited patiently for the Lord.
That's Jehovah. That's the almighty, eternal,
self-existent One from eternity to eternity. Thou art God. Our God, our Lord has all power. To defend you, all power is given. Remember we studied that? All
power, our Lord said, is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
All power, all power. They talk about bombs being powerful. That's nothing. A bomb created
by a man, what kind of power is that? Compared to God, it's
nothing. It's nothing. God has all power
to defend his people. All power to defend his people.
He has all wisdom to direct us in Christ or hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. He has all wisdom to direct us. Where does the Lord direct us
to? To himself. He said, I am the way, I am the
truth, I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. It's only by Christ. It's through
him and in him, but it's because of him. It's by him that we come. So he has all power to defend
you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy, mercies of the Lord,
salvations of the Lord. He has all mercy to pardon you.
And to do it so justly. He's faithful and just to forgive
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Didn't we
study that? First John. I think we studied
that Sunday, didn't we? He has all mercy to pardon you
through the blood atonement of Christ. He's plenteous in redemption.
He has all grace to enrich you. Think about this. All grace to
enrich you. Paul writes about, he said, you
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty
might be made rich. You're looking at the world's
richest man. Did you know my father owns everything? I have a rich father. He owns
everything. And you know what? He's made
me his heir. Heir of God and joint heir with
the Lord Jesus Christ. My father's rich. And he's going
to give me all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You didn't know I was the world's
richest man, did you? You didn't know my father owned everything,
did you? Well, that's true of you, too, if you're a believer. He has all power to defend you,
all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace
to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you. We need to be clothed. What does
He clothe us with? Garments of His salvation, the
robe of His righteousness. He's called the Lord Our Righteousness. He shall be called the Lord Our
Righteousness. And then Jeremiah, Jeremiah 33,
he said, and she shall be called the Lord Our Righteousness. That's
my name too. He has all goodness to supply
you. All goodness to supply you. What
kind of goodness is he talking about? Let me just read this
to you. He said in Psalm 23, The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. I'll dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. Before I knew him, he knew me. Before I heard the gospel, he
had his eye on me. His thoughts toward his people
are everlasting, everlasting thoughts. The Lord will hear
our cry for grace to help in our time
of need. May God help us to patiently
wait upon the Lord and pray this way, pray this way, thy kingdom
come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Didn't the
Lord teach us to pray that way? The Lord will hear our cry for
grace to help in our time of need. He said, let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help. In our time of need, I'm poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinks upon me. Now think of these examples. In Matthew chapter eight, we
studied, remember the leper? came to the Lord Jesus Christ.
The leper came to the Lord Jesus Christ. And you remember what
he said? Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. What did the Lord say? I will
be thou clean. I will. Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. I will be thou clean. And that
leper was clean. How about the case of blind Bartimaeus? Blind Bartimaeus, sitting by
the wayside, there in his filthy rag, dirty rag, begging, begging. That's about as low as you can
get in this life, is it not? Sitting on the street corner,
begging, blind. And he heard the Lord Jesus Christ
coming by. And he cried out, thou son of
David. He knew something, didn't he?
The Lord Jesus Christ was the son of David. Son of David, made
according to the flesh, declared to be the son of God. Thou son
of David, have mercy upon me. Remember what it says next? And
Jesus stood still. He stood still. At the cry of
a needy beggar, Have mercy. Lord, have mercy on me. And the
Lord stopped and said, what do you need? Lord, that I might
see I'm blind. The Lord healed him, gave him
his sight. That'll encourage us to call
upon, didn't it say in Romans, I think we read this Sunday,
didn't we? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. I'm gonna call. And then how
about the publican in the temple? Lord, be merciful to me, thee
sinner. That's my constant prayer. Lord,
be merciful to me. Seven words. Lord, be merciful
to me, thee sinner. And the Lord said, that man went
down to his house justified, cleared of all guilt. I waited patiently for the Lord.
He inclined to me. Oh, and He heard my cry. I'm
going to call upon the name of the Lord. And then look what
it says in verse 2 and 3. He brought me up. He set me up. He established my going. He tuned
me up. He brought me up. He set me up. He established my going and he
tuned me up. He put song, he put a song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. He brought me up also out
of a horrible pit, out of the muddy mess, dirty clay pit, and
he set my feet upon the rock. That rocks Christ. And He established
me. He established me where? In Christ. And then He put that
psalm in my heart, in my mouth. The Lord delivered us, and He
has delivered us, and He will deliver us. He has. He will. deliver us from the
pit. And that word, that word there,
a horrible pit, can also be rendered dungeon, prison, back in the
old days. You remember when we were studying
through Jeremiah, what they did with Jeremiah, they put him down
in a pit? Didn't they do the brothers of
Joseph, didn't they put him in a pit? That's us by nature, in bondage,
to our sin in the pit of sin and in the miry clay of our total
depravity and sin. That's where the Lord finds us. And then what does he do? He
brings us out. We're not climbing out of that
pit ourselves. Matter of fact, we don't want out by nature.
We love it in the pit. We love darkness. We don't love
light. Like that hog. That hog, he wallows in that
mud, doesn't he? That's his nature. That's us.
The Lord finds us in a pit, this horrible pit of sin. And what
does he do? He lifts us out. He lifts us
out. We're not coming out any other
way. We can't work our way out. We can't clean ourselves up.
People say, Albert, people say, well, just clean yourself up
and God will save you. Impossible. Salvation's not for
clean folks. Did you know that? It's for dirty
folks. It's for dirty folks. Didn't
it say that he came to call sinners to repentance? Didn't come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance? So he brought
me out of the horrible, horrible pit. He came where we were and
lifted us from the dunghill. He got right down in the pit. with us in the flesh. God manifests in the flesh, being
made sin for us. And He lifts us out. Boy, that's
grace, is it not? That's grace, is it not? Hannah
prayed this in her prayer, 1 Samuel 2. He raises the poor out of
the dust. He lifts up the beggar from the
dunghill to set them among princes. to make them inherit the throne
of glory. Wow. Wow. What have we in the
Lord Jesus Christ? He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and then what does he do?
He sets us down. He settles us down. He sets our
feet upon the rock. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's not
sinking sand. He's not shifting sand. He's
the rock. You remember that Psalm 62? He
is my rock. He is my rock and I shall not
be moved. You remember? He's the rock,
I shall not be moved. To move the believer, you gotta
move the rock. We're fastened to that rock.
We're established and we're one with that rock. He set my feet, not upon sinking
sand, but on the solid rock. On Christ the solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. Do you remember what he said
to Peter? Upon this rock I'll build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against that. He establishes our going. We're
established in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made us kings and
priests unto our God. Unto him who loved us and washed
us from our sin in his own blood. And he's made us kings and priests
unto our God. We read in the book of Job, Job
33, 24, deliver him from going down to the pit. Deliver him
out of the pit. Why? I found a ransom. When the ransom is paid, the
prisoners come out of the pit. He paid our debt and set us free. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us. In Galatians, Paul writes,
stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. We're
established upon that rock. And then not only that, no other
foundation. Christ is that solid rock. He
brought me up, he set me up, and then he tuned me up. Behold,
I lay in Zion for foundation stone, a tri-stone, precious
cornerstone. He that's trusted in him shall
never be confounded, shall never be ashamed, never be forced out. Our standing in the Lord Jesus
Christ is certain and sure. He's able to keep us from falling
and to present us faultless before the presence of God's glory with
exceeding joy to the only one God our Savior be glory and dominion
both now and forever. Verse three, Psalm 40, verse
three. And he put a new song in my mouth,
even praise unto our God. Many shall see, we see because
he's opened our eyes. Many shall see, what do we see? We see him. Because he's put
a new song in our mouth. A new song in our mouth. What
are the words of that song? Do you want to see the words
of that song? Look over here at Psalm 98. He put a new song
in our mouth. Because He's given us a new heart.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, remember?
Psalm 98, look at verse 1. Here's the words of that song.
Oh, sing unto the Lord, verse 1. A new song. For He hath done marvelous things.
His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him to victory. I
don't turn to this, let me just read it to you. You're familiar
with this. We've looked at this many times.
In the revelation of Jesus Christ, in Revelation chapter 5, it says
in verse 9, they sung a new song. Oh, He had put a new song in
my mouth. Here's that new song. And they sung a new song. You
see, it's ever new. We'll be singing that song for
eternity through eternity. They sung a new song, saying,
thou art worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain, and has redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of
every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, has made us under
our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
And I beheld and heard the voice of many angels round about the
throne, and the beast, and the elders, and the number of them
were 10,000 times 10,000 and 1,000, sang with a loud voice, worthy
is the Lamb to receive all power, honor, glory, and blessing, both
now and forever. Amen. That's the song of redemption,
isn't it? And that's what we sing because
He's put that song in our hearts and it comes out of the mouth.
Praise Him to our God. Many, many, thee many, as many
as were ordained to eternal life believe, thee many shall see
and fear, and shall trust the Lord. Those who have been made
new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ, they see Him. Remember,
we studied the Song of Solomon. He's altogether lovely. To you
who believe, He is precious. Many shall see. What do we see? We see Him, and we fear Him. That is, we worship Him, and
we trust in Him. We can trust the Lord. Now, it's
a safe, sure thing to trust the Lord. What He says is true. What
He does is forever. We can trust Him. He can't fail. Verse 4, blessed is that man, blessed
is that man who's been brought up been established, who has
a new song in his heart. Blessed is that man. That's a
blessed man. That's a blessed man that maketh
the Lord his trust. The Lord is our trust. We trust
all of our salvation. We trust all of our salvation
to him. He's the Savior. We trust all
of our salvation to him. Blessed is that man. That's a
blessed man. Blessed are those whom the Lord
has chosen. You remember Psalm 65? Blessed
are those whom the Lord has chosen and causes to approach unto Him. Remember Psalm 32? Blessed is that man whom the
Lord will not impute sin. and whose sin and iniquity has
been covered. That's a blessed man. That's
a blessed man. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
Been made a new creature in Christ. Happy is that man. to trust in
Him at all times, ye people, pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. That's Psalm 62. That's a happy
man who can say what Job, you remember what Job said? Though
He slay me, yet I'll trust Him. Remember what his wife said?
His wife said, you don't look like a blessed man to me. God
killed all of our children. All your substance is gone. Now
you're spent with boils. And he sits on an ash heap, scraping
his skin with all those boils all over. And his wife said,
won't you curse God and die? Job said, though he slay me,
yet I'll trust him. That's good, isn't it? Well, we can say with Peter.
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter, whom
do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Or we can say with Paul, the
Apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he's
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. Paul, what have you committed unto him? Everything. We've committed
the whole of our salvation to him. Look at verse 5. Many, many, O Lord my God. We sing a song sometimes that
goes, and that phrase is there, O Lord my God. I can't remember
how great thou art. Is that the name of it? O Lord
my God. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works. His name is called Wonderful,
is it not? Can he do anything but wonderful? Wonderful, which thou has done
in thy thoughts which are to usward, usward. That reminded me of one verse,
usward. What do you think of when you
see that word usward? Do you think of a verse? Think
of a verse. 2 Peter 3, 9, the Lord is long
suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but all
should come to repentance. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I were to declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. We used to sing a song when I
was a little boy. I didn't know anything of what
I was singing. Count your many blessings, count them one by
one, and see what the Lord has done. I didn't know anything
about the Lord's blessing, but I do now to some extent. He's
blessed us with all the spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
Christ Jesus. Many, many are thy wonderful
works which thou hast done. Salvation is based upon what
He has done. What He has done. Salvation is
described, if you turn back one page, one page, verse 39, Psalm
37, 39, with the salvation of the righteousness of the Lord,
He is their strength in the time of trouble. He is their strength
in the time of trouble. Salvation of the righteousness
of the Lord. Salvation is described as redeeming
work of the Lord, what he had done for us. Not what we do for
him. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of
his grace. Where does that put human merit?
Counts for nothing. Man, his best state is altogether,
altogether, what's that word? Vanity. That's it, isn't it?
You thought I forgot, didn't you? Man at his best hates altogether
vanity. It's what he has done for us.
People, so sad, they say, well, God's done all he can do, now
it's up to you. That's not true. That's not what
this book teaches. Salvation of the righteous is
of the Lord. He has done for us all things.
It's not what we do for him, it's what he's done for us. Our
Lord said this, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent
Me and to finish His work. Did He get it done? He prayed,
Father, I've glorified Thee on the earth. I've finished the
work You gave Me to do. And then on the cross, what was
His last words? Father, it's finished. It is finished. It is finished. He finished the work the Father
gave Him to do. The blessings of redemption are
more than can be numbered. Can you number the blessings
of God's redeeming grace? You think of the many wonderful
works in creation. He created all things by the
word of His power. Psalm 19 said, don't turn on
me if it's written to you. The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork day in and day
out of their speech. And night unto night showeth
knowledge. There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard. The many, many wonderful works
of God in creation. He said, for by him are all things
created. that are in heaven, that are
in the earth, visible, invisible, whether it be thrones or dominions,
principalities or powers, all things were created by him and
for him, and he's before all things, and by him all things
consist. Listen to this scripture, Hebrews
11 verse 1. Now faith is a substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders
obtained a good report, Through faith we understand that the
worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are
seen were not made of things that do appear. In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. Many wonderful works of
creation. What a wonder. Even if we look
at creation in its fallen state, Think about creation in what
they call the pristine estate. Before sin entered in, now the
whole earth groaneth and travaileth, waiting for the redemption, a
new heaven, a new earth. Many wonderful works in creation.
Many wonderful works in providence. Oh, the providence of God. Known
unto God are all His works from the beginning. What you see unfolding
in time is what God has decreed from eternity. God has decreed
all things from eternity. Of Him, through Him, and to Him
are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. And then it
says, you know what it says next? Amen. Many wonderful works. which thou
hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us were they cannot be
reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, there more than can be numbered." Wonderful works
in creation, wonderful works in providence, wonderful works
in salvation. How should we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? There is salvation in no other,
no other name under heaven. There was an article in the Bulletin,
I think on the back page, Sunday, about there's no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. He's the only
surety, the only savior, the only shepherd. He's everything,
is he not? In salvation, Christ is, he's
Christ. Scripture, the scriptures say
that Christ is all and in all, doesn't it? In him goes all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily and in Christ which is incomplete.
Many wonderful works in regeneration, in regeneration of his own will
begat he us with the word of truth. You happy quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sin. Well, I'm going to stop right
there at 37 minutes.