This evening, our study is Psalm
84, and I'm titling the message from the words found in verse
11. And I love these two words. Well,
actually, there's four words in there that, in verse 11, the
Lord God is sun and shield. He is our light. He is our protection. That's a glorious thought, isn't
it? The Lord God, He is light. He's our Son, Son of Righteousness,
and our shield. The Lord will give, here's the
two words, grace and glory. You see those two words? He gives
us all grace now, and then glory forever. No good thing will He
withhold from them that are His, that walk uprightly. How do we
walk uprightly? We walk in Christ, don't we?
We walk in Christ. The Lord will give grace and
glory. Truly yet so, isn't it? We can
say amen. We can say amen. The Lord will
give us all grace now, saving grace, daily grace, and all glory,
glory forever. His grace, as Paul said, is sufficient,
is it not? My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in Weakness, most gladly therefore,
while I rather glory in my infirmities at the power of Christ. The power
of Christ may rest upon me. His grace is sufficient. I found
this statement somewhere, and I don't know the author. If I knew, I'd give credit. But
listen to these words. I try to put this in a bulletin
maybe in a week or so. Grace and glory is the same thing. Grace is glory in the seed. Glory is grace in full bloom. Glory begins in grace, and grace
is completed in glory. Grace is glory begun, and glory
is grace consummated. Grace is glory in the bud. Glory
is grace in the fruits. Grace is the lowest degree of
glory. Glory is the highest degree of
grace. That's good, isn't it? That blessed me. Here are two
great and marvelous gifts which God bestows upon fallen sinners
in Christ, grace and glory. That's salvation. Grace and glory,
like one plus one equals two, grace and glory equal salvation,
don't they? Salvation. The last thing, the
first thing he gives us is grace, and the last thing he gives us
is glory. Glory forever. Grace and glory,
both are only realized in the Lord Jesus Christ, for he is
the giver and sustainer of grace and glory, of his fullness, of
we all receive grace for grace. And because we have all grace
now, what will we have forever? Glory, glory, glory forever. This is one of the sweetest Psalms
one old writer said. If Psalm 23 is the most well-known
Psalm, everybody knows Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. And Psalm 51 is the most read
Psalm when our heart is broken and convicted over sin. And then
Psalm 103 is the most joyful Psalm Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. This psalm
is the most sweet psalm, for this psalm is the expression
and desire of the believer's heart. The believer's heart. Evidently, for a time, David
was compelled or forced to be away from public worship, public
worship of the Lord, away from the public assembly of believers,
And his heart yearned and craved to be in the presence of the
Lord in public worship. You remember Psalm 122 where
David said, I was glad. Oh, I was glad when they said
to me, oh, let's go to the house of the Lord. Let's go to the
house of the Lord. Brother Henry Mahan has a good
sermon from Psalm 84. entitled, which is more important,
private or public worship? Think about it. Which is more
important, private or public worship? Well, private worship
is certainly important, but public worship is more important, more
important. Hebrews 10, not forsaking the
assembly of ourselves. Our Lord said this in Matthew
18, where two or three are gathered together in my name, I'm in the
midst. I don't see the Lord here, do
you? I don't even feel his presence here, do you? But the Lord is
here. The Lord is with us. We don't
trust our feelings. We trust his word. We believe
his word. He said, we're two or three are gathered together
in my name. We met this evening in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I'm with you. And he
said in Matthew 28, we're going to see in a week or so where
he said to go and preach the gospel, knowing I'll have all
power and authority. Go and preach the gospel. And
then he says, lo, I'm with you always. I'm with you always,
even to the end of the world. In Revelation 2, in our study
there, the Lord walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. He dwells among His people. He
dwells among His people. He dwells in them, and He dwells
among them. That's why David says, I desire
to worship how amiable, verse one, Psalm 84, how amiable, and
that word is lovely. How beautiful, lovely, gorgeous
are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. The place that's designated
where the gospel is preached, where he is worshiped, the true
and living God, how lovely is that place. David doesn't say
how lovely because he could not find the words to express how
lovely the meeting place of God's saints really is. No better place
to be, no lovelier place to be on this topside of God's green
earth than together with believers in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ to read His Word, to call upon God, to preach His gospel
and to worship Him. The Father seeketh such, we read
in John 4. He seeketh such to worship Him
in spirit and in truth. Together in the name of Christ,
to worship Him where His gospel is preached. It pleased God through
the preaching of the gospel to call out His people. Faith comes
by hearing, hearing by the word of the Lord, where believers
are encouraged where they encourage one another
and pray for one another. To forsake, to constantly forsake
and neglect public worship of God is the first step toward
total apostasy. I know there's sometimes reason
and valid ones why we can't come and worship sickness and other
things. But even when we're sick and even when we're not here,
And even when we're away, our heart is still here in them.
When I'm away from this place and it's time for worship, my
heart is drawn here with you together. And then he says, verse
2, my soul longeth. I long for this. I desire this. I want this. My soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. The core to the
Lord is his presence. It's where God's people meet
and where he meets with his people. My heart, that's that new heart
created in Christ Jesus. It's not that old, wicked, deceitful
heart. This is a man who's been made
a new creature in Christ. My heart and my flesh crieth
out for the living God, not cold, dead idols. But we cry out and
we worship the living God. We worship a true and living
God. Our hearts have been turned to God from our idols to serve
the living and true God. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 9. We've been turned to God. It doesn't say we turned from
our idols. It says we turned to God from
our idols. Who turned you? God turned us. God turned us. And my flesh cries
out for the living God. The living God is the true God.
The living and true God is the only one who is worthy to be
worshipped. Everything else is idolatry. The only place we'll really worship
is at the throne of the absolute sovereign God. Look at verse
3. David said, and he envies the
sparrows. He envies a little bird that
just flies into the house of God, or around the little sparrow
hath found a house, a dwelling place, around the tabernacles
of God, or the temple of God, and to swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of
hosts. He's my king, and he's my God. Now David was the king of Israel.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is King of Kings. He's my King. Can you say that? The Lord is
my King. The Lord is my God. He's my God
and He's my Savior. David envies the little birds
that fly about the house of God and make their nest around the
place of God. that raise their young in that
place. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is called His house. It's a house for us. A house
for us to nest in. It's a house for us to bring
our children, to raise up our children. Remember Paul says,
raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Among
the altars of the Lord of hosts. Christ is our altar. set the sacrifice apart, and
the Lord Jesus Christ is our altar. What makes His sacrifice
so special is who He is. This is God, our Savior, who
sacrificed Himself for us. The Lord has been enthroned in
our hearts, and our desire is to meet with the Lord's people
around the altar. We meet with the Lord's people
around the sacrifice, don't we? We don't bring an animal sacrifice,
do we? Christ has sacrificed for us.
He's our altar. He's our sacrifice. He's our
atonement for all of our sins. He is our redeemer who has obtained
for us what kind of redemption? He obtained for us eternal redemption. Look at verse four. Blessed,
blessed, blessed are they that dwell in thy house. Blessed are they that dwell with
the Lord. Blessed are they that dwell in
thy house. They will be still. Be still
and know that I am God. Beside me there is no other.
You remember what Moses said to the children of Israel? Stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord. Those who are blessed
of God, blessed with all spiritual blessings, they do dwell in Christ. He is the house of God. And they
will be, they will be praising the Lord. And that word selah,
it usually means to pause, but I like it better. I just think
of that word as amen. Amen. That's so, so be it. God's people are blessed with
all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ. There's
nothing that we need that he has not given us freely by his
grace. Everything God requires of us,
he freely gives. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely? I love that word, don't you?
Freely give us all things. Verse 5, blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee. Hold your place there. I've got
a reference here I've written down. Turn back to Psalm 27.
We see this is David's desire to be with the Lord's people,
to meet with the Lord around the gospel. Psalm 27, verse 4. You got it? Psalm 27, one thing, verse four.
How about it is ours of the Lord. Now I will seek after that I
might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
to behold the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in his temple for
the time of trouble shall hide me in the secret, hide me in
his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide
me and set me upon the rock. That's my desire, to dwell with
the Lord. Another reference I've got jotted
down here. Find Psalm 42. I think we'll look at this Psalm
next week. It's been a while since we looked at it. Psalm
42. Talking about verse one, there's
a heart that is the deer, H-A-R-T, the deer paneth After the water
brooks, so panics my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth
for thee, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat, day
and night while they continually saying to me, where is thy God?
When I remember these things, I pour out my soul. I pour out
my soul in me, or I had gone With the multitude, I went with
them to the house of God with a voice of joy and praise, with
a multitude that kept the holy day. I went with them to the
house of God." I was glad when they said to me, let's go, let's
go worship God, hear the gospel, read His Word, pray unto the
Lord. You know, many people Many people that I hear from over
the years, I've heard from over the years, we've been on Sermon
Audio, I get a lot of feedback from people, 20 years, a lot
of people, one of the things they often say, we have no place
to worship. We have no place where we can
meet where the gospel of Christ is truly preached. There's just
no one around here preaching Christ. How blessed we are. I
have the gospel here, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
is a man, verse five, blessed is this man whose strength is
in thee. Now, we're all weak and feeble,
sinful, guilty creatures. We have no strength in ourselves. We are poor and needy, aren't
we? Poor and needy. Blessed is that man whose salvation,
whose strength is in Christ, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
is that man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto
him. Blessed is that man whom the Lord will not impute sin,
whose sin is covered. Blessed is that man whose strength
is in the Lord. We have no confidence in the
flesh, do we? As Paul said, we are the true
Israel which worship God in the spirit, that rejoice in Christ
Jesus. What's the rest of that? And
we have no confidence in the flesh. None, none. Our strength, the whole of our
strength, the strength of faith, the strength of hope, the strength
of love, it's all wrapped up in Christ, is it not? He's the
strength of love. He's the strength of mercy. He's
a God. He's a God of our mercy. We read
that recently, didn't we? He's a God of my mercy. He's
a God of my mercy. Blessed is that man. All through
the Psalms, it talked about the blessed man, the blessed man. Look at verse six now, who passing
through the valley, We're going through this life.
We're passing right now through this valley, aren't we? This
is not our home. We're just, what? Passing through. We're passing through. We're
passing through this home, through this life unto our home. And
it's a valley here. That word, baka, make it well. The rain also fills the pools.
It's a valley of weeping. Weeping. We do have times of
weeping, but we also have pools that are full of the water of
life, don't we? I'm thinking of that Psalm 23,
we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, But the
Lord said, I'm with you. Fear not. We walk through this
valley. We're passing through. This is
not our home. We're just temporary residents
passing through this valley of tears, this valley of sorrow,
this valley of heartache. But it will be well. The rain
also filleth the pools. were full of His mercy. He filled us up. Christ indeed
is all of our strength, all of our shield. Remember, turn back
to Psalm 46. Psalm 46, we often, I quote this
often, verse one, Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength. He's
a very present help in trouble. He's our refuge. He's our strength.
We have no strength in ourselves. That is the blessed man. That's
the blessed man. Strength and power. Christ is
the strength and power of all of our salvation, is He not? The Lord Jesus Christ is the
wellspring of living water. We talked about the well of water,
the well of rain. Where does the rain come from?
It comes from the Lord, doesn't it? Look at verse 7. They go
from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion, with no
exception to this rule. They go from strength to strength.
He's talking about growing in grace and in the knowledge of
the Lord Jesus Christ. They grow from one degree to
another, from one degree of faith to another. They go from strength
to strength, every one of them. Every one of them in Zion, in
the church, they appear before God. Now, how do they appear? Thank God we don't appear in
ourselves. Thank God we appear before the throne of God in Christ. God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. God says, that of every child
of God found in the Lord Jesus Christ. We all appear before
God as well-pleasing sons. Think about that. Well-pleasing
sons. Believers do grow in grace and
in the knowledge of Christ. Believers do grow from strength
to strength. Their spiritual strength is renewed
and refreshed through the hearing of the gospel. Is it not? Desire
the sincere milk of the word that you might grow thereby.
Paul writes this, though the outward man perish, that's his
flesh, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. That's that
soul made new in Christ. Our light afflictions, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. We're just passing through this
valley of tears, pressing on to our eternal home. Did we be
with the Lord forever? And they appear before God. Now
think about this. When will we appear before God? We appear before Him right now.
We're exalted to the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
one of them, in Zion, in the church, the church of the firstborn,
the elect of God, redeemed by the blood of Christ, they appear
before God, accepted in the Beloved. Verse 8, O Lord God of hosts,
hear my prayer. Hear my prayer. Isn't that our
desire when we pray? Lord, hear our prayer. Hear our
prayer. Give ear. Give ear. O God of Jacob. O God of Jacob. How many times he says that? 26 times I counted. O God of
Jacob. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Jacob was one chosen of God,
blessed of God with all spiritual blessings. Oh Lord God of hosts,
hear my prayer, give ear. He's a God of us Jacob's, sinners
saved by the grace of God. And then that word Selah, amen. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners, of whom I am chief. Amen. You can say amen to that,
can't you? I'm the chief of sinners. You're
right. Amen. You're right, brother. Amen. Oh, Lord God of hosts, hear my
prayer. Give ear. Oh, God of Jacob, amen. Now look at verse 9. In Christ we can come boldly
to the throne of grace and ask for mercy, grace to help in our
time of need. Look at verse 9. Behold, O God
our shield. What do we need shielded from? We need to be shielded from the
accuser of the brethren, the devil. We need to be shielded
from our sin that's against God. We need to be shielded from temptation. Lord, shield us. Oh God, our
shield. Look upon the face, look upon
the face, the face of thine anointed. Now, who would you say is God,
the God of Jacob's anointed? Who would you say that is? Who
is Psalm 45 calls the one that's anointed above all fellows? Who is the anointed? Well, it's
the Messiah. It's the Christ of God. He's
the anointed prophet, priest, and king. He's the anointed Redeemer
and Savior. He's the only one I need. O Lord,
God our shield, Look upon Christ, my Redeemer, my anointed, my
Lord. Isn't that good? Where do we see the glory of
God revealed? Where do we see the glory of
God revealed? In the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember
God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness? has shined
in our hearts that we might see the glory of God that shines
in the face of Jesus Christ? He's anointed in all of His office.
Look at verse 10 now. For a day in thy courts, or the
day in the Lord's presence, a day of worship in the house of the
Lord, a day of worship, true worship in spirit and in truth,
a day of true spiritual worship, in the house of God is better
than a thousand without that. For the day in thy presence is
better than a thousand. Just one day. Give me one day.
Oh, give me one day of worship. One day of worship in spirit
and in truth. Heart worship. True praise the
Lord. That's better than a thousand
days. That one day of worship. For
a day in thy courts is better than a thousand, then David says,
I'd rather be a doorkeeper. I'd rather sit on the threshold.
I'd rather sweep the floor. I'd rather do anything to be
around the house of God, the tabernacle, the temple of God,
where the gospel is preached. I'd rather be a doorkeeper. I'd
rather be a nobody in the kingdom of God than to
be somebody without Christ. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God. Just let me be in the house of
my God. Let me be in Christ than to dwell
in the tents of the wicked, the tent of wickedness, or the tent
of the ungodly. I'd rather be a poor beggar,
a homeless person on the street with the love of God shed abroad
in my heart than to be Bill Gates with all his billions of dollars. The love of money is the root
of all evil. Didn't say money, the love of
it. Wouldn't you, isn't this your
rather? I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God, I'd rather be a nobody who believes the
gospel than to be the biggest big shot on Wall Street and have
no love of God in my heart. Than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness, wickedness. Now verse 11, the Lord God will
give grace and glory. No good thing will He withhold
from His people. No good thing will He withhold
from His people. The Lord will give us grace. The Lord God, verse 11, the Lord
will give us sun and shield. The Lord will be our sun and
shield. Let me go back to verse The first part of that verse,
Christ is our son, as it says in verse 9, our shield and son. Christ is our son. He's called
in scripture the son of righteousness with healing in our wings. Christ
is our light of life. He said, I'm the light of the
world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
our shield, is he not? A light to show the way, a shield
to protect us in the way. The Lord God is sun and shield. He is light and protection. The Lord God will give. Now,
there's a possibility the Lord will give grace. They're not
saying that there is a possibility He will show mercy. It's saying
that He will. He will. He said, I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. The Lord will give grace and
glory. He will. No good thing. No good. Will He withhold from
them that love Him, that walk uprightly, that believe the gospel,
that just shall live by faith? Now in closing, the Lord will
give grace. Grace of His fullness, have we
all received grace for grace? Grace is not merited, grace is
given, given by the sovereign will of God. It is free grace,
sovereign grace, Eternal grace and saving grace that He gives
by His purpose and grace. Grace comes to us only through
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will give grace and
He will give glory. That'll be glory for me. We cannot
have glory without His sovereign grace. Think about it. You cannot
have glory without His sovereign grace. The two are inseparable.
God has joined them together like those two words, purpose
and grace, glory and grace. If we have grace, we shall have
glory too. God will not give one without
the other. Grace is the bud, glory is the
flower. Grace is the fountain, glory
is the river. Grace is the first fruit, glory
is a full harvest. If we have grace, we shall never
perish because we shall have glory too. I give my sheep eternal
life, oh, and they'll never perish. Those who do not have grace here,
now think about this, those who do not have grace here shall
not have glory hereafter. It's not possible for any to
be glorified who have not first been justified, justified freely
by his grace through the redeeming blood of Christ. You cannot reign
with Christ in glory if Christ does not reign in you by His
grace. Grace and glory are inseparable
gifts. The Lord is the fullness of both. Grace and glory. The Lord will
give. Isn't that good? That verse 11,
the Lord God, the Lord God. Jehovah God Almighty, He's Son,
He's our light, He's our shield, our refuge. The Lord will give
grace and glory because He's our Son and shield. No good,
no good, that word thing is added, no good will He withhold from
His covenant children. Blessed with all spiritual blessings
and heavenlies in Christ. Verse 12, O Lord of hosts, He's Lord of a people. O Lord
of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee. We trust
in Him, that Lord of hosts. What does that remind you of?
Turn back over to Psalm 24. Psalm 24, begin reading at verse Five, he shall receive blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is a generation of them that seek him, that seek thy
face, O Jacob. Amen. Lift up your head, O ye
gates. Lift them up, ye everlasting
doors. The King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of
glory? Psalm 24, verse eight, the Lord
strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your head,
O ye gates. even lift them up, the everlasting
Lord, the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of
glory? The Lord of hosts. He's the Lord
of his people, Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory who shall
send into the hill of the Lord those in Christ, those in Christ
Jesus. That's the blessed man. O Lord
of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.