Okay now, let's turn to Psalm
32. Psalm 32, and I'm taking the
title from what is said in verse 2. Blessed is the man. You see that? Psalm 32, verse
2. Blessed is the man. Blessed is
the sinner unto whom the Lord imputeth not. Iniquity. Now that's a blessed man. That's
a blessed man. Blessed is a man. That word blessed
we read in the book of Psalms many times, but the word blessed
means happy. Happy. Or it means happiness. Happiness. Happiness unto the
Lord. Notice. It says in verse 10 and
11 of Psalm 32, many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he
that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall encompass him about. Be
glad in the Lord, happy, happy, glad in the Lord and rejoice,
you righteous, and shout for joy. rejoicing and joy, all you
that are upright in heart. But we are a blessed people.
The word means happy, means blessedness, it also means prosperity. And
certainly God has prospered us in so many ways. By nature, we're
impoverished in our sin, but he's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. He made us heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ. That's prosperity. Certainly,
it's true that of all those who find their hope of salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are happy and blessed and full
of prosperity. Now, when we talk about prosperity,
we're not talking about health and wealth. Naturally speaking,
we're talking about spiritual prosperity. You remember Ephesians
chapter 1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who had blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus, according as he has chosen us in him. before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy without blame
before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will,
to the praise, the glory of his grace. Now, I mentioned from
our study last week from Psalm 1, this word blessed, blessed. And I looked it up in the book
of Psalms and the word is found 45 times. 45 times we read that
word, blessed, blessed. And I found in the book of Psalms,
eight times in the book of Psalms, the word blessed is used in reference
to believers. Blessed is the man. who trusteth
the Lord. Blessed is that sinner whose
hope is the Lord. And we're going to look at those
eight references throughout the book of Psalms. But I also found
this, while I was thinking about that, I was thinking about this. I also found ten times the word
is used in reference to the Lord. In other words, it said, blessed
be the Lord. Blessed be the Lord. We do seek
his honor and glory. Blessed be the Lord. That's our
desire, is it not, to worship him? Let's look at five of those.
Turn back to Psalm 28, verse six. Psalm 28, verse six. Blessed be the Lord. Because
he hath heard the voice of my supplication, the Lord is my
strength, my shield, my heart, trusted in him, and I'm helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices. And with my song, I'll praise
him. The Lord is their strength. He
is the saving strength of his anointed. Save thy people, bless
thine inheritance, feed them also, and lift them up forever,
ever. Blessed be the Lord. And we can
say that, can't we? As believers. Blessed be the
Lord. Here's another reference. Psalm 31, 21. 31, 21. Blessed
be the Lord. For He has showed me His marvelous
kindness in a strong city. Blessed be the Lord. Look down
at verse 23 of Psalm 31. Oh, love the Lord, ye His saints.
For the Lord preserveth the faithful. Plenty rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, ye strength
in thy heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Blessed be the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord. Psalm 41, Psalm 41, 13. Psalm
41, 13. Psalm 41, 13. Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel from everlasting and everlasting. Amen. And amen. Blessed be the Lord. Blessed be the Lord. Now, another
one here. Turn over a few pages. Psalm
68, 19. Psalm 68 verse 19. I enjoy looking
these up and reading about them. Psalm 68 verse 19. Blessed be the Lord who daily
loatheth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He
that is our God is a God of salvation, and unto the Lord belongeth the
issues from death. Blessed be the Lord. Blessed
be the Lord. A couple more. Psalm 89, Psalm
89, 52. Psalm 89, 52. Psalm 89 is a psalm
about the covenant. The covenant of grace. Psalm 89, 52. Blessed be the
Lord forevermore. Again, he says, Amen and Amen.
Blessed be the Lord. Blessed be the Lord. Now, that's
five references, but there's ten altogether. The five others, I'm going to
give them to you. I'm not going to read them. Psalm 106, 48. Many people listen to this message
on sermon audio and on the CD. And then Psalm 113 verse 2. And
then Psalm 124 verse 6. Psalm 135 verse 21. And then
this one reference here I'm going to read to you. Psalm 144 verse
1. Blessed be the Lord my strength. which teacheth my hands to war,
and my fingers to fight, my goodness, my fortress, my high tower, my
deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I trust, who subdueth
my people under me." Blessed be the Lord. Blessed be the name
of the Lord. We sing that song sometimes,
don't we? Blessed be the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And certainly it comes from the Word of God, doesn't it? So let's
look at those references where it says, blessed be the man.
Blessed is the man. So I want you to look at these
eight references found in the book of Psalms with regard to
how the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, Redeemer, and God has
blessed us so abundantly in the Lord Jesus Christ. God who spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? Now here's the
first one. Here's the first one, Psalm 32
verse 1 and 2. Let's read that again. Blessed
is he whose transgression forgiven. Forgiven. The Lord has forgiven
the sin of his people based upon the blood sacrifice of Christ.
and whose sin is not only forgiven but covered, completely covered,
covered so much so that God said their sin and their iniquity
I remember no more. Blessed is that man who was pardoned,
in whom the Lord has forgiven us all our sin, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. That's Ephesians 1, 7. Blessed
is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile, no hypocrisy. Think about it. Transgression forgiven. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses us from all our sin. And then
sin completely covered, put away. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And iniquity,
not imputed, not imputed. I don't turn, but let me read
this to you. You remember from Roman chapter
four, the apostle Paul quotes this verse. But he does so in
reference to Abraham's salvation and how God saved sinners. Romans
4 verse 3, for what sayeth the scripture? Abraham believed God
and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now to him that
worketh is reward, not reckoning of grace, but of death. But to
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted. for righteousness, even as David
also described the blessedness of the man, this is Psalm 32,
unto whom God imputed righteousness without works. saying, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Now that's where it comes from.
When the Apostle Paul wants to show how sinners are justified,
he goes right to the well of the Scripture showing that Sinners
are justified by the blood atonement of Christ. All our sin was made
to be His, and all His righteousness made to be ours. Now you think
about that. All of our sin made to be His,
all of His righteousness made to be ours in Christ Jesus. And that comes from 2 Corinthians
5.21, doesn't it? For God had made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made to righteousness
of God in him. Blessed is that man, that sinner,
who has for his complete pardon, atonement, the blood sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember Romans 5 verse 9? Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. justified
freely by His grace through the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. So that's the first one. That's
the blessed man. That man whose sin is pardoned. Whom God has put away his sin
by the sacrifice of Christ. Now here's a second reference.
Turn to Psalm 34. Psalm 34 verse 8. Oh, taste and
see. Experience this taste of the
Lord and see, the Lord is good. Blessed is a man that trusteth
in him. Oh, fear the Lord, ye his saints. There is no want to them that
fear Him. He supplies all our need according
to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. So then we can
safely conclude from this scripture, blessed is a man that trusteth
in Him. I'm emphasizing in Him. Now what
is trusting in Him mean? What do we call that? Faith.
Faith. Where does that come from? Faith
is a gift of God. It's a gift of God. Now it works.
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
but it's a gift of God, not of worthless any man should boast. That's why faith is called precious. It's a precious gift of God that's
obtained through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know from the
scripture that true saving faith trusts the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him we trust. In Him we trust. That's what saving faith does.
We do not trust ourselves. We trust Him, always looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ and resting in Him. So saving faith
is always taken up with Christ. Remember, our Lord said, look
unto Me and be ye saved. And then the Apostle Paul talks
about saving faith, that he's the author and finisher of saving
faith. Saving faith is always looking
unto Him. Saving faith is always coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ, resting in Him. We are the true Israel
which worship God in the Spirit, that rejoice in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and we have no confidence in the flesh. Saving faith is
not taking up with the strength of ourselves, it's taking up
with the strength of Christ. We have a great Savior that we
receive by this precious gift of faith. And saving faith always
looks to Christ. And saving faith always acknowledges
and loves and believes the truth. the truth of who God is, the
truth of who we are, and the truth of God saving sinners by
His grace. Now here's the third reference.
Turn over here to Psalm 40. Psalm 40. Look at verse 1. I waited patiently
for the Lord. He inclined unto me and heard
my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of my reclay. He set my feet upon a rock, established
my goings. He hath put a new song in my
mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear and
shall trust the Lord. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust. Now this is not saying what that
last scripture said. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust, his refuge, his hope, his righteousness,
and respecteth not the proud nor such a turn aside to lie.
Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works. which thou hast
done in thy thoughts which are to usward. They cannot be reckoned
up in order unto thee, if I would declare and speak of them, there
are more that can be numbered." He's blessed us so abundantly,
so abundantly. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust, or his refuge, or his hiding place in Christ
Jesus. Christ is our refuge. He's our
refuge. Now, let me just read this to
you. This is familiar to you. Christ
is our refuge. He only is my rock, my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation, my glory,
the rock of my strength. And my refuge is in God. Psalm
62a. Trust in Him at all times, you
people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Make the Lord your refuge, your
trust. He is our refuge. He is our security. He is our salvation. Know the
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
He is our refuge. He is our security. And then
He is our assurance. Christ is our assurance. Christ
is our assurance. I looked this scripture up. Isaiah
32, 17 says, the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect
of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. So the Lord
Jesus Christ is our trust. That is, he's our refuge. He's
our righteousness. He's our security. He's our salvation. He is our assurance. He is our
hope. What is the hope of salvation?
Christ in you is a hope of glory. We have a good hope, a good hope
and everlasting consolation, a good hope through grace. Everlasting consolation through
the Lord Jesus Christ and a good hope through grace. Again, blessed
is that man that maketh the Lord everything to him. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. So, number four is this, Psalm 65.
Psalm 65 verse 4. Psalm 65 verse 4. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. and causes to approach unto thee,
that he may dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple." Blessed is that
man whom God has chosen. Now that's a blessed man. What
is that? What is this chosen stuff? That
means God has chosen, elected a people unto salvation. Our
Lord said in John 15, 16, You've not chosen Me, I've chosen you. And I've ordained you that you
should go forth and bring forth fruit unto God. And then you
know this, 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, We are bound to give thanks
always to God for you brethren and beloved of the Lord, because
the Lord hath chosen you. For the beginning unto salvation,
through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth,
were unto he called you by our gospel. What a blessed, glorious
gospel doctrine is the electing, sovereign love and grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And think about it, you know
what makes it so special and blessed? The Lord Jesus Christ
himself is called the elect. First time the word's ever used
in Scripture. Isaiah 42, 1, Behold my servant,
my elect, and whom my soul delighted. Election apart from Christ wouldn't
be good news to us, because He's the Savior, He's salvation. He
is the elect, we're chosen in Him. That's what makes election
so special. Christ is the elect, and we're
chosen in Him. Remember He said, All that the
Father hath given to me, they will come to me. And those that
come to me, He said, I'll never cast them out. So God had chosen
a people unto salvation. Had He not chosen us in that
eternal covenant of grace, we'd have never loved Him. We only
love Him because He first loved us. We only believe the gospel
because He called us by His grace. The Word of God, Paul, when he
talks about, we know, brethren, beloved, your election of God.
Well, how do you know that? Because God has called you. He sent the Word to you, but
He sent it not only in Word only, but in power. And He quickened
you and called you with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
here's the fifth reference turned to the blessed man. The blessed
man. Psalm 84. Psalm 84, verse 4 and
5. Psalm 84 verse 4 and 5, blessed
are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee. Verse 5, Psalm 84 verse 5, blessed
is a man whose strength is in thee and whose heart are the
ways of them. He's our strength. He's our strength. Blessed is the man whose strength
is in Thee. In Thee. Now, hold your place
there. Let me turn and read a couple
of Scriptures to you that will help us here about this thing
about strength. The Lord is the strength of our
salvation. The Lord is the strength of our
righteousness. He's the power and glory of salvation. Psalm 27 1, The Lord is my light,
In my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life. He is my life. Of whom shall
I be afraid? Of whom shall I be afraid? And
this psalm here has a special meaning to me. Psalm 46 verse
1. God is our refuge and strength
of every present help and trouble. God is our refuge and strength.
Our refuge and strength. And in Psalm 84, look down at
verse 12. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the
man that trusteth in Thee. That seemed to be the watchword
in the book of Psalms. The blessed man is the one who
is trusting in the Lord. Notice, trusted, trusted. Faith
is not an isolated act. Did you know that? Faith is a
life. It's a life of faith. The man
who is trusting, trusting, I have trusted, I am, and I will yet
trust Him all the days of my life. So that's a blessed, blessed
man. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is all our salvation, whose strength, He is our strength. He is our
strength. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and in Him we are complete. Christ is all
and in all. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is all our salvation, all our righteousness before God, now
and how long? Forever! Forever! He is the power
and strength of the gospel. That's why Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God and the
salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew and also to the
Gentile. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, a just
shall live by faith. Blessed is a man whose strength
is in the Lord, in thee. Now, number six is this. Turn
to Psalm 94, verse 12. Psalm 94, verse 12. Now this
is interesting here. This is interesting. Blessed,
look at verse 12. Psalm 94, 12. Blessed is the man whom thou
chastenest. O Lord, and teaches him out of
the law, out of the word of the Lord. Blessed is that man whom
the Lord has chastened and corrected, not out of wrath, but out of
love. You remember that scripture in
our study from the book of Hebrews? Have you forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as children? This is Hebrews 12, 6 and 7.
Let me just read it to you. My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Now this is not punishment
for our sin. That's taken care of in Christ.
This is the correction that we need. This is the correction. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth and scourgeth every son, every son whom he receives. We all need correction. We all
need a pointed in the right direction, focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons. For
what son is he whom the Father doesn't chasten? Now the father
who loves his children, he corrects his children. Not because he
just wants to inflict punishment on them. He does it for their
good, doesn't he? He wants them to grow up and
be obedient in all things. David often said, it's good for
me to be afflicted that I might learn thy statutes. It's good
for me. It's good for me. Now here's the last one I want
us to look at. Psalm 112. Turn it over there. Psalm 112. Psalm 112, verse 1. Now here's
another. Blessed, blessed. Now, these
are all of them that I can find in the book of Psalms. I'm sure
there's others in Proverbs and in the Prophets, but just staying
with the book of Psalms. 112, verse 1. Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is
a man that feareth the Lord. Blessed is a man that feareth
the Lord. That delighteth greatly in his commandments. That fears the Lord. We do reverence,
love, and worship the Lord. Fear the Lord Jehovah. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Look right up at the top of the
page. In Psalm 111 verse 9, He sent redemption unto His people. He commanded His covenant forever,
holy and reverent is His name. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. A good understanding have all
they that do His commandment. His praise endureth forever. This fear of the Lord is worship.
Worship Abraham. God said, I know now you believe
Me, seeing that you fear the Lord. You fear the Lord. We do
reverence, love, and worship the Lord, and fear the Lord,
and we reverence His holy name. You remember the description
of the ungodly found in Romans chapter 3 when it said, There's
none righteous, no not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone astray.
Poison is in their lips. And then he says, There's no
fear of God before their eyes. Believers are brought to a reverence,
holy fear of the Lord out of love, respect, and esteem. We want to worship Him. Because
we fear and trust and believe Him, we can boldly preach the
gospel without regard to what men say or think. Because we
fear God, we do not fear men. If we preach to please men, the
apostle said in Galatians 1, if we preach to please men, it's
only because we do not fear God. I've said to you over the years,
I would much rather tell the truth of God's gospel and offend
men than to compromise and lie and not tell the truth and offend
God. I'd much rather offend men, wouldn't
you, than to fear God. Now summing this all up, we are
blessed above all people on this earth, therefore we say with
the psalmist, turn back a few pages, Psalm 103, Psalm 103,
we bless God who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings.
Psalm 103 verse 1, blessed be the Lord, O my soul, and all
that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all his benefits. who forgiveth all thine
iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life
from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and
tender mercy, who satisfy thy mouth with good things, so that
mouth thy youth is renewed like eagles. The Lord executes his
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made
known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.
The Lord is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy.
He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever.
He has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west. So far hath He removed our transgressions
from us, like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities
them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame, He
knows that we are but dust. Bless the Lord, O my soul and
all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Now, who
is that blessed man? Those whose sins are pardoned.
Who is that blessed man? Those who are trusting the Lord.
Who is that blessed man? That man that maketh the Lord
his trust. Who is that blessed man? Whom
the Lord chastens. Who is that blessed man? The
man who is the Lord, who is our strength, and the man that feareth
the Lord. That's a blessed man. That's
a blessed man. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
that to your heart. greatly enjoyed looking those
references up today and studying those and meditating upon