Psalm 130 is our study this evening. Psalm 130, I've preached from
this psalm many times, and I've always found great comfort, great
help. I'm entitling the message, The
Experience of Grace, or The Experience of Salvation. This is what the
believer experiences in his heart and in his life. Now, saying
that, we know that a mere religious experience or having religious
feelings or religious excitement is not salvation. Those men on
Mount Carmel that were doing battle against Elijah, you remember
those pagans, the prophet of Baal? They got real excited,
so much so that they prayed and prayed and even cut themselves
and started bleeding. But that's not salvation. But having said that, salvation
by the grace of God is certainly something that the believer does
experience in our heart, in our soul, and in our life. Because
the scriptures teach us that God, who has begun a good work
in you, he will finish it. He's done a work of grace for
us on Calvary's tree, putting away our sin, but he must do
a work of grace in us. And that's something we experience.
One old preacher of the past said, we really don't believe
anything until we experience it. And that's really true. We don't really believe anything
until we really EXPERIENCED IT. WE HAVE TASTED THAT THE LORD
IS GRACIOUS. WE'VE EXPERIENCED THAT. I HAVE,
AND YOU HAVE, AND EVERY BELIEVER HAS. SALVATION IS AN INVASION
OF THE HEART. IT'S AN INVASION OF GOD ALMIGHTY
IN YOUR HEART, AND I MEAN BY THAT YOUR MIND, Your will, He
makes us willing in the day of His power. He gives us right
thoughts of God. He gives us correct understanding
that we may know Him that is true. And He gives us proper
affections For God, he causes us to set our affection on things
above, not on the things of the earth. And it's God, the Holy
Spirit, revealing the blessedness of Christ in you, that's the
hope of glory. Christ in you, that is the hope
of glory. Now this Psalm begins with the
cry of the heart of a believer, in verse 1 and 2 and ends in
verse 8 with complete confidence in the Lord. I cried unto the
Lord, verse 8, he shall redeem me. I cried and he redeemed. I sinned, and he saved. I was
lost, and he found me. I was guilty, and he showed grace. I was miserable, and he gave
mercy. That's what this psalm is all
about. We can trust him, for his word
is certain and sure. All the promises of God in him
are yes. AND IN HIM, AND AMEN, UNTO THE
GLORY OF GOD. HE SHALL REDEEM HIS PEOPLE, HIS
ELECT, HIS COVENANT CHILDREN FROM ALL, ALL, ALL THEIR SIN,
NOT SOME, ALL SIN, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE, ORIGINAL SIN, ACTUAL
SIN, ALL SIN. WE HAVE THE FORGIVENESS OF ALL
OUR SIN IN CHRIST. That's amazing, isn't it? Now look at verse one and two.
Here we see the believer's experience in his heart, in his life, when
we are convicted of our sin and we see the cry of our heart unto
the Lord. Out of the depths, the depths
of misery, the depths of guilt, the depths of despair, And we'll say that David, being
a believer, a man after God's own heart, certainly knew the
depths of sin against thee. He said, and thee only have I
sinned. Lord, have mercy upon me. I have cried unto thee. This is a cry of need. It's a
cry of the soul, the cry of the heart. Oh, Lord, hear my voice. LET THINE EARS BE ATTENDED TO
THE VOICE OF MY SUPPLICATION." NOW, THE LORD TELLS US TO CRY
UNTO HIM FOR HELP. HE SAID, COME BOLDLY UNTO THE
THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN MERCY, FIND GRACE TO HELP
IN OUR TIME OF NEED. NOW, HERE WE SEE THE PATTERN
OF GRACE. THE LORD MAKES US TO KNOW THAT
WE ARE GUILTY. GUILTY IS CHARGED. Let every
mouth be stopped and all the world come guilty, guilty before
God that we are sinners in his sight. Now we may look pretty
good to one another, but before God, there's none righteous,
no, not one. When we compare each other, some
may appear better than others among men, but before God, there's
none righteous, no, not one. WE ARE SINNERS IN HIS SIGHT,
AGAINST THEE AND THEE ONLY HAVE I SINNED, AND NONE IS EVIL IN
THY SIGHT. THAT'S WHAT DAVID CRIED UNTO
THE LORD. AND THIS IS THE FRUIT OF WHAT
WE CALL HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION. HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION IS NECESSARY
IN THE REGENERATION OF A SINNER. When God the Holy Spirit comes,
he convicts us of sin, what we are, of righteousness, what we
need, and of judgment, what we deserve. We've all sinned to
come short of the glory of God. Someone rightly said, if you
miss Holy Spirit conviction, you'll miss repentance. If you
miss Holy Spirit conviction, you'll miss repentance. If you
miss repentance, you'll miss faith. If you miss faith, you'll
miss Christ. If you miss Christ, you'll miss
salvation altogether. Then we see this, the cry of
mercy will never, the cry of mercy will never cry for mercy
until we know that we are in need of mercy. When does that little baby cry
for a bottle? when those hunger pains strike. And that need has to be met or
just keep right on crying. We'll never cry for pardon from
sin until we know that we're guilty before the Lord. We'll
never cry for mercy until we know that we're in need of mercy
before the Lord. God does bring us to see the
depths of our sin, but not to the depths of despair. because
he gives us faith to look to him for comfort and salvation.
He causes us to cry unto him for mercy, and we do come to
the Lord, to the throne of mercy that we may obtain, throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy. I like the story of the leper
who came before the Lord, He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. He came before the Lord and worshiped
him. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. And the Lord said, I will, I
will be thou clean. God does bring us to the depths
of our sin to show us our sin, and it's necessary, but we'll
never call on him for mercy. But God doesn't leave us in the
depths of despair HE DOES A WORK OF GRACE IN OUR HEART. WHEN THE
LORD IS PLEASED TO CONVICT US OF SIN, TO SHOW US WHAT WE ARE
IN HIS SIGHT, HE WILL HEAR OUR CRY. LORD, HEAR MY VOICE. VERSE 2, LET THINE EARS BE ATTENDED
TO THE VOICE OF MY SUPPLICATION. BECAUSE HE IS A LIVING GOD, HE
CAN HEAR. BECAUSE HE IS A LOVING GOD, HE
WILL HEAR. GOD IS GOOD TO HIS PEOPLE. When the Lord is pleased to convict
us, conversion's close behind. When the Lord is pleased to convict
us, comfort's close behind. I've never read in the word of
the Lord that our gracious God has ever turned a mercy beggar
away. We don't come demanding mercy,
we come begging for mercy. LORD, HAVE MERCY UPON ME, THE
SINNER. REMEMBER WHAT THE LORD SAID ABOUT
THAT MAN, THE COMPARISON OF THOSE TWO MEN? THE PHARISEE BRAGGED
ON HIMSELF AND WAS CONDEMNED, THE REPUBLICAN CONDEMNED HIMSELF
AND WAS JUSTIFIED. THAT'S MERCY. GOD SAID THAT MAN
WENT DOWN TO HIS HOUSE JUSTIFIED RATHER THAN THE OTHER. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, if God would count all my iniquities, boy, that'd be a high number,
wouldn't it? If he would count, he would mark my iniquities,
take notice of them and count them up and hold them against
me, charge me with them. Oh, Lord, who shall stand? I can't stand, I can't stand
before a thrice holy God. No way. But there is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared. If the Lord would mark
all my sin, who shall stand? Now here's a confession of a
repentant heart. Taking God's side against myself,
guilty. Upon my merit, upon my works,
I cannot stand. I dare not stand. Some in scripture
there in Matthew 7 said, Lord, we preached in your name. We've
cast out demons in your name. Lord, we've done, you know, we
ought to take notice of what we've done. We've done many wonderful
works. What did the Lord say? Depart
from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. Upon my merit, upon my works,
I cannot stand, I dare not stand. Who shall stand? None, none. If the Lord would
count and impute all my sin, all our sin, charge all our sin
to us, we cannot stand. The guilty cannot stand in his
sight. He will by no means clear the
guilty. You have to have perfection to stand before God. Well, who
can't stand? Who would stand? Let's see if
we can find out. Turn over here to Psalm 24. Psalm
24, remember? The scriptures said, the foolish
shall not stand in his sight. Thou hatest all the workers of
Manipiti. The ungodly shall not stand in
the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Who shall stand? Psalm 24, turn there, see if
we can find out. Verse 3, Psalm 24, who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy
place? Well, he that had clean hands
and a pure heart, who had not lifted up his soul into vanity,
was sworn deceitfully. In other words, to stand before
God, who is holy, we must be as holy as God. To stand before
God accepted, He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord, verse five, Psalm 24, and righteousness from the
God of his salvation. This is a generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Thank God he's
a God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory.
Oh, the King of glory, he's gonna come in. He's gonna stand. The
Lord Jesus Christ ascended for us as our forerunner. He shall
stand before the Lord. He has clean hands. He has a
pure heart. He's never lifted up his soul
to vanity. Who is this King of Glory? Tell
me who he is. He's a Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
lift them up. Ye everlasting doors, and the
King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? He's
the Lord of Hosts. He's the King of Glory. So, the
only way we can stand before God justified is to stand in
the Lord Jesus Christ. EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SIN,
HE HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST, BY GRACE ARE YOU
SAVED, AND RAISED US UP TOGETHER, AND MADE US SIT TOGETHER IN THE
HEAVENLYS IN CHRIST JESUS." WE'RE ALREADY SEATED IN THE HEAVENLYS
IN CHRIST, AND ARE STANDING BEFORE GOD AS IN CHRIST. THAT'S THE
ONLY WAY A SINNER CAN STAND. WE DARE NOT STAND UPON ANY OTHER
GROUND. WHAT'S THAT SONG WE SING? ALL
OTHER GROUND IS SINKING, SINKING SAND. ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK
I STAND, ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND. NOW VERSE 4, HERE'S
OUR CONFESSION. BUT THERE IS FORGIVENESS WITH
THEE. THERE IS FORGIVENESS WITH THEE,
THAT THOU MAYEST BE FEARED. HERE'S OUR CONFESSION. BLESSED
IS THE MAN UNTO WHOM THE LORD WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN. BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY,
FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WERE WITH HE LOVED US, EVEN WHEN WE WERE
DEAD IN SIN. YES, THERE IS FORGIVENESS OF
SIN WITH THEE. with the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is forgiveness of sin. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
son, cleanses us from all our sin. Turn back to Psalm 86. Psalm 86. Remember in our study through
the book of Nehemiah, in Nehemiah chapter nine, that priestly prayer,
or that great prayer in Nehemiah 9, 17, where it says, thou art
a God ready to pardon, Look at Psalm 86 verse five, for thou,
Lord, art good and ready to forgive. And plenty is in mercy unto all
them that call upon thee. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. The forgiveness of sin is based
upon the full payment for sin. THAT FULL PAYMENT AND FULL ATONEMENT
FOR SIN WAS RENDERED UP BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST FOR US, IN
WHOM WE HAVE FORGIVENESS OF SINS ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS
GRACE AND TO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE. WITHOUT CHRIST
CRUCIFIED, WE HAVE NO FORGIVENESS OF SIN. WITHOUT THE SHEDDING
OF BLOOD, THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS OF SIN, IS THERE? But thank God
in Christ, we have a ransom. Remember the scripture in Job? Deliver them, God said, from
going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom. And when the
ransom is paid in full, when our debt's paid in full, we go
free. CHRIST BOUGHT US WITH HIS OWN
BLOOD. HE HATH REDEEMED US. WE HAVE
FORGIVENESS OF ALL OUR SIN WITH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. WITH THEE
THERE'S FORGIVENESS. WITH THE LAW THERE'S NO FORGIVENESS.
CURSED IS EVERYONE THAT CONTINUES NOT IN ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN
IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW TO DO THEM. BUT CHRIST HATH REDEEMED
US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW. BEING MADE A CURSE FOR US. BUT
THERE IS FORGIVENESS WITH THEE THAT THOU, AND HERE'S THE FRUIT
OF THAT, THAT THOU MAYEST BE FEARED. THE FEAR OF THE LORD
IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM. Because God has forgiven all
our sins, we fear Him, not in a slavish way, but we fear Him
in a reverential way. That is, we worship Him. WE WORSHIP
HIM WHO FORGIVES ALL OUR SINS. HE'S WORTHY OF IT. WORTHY IS
THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE ALL HONOR, GLORY, BLESSING, AND
POWER. HE HAS REDEEMED US TO GOD BY
THY BLOOD OUT OF EVERY KINDRED, TRIBE, NATION, AND TONGUE. NOW,
WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? WORTHY IS
THE LAMB. HE LOVED US AND HE WASHED US FROM OUR SINS IN HIS
OWN BLOOD. There is forgiveness with thee
that thou mayest be worshiped and honored. And the only place
the sinner will worship God is at the foot of the absolute sovereign
throne. To whom much is forgiven, the
same loveth much. He's forgiven all our sin. He's
given us love for him. Now look at verse five and six.
I wait for the Lord. Boy, he's worth waiting for,
isn't he? Oftentimes, when we get ready to go somewhere, you
know, I go to the truck, and I open up the garage door, and
get in the truck, and start the truck up, and then I wait. Preacher,
what are you waiting on? I'm waiting on the woman. I'm
waiting on the woman. She's worth waiting for. I wait
for her. I wait for the Lord. How much
more? I wait for the Lord. My soul
does wait. And in his word, I do hope. We wait for the Lord with anticipation
of his blessing, of his presence. We wait upon the Lord. Here we
see the believer's firm resolve. Again, we're talking about the
experience of grace. We've experienced his forgiveness.
We've experienced worship. We've experienced sin forgiving. We've experienced the conviction
of sin. And then we've experienced the
waiting upon the Lord. My soul doth wait. And in his
word, while I'm waiting upon the Lord, in his word I hope. I hope, I love that word hope,
hope. This hope we have in Christ,
Christ that says in one scripture, I think it's 2 Timothy 1, I'm
not sure if that's 2 Timothy or 1 Timothy, but it says, the
Lord is our hope. The Lord is our hope, the Lord
is our hope. I love that word hope. We have
a good hope through the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a hope.
And it's not, it's a hope of expectation, expectation of blessing
based upon his word. My soul doth wait, I do hope
in his word do I hope. Our hope is based upon the promise
of his word. His promise cannot fail. You remember the words of Joshua,
everything that God has promised, he's a dying word, everything
God has promised, he's bought to pass. And then when Solomon
prayed in the temple, in first Kings chapter eight, he said
of all that God has promised, not one word has failed. All
the promises of God are yes. Exceeding great and precious,
yes, but they cannot fail. Believers are persuaded like
Abraham of all that God promised, he's able to perform all things. We wait with the assurance of
hope based upon the promise of God found in his word, for it
is impossible for God to lie. Now I read something the other
day that I hope it sticks with me, but it's talking about how
to measure the love of God. The love of God is not measured
by his providence, because often when we look at his providence,
we will think is his mercy, David said that, is his mercy clean
gone? We don't measure his love by his providence, we measure
his love by his promise. That's good, isn't it? He said,
I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. It is
impossible for God to lie. All that he speaks in his infallible
record of Holy Scripture is absolutely true, eternally true. And one thing about truth, it
never changes. You know why truth never changes?
God never changes. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not. He said in his word, I will have mercy. Oh, he said, I will
have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and that's the sovereignty
of God in showing mercy, but let us not forget that he said,
I will show mercy. He said in his word that the
Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly when we were yet without
strength. I read something in a bulletin
this week I thought was very good. He's talking about the
Lord Jesus Christ dying for the ungodly when we were yet without
strength. God's gonna save all the unpeople,
the ungodly, the unlovely, the unprofitable, the unrighteous,
the undone, the undeserving. He's gonna save the unpeople,
ungodly. I thought that was good. He said in his word that the
Lord Jesus Christ will justify sinners by his grace. He said
that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. I take my place
before God as a sinner. That's my only hope in Jesus
Christ and him crucified. Saving faith takes God in his
word. WE CAN BELIEVE HIS WORD. HE SAID
IT. THAT SETTLES IT. WE CAN TAKE GOD AND HIS WORD.
IT'S FAITHFUL. HIS WORD IS A FOUNDATION OF FAITH,
NOT FEELINGS OR NOT EXPERIENCE. MY SOUL, VERSE 6, WAITETH FOR
THE LORD MORE THAN THEY THAT WATCH FOR THE MORNING. THEY WILL
WAKE UP MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, MIDDLE OF THE MORNING, LIKE TWO
OR THREE O'CLOCK IN THE And we lay there, and lay there,
and roll, and roll, and toss, and turn, and look at the clock.
And you keep thinking, oh, I wish it was morning. I wish the sun
would come up. We wait. My soul waited for the
Lord more than they that watch for the morning. I say more than
they that watch for the morning. We're anxious for the morning
to come. And you know, sometimes we're
blessed to go to sleep and wake up in the morning. Doesn't happen
that way much anymore, but when I was younger, we used to have
that experience. But morning, the Lord blesses
his people. What joy to wait upon the Lord
and to anticipate Gospel blessings. You ever go to bed at night and
wonder if the sun's gonna come up in the morning? You know it's gonna come up in
the morning. So certain and sure, just certain and sure, as the
sun's gonna come up in the morning and give us light to go about
our days, we can be certain and sure that the Lord will bless
his people for Christ's sake. We're to love one another and
to forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven
us. As much I waited for the Lord
more than they that watch for the morning, I say more than they that watch for the
morning. Verse seven. And here he's talking
about the Israel of God. He's talking about not the national
people who hate the true and living God. Let Israel hope in the Lord. God's Israel, the elect of God.
Let them hope in the Lord. Why? For with the Lord, with
the Lord there is mercy. With the Lord he is plenteous.
He's plenteous in mercy. He has a storehouse of mercy.
You remember in Lamentations chapter three, the Lord's mercies are new every
morning. He has a storehouse of mercy
that we cannot exhaust. Let Israel therefore hope in
the Lord. In his word do I hope. We hope
in the Lord, for with the Lord there is, there is, MERCY. AND WITH HIM, HE'S PLENTEOUS. HE'S PLENTEOUS IN
REDEMPTION. HE HAS REDEEMED US BY HIS BLOOD. WE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. WE'RE
REDEEMED WITH THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST. HE'S PLENTEOUS IN
REDEMPTION. OH, IT'S A REDEMPTION FOR HIS
PEOPLE, AND HE GIVES THE FULL COST THE FULL PRICE OF OUR REDEMPTION,
FOR HE HAS OBTAINED FOR US ETERNAL REDEMPTION WITH HIS OWN BLOOD.
THAT'S PLENTEOUS REDEMPTION. HE SAVES US WITH AN EVERLASTING
SALVATION BECAUSE HE OBTAINED ETERNAL REDEMPTION FOR US WITH
HIS OWN BLOOD. VERSE 8, AND HE SHALL, WELL, A lot of people have the
idea that he might redeem Israel. Well, it could be if you meet
certain conditions. He shall redeem his elect from
all his iniquities. Call his name Jesus, Savior. Why? He shall save his people
from their sins. Particular redemption? None for
whom the Lord Jesus Christ died CAN PERISH. HE SHALL DO IT. HE SHALL REDEEM. WHAT DID THE
LORD SAY ON CALVARY STREET? JOHN 19, VERSE 30, IT IS FINISHED. IT'S DONE. HE DOESN'T NEED OUR
HELP. HE PAID THE PRICE. HE BOUGHT
US WITH HIS OWN BLOOD. AND HE'S GOING TO HAVE WHAT HE
BOUGHT. He's going to take home what he bought. All these people,
not one sheep will be eternally condemned for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died. Not one sheep will be lost. He
said, all that the Father giveth to me, they will come to me,
and those that come to me, I will no wise cast out. Well, I came
down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me, and this is the will of him that sent me with
everyone which seeth the sun, I'll raise him up at the last
day. That is our hope. We hope in
the Lord, but with the Lord there is salvation. Salvation is of
the Lord. We hope in the Lord with him.
He is the Redeemer who redeems, the Savior who saves his people,
and he shall redeem his elect from all. The blood of Jesus
Christ cleanses us from all our sin. So much so that God said
their sin and their iniquity Well, I remember no more. As
far as the east is from the west, so far have I separated you from
your sin. He's cast them into the depths
of the sea. He's blotted them out as a thick
cloud. He's cast them behind his back, wherever that is, as
far as the east is from the west. That, the redemption that we
need, that is a redeemer that we have