Psalm 34 this evening, and I'm
taking the title for the message from what is said in verse 2.
Psalm 34 verse 2, my soul, my soul shall. Make her boast in the Lord. That's where every blessing is
found. That's where all the salvation
is realized, is in the Lord. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenly places in the Lord. Everything God Almighty
has for any guilty sinner is in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to be found in Him, as
Paul said, that we might win Christ and be found in Him. And those who are found in Him,
they love to make their boast in the Lord, and we love to boast
of the Lord. We say with the apostle, we are
the true Israel of God, which worship God in the Spirit. that
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in ourselves,
but we do boast in the Lord. We do brag on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, this truly is the desire
of those who know and reverence and love him. Our desire in preaching
is to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, if I be
lifted up, I'll draw all unto me. This is our desire. Those who believe the gospel
and know him and reverent and love the Lord Jesus Christ, our
desire in preaching is to brag on Christ, to lift up him. And
our desire in worship is to give glory that due unto his name. Now, you can't, can you give
him too much glory? Can you overdo it? I don't think
so. He would have us, look back at
Psalm 29, give, verse one, give unto the Lord, oh you mighty,
give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord
glory due unto his name. Worship the Lord. in the beauty
of holiness. What is the beauty of holiness?
Christ. He is the beauty of holiness.
So we worship him, and we rejoice in him, and we praise
the Lord. Now, I know that phrase has been, been misused and abused, but
believers do in their heart desire to praise the Lord. to worship
Him. We pray unto Him and we praise
Him and we look unto Him for all things. Now, that's what
it says in verse one. Let's go back to verse one and
we'll try to get down to verse 11 or thereabouts. David is determined by the mercy
and grace of God. He said, I will. Remember he
said, thy people shall be willing in the day of his power, I will
bless thee, Lord, God Almighty, Jehovah the Lord, when? At all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. We not only believe God in the
heart, but with the mouth confession is made and the salvation. We
confess him, don't we? That he is our Lord. I will bless
the Lord. Here's the firm and fixed resolve
of every believer. I will and I shall because of
his grace. The Lord has by right and decree
a monopoly on our praise and worship for all that we are is
by his grace. All that we have He's revealed
that and given unto us. All that we know is by the sovereign
providence and revelation of God. All we are, have, and know,
and ever will be is by His sovereign grace. Remember, the apostle
said in 1 Corinthians 15, I am what I am by the grace of God. Who makes you to differ from
another? What do you have that you didn't receive? Everything
you have, the gift of God. Everything you have. When are
we to bless the Lord and worship him? And that's what blessing
the Lord is. As David said in Psalm 103, bless
the Lord O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy
name. When are we to bless the Lord
and worship him? It says there at all times. At
all times, it reminds me of what's said in Psalm 62. Trust the Lord
at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. So when are we to bless the Lord
and worship Him at all time? When we're going through the
trial, when we're in the trial, or whether we're coming out of
a trial, in bright days or dark days, good days or bad days. We're to worship Him and give
thanks unto Him at all times. In the morning, in the evening,
at all times. And in all trials that He sends
our way, we're to worship Him. Not complain, but worship Him. His praise, the second part of
verse one, His praise shall continually Be in my mouth. Now remember
the Lord said of David that he's a man after my own heart. A man
who has the heart of God speaks the blessings of God out of the
abundance of the heart. The mouth speaketh good things
of the Lord when it's taught of God. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth because he's in my heart. God has given his people a new
heart in regeneration, in regenerating grace that always speaks high
and holy things of the Lord Jesus Christ unto him who loved us
and washed us from our sin in his own blood to him be all the
honor and glory. Notice verse two again, my soul
shall make her boast We rejoice and with glory in the Lord, and
the humble shall hear thereof those who are humbled. How are
they humbled? Verse 18, the Lord is nigh to
them of a broken heart. Who breaks the heart? He does. He's not to them of a broken
heart. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. We only have one foundation,
one ground upon which we can boast as believers and glory. And it's always and only. in the Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid, Paul said, that I
should glory except in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those that are
humbled by His grace, saved by His grace, are most happy and
glad to hear about the gospel of the grace of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, I've said this many times
over the years, I've never heard a believer complain Now notice
what I said. I didn't say a person, I said
a believer. I've never heard a believer complain
about a sermon that gave too much honor and glory to the Lord
or lifted him up too high. I've never heard, I've never
had anybody complain to me after a sermon, well you just preached
Christ too high. You give him too much glory.
I'd like to be guilty of that. You can't preach him too high,
nor can you preach man too low. I'm always most glad to hear
about him." God said, this is my beloved son, hear him. And then our Lord said, blessed
are your eyes if they see, and your ears if they hear. Let us
be swift to hear, and slow to speak, swift to hear him. You who believe he is precious
and he is altogether lovely. The humble shall hear. Oh, tell me about him. That's why we're determined to
preach Christ and him crucified. We didn't come here to talk about
finances or politics or we came here to preach the gospel and
teach the word. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, the
humble shall hear thereof, and be all their glad. This lift
up the Lord Jesus Christ. Tell me about him, who he is,
what he's done, where he is now, why he died, that he might be
just and a justifier of those which believe. Verse three, O
magnify, magnify the Lord with me, and let us, let us, Let us
exalt His name. Now God's given Him a name which
is above every name, remember? At that name, every knee's gonna
bow, every tongue's gonna confess that He is Lord. Let's magnify,
oh magnify the Lord, David says, let's do it together with me.
I rejoice in the Lord, I praise the Lord, I want you to praise
the Lord with me. And let us exalt His name. This is our desire when we come
together as believers, is it not? To exalt his name together. Let us encourage one another
to worship him and to praise him as he ought to be praised. I've got a couple of references
here back in Psalm 29 again. Verse nine, Psalm 29, the voice
of the Lord maketh the hinds a calf. and discovereth the forest,
and in his temple doth everyone speak of his glory." Everyone
in his temple, in his house, they speak of his glory. Look back at Psalm 26, verse
8. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, the place where
thy honor dwelleth. Remember it says of Isaiah, when
he saw his glory, he spake of him. And that's what we desire
to do. Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name. No other name under heaven, given
among men, whereby we must be saved, the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, I never refer to him, except
for when I'm reading in the scriptures, and oftentimes, even when I read
the word Jesus, Savior, I'll add Lord or Christ to it. But
we speak of his name with reverence and respect. The Lord Jesus Christ,
that's who he is. He's Savior, he's anointed, and
he's Lord. Every man's Lord. Not by a democratic
process. We're getting ready to vote here
pretty soon. And we're gonna have a governor
pretty soon, another governor. And people are gonna vote, vote
him in or vote him out. The Lord Jesus Christ sits upon
the absolute throne of glory, not by any democratic process. We don't have a vote in this.
God, remember when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down on
the right hand of the throne of God. God had made that same
Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. That's why we
are commanded to meet together and not forsake the assembling
of ourselves together to publicly preach the gospel and to publicly
worship Him. Now we worship Him in private,
but God has commanded His church to meet publicly and to worship
Him. That's what David said in another
Psalm, that Psalm 122, you remember? He said, I was glad when they
said to me, boy, let's go to the house of the Lord. That's
where we get The bread of life. That's how we feed upon the Lord
Jesus Christ. Through the preaching of the
gospel. That's why He's commanded us to preach Christ and Him crucified. Now, verse 4, I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and He delivered
me from all my fears. I love that word delivered. Delivered. Look at verse 19 across the page. Same psalm, Psalm 34. Verse 19,
many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth
him out of them all. He delivered us from the curse
of the law. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. He delivered us from
our sin, having, he appeared once in the end of the age to
put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. I sought the Lord. Seeking the Lord's a good thing.
It's a good thing. Those who seek Him will find
Him. We only seek Him by His grace. We know that by His drawing power,
but we're told to seek the Lord. I sought the Lord. I cried unto
the Lord, and He heard me. He can hear because He's a living
God. And he delivered me from all
my fears. David relates unto us his experience
of grace. Remember, David is on the run,
and he's in a low point in his life, exiled from Jerusalem,
a sworn enemy to King Saul. And here he is. And here is what
he desires. Lord, hear my prayer. I thought
the Lord and he heard me, not only that, but he delivered me.
David seeks mercy and relief in whom and where it is found. I quote this verse all the time.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy, find grace to help in time of need. I sought
the Lord by prayer and by faith, and he heard me and delivered
me from all my fears. That's good news, is it not?
Wouldn't it be wise to seek mercy where God says mercy is found? See many examples in scripture
of that, can't we? Blind Bartimaeus, Lord have mercy
upon me. And the Lord had mercy upon him.
The leper, Matthew chapter eight, he cried for mercy, Lord, if
you will, you make me clean. Lord said, I will, be thou clean. Look at verse five. Deliverance is of the Lord. He
is our deliverer, he's our redeemer. He redeemed me from all my sin. We can read it that way. They
looked unto him. Now this is looking back to those
who preceded David, like Noah, like Abraham, like the old patriarchs,
Job. They looked unto him and they
were enlightened. We can read it that way. And
their faces, they were not ashamed looking unto him. They looked
unto him and were enlightened. They were not ashamed of the
Lord. And certainly saving faith is
not ashamed to own the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul said, I know
whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that
which I've committed unto him. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, the power of God, and to salvation. David's case
was not at all peculiar. Others have looked to the Lord
in time of trouble, and were delivered, and others have, and
others will. Able, brought the blood offering,
and God had respect under that offering as it pictured Christ,
our substitute. Enoch walked with God. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham rejoiced to see my day,
the Lord said. Moses wrote about the Lord Jesus
Christ. These were men who found mercy
in the Lord Jesus Christ and were not ashamed to own him. Ashamed of Jesus can it be? A
mortal man ashamed of Thee? We're going to sing that in a
moment in our closing hymn. They all looked to the Lord for
aid and were helped in their time of need. Turn over a couple
pages to Psalm 46. The Lord is my light and my salvation,
whom shall I fear? Psalm 27, but look at Psalm 46,
verse one, God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble. Saving faith, saving faith is
always looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Saving faith looks back
to the author of faith. Who's the author and finisher
of our faith? Saving faith doesn't look in
here to see how I feel. Salvation is not based upon feelings,
and faith is not based upon feelings. Most of the time I feel like
I'm plum lost. But we don't trust our feelings.
Faith looks to Christ. Faith is looking unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is life, light, and liberty,
love, and everything. in the Lord Jesus Christ in saving
faith looks. Our Lord said, look unto me and
be ye safe. Be you safe looking. Those who look to the Lord for
mercy are never turned away. I've never read in scripture
where the Lord turned a mercy beggar away. The publican cried,
Lord, have mercy upon me, the sinner. And the Lord said, that
man went down to his house justified. This poor man cried, look at
verse six. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him and saved him out of all these troubles. After
the Lord saved him, why can't he save me? This poor man cried. Who is this poor man? Turn over
here to Psalm 40, Psalm 40, verse 17. I read this Sunday. I am
poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my
help, my deliverer. There's that word again. Make
no tarrying. Oh my God. This poor man, I'm
poor and needy. but the Lord is rich and merciful.
Think about that. We 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. Blessed are
the poor in spirit, our Lord said in Matthew 5, theirs is
the kingdom of God. This poor man, this poor sinner
cried, and he heard me, the Lord heard me and saved me from all
my sins. And every believer has the same
experience as David had, experience of grace. And we're not preaching
to seek an experience, but salvation is something that we experience,
is it not? An old experience, that's all
it is, is an old experience. Don't trust it. But salvation
by the grace of God that He works in our heart is certainly something
that we experience. We're going to see a minute where
He says, taste and see that the Lord is gracious. He's able to
save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. Look at verse
7. Psalm 34 verse 7, the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that
fear him, and delivereth them." Now, a lot of the old writers
feel that this angel of the Lord is not a created angel, but the
messenger of the covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And
you could look at it that way, but we also have ministering
angels who are sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation. The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear him, and delivers them. The ministry of the angels is
the most pleasant, pleasant thought. Here's a psalm, another psalm
about that. If you look over at Psalm 91
verse 11. Psalm 91, 11. For he shall give
his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Do you believe
in guardian? I don't believe in the guardian
angel, but I believe in guardian angels. are ministering spirits
who sent forth to minister to them who are the heirs of salvation.
We can see that so many places in scripture. Over in Acts chapter
12 or Acts chapter 13, I can't remember exactly what it, let
me see if I can turn to it. Don't turn, let me just see if
I can find it quickly. Over in Acts chapter 12, when
Peter was in prison and chained and two guards on each side,
that's pretty secure, is it not? I mean, he was chained up and
in a prison and two guards on each side. And behold, the angel
of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison.
And he smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise
up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hand. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, bind
on thy sandals. And he did so. And he saith unto
him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out
and followed him with knots. that it was true, which was done
by the angel, we know is true. But he thought it was a vision.
Peter thought he was dreaming, but it was true. It was true,
an angel there delivered him from prison. We can see many other examples
of that in scripture. Remember when Elisha, remember
in 2 Kings 6, when Elisha was surrounded by that army and the
young servant was very fearful and afraid and said, Elisha,
master, what are we going to do? And Elisha said, there's
more with us than with them. Huh? There's an army coming here. There's more with us than with
them. And the Lord opened his eyes
and he saw all those ministering angels, there's flaming fires
all around the hills protecting Elisha and his servant. Now,
I've never seen an angel, but the Lord has ministering
angels who watch over the elect of God. Look at verse 8, O taste and
see! Taste and see, the Lord is good. Taste and see, the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
Him. Taste and see. See for yourself,
David sang. We'll only know this really and
personally by experience. We really don't believe anything
until we've experienced it. Now, what does it mean here to
taste and see? You can look at a plate of food
all you want. There's a plate of mashed potatoes
and gravy and biscuits and green beans and ham and all those things,
and you can smell it, and you can look at it, and you can hear
others say, that's good stuff. But you'll never know the experience,
how good it is, until you taste and see that it really is good
stuff. And that's the way the gospel
is. We taste and see, we experience that the Lord is good. The Lord is gracious to His people. Ever gracious. He's ever good.
Blessed is a man that trusteth the Lord, who is good. The Lord
is gracious. The Lord is good. Listen to the
way the Lord describes himself in Exodus 34. And the Lord passed
by before him, that is Moses, and proclaimed, the Lord, the
Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness
and truth. The Lord is good. Happy and blessed
is that man that trusteth him. The Lord is holy. That's true. The Lord is merciful. That's
true. The Lord is good. That is true. Who is that blessed man? He's
a blessed man who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9, O
fear the Lord, ye his saints. Now, who is a saint? You're looking
at a sinner right here who is a saint. You mean you're a sinner
and you're a saint? Yeah, I'm both. I'm a sinner
in this flesh. In the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm
sanctified. Completely, totally sanctified. Every believer is a saint, sanctified
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And those, his people who were
saints, who are preserved and called in Christ Jesus. Look
at the last part of verse nine. For there is no want to them
that fear him. You see, the Lord is my shepherd.
It reminds me of this verse, another Psalm, Psalm 23, you
remember? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want, I shall not want for any good thing. thing, not whatsoever. He's made unto us all that we
need, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. He's able to meet all our need
according to his riches in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's no want. We don't want for anything. We're
complete in Christ. Verse 10 says, the young lions,
oh they lack even though they hunt so viciously and they stalk
their prey, but oftentimes they go hungry, don't they? But they
that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. The Lord
always gives us the bread of life, the water of life, salvation
full and free, complete in Christ. Come, you children. Come, you children. Who are these
children? Beloved, behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
sons of God. Sons of God? Come, ye children,
that by nature we're what? Children of wrath, even as others,
without God, without hope, and without Christ. But by his grace,
we are sons of God. Come, ye children, hearken unto
me, and I'll teach you I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. Now,
what a blessing to be taught of God. You remember that Psalm,
that verse over in John chapter, John chapter six, where the Lord
said, no man can come unto me except the Father which sent
me draw him. I'll raise him up at the last
day. And he said, all those who have heard and learned of the
Father, They come to Christ. Come, ye children, and hearken
unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. It reminds
me of another verse, that word in verse 11. Come, all ye that
are laboring and heavy laden. What does the Lord say? Come
unto me, and I'll give you rest. I'll give you rest, and I'll
teach you who I am. You'll know who I am and you'll
trust me.