Okay, this evening now we're
considering in our study Psalm 143. Psalm 143. I absolutely
delight in reading the Psalms and studying the Psalms. Back
in 2012 and 2013, those two or three years, 2016, we went through
150 Psalms. There's 150 Psalms, and we considered
every one of them. And in that study back in 2013,
we had this Psalm, Psalm 143. Notice the title right below
that. It says, A Psalm of David. A
Psalm of David. David was a man after God's own
heart. David was a man who was blessed
to be the anointed king of Israel. And David confessed that his
salvation was all the Lord's doing. He came to the Lord Jesus
Christ as a mercy beggar. The Lord heard his cry and saved
him by his grace. Now, I'm taking the title for
the message from what is said in verse 11. where he says, quicken
me, O Lord, for thy name's sake. For Christ's sake, that's what
he's saying, quicken me, make me alive. I need salvation by
your grace. Quicken me for Christ's sake. So the title of the message that
I'm gonna use is Life and Salvation Because of Christ. the Lord Jesus
Christ, quicken me, raise me up from the dead. I recently
heard a story of an old preacher and he was brought before the
council of religious men and they were considering burning
him to the stake for what they called heresy. And they asked
this man to whom they were going to pronounce judgment upon him,
Now you think about that, being tied to a stake, having the wood
piled at your feet, and then someone to light it. And they
told him, well, just recant, just quit preaching what you're
preaching. He said, well, I can't do that.
And then they asked the man, they asked the man, give me three
reasons for your salvation. The man said without hesitation,
well, number one, reason number one is Christ. What's the second
reason? Well, the second reason is the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, then preacher, what's the
third reason for your salvation? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that sums it all up, doesn't
it? We have salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ because of
His grace and mercy. Of His fullness have we all received
grace for grace. The only reason for grace is
God's grace. And it's of His grace and grace
alone that we enjoy salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, salvation that we read of in the scripture is totally dependent
upon Him, Christ. So we determine, dependent, and
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and we always try to add
this word alone, the Lord Jesus Christ alone. He is salvation
and He wrought out salvation by His doing and dying, by the
sacrifice of His obedience unto death and the shedding of His
blood. Now again we see David a man
after God's own heart, calling upon the Lord in the time of
trouble. And every believer has the same
privilege and the same blessing to call upon the Lord all the
time, not only in the time of trouble, but call upon the Lord
all the time. We read in Romans 10, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, whosoever."
That's a wide word, isn't it? We are to rejoice evermore in
the Lord Jesus Christ and pray without ceasing. Praying like
breathing is the very life breath of the believer. We cannot live
without breathing, just hold your breath. Remember when you
were a kid, you would see how long you could hold your breath
and see who could hold it the longest? Well, you have to breathe
to live, don't you? Praying like breathing is a very
life breath of the believer. We cannot live without breathing
and we cannot, and a believer cannot live without praying,
without praying. It's the heart cry unto the Lord. David says there in verse one,
oh Lord, hear my prayer. Cry, hear my prayer, cry in my
prayer. that's spontaneous from the heart
and blessed by the Spirit of God is not something that's mechanical,
cold and dead. The disciples asked the Lord,
Lord teach us to pray. And there is that, in a sense,
we need to be taught to pray, but prayer of the heart is something
that's spontaneous, something that's born of the Spirit of
God. It's the heart cry of every believer. And it goes something like this. It's not something that's regimental,
cold and dead and mechanical. Have mercy upon me, the sinner. That's the heart cry. Have mercy upon me, the sinner. The Lord heard that prayer and
saved that man as it's given there in Luke 18. Notice in verse one, Psalm 143,
hear my prayer, oh Lord. Now, we don't pray to be seen
of men. We don't pray to be heard of
men. I know organized religion, they
have the national day of prayer and they all assemble publicly
and pray publicly, but believers don't pray to be seen of men.
They pray to be heard by God Almighty. What difference does
it matter if to be seen of men? I don't wanna pray to be seen
of men and put on a show. Lord, hear my prayer. Now, think
about this. What good would it do to pray
if the Lord did not hear our prayer? What good would it do
if the Lord did not hear our prayer? Because he is a living
God, he can hear our prayer. We don't pray into a cold dead
idol, a statue or a building or a steeple or a church. We call upon the living God and
because he is a living God, he can hear our cry. Not only that,
Because He is a covenant God who has obligated Himself by
covenant mercies, He's obligated to hear the cry of His people.
You see, He ever lives to make intercession for us. We call
upon the name of the Lord and He hears our cry. He ever lives to intercede for
us. Now, notice carefully in that
first verse what David says there, Lord hear my prayer, give ear
to my supplication. Now he doesn't say Lord hear
me because I'm the king. He doesn't say that. He doesn't
say hear me because I've won many battles for the Lord. He
doesn't say hear me because I killed that giant Goliath. He doesn't
mention anything or any reason that God would hear him but for
this reason alone. In thy faithfulness answer me
and in thy righteousness. Now, those two key words there,
thy faithfulness and thy righteousness. Now, the only reason God would
show mercy to any sinner and any of us is because that he
is faithful. and because he is the righteous,
the righteous God. He delights to answer our prayer
when we pray according to his will. And when we do, we pray,
Lord, not my will, thy will be done. We do not ask to be heard
upon or because of our faithfulness or because of our righteousness.
Well, preacher, do you have any righteousness? Not in and of
myself, I don't. The best I have, God said, is
filthy rags in His sight. But the faithfulness that we
depend upon is the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has made unto
us our righteousness. He's called in Scripture the
Lord our righteousness. And we ask to be heard because
the Lord Jesus Christ is faithful. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
righteous servant of the Lord. Our blessed Lord is faithful
to all His covenant promises. Of all that He has spoken, how
many promises of God will fail? How many promises of God have
failed? None. We read just a moment ago,
he cannot fail. He cannot fail because he is
God. Our Lord, our blessed Lord is faithful to all of his covenant
promises. The Lord said, I will be their
God and they shall be my people. His faithfulness, His righteousness
alone. That is all our salvation. Now, this is interesting in verse
two, Psalm 143 verse two, David declares three things here. Enter
not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight, in the sight
of God, shall no man, no person, no one, no one living, will be
justified. Now that's an interesting statement.
David declares three things here. He declares who he is, thy servant. You see that? He
mentions that again in the last statement he makes in verse 12.
I am thy servant. I am thy servant. Y'all can't
think of a higher title than to be a servant of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Men who have been drafted in
the army or who have enlisted, they're in the service of the
country. And I guess that's honorable
and that is good, but I can't think of a higher title than
to be known as a servant of the Lord. the servant of the Lord
and being put in the ministry. And all of his people serve his
purpose. All of his people are in the
ministry. The Apostle Paul often referred
to himself as the servant of the Lord, didn't he? The servant
of the Lord. That's who he is, the servant,
and then what he knows. Here's what he knows. He knows
that no man is justified by the deeds of the law. in the sight
of God, no flesh shall be justified in his sight by the doing of
the law. Perhaps you entertained ideas
of being justified by keeping those ten commandments. Well, you broke every one every
day, every minute, and the law says, you're guilty. That's what
the law says, we're guilty. And we cannot be justified by
the deeds of the law, that's what he's saying there. In thy
sight shall no man living be justified. We're gonna see that
in our study in Romans chapter three, by the deeds of the law
shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. Something else he
knew, he knew that salvation was of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord. He planned it. He purposed it.
He executes it. He supplies it. He sustains it.
Salvation is all of His doing alone. David says that over here
in Psalm 37, 39, if you want to find that and read it. Psalm
37, 39. But the salvation of the righteous
is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time
of trouble. Salvation is of the Lord, is
it not? Isn't that a blessing? It comes
from Him. He planned it. He purposed it.
He executed it. He applies it. He sustains it.
And then what He asked for? What He asked for here in verse
3, He asked for mercy. Enter not into judgment with
thy servant. I don't want what's coming to
me. Some people say, well, all I
want is what I've earned. Really? You want to stand before
God on the basis of what you've earned? The wages of sin is death. But thank God the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I don't want
judgment, I want mercy. That's why David says in Psalm
51, remember, have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving
kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my sin. David desired to meet God at
the mercy seat, not the judgment seat. And that's where I wanna
meet God The mercy seat. You know the story of the mercy
seat over the Ark of the Covenant and how the blood was put on
that mercy seat and God said, I'll meet you there at the mercy
seat. And that is all typical and type of the Lord Jesus Christ
who is our mercy seat. This is the believer's desire
to be justified before God in the Lord Jesus Christ being accepted
in the beloved. Don't enter into judgment with
me. Have mercy upon me. Could you pray that way? Lord,
have mercy upon me. Mercy is God not giving me what
I deserve. What do you deserve? Well, are
you a sinner? Yep. Born in sin, shaped in iniquity. What do you deserve? Judgment?
judgment. Thank God He delights to show
mercy to sinners. He delights to show mercy. Now
look at verse 3. The enemy, the enemy. David had a lot of enemies, didn't
he? His own father-in-law. Some of his own family hunted
him and hated him, hurt him. The enemy hath persecuted my
soul. He hath smitten my life down
to the ground. He has made me to dwell in darkness
as those that have been long dead or have been dead a long
time. Now, the enemy. Satan is called the accuser of
the brethren and he is the enemy to the Lord's people. But the
Lord Jesus Christ has conquered and defeated that enemy. He's no longer an enemy to us. The Lord Jesus Christ has conquered
sin, death, hell, and the grave for us, and has given us the
victory over sin in Christ Jesus. But I believe what he's saying
here This enemy that he's referring to, to the enemy of his soul
that had smitten his life down to the ground that made him dwell
in darkness as someone who has been dead, here's what he's talking
about. He's talking about the enemy
of his own sinful heart that smites him down to the ground. Isn't that our chief problem
right now? It's our own sin that has smitten
us to the ground and persecuted our soul. The Apostle Paul, the
servant of the Lord, said, In my flesh dwelleth no good thing. The good that I would, I don't
do, and the evil that I would not, That's what I do. Roman
chapter 7. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from this body of death? Oh, I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Our sin has made us to dwell
in darkness. By nature, we've been long dead
because of sin. God must quicken and make us
alive. And thank God he does by his
grace. Now look at verse 4. Therefore,
he said, when I consider the enemy, in talking about our own
sinful self that persecutes our soul, that smites us down to
the ground, that makes us to dwell in darkness like those
that have been dead, by nature we love darkness, not light.
That's us by nature. Therefore, he says in verse 4,
therefore, Now, someone recently said, in my hearing, and my pastor
used to say this all the time, whenever you see the word, therefore,
in verse 4, you see it, therefore, find out what it's there for.
Because it refers back to what has just been said. The enemy
persecuting my soul and smiting me down to the ground and making
me to dwell in darkness, therefore, is my spirit overwhelmed within
me, and my heart within me desolate." Desolate. Reminded me of some
of the old timers we read of in scripture. Job and Isaiah
and others. Job said, I've heard of thee
by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth thee. Wherefore,
I abhor and I hate myself. I repent in dust and ashes. Isaiah, the prophet of God, he
said this in Isaiah 6. When he saw the Lord high and
lifted up, he said, woe is me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. When considering the effects
of our sin, How many times we've sinned against God, our spirit and our heart is overwhelmed
within us. You know that we, now listen
carefully, we cannot not sin. Just stop. You cannot not stop. You cannot not sin. You can't
stop sinning. The preacher, are you a sinner?
Absolutely. Born in sin, shaping in iniquity. Sin is what we are. And because of the conviction
of our sin, and our sin is against God, therefore is my spirit overwhelmed
within me, my heart within me. You know what cries? Guilty. Guilty. Guilty before God. You know, that's a good place
to be. You know why? Grace is for the guilty. Mercy
is for the miserable. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed
within me, my heart within me is desperate. A man doesn't know
by nature that he is a sinner. A man doesn't know by nature
that he has sinned against God. That is something that God must
teach us and reveal unto us. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. That's what it
says in 1 John. Now, look at verse 5. My spirit's overwhelmed within
me, my heart within me is desolate, guilty, vile, wretched, non-righteous,
no, not one. Now, look at verse 5. David said,
then I remember all the good things I've done for God. You
see, David's seeking comfort and assurance. My heart is overwhelmed,
my spirit overwhelmed, my heart within me is desolate. I remember
the days of old and I meditate on all thy works. You see that? I ponder on all
the work of thy hand." Now, when sin depresses us, our only recourse
for refreshing is what the Lord has done for
us, not what we have done for Him. Notice it's His works and
the work of thy hands, not our works. Sit still, let me read
this to you. Psalm 92, four and five, if you
wanna look at it. For thy Lord has made me glad
through thy work. Psalm 92, four. I will triumph
in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works,
and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not, neither
does a fool understand. Thou hast made me glad through
what you have done for me. You see, we don't look for assurance
or comfort upon the things. Well, preacher, you've preached
thousands of sermons, and I have. But do I get any comfort or assurance
from anything or of anything that I have ever done? No. My
comfort and assurance is in Christ, what He has done for us. You
see, it's the work of His hand, His hand. Now here's another
reference I've got jotted down here in Psalm 111. I like that number, I can't mess
it up. Psalm 111, 111. Look at verse three. His work is honorable, Glorious,
his righteousness endureth forever. He hath made his wonderful works
to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. You see salvation by the doing
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He prayed in John 17, you remember?
Father, I've glorified thee on the earth. I finished the work
you gave me to do. Salvation is based upon his obedience
unto death, not ours. When sin depresses us, our only
recourse for refreshing is unto the Lord. The salvation that
we enjoy is not by our works, Now the scriptures make that
completely clear and plain, doesn't it? Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. God
who saved us according to his power and glory, not according
to our works. Salvation is of the Lord and
it's his doing. A preacher, why do you keep saying
that? Well, that's the truth, isn't it? Truth needs to be repeated. The truth will set you free.
Now look at verse six. I look to thee. I stretch forth
my hand unto thee. My soul thirsteth after thee
in the thirsty land. Now, what does man, what does
men, man or sinners thirst after naturally? What do they thirst
after naturally? Man drinks iniquity like the
water. That's what it says in the scripture. That's what we are by nature.
We drink iniquity like the water. But what he's saying here is
having a spiritual thirst. A spiritual thirst for the living
waters of the living God. In verse 6, he says, I look to
thee, I stretch forth my hand, and that's the hand of faith.
I stretch forth my hand unto thee. You see, this is a look
of faith. The hand of faith reaches only
out to Christ. The thirst of faith is only quenched
by the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember David said in Psalm
42, as the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee. It's only by his grace that we
thirst for the water of life. The Lord said, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. Ho, everyone that is thirsty,
come ye to the waters. Remember the Lord told the woman
at the well there in Samaria, you drink of that natural water,
you're thirst again. But if you drink of that water
that I give you, there shall be in you a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. You remember what she said? Lord,
give me that water. That's thirsting and seeking
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Now look at verse seven.
hear me, hear me. Oh Lord, again he says, my spirit
fails, hide not thy face from me, lest I be like them that
go down, go down, go down, and go down into the pit of everlasting despair. The only thing God has to do
to send us to eternal condemnation justly is to leave us to our
own wicked self. If God sent you to hell, would
he be doing right? Absolutely. If he ever teaches
you that lesson, you'll say amen. If God sent me to hell, he'd
be doing right. That's what I deserve. That's
not what I want. By his grace, I want salvation
in Christ. That's why he said, hide not
your face from me. The glory of God shines in the
face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me see Christ. Let me see
him. Now, in verse eight, all the
way down to verse 12. We have a seven-fold request
that David prays unto the Lord. Now he says twice, Lord, hear
me speedily, my spirit faileth, give ear to my supplication.
What would the man after God's own heart pray for? What would
he pray for? Well, Lord, I pray that I never
have a sick day. Lord, I pray that you give me
wealth, health, vitality, popularity, all these things. He doesn't
even mention that. You see, the things that we need
are spiritual blessings. Notice these seven things here,
and my time is gone, and we won't have time to look at carefully,
but first of all, he says, cause me to hear your loving kindness
in the morning. Let me hear it, when I wake up
in the first thing in the morning, or when, if you're like me, I
wake up 12.30 in the morning, about 2.30 in the morning, about
4.30 in the morning, and usually about 5.30 in the morning. I
usually get up about 6.00. I get up, the morning comes often
for me. Cause me to hear thy loving kindness
in the morning. What is loving kindness? It is
mercy. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness. When you wake up in the morning,
whenever that hour may be, Lord, cause me to hear and think about
your loving kindness, your mercy unto me. That might help us to
sleep. We think about, I always think of that scripture, when
I have a restless night, he giveth his beloved sleep. And I think,
uh-oh, I'm not his beloved. "'Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness
in the morning, for in thee do I trust.'" When are we to trust
the Lord? At all times, ye people. Pour
out your heart before Him. God is the refuge for us. That's
Psalm 62. The second thing he says here,
"'Cause me to know the way.'" Now notice, "'Cause me to hear,'
"'Cause me to know the way.'" Now, This is not popular in our society
today. They think there's many ways
of salvation. My own brother told me one time,
said after I attended my dad's funeral, and he took me back
to the airport, and he said, well, you know, there's many
ways. He said salvation is like climbing
up a mountain. When you get to the top of that
mountain, you have salvation, but there are a lot of different
ways to climb up that mountain. Well, you know, that might sound
good to a lost religious man, but according to the word of
God, there's just one way of salvation. It's a narrow way.
It's a restricted way. The Lord said, I am the way. There is no salvation for anyone
apart from being found in Christ. He is salvation. Cause me to
hear thy loving kindness in the morning, for in thee do I trust.
Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk. We walk not according
to the flesh, but according to the spirit, seeking him. For
I lift up my soul unto thee, I look unto thee. Verse nine,
he said, deliver me. Deliver me. Who else would? Who else could? You know, the
Lord Jesus Christ is the Redeemer. You know what that means? That
means He's the Deliverer. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of
His grace. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies, from my sin. I flee unto Thee to hide me. Where do you want to be found
when the Lord comes? I want to be found in Him. Where do you want to be found
when the Lord comes for you? When the days and the minutes
of your life are gone, I want to be found in Christ. Verse
10, teach me, teach me to do thy will. Now, we need to be
taught. I think of this scripture in
John 6 where it said, No man can come to me except the Father
which sent me draw him. All those who have heard and
learned of the Father, they come to Christ. He is the lesson. Teach me to do thy will. What
is the will of the Lord? Bow to Christ. Submit to Christ. For thou art my God. Thy spirit
is good. The Lord is good, there's none
good but God. He says here, lead me into the
land of uprightness, into the land of salvation by his righteousness,
lead me. Now, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them and they follow me. We need a shepherd, a good shepherd,
the great shepherd, the chief shepherd to lead me. where he
leads me, I will follow. Lead me into the land of uprightness. Verse 11, quicken me, quicken
me, quicken me. What does that mean? Make me
alive. The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any
two-edged sword. It's the living, the living word,
quicken me. You have he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin. Oh Lord, and do it. for thy name's
sake, for your glory's sake. Do it for Christ's sake. Now,
pencil in Ephesians 4.32, where he said, we're to love one another
and to forgive one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. The only reason for salvation
is the Lord Jesus Christ. For thy righteousness' sake,
bring my soul out of trouble, because you're righteous. Bring
my soul out of trouble. Verse 12, and of thy mercy, cut off my enemies according
to your mercy. Destroy all them that afflict
my soul according to your mercy. For I am thy servant, the servant
of the Lord. Quicken me. The only ground to
stand upon for any sinner is the ground of mercy. The ground
of mercy. Destroy all my enemies. I'm your servant. I'm yours.
Take me, Lord. My beloved is mine. You remember
Song of Solomon? My beloved is mine and I'm his. To you who believe, he is precious. I am thy servant.