Psalm 61 is our study this evening. I thought about a couple titles
for this message. Sometimes titles are not easy
for me to come up with. One of the titles I thought of
for this message is found in verse 7, is this, preserved,
preserved by mercy and truth. Preserved by mercy and truth,
for certainly that is the case. mercy and truth by his mercy
and by his truth we have been preserved saved justified in
the Lord Jesus Christ in Proverbs 16 don't turn let me just quote
it to you in Proverbs 16 it says by mercy and truth by mercy and
truth iniquity is purged and that's so that's so or we could
call this message this I'm kinda conflicted between these two
sermon titles here. We could call this message this, the rock that is higher than
I or lead me to the rock. Lead me to the rock. You know
the Lord never leads us astray. We all by nature are like sheep
that have gone astray, but the Lord leads us to himself. He draws us to himself. This
is a good prayer for any sinner to cry. Lord, lead me to the
rock. Make that our cry. Make that
your cry. Lead me to the rock. Not just
any rock. There's just one rock. The high
rock, the high ground, and that is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord said, I'll build my
church upon this rock. I'll build my church in the gates
of hell. The gates of hell shall not prevail. For the Lord Jesus Christ, He
indeed is the most high God to whom we are led by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us not
to emotion, not to tradition, not to ceremony, not to a time
and place. God the Holy Spirit leads us
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, when He the Spirit
of truth has come, He'll take the things of mine His righteousness,
His sacrifice, His truth, His word, He'll take the things of
mine and show it unto you. You know what it takes God to
reveal God? It takes God the Holy Spirit
to reveal God, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this psalm
is short but sweet, just eight verses, filled with the blessed
gospel promise. of salvation in Christ, as every
psalm is. As every psalm is. Now most think
this psalm was given to David when he was exiled from Jerusalem
and forced to flee for his life when his own son Absalom led
a rebellion against him. You know what broke his heart?
What broke his heart? Can you imagine having your own
son turn on you? Not only kick you out of the
house, but make you leave town. push you off the throne and lead
a rebellion against you. You know David's heart was broken
for he loved Absalom. When he died he wept for him.
Oh Absalom, Absalom my son, God I died for thee. In the sorrow
of his heart And in his grief, he was overwhelmed, which led
him to cry unto God for deliverance. And that's what he does in verse
1. Hear my cry, O God. My heart is broken, attending
to my prayer. Trouble from the hand of the
Lord. Now listen to this statement. Trouble from the hand of the
Lord is a blessed thing. when it drives us to the Lord
Jesus Christ for relief, for comfort, for help, for assurance,
for salvation. Lord send trouble, send trouble,
that it might drive me to the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a dear
preacher friend I've known for years and years and years down
in Madisonville, Kentucky, an old country boy. But he's a lover
of the gospel and a great gospel preacher. But he used to have
this one saying that I kind of picked up on. He said, hug up
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Just gather him up in your arms
and hug up on him and don't let go. That's so. You see, trouble drives us. Trouble
from the hand of the Lord now. drives a believer, not away from
the Lord, doesn't drive him away, drives him to the Lord. And oftentimes
when maybe we're wondering here and wonder there, maybe the Lord
in His gracious love and chastisement, whom the Father loveth, He chastises,
He sends trouble that we might run unto Him. for grace to help
in time of need. Some have called this psalm here
the prayer of an exiled king on his way back to the throne.
David was exiled, but David didn't stay that way. God heard his
cry, and God delivered him. Hear my prayer, O God. Verse
1. Hear my cry, O God. Oh God, doesn't
say hear my cry, oh people, doesn't say hear my cry, oh friend, hear
my cry, oh God, would you hear my cry, hear my cry, and attend
unto it, attend unto it. You know, David was a man of
prayer. We've seen this all through our study in the book of Psalms.
Let me just turn with me and let's read a few references.
David was a man of prayer, you know, but every believer, every
believer is a man of prayer. Notice back, if you will, Psalm
54, verse 2. Hear my prayer, O God, give ear
to the words of my mouth. In Psalm 55, verse 1, Give ear
to my prayer, O God, hide not thyself from my supplication.
And then as we considered last week, verse 2, Psalm 57, I will
cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things
for me. I'm going to cry unto the one,
I'm going to cry unto God who is God. The one who has all power
and all authority. He's no dumb idol. He's no dead
rock or stone. He's the most high God. He's
a true and living God. I'm going to call upon Him. You
know the scriptures assure us, whosoever, I'm a whosoever. How about you? I'm a whosoever.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. I'm a whosoever. I'm going to
call upon Him. He is the Lord. who delight to
show mercy. Our gracious Lord is not hardened
against the cries of His children. You know, He doesn't weary hearing
us cry unto Him. Our prayers are never spent in
vain when we cry unto Him for grace to help in time of need.
You know, He encourages us to do that. In Philippians chapter
4, He said, Make your requests known unto me. Do you have any
requests? We'll make them known unto, our
Lord said, pour out your heart before me. Often times in different
religious circles they'll have, anybody have a request and they'll
spend their time and time and time taking up time when they
could be preaching the gospel with requests. Make your request
known unto Him. That's what He says. Seeing that
we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, what does he say? Come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. Where else can a believer go
but to the Lord to find relief, comfort, and assurance unto the
rock that is higher than high? Where else can a sinner cry unto
the Lord but unto the Lord who is able to save to the uttermost. He is able to save. Our God is
not weak and impotent. Is He? The God down the street
is. They preach a God who wants to
and can't. They preach a God who's tried
and failed. That's not the God we're talking
about. They've got another God down there. Another gospel. God
of the Bible is not weak. impotent, frail. He's God Almighty. He's the sovereign, eternal and
relaxing God who is able to save to the uttermost. And you reckon
He's able to keep us once He saves us? Word of God says so. He's able
to keep us from falling. Not only that, but to present
us faultless before the presence of His glory and to do it with
exceeding joy. I'm going to call upon Him. How
about you? I'm going to cry unto the Lord to help and save. Paul gives
instruction to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.
He says, in everything give thanks. Pray without ceasing, he said.
Pray without ceasing. You know, prayer is also like
worship. It's spontaneous. Prayer is not
something that's cold and mechanical. Prayer is the cry of the heart
unto God. And you don't have to audibly
pray. The Lord knows the very thought
of your heart. He knows your need before you
ask. Pray without ceasing, he says,
and in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Sweet hour of prayer, that's
one of my favorite songs. Sweet hour of prayer that takes
me from the world of care. I like to have a sweet moment
of prayer, let alone an hour of prayer. I find my mind so
wondering, so frail, so fickle that if I can just get 15 seconds
or 30 seconds of praying unto the Lord, that's a blessed time. But I'm going to call upon God,
the Most High God, God who is God. He said, I'm the Lord beside
me, there is no other. Now you can have this peanut
God. I don't want anything to do with him. Can't save a flea. Can't save a dead sinner. I need
the God who is the mighty God, the everlasting God, who speaks
and is done, who commands and stands fast. The only place a
sinner will truly worship is at the throne of a sovereign
God. Everything else is just hypocrisy. Just hypocrisy. Just religious people playing
games. Notice verse 2, from the end of the earth will I cry unto
thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Lord, lead me to the rock. Lead
me to Christ. Lead me to Christ who is higher,
higher than my trouble. He's bigger than my trouble.
Any problem too big for God? Absolutely not. Anything too
hard for God? Absolutely not. From the ends
of the earth will I cry. David was cast out of Jerusalem,
wasn't he? But not out of the presence of
God. There's no place so remote no distance too great, but that
we have access to the mercy seat of God in Christ Jesus. He's everywhere present, is he
not? Everywhere present, even John,
when they cast him out to the Alcatraz of his day, out there
on the Isle of Pappas, had ready, open access and liberty to the
throne of grace. He says there, I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a great voice, and
there's the Lord. And he had that glorious revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then it says in verse 16,
or verse 15, I fell at his feet as a dead man. And he laid his
hand upon me and said, fear not, I'm the first, I'm the last.
It's okay, John. It's okay. Oh, what a privilege
we have. What a privilege we have to take
everything to God in prayer. David's request here is very
straightforward and simple, isn't it? He doesn't ask for money,
doesn't ask for riches, he asks for leadership. Lord, lead me
to the rock. Lead me to Christ. Lead me to
the rock that you have established. Lead me to the rock, the foundation
that you have established. There's none like our rock. I want you to turn to this scripture
and look at this with me. Deuteronomy 32. You want to mark
this in your Bible, I know, and refer to it later. Deuteronomy
32. When the children of Israel took
the land of Canaan, it was inhabited by giants, inhabited by many
nations and mighty and armed and men of war and this little
nation walked in and conquered it. How did that happen? Look
what it says here, Deuteronomy 32, verse 30. How should one
chase a thousand? How should one soldier of Israel
chase a thousand Philistines and put ten thousand to flight,
except their rock had sold them? Notice that's capital R-O-C-K. Their rock had sold them, promoted
them, helped them, sustained them. He did fight the battle
for them, and the Lord had shut them up. For their rock, notice
verse 31, their rock, their help, their foundation, speaking of
the enemy, the Philistines, the Hittites, the Malachites, all
the other ites, their rock is not as our rock. Different foundation. Even our
enemies themselves being judges. I rock. Oh, I rock. Not like
that rock down the street. Our foundation is certain and
sure. He said, I behold, I lay in Zion
for foundation. Now whose rock is this? God's
rock. God's foundation. Behold, I lay
in Zion for foundation. A stone, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone, a sure foundation. It's a certain rock. It's a sure
rock. And it's the high rock. It's
the high way, the Lord Jesus Christ. When my heart is overwhelmed
with a sense of my sin, when my heart is overwhelmed and burdened
with guilt, my cry is, Lord, lead me to Christ who is all
my pardon for all my sin. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin, original and actual. Sin of omission,
sin of commission. Past, present, future. The Lord
Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. When my heart is
overwhelmed with my burden and the sense of guilt of sin, show
me Christ who is my pardon, who is my righteousness. When my
heart is overwhelmed with affliction, the affliction of God's good
providence, lead me to Christ who is our comfort in the time
of storm, As he says in Isaiah 40, verse 1, Comfort you, comfort
you, my people. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
crying to her that her warfare is accomplished. For she hath
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sin. Well, that's
comfort, isn't it? all redemption and all righteousness
provided freely by His grace. When my heart is overwhelmed
with pride and unbelief, lead me to Christ, my faithful high
priest, whoever lives to intercede for me. Remember what John wrote,
my little children, these things I write unto you that you sin
not, but when you do, well, you're out. It's over. No, he didn't
say that. When you do, we have an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ, the righteous,
whoever lives to intercede for us. God, the Holy Spirit, always
leads us unto the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation and
all of righteousness. Now listen to me. I'm not a novice
here. I've been preaching for many
years. God the Holy Spirit always leads
us into the Lord Jesus Christ for all salvation, for all justification,
for all righteousness, never back to the law. but to Christ
who fulfilled the law of God for us. Our Lord said, I didn't
come to destroy the law, I came to honor the law. It says in
Isaiah 42, 21, the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness
sake, for He will magnify the law and honor it. The Holy Spirit
does not lead us to Christ for justification, and then back
to the law for sanctification. Not at all. He is our wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In the Lord Jesus
Christ, He is In Him was all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and in Christ the believer stands complete in Him. Complete. Nothing lacking. Complete. He's
able to supply all our need according to His riches in glory through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is our rule of life. You want a rule to live by? People
are always looking for rules to live by. You read Galatians
chapter 6 sometimes. God forbid I should glory save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our rule. The
glory only in Christ. If you want a rule, there it
is. Glory only in Him. Worship only Him. From the end
of the earth will I cry unto thee. Look at Psalm 61 again. Lead me when my heart is overwhelmed
When it's overwhelmed, when I'm in despair, when I'm blue, when
I'm down and out, lead me to Christ. He's our comfort. He's our hope. He's our assurance.
And He is high. He is higher than I. How high
is He? How high is this rock? You know
this foundation, when we build a house, we dig down in the dirt.
and lay a foundation. This foundation that God has
laid is a high foundation. It's not a low one. It's a high. How high is it? As high as God.
When He had by Himself purged our sin, He sat down at the right
hand of the throne of God. That's how high our rock is. And you know what the blessed
thing of it is? He's the forerunner who has entered
in for us. And it says in Ephesians chapter
2 verse 6 that we're seated in the heavenly in Christ Jesus. Right now. In the representative
man, what's true of the head is true of the body. Where the
head is, the body is not too far behind, is it? Where the
head is, that's where the body is. My head, my body, speaking
of this body naturally, where my head goes, my body goes. The Lord Jesus Christ as our
representative head has entered in and he's seated in the heavenlies
in Christ Jesus and we're seated in him. That's comfort. That's comfort. That's assurance. Look at verse
three. Four. Four. Thou hast been a shelter for
me and a strong tower from the enemy. David, like Isaiah, had
only one refuge and shelter of grace in the strong tower of
salvation that's found in Christ Jesus. The shelter, shelter,
shelter from the storm. Turn to Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32, 1, Behold, a king
shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment,
and a man, and this is the God-man mediator, shall be a hiding place
from the wind, a covering from the tempest, as rivers of water
in a dry place, as a shadow of a, here's this rock again, a
great rock in a weary land, and this is a weary land, but he's
the great rock. upon which we rest. He is the
rock of ages. We're found in Him. You see,
the Lord Jesus Christ is not only the foundation, He's the
shelter. He's the shelter from every enemy, from every enemy. In Proverbs 18, it says, The
name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous runneth
into it, and it's safe. and is safe. Christ has been
a shelter and a strong tower. Christ has been our shelter and
a strong tower and will continue to be so for our God and Savior. He never changes. He says that
I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore you sons
of Jacob, you're not consumed. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He has always been our shelter,
and he will always be our strong tower. Our strong tower. You remember way back at Psalm
18. Turn back over there. Psalm 18. He's our strong tower. He's that sure hiding place. Psalm 18. David had a whole list
of descriptive titles for this shelter
we have. Look at Psalm 18, verse 1. I
will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my... Well, there's
that rock again. The Lord is my rock and my fortress,
my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I'll trust, my buckler,
the horn of my salvation, and He's my high tower. I'll call
upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved
from mine enemies. I'll call upon the Lord. He's
a strong tower. He is a shelter from the enemy. I tell you, the believer has
many, many enemies that would do him in, but they can't because
of our strong tower, the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, he says
in verse 4, I will abide. I will abide. I will abide because
of the shelter, I will abide because of that rock that is
higher than, I will abide because of that strong tower. I will
abide in thy tabernacle, not temporarily. Salvation, not temporary
amnesty. He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. Isaiah 45, 17. I will abide in
thy tabernacle. forever in his tabernacle. I will trust under the covering,
under the shelter of thy wings forever. I shall abide under the protection
of the Lord. You see, the believer is kept,
kept, we're kept by the power of God. We don't keep ourselves.
You remember Psalm 27, turn back there. Psalm 27, Psalm 27, Look at verse four. One thing
have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in his tabernacle, in his temple,
for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in the secret of
his tabernacle shall he hide me, and he'll set me upon a rock. There's that rock again. You
can't get away from it, can you? You see, the scripture's all
about Christ, isn't it? It's all about the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.
That's Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He shall set me upon the rock. Now shall my head be lifted up
above my enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in
his tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing praises unto
the Lord. Look back at our text again.
I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust. I will trust. I will trust Him. I will trust Him. I will abide,
continually looking to the Lord Jesus Christ to provide all things
for us in salvation. I will abide because He keeps
us. I will abide. You know, believers abide in
Him. It says that in John. They do
abide in Him. They remain in Him. They continue
in Him. They look unto Him. I will abide
in Him forever. And I'll trust Him. I'll trust Him. All this is by
His power, by His grace. We believe Him. You know how
we believe Him? You know, faith is called a precious
thing. We have obtained like precious
faith through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith
is such a precious thing. It's God's gift. We believe according
to the working of His mighty power. Ephesians 1 verse 19. I will trust in Him forever. I will abide in Him forever. You see, the believer doesn't
want out. He's not seeking a way out. Oh, no. No, we must have
Christ. You know, that's how He draws
us with irresistible grace. He makes himself irresistible.
He makes himself irresistible. It's like this story I heard,
a preacher friend of mine was out to dinner with one of his
friends and this family had a little child, three or four years old. They were having dinner and this
little child got a hold of a corn cob, eating that corn on the
cob, just all full of butter and salt. Oh, she's just loving
it, eating it up. And they got ready to leave the
restaurant. And Daddy and Mama said, you put down that little,
put down that corn cob now, dinner's over, we're going home. And the
little child wouldn't let go of it. Wouldn't let go, it's
mine, mine. I won't let go of it, it's mine.
The owner of the restaurant, a friend of this preacher, came
along with a solution. He went behind the cash register
of the bar there and got out a big candy bar and brought it
over to the table and said, here, here's this candy bar. You know
what she did? She threw that corn on the cob away. He made
that an irresistible offer. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ, not saying that salvation's an offer, understand me, but
how He draws us irresistibly, how He draws us with irresistible
grace, He makes Himself irresistible. Like that little baby, away with
that corn cob, I want that candy bar. And she grabbed hold of
that candy bar, and they went out the door. Well, my friend,
those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ do so with a passion.
They do so with a love in their heart and a passion and a commitment.
They know whom they have believed and they're persuaded that He's
able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that
day. I will trust in the shelter of thy wings forever. Believers
abide in Him. They take their refuge upon that
mercy seat in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 5. For thou, O God, hast heard my
cry. Thou hast heard my heart's cry,
my prayer. Thou hast given me the heritage
of those that fear Thy name." This blessed heritage we have.
What great mercy on the Lord's part to take any notice of such
faithless, sinful worms as we are. And yet He does out of covenant
love and out of covenant obligation. out of covenant obligations.
He's assured to the everlasting covenant. What great mercy the
Lord. The old timers called it, they
had a word for it. Turn over here to Psalm 138. The old timers had a word for
it, condescending grace. Condescending grace. Psalm 138. Notice verse 6. Though the Lord
be high, there's that high rock again. How high is he? You can't
preach him too high. You can't preach God too big.
I'd like to be guilty of it. If you're going to charge me
with something, charge me with preaching him too high, too big.
Though the Lord be high, yet he hath respect unto the lowly,
but the proud, he doesn't recognize the proud. He knows the far-off.
What great mercy that the Lord takes notice of such low creatures
as we are. Yet out of covenant love, He
does so. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? David said in Psalm 8. And then
he said, Thou hast given the heritage unto those that fear
thy name. Those who fear his name are those
who believe him. Those who believe him. Now the
heritage here is the blessedness of covenant blessings, freely and sovereignly bestowed
on the elect of God. And notice this, thou hast given
the heritage, the inheritance of those unto those that fear
thy name. It's the gift of God. Everything
connected with mercy, grace, love, and salvation is His free
gift. His free gift. Not that we're
deserving. Mercy is not merited. Grace is not earned. He is merciful
unto us. Not because we're deserving.
He is merciful unto the guilty. There's grace for the guilty
because He is gracious. Because He delights to show mercy.
The heritage is the blessedness of covenant blessings freely
and sovereignly bestowed on the elect of God God who spared not
his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not
with him also freely give us freely I like that word freely
justified freely by his grace how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things in Christ Jesus You see, what he's
saying here, believers have been made heirs of God and joint heirs
with the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember what Peter said
about this inheritance? Let's see if we can find this
over in 1st Peter. 1st Peter chapter 1, I believe
it is, 1st Peter chapter 1, verse 3. This inheritance we have,
you want an inheritance, just thinking about an inheritance
naturally. An inheritance is not earned
by the children. Is it? An inheritance is earned
by someone else and then given to you as a free gift of love.
The parents, when they pass on, they write out their will. They
give their inheritance unto the children. It's something they
earned and something they give out of love. Well, same is true
of God's inheritance. We didn't earn it. The Lord Jesus
Christ earned all inheritance for us and He freely gives it
unto us. But look at this inheritance
here. It's not like an earthly inheritance. You may have a will
that you put out, a legal will that's drawn up by an attorney,
and you say you're going to give this to this person and this
to that person, that to this person, however, but you know
that will may be contested. Somebody may take you to court
and try to change that will, and you're dead and gone. You
have nothing to say about it. It's left in the hands of others.
But this will and testament of the Lord Jesus Christ is totally
different. He ever lives to intercede. He ever lives to enforce His
last will and testament. and this inheritance we have,
look what he says in 1st Peter 1, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 3, 1st Peter 1, 3, Who according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a living hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
that's incorruptible, it's an incorruptible inheritance, it's
undefiled, it cannot fade away, it's reserved for you, He's made
a reservation for you in heaven for you who are kept by the power
of God through faith on the salvation ready to be revealed in this
last time. Oh, the inheritance we have in
the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing God has given
to us. Thou has given the heritage,
the heritage, all the inheritance of grace, all grace now and glory
forever. those that fear thy name." One
old writer said this, this inheritance is a gift of God to his children,
it come to them to the death of Christ the testator, it's
not of law, not of works, and is acquired, it is not acquired
nor purchased, but owing to God's free grace, to his predestinating
grace as a source, to justifying grace to the righteousness of
Christ as right and title unto it. and to regenerating and sanctifying
grace in them." So said John Gill, one of my favorite commentators. Believers do highly reverence
His name. They do fear His name. Now, this
is not a slavish fear. This is an awe and reverential. It's a reverential fear we have
of God. We do fear His name with holy
awe and high esteem. We do stand in admiration of
the Lord's sovereign authority. and do fear offending him, for
high, holy and reverent, high and holy and reverent is his
name, not our name. Don't ever call me Reverend Tom.
Just call me Tom Tom. Just call me old Tom Tom. My neighbor wanted to know, my
new neighbor where we're building, wanted to know how many degrees
I had. I guess he figured I was right educated. I told him I
had just one. I told him I'm an SS. He said, what? He thought maybe
I was a mechanical engineer. He said, you're an SS? I said,
yeah, I'm an SS. What is that? Sinner saved. That's my only hope, a sinner
saved by God's grace. For thou hast heard my cry, thou
hast given the heritage of those that fear thy name. Look at verse
6. Thou wilt prolong the king's life. Thou wilt prolong the king's
life in his years as many generations. God showed mercy unto David.
God killed his enemies, including his own son, Absalom. and king Saul and brought him
back to the throne, gave him a reign over Israel for forty
years, and God added days to his reign and to his life. But
how much more so is this true of the king of kings and lord
of lords? It may be understood of his life as man, although
he died for our sin, he rose again because he justified us
from our sin and lives evermore to intercede for us. His days
are prolonged. He lives eternally for us. He
said in Revelation, I'm he that liveth and was dead, behold,
I'm alive forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death
and the duration of his kingdom of which there is no end. Isaiah
9, verse 6. Verse 7 in our text now. Psalm
61 verse 7. He shall abide forever. He shall
abide forever. And this is speaking of Christ.
David's reign as king ended after 40 years. But our King of kings
and Lord of lords, his reign has no end. From everlasting
to everlasting thou art God. Our King shall abide forever.
before God forever. Oh, prepare mercy. Mercy is prepared
for His covenant people at the King's hand. It's sovereign mercy
too. Not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but
of God that shows mercy unto him he will. And God's truth
is prepared The Lord Jesus Christ is the prepared truth that we
need to know and need to rest in, which may preserve Him and
us in Him forever and ever. So, so, I'll sing unto thy name. God has given Him a name which
is above every name. There's no other name like His
name. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God. You know, we ought to never use
that word, Wonderful, except in reference to Christ. His name is Wonderful. His name
is Wonderful. Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. So I'll sing praises
unto thy name, nor the name under heaven, given among men, whereby
we must be saved, so I'll sing praise unto thy name forever." God has highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above every name that at that name
every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that he's Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ is enthroned
to all eternity. Being raised from the dead, received
up the glory, to the glory of God and the eternal good of His
people because He lives, we live in Him. Our security, our security
and our salvation is as safe as His enthronement. How safe
is His enthronement? Who's going to kick Him and push
Him off the throne? Who's going to elbow Him out
of the way? No one's going to push Him off the throne. And
no one's going to be able to take us out of His hand. No man, He said, can pluck them
out of My hand. My Father who gave them to Me
is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of His hand.
Our salvation is as safe as His enthronement. Here is our safety,
our security, and our salvation, and our delight. Believers reign
with him as kings and priests under our God and we sing the
song Of the eternal ages unto him who loved us and washed us
from our sin to his own blood To him be all the honor and glory
both now and forever and ever Amen, so will I sing praise unto
thy name forever that I may daily perform worship unto him So I'll
sing unto thy name now and forever. I like what the old woman said,
whom the Lord saved. You know what she said? She said, the Lord done saved
me and he'll never hear the end of it. Let's sing praises unto
his name forever. The Lord saved me and he'll never
hear the end of it. He had done it. He had done it. Glory to his name.