Now, Psalm 44. Psalm 44. I usually try to give a title
to the messages that I bring. And this message is entitled,
from what we see in verse 4. And the title of the message
is, O God, Command Deliverance. O God, Command Deliverance. Command. Thou art my King, O
God. Therefore, you have the right
to command deliverance. Everything God speaks, He speaks
by absolute decree and command. Now, let's consider verse 1 for
a moment. The psalmist, don't know if it's
David, whoever it may be, we don't know. All scriptures given
of God. The words in verse 1 says, we've
heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what you
did in the past, what work thou did in their days in the times
of old. Now, he's going back perhaps
to that marvelous deliverance when Israel was in Egyptian bondage
for 400 years. And how God delivered them in
a miraculous way by the blood of the Lamb. And how God, when
they were pushed, when they were leaving Egypt, you remember the
story how they were pushed up against the The Red Sea, and
they couldn't go back because Pharaoh and his army was pounding
down on them. Those chariots, they were no
match for that. I'm sure if they had any weapons,
it was very few. They couldn't turn and fight.
They were helpless. They couldn't go to the right
hand, to the left hand because they were hemmed in there, the
heels on both sides, and the only place they could go was
into the water. And I love that story when God
told Moses to stretch forth that rod, and God, through Moses,
told the people to stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord. And God parted the waters, and
those two or three million people walked across on dry ground,
and then Pharaoh and his army started in after them, And you
remember with the story, the waters closed in upon him. Now
you think surely the chariots would be swift to get out of
harm's way. You know God is very practical.
You know what he did? Go back and read it sometime.
He made all the wheels of the chariots to fall off. And they
drug down heavy in the sand. And the horses were bogged down
and they couldn't go anywhere. I'm sure they got out and probably
started to run. That was futile. God destroyed
the enemy. And when they were safe on the
other side of Israel, they sang the song, Oh, glory to God, he
hath delivered us by his power. and by his might." You see, the
fathers told their sons of God's mighty deliverance. Our fathers
have told us what work you did in their day. How God sustained
those people in the wilderness for 40 years. How do you sustain? How can one man, Moses, provide
for two or three million people out in a desert country, no water,
no food, no clothing, no resources. It's a miracle, wasn't it? You
know their shoes didn't wear out? Their clothes didn't wear
out? God rained bread from heaven.
God brought water out of the rock. God sustained them for
forty years. We've heard with our ears. Our
fathers told us What work God did in our day. And then, after
those 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, they entered into the promised
land, didn't they? Even that was a miracle. A miracle
of God's power and God's grace. They came into Jericho, that
mighty city that kept them from entering in, and God said, march
around that city and I'll destroy it. And they did. And the walls fell down, and
Israel got the land of Canaan, when God destroyed all the armies
of the enemies, the Philistines, the Hittites, the Amalekites,
the Hittites. Our fathers have told us what
work you did, thou hast done in their day, in times of old, how you did
drive out the heathen with your hand. and plantest them how thou
didst afflict a people, and cast them out." What a mighty deliverance
God wrought for those people. You know, all that happened unto
them to teach us the gospel? Did you know that? For it says
over in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, don't turn, let me just read
it to you. All these things happen unto
them for examples, examples. And they are written for our
admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. Isaiah
entered into the promised land by God's purpose, by God's power,
by God's grace, so we can say in salvation that it too is of
His power, His purpose, and His grace alone. This psalm reminds
us again that salvation is of the Lord. That salvation that
we so desperately need is determined dependent and accomplished by
our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. It's only by His purpose
and power that Israel did enter into the promised land. And it
is same, it is true, it is same, it is the same, and it is true
of every believer only by the grace of God alone. is the only
reason that we enjoy this salvation that's of the Lord. Every believer
can say with the Apostle Paul, I am what I am by the grace of
God. It is grace and grace alone. Justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's consider for a moment
these first eight verses. We've heard, we have heard with
our ears, oh God, we've heard with our ears. Now one old preacher
years ago, I have written down here that this quotation is from
Charles Spurgeon, and I suppose it is, but anyhow, he said on
this verse, to hear with the ear to hear with the ear affects
us more than to read with the eye. To hear with the ear affects
us more than to read with the eyes. You know, God has ordained
the audible preaching of the gospel to the salvation of his
people. It is necessary for God's sheep
to hear the gospel declared and preached. You see, we get all
of our information through what we call the eye gate. You either
see it or the ear gate. Eye gate or the ear gate. We
get all of our information through one of those two gates. Let us,
therefore, let's not neglect either one, but let us always
be ready to read the Word of God. As the Bereans, they searched
the Scriptures daily whether these things be so. Let us always
be ready to read the Word of God, but let us also be swift
to hear it declared. Our Lord God Almighty spoke one
day from heaven to his apostles concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And then you know what he said?
Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. Hear him. We need the hearing
ear of God. I noticed over here in Psalm
49 verse 1. Turn over there. Psalm 49 verse
1. Hear this! hear this all ye people give
ear all ye inhabitants of the world both low and high rich
and poor together my mouth shall speak wisdom oh hear it hear
this now hear this what he says we've heard with our ears oh
let us be swift to hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ our
Lord says again to those apostles in that day blessed are your
eyes for they see you think of all the miracles that they saw
and your ears for they hear at the blessed man notice it says
our fathers told us our fathers told us what work that you have
done in their day our fathers told us what a blessing it is
to have a father a believing father who loves the gospel One of the best instructors of
sons and daughters is a loving, godly, believing father and mother
that will teach their children the way of salvation in Christ
Jesus. That's what it says there. Our
fathers have told us. Our fathers have told us. That's
a blessing to be a son that has a father. who believes the gospel. There are several sons here that
I see whose fathers believe the gospel. That's a blessing. That's a blessing. I wish I had
that blessedness as a child growing up when I was young, but I did
not. But the Lord still was pleased
to have mercy on me, this sinner. So being a son that's instructed
by a believing father or mother in the way of salvation in Christ
Jesus is a blessing from God. You remember the Apostle Paul
writing to young Timothy and said, Thou hast from a child
known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation. We are instructed to bring our
children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Well,
how blessed a thing it is for our fathers and mothers to bring
their families, their children, to hear the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, that's not a guarantee that
God will have mercy on them, because He'll have mercy on whom
He will, but we are instructed as believers to put our families
under the preaching of the gospel. It says in Ephesians 6, Fathers,
provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord. And that's our responsibility
as believing parents to put our family, our young ones, our children
under the preaching of the gospel. Now, what's our message then?
Look at verse 2 of Psalm 44. How thou did drive out the heathen
with your hand, and you gave us the land, and you did afflict
them, And you did drive them out, you did cast them out. I
meant to give you this scripture over in the book of Joshua. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. When Joshua was reminding the children of Israel of all
the blessings that God had given to them, he said, God through
his prophets said, I've given you a land for which you did
not labor. cities that you did not build, and you dwell in them,
and vineyards and olives, olive yards that you didn't plant,
and you eat of them. God gave them everything. They
just walked into a house furnished, crops already in the field, and
they just came in and enjoyed all that God gave them. That's a picture of our salvation.
Now, here's our message, verse 2, how you did drive out the
heathen. What is our message? Our message
is how God has delivered His people, His covenant people,
His spiritual Israel, by His mighty power and by His mighty
grace. It's not what great things we
have done. It's not at all. But rather,
what great things God has done. What great things He has done.
That's our message. That's the gospel. The gospel
is not, sinner, do your part and God will do His part. That's
not the gospel. The gospel is a declaration of
all that He has done. We're more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. Turn over here to Psalm 98. Psalm
98. So their message in that day
and our message is one and the same. The gospel is the declaration
of all that God has done. Psalm 98 verse 1, Oh, sing unto
the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things. His right
hand and His holy arm have gotten Him the victory. The Lord hath
made known His salvation. His righteousness hath He openly
showed in the sight of the heathen. he remembered his mercy and his
truth toward the house of Israel and all the ends of the earth
have seen that salvation seeing the salvation of our God now
make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth make a loud
noise rejoice and sing with praise so our message is what he has
done Psalm 118 is another reference I think on the same along the
same line See, when we preach the gospel,
we declare that all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Psalm 118 said, the Lord is my
strength and song, and He's become my salvation. He's my strength,
my song, my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of
the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is
exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth
valiantly. I shall not die but live and
declare the works of the Lord. The gospel is the declaration
of the works of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, all that
he has done for his covenant people. So it's not in our hands.
Salvation is not in our hands. Not in our power. Not in our
will. It says His power, His purpose,
His will. Now look at verse 3, Psalm 44
verse 3, for they got not to land in their possession by their
own sword. It wasn't that they were, they
weren't a skillful fighting force. Not in that day, after 40 years
in the wilderness, having a whole generation die out. I doubt if
they had any weapons at all, very few if any, for they got
not the land in their possession by their own sword, neither did
their own arms save them, but thy right hand, thine arm, in
the light of thy countenance, because God had favor on them."
Favor is grace, isn't it? Favor is grace. Now, there's
a beautiful parallel here, the work of salvation by the Lord
Jesus Christ. The land of Israel was possessed
by these people, not by their power or might. It was not by
their sword, their arm, their hand, or their light, was it? But rather God alone. The Lord
is a mighty conqueror. the Lord is a mighty conqueror.
Says in Revelation chapter 6, He went forth conquering and
to conquer. It says in Romans 8, 37, we are
more than conquerors through Him, through Him that loved us. Now, who couldn't win with such
help? Who couldn't win with such help?
His sword, His arm, His hand, His light, His command. There's no way they could lose. And sinners are never losers
by trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. You know they're winners. They're
winners. Everybody wants to be a winner.
Those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ are truly winners in him
by his grace." Who couldn't be a winner with such help? Who
couldn't be on the winning team with such help? Notice what he
mentions here, his sword. His sword, Hebrews 4, 12, talks
about the Word of God being a sharp, two-edged sword. God takes His Word, and you know
what He does? He operates. Oh, He's a mighty,
skillful surgeon who operates upon the hearts of His people,
dividing asunder so closely soul and spirit, and the joint and
the marrow. He's a mighty operator. He's
a physician of souls. He's a doctor of our salvation.
I'm glad He operated upon me with His sword, with His Word. And then He talks about His arm
here. His arm. Now whenever you see
the arm, the word arm, it's symbolic of His power. Symbolic of His
power. Who couldn't win with His power?
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the
power of God unto salvation. I'm not ashamed of His power.
Now, how much power does God have? How much power does He
have? Does He possess, you know, marginal
amount of power? What kind of power does He have?
He has all power. All power in heaven and earth. He has complete power, universal
power. We call that sovereignty. God reigns in heaven. God reigns
among the inhabitants of the earth and He does whatsoever
He will. He's God. I like what O. Arthur Pink said, God is God,
and that pretty well describes His sovereignty. He has all power,
all power. Our Lord prayed that in John
17, didn't He? The Father had given me power
as a God-man mediator over all flesh, that He should give eternal
life to as many as God had given to me. Those covenant people
So his sword, his power, his right hand, the hand of God. I like what he said in John 10,
no man can pluck him out of my hand. My Father which gave to
me is greater than all, no man can pluck him out of my Father's
hand. Paul said in Colossians 3, he said our life is here with
Christ in God. Now, I used to use this illustration
with my boys, is how safe and secure are the saints of God
in His hand? His hand has all power. His hand
possesses all authority. Are the sheep of Christ safe
in His hand? If I put this set of keys in
my hand, our life is hid with Christ in God. Now, you think
Hunter could come up here and take these keys away from me?
He couldn't, could he? Why? My hands are stronger than
yours, aren't they? You couldn't overpower me, could
you? Now, someday you may be able to grow up and put a whooping
on me, but not now! Our God has all power, and no
one can stop His hand, or no one can pluck Him out of His
hand. Aren't you glad you're in His hand? See, God's not in
our hand. We're in His hand. As such, He
has all power, all authority. Who couldn't win with such help?
His sword. Who could not be conquered with
such weapons? His sword, His power, His hand,
His light. His light. I've got a reference
jotted down here, Psalm 89, 13. Psalm 89, 13. I hope it's the
right reference. Psalm 89, verse 13. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong
is thy hand, high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are
the habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. Our Lord said, I am the light
of the world. that believeth in me shall not
walk in darkness. In thy light, O Lord, they shall
walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name
shall they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness shall
they be exalted." His righteousness, not ours. His hand, His sword,
His power, His light. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians
4, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through
God, to the pulling down of strongholds. We don't use the puny inventions
of men to try to convince people to do things for God. We simply
preach the truth, the Word of God, and leave sinners alone
in the hands of God. And He'll do the work in their
heart by His grace. All the forces of the true and
living God were marshaled together against the enemies of Israel
for one solitary reason. Notice in the last part of Psalm
44 verse 3, Because thou had favor unto them. Thou had favor
unto them." You see, it pleased the Lord. It says in 1 Samuel
22, 12-22, it pleased the Lord to make them His people. And it has pleased the Lord to
make us, by His grace, His people. Now here's one of the greatest
truths of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will have mercy
on whom He will have mercy. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. Now let's see if we can read
that in the scripture. I think it's in Romans 9. Turn
over there. Yes, it is Romans 9. God will
have mercy on whom He will have mercy, that the purpose of God
according to election might stand. You see, God had favor on that.
He singled that nation out. Not that they were deserving.
They were a bunch of rebels. God had mercy on them because
He would. He chose them sovereignly because
He would. He passed by all the Ites and
saved the Israelites. The Malachi, the Hittites, the
Jebusites, and all the other Ites. He passed them all by and
had mercy on Abraham's seed. That's what we call sovereign
mercy. Romans 9 declares unto us, verse
11, for the children being not yet born, neither having done
any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved. Esau, Esau, Well, a lot of folks say, well,
you know, he didn't love him quite as much, or he didn't love
him quite as much as he did Jacob, or he loved him less, but that's
not what it says there, is it? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. God out of these two boys were
twins. Jacob and Esau were brothers.
God had mercy on one because he determined to have mercy.
Jacob was no more deserving than Esau. They both were scoundrels.
They both were sinners. But God sovereignly put his love
and affection upon Jacob and left Esau to his own wicked devices. What shall we say then? What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Well, God forbid. For he said to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, verse 16, it's not of
him that willeth. Salvation is not by the sinner's
will. I don't know where these folks come up with the idea,
and some people even go so far as to call themselves free will
Baptists. I remember one of our missionaries
one time was visiting Pastor Mahan in Ashland, Kentucky, there
at 13th Street Baptist Church, and just down the street from
that church was a Free Will Baptist Church, and they had a sign along
the top of their building, and it was a long building, must
have been a hundred feet long, Free Will Baptist Church. And
Brother Clark from England came over, and they were riding down
the road, and he looked up and saw that, and he said, He said,
I can't believe they advertise their heresy so freely and so
openly. Salvation is not by our will. Salvation is by God's will. So then it's not of him that
willeth or of him that runneth. But God shows mercy on whom He
will. You see, just as in that day,
back to Psalm 44, God chose to have favor on those Israelites. And God, today, by His purpose
and grace, has a spiritual Israel, known as the elect of God, the
sheep of Christ, through whom the Lord Jesus Christ died, And
God chose him unconditionally and gave him to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he will in time cross their path with the gospel and
save them by his sovereign purpose. Look at verse 4 in Psalm 44. Thou art my king. He's my king. He's my God. He's my Lord and
He's my Savior. Can you say that in your heart?
This One who is the Sovereign, the One who will have mercy on
whom He will, can you say in your heart, Thou art my King. He's my King. He's my God. He's my Savior. He's my all and
in all. Oh God, command deliverances. Command deliverances for these
sons of Jacob. We'll get right back to Jacob,
don't we? Jacob have I loved. You know, I don't have any problem
with God hating Esau. The miracle and amazing thing
of the gospel is why God would love Jacob. He was a cheat, a
scoundrel, a supplanter. That's what his name means. But
God took that old Jacob and made him into a prince of God. Changed his name to Israel. Thou
hast favor with God. Thou art my King, O God. Command
deliverances for Jacob. By the sovereign revelation of
Almighty God, we see the King, who is King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. By His grace we own Him like
Thomas of old, you remember? Fell down before the resurrected
Lord and remember what He told the disciples earlier? Well,
I won't believe that He's really risen from the dead unless I
put my hand in His side. I put my finger in the nail print
of His hand. I won't believe. And when the
Lord appeared among them again, Thomas said, Oh my Lord and my
God. He owned Him, didn't He? By His
grace, we say with Thomas, He is my Lord and in my God. He's the King. It says that in
Psalm 47. Notice this. Let's look at a
couple of references here. Psalm 47, verse 7. Where is He King? In Kingsport?
Just in Kingsport or maybe down in Pikeville or over there in
Nashville or Knoxville? Or is He just King in some places?
Or is He just King where we let Him be King? And then we have
a vote on it to see if He is King. Is he king by a process
of democracy? Did we vote him in to be king?
No. For God is king, Psalm 47 verse
7, for God is king of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen. God sitteth upon the throne of
his holiness. So he's king of all the earth.
And as king, now you want to turn and look at this one. You
want to mark this one too. Psalm 74, verse 12. Look at this
here. As king, My God, verse 12, Psalm 74, verse
12. Where God is my King of old,
He's working salvation in the midst of the earth. You know,
He's King in salvation. He's King in salvation and He's
my King. And He's working salvation in
the midst of the earth. It's His doing, His dying, His
grace, His righteousness. Now notice what the King does
here, He commands. He commands deliverance. The
king doesn't merely suggest deliverance or, you know, it's a possibility
that he might deliver. The king doesn't suggest deliverance
as a possibility or put certain conditions upon deliverance as
some suggest in religious circles. Well, you know, take the first
step and God will meet you halfway. Or do your part and God will
do his. No, my friend, he commands deliverances for Jacob. He commands
and it is done. He speaks and it is done. Turn
back to Psalm 33 verse 9. Psalm 33 verse 9. For He spake and it was done. Psalm 33 verse 9. He commanded
and it stood fast. You see, He's King. he's king
as such he commands all things he has all power and he commands
our salvation by his grace he commands the deliverance and
salvation of his people now preacher can you make good on that I think
I can but I want you to turn to second Corinthians chapter
4 I'm saying God when he saves us saves his people by his grace
he does so by his decree by his command in 2nd Corinthians chapter
4 verse 5 says we preach not ourselves we preach not ourselves
but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servant for Jesus
sake for God who suggested that the light might shine. No, when
he spoke in creation, God said, let there be light, that is,
he commanded the light to shine, and the light shined forth, didn't
it? God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, He
also has commanded His light has shined in our heart, the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God has shined in our
heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has
turned on the light. You ever walk into a dark room?
Walk into a dark room, what's the first thing you do? When
you walk into a dark room, go through the door, what's the
first thing you do? Turn on the light, don't you? Why'd you do
that? So you can see. And that's what
God does when he saves us. He finds us in the dark. dead
in sin, and he flips the light switch. He turns the light on,
and you know what we see? We see the sinfulness of sin,
and we see the beauty and glory and necessity of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he does this by his command.
He controls the switch. He controls the light. He is
the light. He is electricity. He's the voltage. That's the power. He's all of
it. He's the current. He's all of
it, and He's all in salvation. He speaks by command. Turn back
to Psalm 44. Therefore it says, winding this
up, verse 5, through thee we'll push down our enemies. Now notice
it's always through Him. Through thy name we'll tread
them. under, that rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me,
but thou hast saved us." That's our testimony, isn't it? We trust
not our bow, we trust not our sword, we trust not the flesh.
We are the true Israel, Paul says, that worship God in His
Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh. We trust not our bow, our sword, For thou hast saved
us, thou hast saved us from all the enemies. Therefore in God,
verse 8, in God we boast all the day long, as Paul says, God
forbid I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Psalm 34, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord, the humble
shall hear thereof and be glad, Verse 2 and 3, O magnify the
Lord with me, let us exalt His name together. Praise His name,
in God we boast all the day long and praise His name forever and
ever. Now, Selah. Think about that. We have so much as believers
to be thankful for. In everything give thanks for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus. We thank him for his electing
love, for his pardoning mercy, for his regenerating, his pardoning
mercy, for his regenerating grace, and for his redeeming blood.
The song of glory is this. unto Him who loved us and washed
us from our sin. It's always unto Him who loved
us, washed us from our sin in His own blood. To Him be all
the honor and glory both now and forever. And you know what
they said? They said, Amen. So be it. So be it.