Okay, this evening then, Psalm
40. Psalm 40. It says here in the
title, a Psalm of David. A Psalm of David. But there's
no doubt in our heart that this Psalm, even though penned by
David, God the Holy Spirit spake by David concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. This Psalm is about what I call
the greater David. the Lord Jesus Christ. A greater
than Solomon is here, our Lord said, and a greater than David
is here. Now that speaks of the Lord Jesus
Christ. There can be no doubt in our
heart, in our mind, that this psalm is all about Him. The old-timers
used to call the book of Psalms the hymn book. H-I-M. All about Him. all about him
this speaks about the Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute a real
substitute now who needs a real substitute real sinners the Lord
Jesus Christ is a real substitute for real sinners who made real
atonement for our sin who is our real mediator who was our
sin bearer he bear our sin in his own body on the tree in verses
six and eight Verses 6, 7, and 8. These verses are quoted in
Hebrews 10 concerning the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
God the Holy Spirit takes that psalm and makes application to
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. So we're on safe ground, aren't
we? We're on safe ground when we read this psalm and as one
old preacher said, we read the scripture and we skedaddle to
the cross. Skedaddle to the Lord Jesus Christ
and we preach Him. We're determined as the Apostle
Paul to preach nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. So
these verses here, sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire,
The Lord Jesus Christ came to fulfill God's covenant, God's
law for us. He obtained for us eternal redemption
with His own blood. Then in verse 12, here's an amazing
verse. He says, mine iniquities, now
this is the God-man mediator, as he's bearing our sin in his
own body on a tree, innumerable evils have compassed me about,
mine iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I'm not able
to look up. They're more than the hairs of
my head. The Lord Jesus Christ truly, really, actually, God
made him sin for us. Yes, he was a sin offering, but
I think it's much more than that. I think there's much more involved
than the Lord Jesus Christ merely carrying our sins the Lord Jesus
Christ bear our sin in His own body on the tree. In verses 9
and 10, the Lord Jesus Christ is seen here as a prophet of
God. He said, I've declared, I've preached righteousness.
The Lord Jesus Christ was God's prophet, sent to preach the gospel
to sinners. Sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ
is that prophet. This is David writing, But certainly
this is the Lord Jesus Christ who is speaking. He said, Lo,
I come in the volume of the book. The volume of the book is all
about the Lord Jesus, isn't it? Who He is, what He has done,
why did He die, where is He now? And the Lord Jesus Christ that
is coming again. So let's take a look at verse
1 then. I waited patiently. I waited patiently for the Lord. Now notice that's capital L-O-R-D. And that word is Jehovah. I waited
patiently. I waited patiently for Jehovah
the Lord. And he inclined unto me And he
heard my cry. Our Lord said, my father does
always hear me. When he cried unto the Lord,
Jehovah his father. Our Lord is the ultimate and
supreme example of patience. I'm talking about the Lord Jesus
as he was a God-man mediator dwelling among men. He submitted
himself entirely to the will of God and patiently waited until
his hour was come. Many times those Pharisees tried
to end his ministry and many times they tried to put an end
to his ministry. At one point they caught him
and tried to throw him off a hill. At another point they said, well
let's just pick up stones and stone him. They could not touch
him because his hour was not yet come. And then at one point,
he said, as he patiently waited upon the Lord, he said, my hour
has come. My hour has come. Let me show
you that in John chapter 17. They could not touch him as he
waited patiently upon the Lord for that appointed hour, being
the appointed sacrifice, being the appointed mediator. Notice it says in John 17 verse
1, these words spake Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, lifted up
his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Oh,
the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given to him. He waited patiently until that
hour appointed of God, and then he willingly went to Calvary's
tree to die for the sin of his covenant people. It says in John
14, our Lord said, I go away to prepare a place for you, and
if I go away, I'll come again and receive you unto myself.
The Lord Jesus Christ is not talking about going to some foreign
country, foreign land, to build big mansions for his people.
He's talking about going to the cross, to die for our sin, the
sin of His elect, the sin of His covenant people, to prepare
the people for the place, to be with Him, to be with God forever. In all His earthly trials, His
agony in the garden, the mockings of the people, being tempted
and tested in all points like as we are yet without sin, and
His death upon the tree, He is God's patient Lamb waiting upon
His Lord. as the mediator. He is the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world, and you know who
the world is there. It's the world of His elect.
Job is often held forth as the example of patience. But Job
on the dunghill pales in comparison to the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
tree as he patiently waits upon the Father to do His will. God help us. to be as patient
as the Lord Jesus Christ was as he waited upon the Lord. Religious folks, especially religious
folks who promote and preach work salvation, they don't wait
on the Lord. They make things happen. That's
what they say. You know, they get folks all
excited and at the end of the preaching service they use those
psychological death grips to get a hold of
people's attention and they try to get folks moving and doing
things and rather than rather than preaching the gospel of
God's grace in Christ Jesus glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ, setting
forth His truth, and leave folks in the hands of God. Is He not
able to save? Do we need the coercion of men?
Do we need the pry bar of men to try to force people to make
a decision? My friend, salvation's not you
making a decision. Salvation is God working in you
by His mighty power and breaking your stubborn heart, stubborn
will. You have He quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sin. So we preach the gospel and we
patiently wait upon the Lord. He's able to save His people.
We don't need to browbeat and beat up on people. I'm not going
to stand here tonight and coerce these young people who are here.
to try to make a decision for Jesus. That's tommyrot. Don't have anything to do with
that. That's not taught in the Word of God. That's purely and
merely the invention of men who are interested not in God's glory,
but are interested in their own glory and in numbers. It's a
numbers game. It's a numbers racket. That's
all it is. My friend, let's patiently wait
upon the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ waited
upon God. His Father, to the appointed
hour when He died for His covenant people, and He accomplished salvation
for us. It says there, He heard my cry.
None wait upon the Lord in vain. Let us arm ourselves with the
same mind, armed with prayer, strong in faith. Let us wait
upon the Lord. We've studied that over and over
in the book of Psalms, haven't we? about waiting upon the Lord. Psalm 27, David said, waiting
upon the Lord, wait upon Him, and again I say, wait upon the
Lord, be of good courage, He'll strengthen your heart, wait upon
the Lord, I'm willing to do that, because God says so, be patient,
be patient, be patient, wait upon the Lord. Look at verse
2, He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the
miry clay, set my feet upon a rock, establish my goings." Now we
can use that in reference to a believer in regenerating grace,
and that's okay if you want to make that application, but this
here is talking about Christ. You're talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man mediator. Our Lord not only took our sin
to himself, but also took the wrath due our sin. The wrath
of God. You see, people look at Calvary
and they see a man there that's mistreated, bloody, wounded,
by the hands of men, and they feel sorry for this man. But
my friend, we must look beyond the instruments of the cross,
to the author of the cross, and see not the work of men, though
horrible as it is, but see the hand of God. It pleased the Lord
to bruise him. It wasn't what men did at Calvary. That's not what, that's not our
hope. It's what God was doing at the cross. That's our hope.
That's our hope. He took our sin to His own body
and being made the object of sin or being made sin for us
by God's imputation unto Him, He became the object of God's
wrath. That's what happened at Calvary.
Taking our sin, He took the wrath due our sin. The just dying for
the unjust. Our sin crushed Him into the
deepest pit. It says here, a horrible pit. So much so that He cries out,
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Sin. God cannot
look upon sin with favor. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
made sin for us. Having fully and completely put
away the sin of God's covenant people, His elect, God raised
Him from the dead. He brought me out of a horrible
pit. He died for our sins according
to Scriptures. He was also delivered for our
offenses, and thank God He was raised for our justification.
Had the Lord Jesus Christ not walked out of that tomb on the
third day, my friend, we are in big trouble. We're in big
trouble. If we say that He be not risen,
we are yet in our sin, our preaching is vain, and our faith is vain.
If He be not the resurrected, glorified Christ, having put
away our sin, the grave could not hold Him. Justice had no
claim on Him. Justice was satisfied. The law
of God was honored. He had to come out of that grave.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry
clay, and he set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. Having fully made atonement for
the sin of God's covenant people, God raised him and God glorified
him. Going back to the book of Hebrews,
Hebrews 1 verse 3, when he had by himself purged our sin, what
happened? He sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God. He ascended to glory having accomplished
all that God had given him to do. That John 17 we just read
a moment ago, he said, I've glorified thee on the earth. I finished
the work you gave me to do. Finished the work. The Lord Jesus
Christ, now get a hold of this. He brought me up out of a horrible
pit. The Lord Jesus Christ is the true Joseph taken from the
pit to be Lord of all. That goes all the way back to
the book of Genesis. When Joseph, his brother, sold
him out, he ended up in a pit and was taken out of the pit
and from the pit to the throne. in Egypt. And that's the picture
of Christ. From the pit of sin and ruin,
bearing our sin and the wrath of God, from the pit of hell,
from the pit of the grave, to the throne of glory. He brought
me up out of a horrible pit and set my feet upon a rock. The Lord Jesus Christ, it says
in Scripture over and over, He's seated on the right hand of the
throne of God. He's not a weak-kneed, pitiful
Savior. He's the Almighty Lord who has
power over heaven, earth, and hell. He brought me up out of
a horrible pit. He set my feet upon a rock and
established my going. God has established now The Lordship
of Christ is not established by the decrees of men. The Lordship
of Christ, of the Lord Jesus Christ is established and decreed
by God Almighty. God has established the rule
and reign of redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ through
Him. Neither is there salvation in
any other. For there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. God has established
the way of salvation by His decree, His rule, His reign, only through
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, I will build my
church and the gate upon this rock, upon this foundation of
Christ and Him crucified, I'll build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. He brought me up, that speaks
of His resurrection glory. He set me up Remember what Peter
said at Pentecost? That same Jesus whom you crucified,
you did it. You nailed Him. That same Jesus
whom you crucified, God has made Him both Lord and Christ. Now you hear a lot of people
in religion say, well make Jesus your Lord. That's impossible.
You can't do that. You can't make Him Lord. God
beat you to it. God has decreed from all eternity
that He is Lord. We bow to His Lordship, we own
His Lordship, but we don't make Him Lord. We bow to Him and own
Him as Lord. He is established of God. He
brought me up, He set me up, and then He established my goings.
He established my goings. Now look at verse 3, we've got
to move along. He put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto
our God. Many shall see, many shall fear,
many shall trust, in the Lord. What a glorious theme. The lyrics
of this song, redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ. Redemption,
justice magnified, grace victorious, hell subdued, the curse of the
law honored. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. Heaven glorified, sin
overthrown, righteousness established, righteousness provided in Christ
Jesus. My friend, that's a glorious
song. unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His
own blood." Find Psalm 98, verse 1. Psalm 98, verse 1. Sing unto the Lord a new song. This is a song of the new covenant. Covenant of grace. Oh, sing unto
the Lord a new song, for He hath done marvelous things, His right
hand and His holy arm. has gotten him, has won the victory,
the victory over all. What a glorious, glorious theme. He put a new song, a song of
redemption, a song of accomplishment in my mouth, even praising to
our God. And many, many shall see, many
shall sing, many shall fear, many shall trust in the Lord. Notice here the way of salvation. Many shall see. How do we see? It's not with these eyes, these
natural eyes. He grants and gives eyes of faith
to behold His glory. God who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give us the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Many shall see Him and fear and
trust. They'll fear Him, that is, they'll
reverence His name, holy and reverent. Holy and reverent is
His name. The believer has an awe and respect
for the Lord Jesus Christ, for the gospel of God. Many shall
see Him in all of His glory, all of His beauty. And because
we see Him, we reverence Him, we worship Him, we honor Him,
we praise Him. And then it says, many shall
trust Him. Many shall trust Him. Now, who
are these many? Many. Let's see if we can find
out what the Word of God says. It says many shall. It doesn't
say all men will, but it says many shall. Turn to Acts 13. Acts chapter 13, verse 48. These many. Who are these many
here? When the Gentiles heard this,
Acts 13, 48, they were glad and they glorified the Word of the
Lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life. believe. That's the many. The many who
ordained to eternal life. Turn back over here to John 17.
We read it, I think, just a moment ago in John 17. Did you catch
that? As many as. There's several of
those in the scripture. We'll look at one more. As many
as the Father had given to him. You see John 17 verse 2. As thou
has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given to him. As to many as,
let me show you one more John chapter 1. Many, many shall see,
many shall fear, many shall trust the Lord. Who are these many? Those ordained to eternal life.
Those who are given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, John chapter
1, look at verse 9, or verse 10, he was in the world, that
is the Lord Jesus Christ, and the world was made by him, and
the world knew him not. This here is the world of the
unbeliever, the world of the ungodly. He came unto his own,
his own received him not. But look at this, verse 12, but
as many as There's that many again. As many as received him,
to them gave he power, right or privilege to become sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name. Now, notice a punctuation
there. There's not a period. There's a colon there, and it
says which were born. This explains what just has been
said. Who are these as many as who
receive Him? They receive Him because they're
born of God, begotten of God, not of blood. Salvation doesn't
run in fleshly bloodlines. My father, my earthly father,
was not a believer. Neither was my, neither is my
mother, nor is my grandparent, none of my parents. None of most
of my family, as far as I know all of my family, on my side
of the family, do not believe the gospel, which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but as many as receive him do so because they're born
of God, begotten of God. begotten of God that's the many
who shall see and shall fear and shall trust him now verse
4 Psalm 40 verse 4 blessed is that man oh blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord now notice maketh the Lord L-O-R-D, Jehovah,
God who is sovereign, God who is eternal. He said, I am God,
beside me there is no other. Blessed is that man that trusts
the Lord, that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not
the proud, nor such as turn aside unto lies. Now who is this blessed
man? This blessed man, a simple single-eyed
confidence in God is the sure mark of a blessed man. Even in
the face of heartache, even in the face of trial, even in the
face of difficulty, you remember the words of Job, though he slay
me, yet I will trust him. That's a blessed man in the face
of adversity, in the face of trial, in the face of sickness,
in the face of all difficulty in this life. Blessed is a man
that maketh the Lord his trust. A man may be a poor beggar like
Lazarus, or a king sick as Hezekiah, or a prophet as lonely as Elijah,
or an apostle persecuted like Paul. But if the Lord is his
hope, if the Lord is his trust, none of these things in this
life, difficulty, poverty, or plenty, Move us away from trusting
the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed man, the God-man,
the blessed man, let me correct myself, the blessed man and God's
man, the believer, does not bow to the pressures and influence
of money. He's not manipulated by the power influence of others,
nor does he cringe before the worldlings, nor is he influenced
by the multitudes who run after lies. God's prophet, God's preacher
is interested in telling the truth. Telling the truth, and
our Lord said it is the truth that sets us free. What kind
of truth are we talking about? I'm talking about telling the
truth about God, who He is, holy, sovereign, eternal. Tell the
truth about us, who we are, sin through and through. born in
sin, shaped in iniquity, telling the truth about who the Lord
Jesus Christ is, that He's God Almighty, manifest in the flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh, telling the truth about not only
God, about us, about the Lord Jesus Christ as the victorious
Lord of lords and King of kings, but telling the truth about salvation.
We have turned aside from lies. And we're telling the truth about
how God saves sinners. And it's not cooperation on his
part and cooperation on your part. Salvation's of the Lord. It's His doing. Salvation's of
the Lord. It's God who saved us and God
who called us with a holy calling. God's people have turned aside
from lies. That which is dishonoring to
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, would you have anything
to do with it? Would you have any inclination to support it? To be around it? To be entertained
by it? That which is contrary to God's
truth, God's way, God's gospel? The Apostle Paul said, though
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that which
we have preached, let him be damned! That's pretty serious,
isn't it? My friend, don't have anything
to do with that, that does not honor the Lord Jesus Christ,
that is not magnifying to God Almighty, that is not according
to God's truth in His book, His Word. We have turned to the true
and living God, and in turning to God, we have turned from our
idols to serve the living and the true God. Verse 5, Many,
O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done. Thou
hast done. Salvation is not sin or do your
best. Salvation really, salvation when
you get right down to it, salvation is not do you do in anything. Salvation is not do, salvation
is done. we receive Him who had finished
the work for us. And it's not as they say in most
religious circles, well, I'm trusting the finished work of
Christ. Well, I'm not. Does that shock you? I'm trusting Christ who finished
the work. Now, if you trust Him, you enjoy
the fruit of His labor, the fruit of His atonement. Many, O Lord,
my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy
thoughts which are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up in
order. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. How can you number
the blessings of the gospel? He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. The wonderful
works which the Lord God has done are the wonderful works
of redemption, salvation, incarnation. How about the wonderful work
of regenerating grace? God making us new creatures in
Christ Jesus. God giving us a new divine nature. Peter said we're partakers of
a divine nature. Oh, what a wonder is the new
birth. What a wonder is God, who inhabits eternity, inhabiting
a body of a man. That's a wonder. That's a mystery. God incarnate. Explain that to
me, preacher. I can't. I declare it to you. And I believe it to be so, because
God's Word teaches it. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. The wonderful works of God which
thou hast done. And thy thoughts, look what it
says there, thy thoughts which are to usward. His thoughts to usward. Who are
the usward here? God is long-suffering. You remember
that verse in 2 Peter 3? When most of the folks, when
you start talking to people who are unbelievers and you start
talking about God's sovereign grace and sovereign mercy and
God saving His elect and the rest perishing justly in their
own sin, and they say, well, doesn't it say God is not willing
that any should perish? Well, you know, Quote the rest
of the verse. God is long-suffering to usward
His elect, and none for whom He died will perish. They can't. There's no one in hell for whom
the Lord Jesus Christ died. Not at all. God's justice can't
twice demand. If He paid my sin debt, it's
paid. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus, thy thoughts which are to usward.
His elect, His work is toward usward. His election is toward
usward. His salvation is toward usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto Thee. The blessing of redemption, the
blessings of salvation in Christ Jesus are beyond our comprehension. We know in part, we preach in
part, we see through a glass darkly, dimly. One day we'll
see, like we want to, one day we'll see clearly, face to face,
when we see Him in all of His beauty and glory, and we'll sing
unto Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood.
Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful work which thou hast
done, and thy thoughts which are to us where they cannot be
reckoned up in order, if I would declare and speak of them there
more than can be numbered. Verse 6, sacrifice, sacrifice
and offerings thou didst not desire, my ear hast thou opened,
or my ear hast thou digged, burnt offering and sin offering hast
thou not required. The sacrifices and offerings
not desired nor required are those ceremonial sacrifices under
the law, types and shadows under the law. Those sacrifices could
never put away sin. You remember we read in Hebrews
10, it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should
take away sin. Could never satisfy God's justice. It showed the way of blood redemption. It showed the way of substitution.
It showed the way of satisfaction by substitute. They stood only
as types, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, who came and fulfilled
God's law, who came and put away sin, and satisfied all that God
required. John identified him, behold,
God's lamb. Behold, God's bondservant, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And that goes back to the law
of the bondslave. The law of the bond slave, he
was to serve six years. On that seventh year, he was
to go free. But if he so loved his master
and loved his family, they'd bring him publicly to some post
or some doorway or some wall and they'd take an awl and they
would pierce his ear, signifying that he's serving his master
because he willingly wants to serve him out of love. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is that willing, loving bond servant. He said,
no man takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
in my father. In the book of Isaiah, the Lord
Jesus Christ is called the righteous servant of God. In Isaiah 42,
1, God said, behold, my servant, my elect. He is the willing,
loving bond-servant who has had His ear bored through signifying
that publicly He's serving His Master, God Almighty. Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire. You can go back and read that
in Exodus 21. Burn offering and sin offering
hast thou not required. Then I said, Lo, I come. Lo, I come. Oh, the volume of
the book. The volume of God's book right
here. The roll of the book, that word,
look it up, volume is actually, you know those old books of old
were rolled up together. The scroll was rolled up. All
of God's word, inspired and given, speaks one message, Christ and
Him crucified. Lo, I come, and the volume of
the book it's written me, I delight to do thy will, I delight to
do thy will, O my God. Delights to do the will of God.
Lo, I come, in the fullness of thee time, God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were
under that law. And because you are sons, God
has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your heart, making
you to cry, Abba, Father. sit down and watch with wonder
as the God of Heavens comes in the likeness of flesh." The coming
of Christ was not only appointed by God, agreed to by the Son,
but was also pinned in Holy Scripture. Someone's coming. The whole Testament
has that message. Someone's coming. Someone's coming. And then John identified Him,
said, Behold, He's here. God's Lamb. God's Lamb. The Lamb of God says here, the
Lord Jesus, verse 8, He delights to do the will of God. Our Lord
prayed, Not my will, thy will be done. He said, My meat is
to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work. Our
Lord's obedience, now you think about this, how important is
the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ to every precept of that
law? All 700 or 800 precepts of that law. How important is
His obedience to the law? He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Our Lord's obedience, in which
He satisfied God's law for us. He did that not because He needed
a righteousness. He is righteous. But He's satisfying
God's law, establishing a righteousness for His people that He freely
imputes to them. freely and blessed is the man
to whom the Lord would impute righteousness without works."
I told my new neighbor that I have. He came over and was working
with me a little bit, offered some help. Of course, I could
always use an extra hand. You know, it's hard to be on
two ends of a two-by-four. And I had him hold the other
end of the two-by-four, and we got to talking along, and he's
been involved in religious doings and different things, and he
was telling me about his experience and different things, and I said,
well, you know, salvation, an experience is not salvation,
and making a decision, he told me about his decision, how he
went forward, and I said, well, that's not salvation either.
He kind of looked at me, well, where are you going with that?
I said, salvation is in a person. I said, it's you knowing a person.
But I asked him this question. I said, Darren, I said, do you
know anything about righteousness being imputed and justification
by God's free grace? Well, I don't know anything about
that. What does imputation mean, he
asked me. What does that mean? Oh, I tell you. You're a blessed
man if you know. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
would impute. That means a freely give to you. Charge to your account. That's
what you do when you pull out the plastic. You impute a charge
to your account. And this is what happens in the
gospel when God is pleased to save us by His grace. He reckons
unto us righteousness. He charges to us righteousness. He gives to us righteousness
that we don't deserve, have not earned at His expense. God made
Him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Imputation, what a blessed and
important truth. But so few people know much about
it. I delight to do thy will, O God.
He worked out a perfect righteousness for his covenant people, and
he freely gives that to them. Two things we must have to stand
before God. Two things that every believer
must have, and he does have this. Two things I must have to stand
before God. That's what I told my neighbor. Got to have a perfect justifying
righteousness. And I'm not real smart, but I
know this sinner can't produce it. That justifying righteousness
is only had in Christ. He is my justifying righteousness. He is the Lord our righteousness.
So I must have a justifying righteousness. The second thing I have to have,
I have to have something done with my sin. It must be put away. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
did. You see, everything that God requires, a righteousness
provided, atonement made, sin paid for, all that is in Christ
Jesus. You see why we make so much of
Him? Everything's in Him. Everything God has for any guilty
sinners found in Christ. No wonder the Apostle Paul said,
I'm going to count everything else dung, garbage. that I might win Christ and be
found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, would you dare trust the righteousness
of your own hand that God says away with it as filthy rags?
Blessed is the man whom the Lord imputes righteousness without
your contribution. That's why he says here, I delight
to do thy will. He magnified the law on our behalf. This is what it says over here
in Isaiah. Turn over here to, I think it's Isaiah 42, 21. Isaiah 42, 21. Mark this in your
Bible. We often talk about the Lord
magnified the law. He says in Matthew 5, 17, our
Lord said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I came to honor it. I came to magnify it. Isaiah
42, 21. The Lord is well pleased for
His righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. And that's what happened at Calvary.
He delights to do the will of God. The law of God is within
his heart. Verse 9, I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. I declared thy faithfulness,
thy salvation, and he did. Remember what God told Moses,
I'll raise up a prophet from among the brethren, he shall
declare all my word, all my will, and those who will not hear it,
he said, I'll hold them accountable. I'll hold them accountable to
it. I preach righteousness in the great congregation. I've
not hid thy righteousness, and this is the righteousness revealed
in the gospel. I've declared God's faithfulness.
I've declared God's salvation. I've not concealed God's truth. God's truth. Withhold, verse
11, I've got to close. Withhold not thou thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy lovingkindness and thy
truth continually preserve me. Preserve me. Let me close by
just taking a look at verse 12 for a moment. For innumerable evils have compassed
me about, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I
am not able to look up. There are more than the hairs
in my head, therefore my heart faileth. My heart faileth. It
says in Psalm 22, over here in the Psalm of the Cross, He said,
I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It is melted in the mist of my
bowels. My strength is dried up like
a pot shirt. My tongue cleaveth to my jaw.
Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Dogs have compassed
me. The assembly of the wicked have
enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. The Lord Jesus
Christ was a real sacrifice for sin. And He was truly, truly
made sin for us. How could He be holy God and
yet be made sin for us? That's one of the mysteries of
the gospel. But it's so. It has to be so. Our sin was
reckoned and imputed to the Lord. The Lord laid on Him the iniquities
of all of God's people. And when sin was found on Christ,
God being God, God being holy, had to punish sin. The punishment
of sin and the punishment of the law for the guilty is death.
That's why the Lord Jesus Christ had to die. There's no other
way. There's no other way. He identified
with our humanity. And He identified with our sin.
Though He had no sin, He knew no sin, did no sin, He's a sinless
Lamb of God, and yet God Almighty in His words said He was made
sin. Not yet. Hold on. Well, we can say that. I'll let
you have a word. Okay, well, I'll allow that.
My iniquities have taken hold upon me. What a blessed, blessed
Lord we have. What a blessing. It says in Hebrews
12, for the joy that was set looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, but he sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God Almighty." Well, I'll
let you go with the rest of that and