Psalm 27 will be our study this
evening. And I've entitled the message
from verse 7 in Psalm 26. And the title of the message
is, Tell of His Wondrous Works. Tell of His Wondrous Works. Notice verse 7. That I may publish
with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous
works." The Apostle Paul said to those elders at Ephesus, he
said, I have not held back, I have not held back, I have not shunned
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Isn't that our desire
as believers, as a witness of the gospel of God's grace in
Christ Jesus, to tell of all His wondrous works? The Lord Jesus Christ, His name
is Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Can he whose name is wonderful
do anything less than that which is wonderful in God's sight? Almighty God said, this is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. He is wonderful. in the sight of God, and believers
being a witness of this marvelous, wonderful grace in Christ Jesus. We love to tell others of God's
mercy to us in Christ Jesus. This is what every God-sent preacher
desires in his heart as we minister the gospel to the sheep of Christ. to declare all His glorious,
marvelous work, the work of redeeming grace that He has done for us,
and God's saving mercy to sinners, that work done within us, making
us new creatures in Christ Jesus. We desire His glory. We desire
to come together and to honor our Lord who is worthy of all
worship, honor, glory, and blessing both now and forever. May God grant it to be so this
evening that we might for a few moments tell of his wondrous
work. His works, oh how marvelous they
are, how mighty they are, how powerful they are, how effectual
is the work, the priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ. How
powerful, how precious, how prevailing in the courts of God's holy justice. satisfied God's law for us, justifying
God's people by His glorious blood atonement. Now look at
verse 1, Psalm of David. David says here, O Lord, judge
me, for I have walked in my integrity. I have nothing to be ashamed
of. Lord, You know my heart. Judge me, O Lord, for I have
walked in that integrity that you've given to me, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory. I'm walking in the completeness
that you've given me in Christ. I've trusted also in the Lord.
Therefore, I shall not be moved. I shall not slide. The only way
a believer desires to stand before God, and the only way a believer
can say before the Lord God Almighty to judge me, to prove me, to
try me, is in Christ Jesus. Would you dare stand anywhere
else before God? I know some tried, it's recorded
in Matthew chapter 7, those who said, Lord, we preached in your
name. Lord, we've done these mighty works in your name. And
we've even, they boasted that we've even cast out demons. And
you remember what the Lord said to them? Depart from me, I don't
know you, you workers of iniquity. Would you dare stand before God
on the merit of the flesh? Oh, no. That's suicide, that's
spiritual suicide. The only way we can say, Lord,
judge me, prove me, and try me, is that the Lord Jesus Christ
took all our sin, and God judged my sin, and my substitute, and
made complete satisfaction. There is therefore now no judgment
to those who are in Christ Jesus. My sin has been dealt with in
Christ. Now that gives this sinner comfort.
That gives this sinner comfort. I know to some degree what I
am. We studied at home this morning Isaiah chapter 1, what a vivid,
plain description of what we are. The whole head is sick,
the whole heart is faint, from the bottom of our feet to the
top of our head, nothing but wounds and sores and all these
things that have not been bound up, mollified with ointment,
through and through and through, we are sinful. But as that spiritual
leper, we cry unto God, have mercy upon me. Our hope, my friend,
is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why David says,
not with arrogance, but with confidence, with confidence,
with assurance of faith in Christ Jesus, judge me, O Lord. knowing
that my sin's been dealt with in Christ, knowing that God has
given me complete redemption, complete deliverance, complete
integrity in Him, walking in Christ Jesus. I've walked in
my integrity and I will walk, he says down here in verse 11
again, but as for me, I will walk in my integrity, in my completeness. I have walked, he says, in thy
truth, There in the last part of verse 3, I have walked in
thy truth. I'm walking in Christ. Now, this
is what we call walking in the Spirit, not after the flesh. And then David said, I have trusted,
and I am trusting, and by his grace I will trust. I have trusted
also in the Lord. Now turn back to Psalm 25, notice
if you will verse 2, O my God, I trust in thee. Let me not be
ashamed. Let not mine enemies triumph
over me. Judge me, Lord. Our sins have
been judged in Christ Jesus. Therefore God has given us grace
to walk, to live in Christ Jesus, walking in that blessed righteousness,
the blessed integrity of the righteousness that he's given
us before God in Christ. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth righteousness without works. By His grace, He's given
us faith to trust Him alone for salvation. Therefore, you see
the last part of verse 1? Therefore, I shall not slide. I shall not fall. I shall not be condemned. I shall not be confounded, I
shall not be ashamed, I shall not be confused, I shall not
fall away. You remember in the little epistle
that we call Jude, in verse 24 of that epistle, God is able
to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy. He is able to keep us kept
by the power of God through faith. Because He keeps us, because
He has judged us, because He's given us faith in Christ Jesus,
therefore I shall not be moved. That's our hope. shall not slide. I'm going to show you something
interesting here. David describes the ungodly this way, the unbeliever,
Psalm 73, Psalm 73, 18, Psalm 73, 18, when David describes These who were unbelievers, who
seemed to have no pain in their death, who seemed like they're
getting along just fine, not having any problems. And David
said, here I'm suffering like no other is suffering, and here
I look at the wicked, the ungodly, and they seem to be getting along
just fine. Psalm 73 verse 18, Surely thou did set them in slippery
places. Thou casteth them down into destruction. God has set them on slippery
ground, on sinking sand. It's written in Deuteronomy 32,
verse 35, and again it's a description of the ungodly. God said, vengeance
belongeth unto me. God said, I will recompense. And then God says of the wicked,
ungodly, unbelievers, He said, their foot shall slide in due
time. They shall slide. They shall
be condemned. Those who do not trust the Lord
Jesus Christ, he that believeth on the Son hath life. He that
believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abides on him. But to those in Christ Jesus,
those who are resting on that solid rock, that solid foundation,
that foundation that God had laid in Zion, which is none other
than Christ, their foot shall not slide. They shall not be
ashamed. They shall not be confounded.
Now look at verse 2 in Psalm 26. Examine me, O Lord. Prove me. Try my heart. Try my reins. Three things he
says here. Examine, prove, and try. You see my friend, true faith
The faith of God's elect that acknowledges the truth, true
faith, the faith of God's elect will be tested, will be tested,
will be tried. No wonder Peter called the trying
of faith, the trial of faith, he called it precious, precious
trials. True faith, the faith of God's
elect will be tested whether it is real or whether it is phony. Whether it's real. Not that the
Lord needs to know because He knows our heart. But to make
us know. He already knows our heart. He
knows whether our faith is real and genuine. He knows whether
our faith is fixed on Christ. But to make us know. To reveal
unto us the worth of true faith as it relates to and looks to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Make me to know whether my faith
is real. I want to know now. If I'm one
of His, if I'm trusting Him, I don't want to wait till the
judgment to find out. I want to know right now. Can I know
right now that I'm His? Well, who's your hope? What does
your faith look unto? We look unto Him, who is the
author and finisher of our faith. And I tell you this, I've learned
this over the years. Trials that are sent from the
hand of our loving Father, whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. Trials that are
sent from the hand of our loving Father, they do not drive the
believer away, they drive him closer to the Lord. I'll give you an example of that.
You remember God's servant named Job. Job, God said he was an
upright man. Job trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. for all of his salvation. And
yet God sent him such heartache and trial that we don't know
anything about. Took all of his substance. Killed
all of his children. God took his health completely
away from him. His own wife turned on him. His
friends turned on him. But did it drive Job away from
the Lord? No, it drove him to the Lord.
And he said this, the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away,
blessed be the name of the Lord. I tell you, trials sent from
the hand of our loving Father drives us closer, closer to Him. It's like that young boy that
kind of acted up in the house of his father and the father
would get a switch And he would get after the young'un for misbehavior. And when the father in love would
chastise his child, what would the child do? I know what I did. When my father took the switch
after me, I wouldn't run, I'd hug him. He couldn't whip me. It was hard, but if I took off,
oh boy, he could get a lick at me. You see, we hug up to Christ. When trials come our way, it
doesn't drive us away, it drives us to Him. To Him. And that's what David's saying
here. David surely knew something about trial and heartache, didn't
he? Trial and heartache. We are told in Scripture to examine
ourselves whether we be in the faith. examine ourselves. Now, that's not looking in here
to see if, well, you know, I've done this, and, well, you know,
I haven't done that, and, you know, I'm not quite like that
other guy over there, you know, he's, hmm, no. What are you looking
for? Do I trust Christ alone for salvation? Is He all my righteousness before
God? Is He all my hope before God? Absolutely. A believer has no
other and entertains no other thought of hope before God but
Christ, all Christ, Christ alone, nothing else, nothing less, nothing
more. Is he enough? God says so. God says he's enough. We stand
complete in Christ Jesus. Now, notice if you will, verse
3. For thy lovingkindness is before
my eyes. So judge me, examine me, prove
me, try me, because your lovingkindness is before my eyes. Now what a
glorious word, lovingkindness is before my eyes. Where is the
lovingkindness of God revealed? Where does the glory of God shine? In the face of Jesus Christ.
Thy lovingkindness is before my eyes, therefore I have walked
in thy truth." The truth of God's Word. What a gracious and glorious
Word. Let me show you another place
where it's used here in Psalm 138. Turn over there. What a
gracious Word. Lovingkindness. The lovingkindness
of the Lord in Psalm 138. Notice verse 1, I will praise
thee with my whole heart before the gods. Now watch this, I'll
praise thee with my whole heart before the gods will I sing praise
unto thee. That's the witness of the gospel
in the face of idolatry, in the face of false religion. We're
so faced with that in our day. I will worship toward thy holy
temple God's mercy in Christ, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness
and for thy truth, for thou hast magnified thy word above thy
name. His lovingkindness. Here's another
place I want you to find. Find Psalm 143, verse 8. Psalm
143, verse 8. Cause me to hear, cause me to hear thy lovingkindness. You know what his loving kindness
is? It's the gospel. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus.
Cause me to hear it in the morning, for indeed do I trust. Cause
me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my soul unto
thee. Cause me to know thy loving kindness. Now what better motive, what
better motive could a believer be given to walk and live for
His glory than His lovingkindness. Some talk only of truth. It is better to walk in truth,
the truth of the gospel, the truth of worship. What better
motive to walk for His glory, to live for His glory than His
lovingkindness? How do you motivate believers?
How do you motivate believers? I know how folks are motivated
in religion, the religion of men, the religion of the flesh.
It's the whip of the law, fear of punishment, or they hold out
promise of reward or fear of punishment. But how are true
believers motivated to live for Christ? I'll tell you how. His
loving kindness. He is loving kindness. You see,
it's the love of Christ. Paul said that in 2 Corinthians
5, it's the love of Christ that constraineth us. If he so loved
us, brethren, ought we not to love one another? As he has forgiven
us for Christ's sake, how shall we hold anything against anyone? As He's freely forgiven us, God
help us to freely forgive others. His loving kindness motivates
us to walk in His truth, to live for His glory, and to love Him
by faith in Christ. The just, it says this four times
in the Word of God, the just, or those who are justified, live
by faith. We walk not by sight, We walk
by faith. It's a walk of faith, looking
at Christ. His lovingkindness is ever before our eyes, and
the eye of faith spies out this love of God in the Lord Jesus. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, notice
verse 4 and 5. Psalm 26, verses 4 and 5. I have
not sat with vain persons, Neither will I go, I will not
go in with dissemblers, with the hypocrites, with idol worshippers. You imagine David going to the
house of Baal? Oh no. David wouldn't be caught
in the house of Baal. He would make sure that the house
of Baal under the reign of King David, he would make sure that
they were out of business. He put them out of business as
the king. He said, I'm not set with these
vain persons, these who go about with vain worship, these who
are hypocrites, these who are mere pretenders before God. And then he says, I've hated,
I realize this is strong language, I've hated the congregation of
evil doers and will not sit, will not sit with the wicked.
Now, true citizens, true citizens have no dealing with We're citizens
of a heavenly country, and we have no dealings with traitors
as far as partaking or participating in their form of idolatry and
ungodliness. Now, I realize we live in a world
of unbelievers. I realize that we must see and
speak and trade with the ungodly of this world. We can't crawl
off and live in a cave. But someday God will take us
out of this mess. But we don't have to seek out
their company, or partake of their wicked ways, or agree with
their false piety, or their hypocrisy, or partake of their falsehood
that they promote. Our Lord had strong words for
those Pharisees. He said, you are of your father. You know, they bragged, Abraham's
our father. We're not children of idolaters.
And our Lord straightened him out on that. He said, you are
of your father, the devil. Our Lord had sharp words for
those Pharisees. He said, you are those which
justify yourselves before men, but God knows your heart. That
which is highly esteemed among men, God said, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, it's abomination in the sight of God. Our Lord
Jesus Christ It's called in Scripture the friend of sinners. He had
no problem going to the house of publicans and sinners, those
who were real sinners, who had no pretense, no self-righteousness
before God, those who were stripped by God Almighty and knew themselves
to be sinners seeking mercy. He had no problem in their company. But when those who came around
who were so pious and so self-righteous, the Lord had very sharp words
for them, didn't he? And then he says, David said,
I've hated the congregation of evildoers. Now listen to me,
and I say this with a loving heart, and I trust that you will
receive this in the way that I intend it. What God hates,
we must hate. What God hates, we must hate. A severe sentence, I realize,
but not too severe. If you do not hate that which
is contrary to the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it
is because you have no real love for the truth. Now that's so. I repeat it. If you do not hate
that which is contrary to the gospel of God's grace and glory
in Christ Jesus, it's because you have no real love for the
true gospel. Now let me show you. I can make
good on this. I want you to turn and read this with me. Psalm
119. Psalm 119. And some may accuse us as they
have of others when we preach sovereign mercy and sovereign
grace. They would accuse us of having
a hate-based ministry, but that's not so. That's not so. But notice Psalm 119. Psalm 119
verse 104, verse 103 and 104, Psalm 119. Now mark this in your
Bible. This needs to be marked. He says,
how sweet are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey. Through thy precepts I get understanding,
therefore I, what's the word there? I hate every false way. Now, if you find yourself somehow
compromising I'd be very concerned. To thy word, thy word is a lamp
in my feet, a light in my pathway. Now, turn to another one here
in Psalm 119, 128. Verse 127 says, Therefore I love
thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. What would
you rather have? A garage full of gold or the
Word of God in your heart? If you've got to think about
it, you're in trouble. Verse 28, Therefore I esteem all thy
precepts concerning all things to be right. When God says we're
guilty, we're sinful, He's right. When God says there's only one
way of salvation in Christ Jesus, He's right. Therefore I hate
every false way. I hate it. I hate every false
way. Now, I know we live in a day
of great compromise and toleration, and I'm going to make toleration
where I can. I'm going to tolerate what I
can. But where God's glory is at stake and the truth of God's
gospel is at stake, we cannot be compromisers. We must take a bold stand in
this day, especially in this day. You remember what Paul wrote
in Galatians chapter 1? When he said, though we who are
an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached? Well, you know, be okay. It doesn't
really matter. That's not what he said. It's
strong language. If any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached, let him be damned. It says, if any man loved not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be damned. Let him be anathema
maranatha. Let him be cursed when the Lord
comes. Now, we are taught in Scripture
to love our enemies, aren't we? But I want to show you something
here. Turn to Psalm 139, and look what David says here. We
are taught in Scripture to love our enemies. What about the enemies of God?
What about the enemies of God? Now look what David says here.
Psalm 139, Psalm 139, look at verse 19. Surely that will slay
the wicked, O God. Depart from me therefore, you
bloody men, for they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies
take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that
hate Thee, and am not I greed with those that rise up against
Thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred, a perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. Search
me, O God, and know my heart, and try me, and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in a way
of everlasting life. I've hated, look back at the
text again. I've hated the congregation of
the evil doers. Nothing more grieves my heart than those who are despisers
of God's gospel. Those who will butcher the gospel
and misuse the gospel and spread lies about the gospel. It grieves
my heart. His glory is at stake. We cannot
compromise. We are to contend for the truth
that was once delivered unto the saints. God help us in this
day to take a stand for the gospel of God's sovereign saving grace
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, notice he says in verse
6, I'm going to wash my hands. I'll wash my hands in the innocent
sea. so will I compass thine altar, O Lord. Now there's an
old saying, you remember the old saying, Pilate tried this
saying, the old saying goes, I'll wash my hands of the whole
business. This ought to be our attitude
toward that which is false and contrary to the gospel of Christ."
Isn't that exactly what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3? I
count all things but dung, rubbish, garbage that I might win Christ
and be found in Him. I want to be done with all my
past religious idolatry. Push it in the background, be
done with it. I've got a lot of it in my background.
Be done with it. wash your hands of it. And look
what it says there, wash your hands of everything behind you,
forgetting those things which are behind and looking forth
unto the Lord Jesus Christ, so I will compass thine altar. Now
here's where we find cleansing, here's where we find sacrifice
in the altar that God has provided in Christ Jesus. He is our altar. He is our sacrifice. I want to
compass myself around this altar. Our only hope of being washed
and made clean is in a fountain of blood drawn from Emmanuel's
veins. So I'll compass thine altar,
I'll surround myself with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the sacrifice of that altar, which is Christ and Him crucified,
Christ our sin offering, He appeared once in the end of the age to
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. I'm going to be taken
up just as Paul said, I'm determined not to know anything among you
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. God forbid we should glory except
in the cross of Christ. the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So let's wash our hands of everything else, let's be done with everything
else, and let's look to Christ right now. Look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I'm talking about the Christ
of God. I'm not talking about the counterfeit Jesus that this
religious world is bent on talking about. The counterfeit Jesus
who wants to and can't, who tried to and failed. That's not the
Christ of God. The Christ of God is the victorious
Christ who by himself purged our sin, who is seated at the
right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. That's the
Christ of God. Thanks being to God who's given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because He's victorious,
we have the victory in Him. So let's be taken up with the
altar. And if you're taken up with the
altar, if you're taken up with Christ crucified, if you're taken
up with the blood of Jesus Christ as all of our redemption from
sin, we publish that message. And we publish it with the voice
of thanksgiving. We publish the message of this
particular redeeming blood of Christ. We publish the particular
person who died, the particular person who died. You see, it's
just not that some Jew from Nazareth died. It's who is this man? He is God. He is the God-man
mediator. It's who He is that gives infinite
value and eternal merit to what He did. God bought us with His
own blood. Let's publish that. The particular
person who died, the particular price he paid, oh, it was a tremendous
price. He gave His life to put away
our sin. He shed His blood to put away
our sin. Let's publish that message. of
a particular person who died, of a particular price that he
paid for a particular people. I'm not ashamed to declare that
the Lord Jesus Christ died to save His elect. He did not die
for all of the sin of all men, that's nonsense. He died for
all of the sin of His covenant people. Particular redemption,
death and atonement, call it what you want. I call it effectual. We have not an attemptment, we
have an atonement. I have no theory of atonement.
What's your theory? I don't have one. I have an atonement. Full, complete, and everlasting
in Christ Jesus. There's no theory. We're not
talking about theories. We're talking about fact. We're
talking about truth. Let's go tell of his wondrous
works. God will bless it. God will own it. Declare who
he is. Declare what he has done. Declare
why that God might be a just God and Savior. And tell where
he is. In throne. Seated, it says throughout
the book of Hebrews and other places, seated at the right hand
of God. It says this even in Psalm 110.
He said, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand. Until
I make thine enemies thy footstool. He's a victorious Christ. He's
not defeated. He knows nothing of the agony
of defeat. Now, He knows a lot about agony. The agony of victory,
He knows nothing about the agony of defeat. He's a conquering,
victorious Lord that we love to declare His wondrous works. Turn over here to Psalm 40, verse
5. Psalm 40, verse 5. 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 unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. Oh, I tell you,
we have so much to tell out, so much to talk about. Let's
go, my friend, into this. dying, lost religious world,
and let's tell of His wondrous works. His work that cannot fail. His righteousness that's everlasting. He has brought in for us everlasting
righteousness. Let's tell out that message.
Now, let's consider my time has gone. Look at verse 8 for just
a minute. Tell of the wondrous works. redeeming blood, wondrous
grace of regeneration, and wondrous power of his resurrection glory. Believers, in verse 8, and we'll,
we'll quit with this verse. I'll have to, I'll have to let
you go with this one. Lord, I love, I have loved and
I do love the habitation of thy house, his house, the place where your honor dwells,
where God's people meet together. Believers love the place, the
house of worship, where the gospel is preached, where the honor
and glory of God dwells. They love the house of God. It may be a storefront on a side
street, but God's people meet together. It's a place where
his honor dwells. Where the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ is declared, it's where His honor dwells. We're
not here to honor the flesh. We're here to honor God Almighty. We come together in the name
of Christ to worship and honor Him. This is a cheap business
of every saint below and the eternal business of all saints
in glory. His honor. It's a place where
His honor dwells. That's a good fit description
of where saints together, His elect, meet in this day, and
it's a good and fit description of eternal glory, where His honor
dwells. Where does it dwell? Look at
the Revelation. Turn over there to chapter 5,
and I'll let you go. This is a place where His honor
dwells throughout all eternity. It's worthy as a lamb that was
slain to receive all honor, power, and glory. Verse 9 of Revelation
5, and they sung a new song unto Him who loved us and washed us
from our sin in His own blood. Chapter 1, verse 5. Verse 9 says,
Thou art worthy to take the book, To open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain." Have you ever noticed throughout all the chapters
of Revelation, what, 22 chapters? I think there's 22 chapters.
The Lord Jesus Christ is set forth in His sacrificial character
as the Lamb of God. 21 times it talks about the Lord
Jesus Christ as the Lamb having been slain. For thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred,
tongue, people, and nation." God has an elect everywhere. I don't know who they are. He
does. The foundation of God standeth sure, having sealed the Lord,
knoweth them that are his. And has made us unto our God
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. The new heaven
and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. And I beheld,
and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne,
and the beast, and the elders, and the number of them was ten
thousand, time ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying
with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive
all power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor. This is the place where
his honor dwells. Glory and blessing. power, both
now and forever, and every creature which is in heaven, and on the
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all
that are in them. Heard, I say, blessing, honor, glory, and power
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb
forever and ever." It's a place where His glory dwells. And the
four beasts said, Amen, so be it. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever." It's
a place where His honor dwells. Well, I'll let you finish up
Psalm 26, the rest of it, and Lord willing, we'll come back
next time and we'll consider Psalm 27. The Lord is my light,
my salvation, whom shall I fear?