Now Psalm 20 is our study this
evening, just nine verses, but I believe it's, I think all 150
Psalms or some of the old writers, when you read them, Mr. Gill
and Matthew Henry and others, they'll say, well, certain Psalms,
this Psalm's a Messianic Psalm, speaking of Christ the Messiah. And I think that every psalm,
150 psalms, every psalm is a gospel psalm. Every psalm tells us something
about the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember in Luke 24, when
the Lord Jesus gave his last words to his apostles, the risen
Lord, he said, these things must be fulfilled which are written
in the law and the prophets, and in the psalms, in the psalms,
All about me, he said. All about Christ. And this psalm
certainly speaks of the victories of our blessed Savior. Now, that's
the title of the message. I've entitled the message this
evening, The Victories of Our King. The victories of our king. This is the sum and subject of
this psalm, and it's also the sum and subject of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Savior, our Redeemer is not
a weak, frustrated, defeated Reformer. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the victorious Lord over all His enemies, over all. They are made to bow at his footstool,
as we've read often in Psalm 110. The Lord said unto my Lord,
you sit at my right hand until I make all your enemies to bow
at your footstool. We must never think of the Lord
Jesus Christ as a defeated Savior. He's not. Never view the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His ministry didn't end in defeat. His ministry ended in victory.
He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and to prove the
point that he got the job done, on the third day, he walked out
of that grave, accepted of the Father. So we must never think
of the Lord Jesus Christ. as a failure in any way. He did
not fail to bring in everlasting righteousness. He did not fail
to satisfy God's law and justice in every aspect, in every point. He did not fail to put away sin
completely by the sacrifice of His own blood for us, whereby
He obtained eternal redemption for His people. Believers in
Christ Jesus are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. and
gave himself for us. You remember there in 1 Corinthians
15, talks about being thankful unto the Lord who has given us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, because
he wins, we win. Aren't you glad? Every believer
is a winner. in Christ, because He's the forerunner. He has run the race, entered
in, and is seated, and you know what? We're seated in Him. He's
the winner. And what's true of the head is
true of the body. Where the head is, the body's close behind. He's seated in the heavenlies
and so are the believers in Christ Jesus. He's given us the victory. Oh, the victory. Our Lord knows
nothing of defeat. He knows much of agony, about
agony. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief as he bears the sin of God's covenant people in his
own body on the tree. But he knows nothing of the agony
of defeat. You remember years ago, you young
people won't remember this. Some of you older ones will.
Remember on ABC, Wide World of Sports, when that guy on that
ski jump came down and he talked about the agony of defeat. The
Lord Jesus, you remember that, some of you older ones. Some of you young people think
I'm weird. The Lord Jesus Christ knows nothing of defeat. He knows a lot about agony. It's
the agony of victory, the agony of victory. We read this in Isaiah
53, the pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand, prosper,
prosper in his hand. says in Isaiah 42 that he cannot
fail, he cannot fail. This whole psalm is a gospel
psalm and it's a prophecy concerning Christ's suffering and his deliverance
out of them and the church being triumphant in Him and with Him. We read from Colossians chapter
2, don�t turn, let me just read it to you again. He spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them in an open demonstration
that He is the victory triumphing over them by Himself. He�s the winner He's a victorious
king, and I'm so thankful. Here in this psalm, Old Testament
believers look forward to the coming of the Messiah, and they
pray for His victorious intercession and His successful priestly work,
whereby He made complete atonement for all their sin. Now, with that in mind, let's
read verse 1. The Lord hear thee. Now, if you can just keep this
in mind, Old Testament believers praying for the coming of the
Lord, like Simeon of old, he looked for the coming of the
consolation of Israel. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. In the name of the God of Jacob, defend thee or
set thee on high. What happened when he by himself
purged our sin? What happened? He sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God, a place of power, a place
of privilege, a place of authority. The God of Jacob set thee on
high, the Lord Jesus Christ in the days of his flesh. When the
word God was made flesh and dwelt among us, who is the Lord Jesus
Christ? He's God. He's God manifest in
the flesh. And as the God-man mediator in
the days of his flesh, he knew much about trouble, didn't he?
He had his own sorrows and bear the griefs of others. He carried
our sin as our substitute in his own body on the tree. In the day of trouble, he knew
much about trouble. Days of his fleshly ministry,
persecuted by Herod, They sought to kill him when he was just
a babe. Persecuted by Herod. Tempted by Satan many, many times. Tested, tried, and tempted in
all points like as we are yet without sin. Harassed by the
Pharisees how many times? Did they assault him verbally
and had him arrested, had him beaten, how they mocked him,
harassed by the Pharisees who went out and held a council,
how they might destroy him. They had murder. They plotted
and planned his murder. They wanted to put an end to
this man. This despised Nazarene, harassed, hated by the Pharisees,
grieved. by the hardness of unbelieving
sinners, disappointed by the unbelief in his own disciples. I brought a message this morning
from Mark chapter 16 when the women came to the grave and Mary
met the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and she went and told the others.
And then the Lord appeared to those two men on the road to
Emmaus, and they went and told the others. You know they didn't
believe the record? They did not believe. So he rebuked
them. He rebuked them, upbraided them
for their hardness of heart, for their unbelief. Disappointed. by the unbelief in his own disciples. He said often, O ye of little
faith. But chiefly here is meant the
day of his sorrows, the day of trouble, the day of his sorrows
in the garden, the garden Gethsemane, as he prays as our mediator in
such an intense way, praying in such a way that I don't know
anything about. He prayed in such a way, in such
agony, as our sin was being made known to Him, who knew no sin
in His holy character, and our sin is beginning to be revealed
unto Him, and now He must be made sin for us, that He prays
with such intense, fervent desire that His blood starts to ooze
out of His body. You say, was that possible? I've
seen it happen. I've seen people, I know of a
family member in my own family who was under so much stress
and his blood pressure got so high that it actually started
oozing out through his sweat glands. The Lord Jesus Christ
was under such agony and turmoil, being made sin for us. The day of his trouble, oh, trouble,
trouble. And you know what? My sin is
the cause of his trouble. And yet He loved us so. His sorrows in the garden, the
day of trouble, as He was crucified, crucified for the sin of His
people. Now, a lot of people just are
taken up with the physical pain of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
I would not minimize that. He suffered like no man. In Isaiah
52, it talks about His visage, so marred, more than any man. He didn't even appear to be a
man. He looked like a butchered animal on that cross. He suffered
untold agony. But my friend, there's much,
much more than just physical suffering going on there. It's
his soul agony. It pleased the Lord to make His
soul an offering for sin. And as I've often told you, it
was not what wicked men did that day that's our hope. It's what
God did that day at the cross. It pleased God to bruise Him
in our room and in our stead. He endured the wrath of His Father
being forsaken because of our sin. The Lord hear thee in a
day of trouble. Oh, he knew much about trouble,
much about trouble. And then the second part of this,
The God of Jacob, the God of Jacob set thee on high, set thee
on high. Aren't you glad the Lord Jesus
Christ came and lived for us and died for us, was buried for
us, arose for us, and ascended for us? It says there in Acts
chapter 1 that after his passion, after his suffering, he appeared
and he walked among men as a glorified God-man mediator bodily resurrected
an actual real body he ate with them. He said a spirit does not
have, he said behold my hand, a spirit doesn't have flesh and
bone, did you see me? He was a real man, a real man. A real man seated in glory. The God of Jacob defend thee
or set thee on high. Exalt him. Exalt him. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend thee. Aren't you glad that the Lord
Jesus Christ seated victoriously. He ascended He walked among men
40 days as a real man. And on that 40th day, something
significant in scripture about 40, 40. I make a good study sometime,
study about the 40 days and 40 years. But on that 40th day,
you remember in Acts chapter one, the Lord brought them to
a certain place. And they watched him ascend to
glory. And the messenger said, that
same Jesus whom you see go away, he'll come again in like manner. He's the exalted Lord Jesus Christ. It says this all through the
scripture. So many times in the book of Hebrews it talks about
the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God. The church prays for
his victory over sin and death. Even before he was manifested
in the flesh, they were aware of his coming, they were looking
for his coming, and they prayed for his glorious success as the
mediator, as the great high priest to represent us. and for his
resurrection glory and for his exaltation to the throne. God
has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name that at that name every knee shall bow and every tongue
shall confess that he's Lord to the glory of God the Father. And I tell you what, here the
early church, the early church prays for his victory, for his
ascending glory, for his enthronement, how marvelously this prayer was
fully and completely answered. Look at verse 2, the name of
the God of Jacob set thee on high, send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen
thee, strengthen thee out of Zion. Here is where the church
then and now looks for help. The sanctuary, we look to the
Lord. Turn over to Psalm 121. Psalm 121. Familiar with that
Psalm? Psalm 121. Talks about, I will
lift up my eyes, verse 1, I lift up my eyes into the hills, thy
holy sanctuary. Out of Zion I lift up my eyes
into the hills, for whence cometh my help? We can read that as
a question. Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord. who made heaven and earth. He
will not suffer thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will
not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. We look unto the holy hill of
Zion. We look to the Lord for our help. Send thy help, thy support. Out of thy sanctuary, out of
thy holy hill, Zion. Here's another reference, find
Psalm 89. Psalm 89, verse 19. Psalm 89, 19. Thou, then thou speakest in vision
to the Holy One, and saidest, I've laid help upon one that
is mighty. I've exalted one chosen out of
my people. I found David my servant. He's talking about David, yes,
but it's also talking about the greater David, the son of David,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the anointed. We're going
to see that in just a minute. After the temptation in the wilderness,
the Lord send thee strength in my sanctuary. After the temptation
in the wilderness, after the agony in the garden, you know
what happened? God sent help. angels came and
ministered unto him. Now, I understand and realize
this, as God, He needs no help. As God, He is all help. But as
the man Christ Jesus, the angels came and ministered unto Him.
He was a real man. They came and ministered to Him
after His agony in the garden, after His agony in the wilderness.
And on the resurrection morning, the angels descended, and there
was a great earthquake, and the women began to worry, who's going
to roll away that stone from the grave? Who's going to do
it? And the angel of the Lord descended
and removed the stone. You remember the angel said to
the women, why do you seek the living among the dead? He's not
here, but he's risen. We serve the risen Lord, the
victorious Lord. There's none, there is no help
like that of God sending and no deliverance like that from
His sanctuary. He sends help from the highest
resources possible. Find Psalm 57, Psalm 57. Look at verse 2, Psalm 57 verse
2, I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth, I like
this. I'll cry unto my God most high,
unto God that performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven
and save me from the highest resources possible. From the
reproach of him that would swallow me up, God shall send forth his
mercy and his truth. And this is mercy and truth personified
in Christ Jesus. Now look back at verse 3 of Psalm
20. Remember, remember now, and here's
the church praying unto God, remember all thy offerings, remember
all thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifice. And then
he says here, you think about that. Remember, remember. Now
here's what's being said. Remember thy offerings, all thine
offerings under the law. Those in type under the law pictured
substitution and the coming Lamb, didn't they? Every Old Testament
sacrifice testified about substitution, about the coming of the Lamb
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ, those
sacrifices under the law, pictured substitution, pictured the coming
of the Lamb. The Lord Jesus Christ satisfied
what they only typified. what they only pictured. The
sin offering of the Lord Jesus Christ answers to and is the
body, sum, and substance of all the offering under the law. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth, for
by one offering he hath perfected forever. The lamb, the blood
of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, but his one offering
did forever. For by the one offering he perfected
forever them that are sanctified by that one offering. Now therefore,
accept thy burnt offering. And notice as I pointed out here,
the word accept means turn to ashes, turn to ashes, which signified
when the offering, the burnt offering is turned to ashes,
it signified acceptance of God. And that's what's being said
here. Christ sacrificed the sacrifice of Himself, putting away our
sin. His blood unto God is a sweet smelling satisfaction unto God
Almighty. This is His sacrifice for sin. whereby he put away our sin,
and it's a sweet-smelling savor unto our God. Find Ephesians
chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5, notice this. This is a sweet verse. Ephesians
5, verse 2, walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and hath
given himself for us. an offering, a sacrifice to God
for a sweet-smelling savor, a satisfaction, a satisfaction unto God. Believers
are accepted in the merit of His person, and upon the righteousness
of Christ, we are justified, His blood being shed for us,
whereby we are accepted in the Beloved. turned a burnt sacrifice
to ashes. 17a Accept thy burnt sacrifice. You can be assured that the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ was accepted of God. And you know
why? Because that which God provides,
God will accept. And He provided that sacrifice.
Now notice verse 4. Verse 4, Grant thee according
to thine own heart, grant thee according to thine own heart,
and fulfill all thy counsel. Fulfill all thy counsel. He worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will. The Lord grant
thee thine own heart, and fulfill all thy counsel. This is the
desire of the Lord's church. Thy will be done. Grant, Lord,
grant thy counsel. Grant thy will be done. Certainly
this is the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish all
his redemptive work given to him of the Father. He prayed
that way in John 17. Father, glorify thine own self. I've finished the work you've
given me to do. I've glorified thee on the earth.
Now glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was. He prayed often and said
often, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish
his work. He said in John 6, all that the
Father has given to me, they will come to me. And those that
come to me, I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from
heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that
of all He has given me, I'll lose nothing, but raise Him up
again. At the last day, Lord, grant
thee according to thine own heart, according to thine own counsel,
fulfill it all. He prayed that way in the garden,
didn't he? Lord, thy will be done. Didn't he teach us to pray
that way in Matthew chapter 6? Thy will be done in earth as
it is in heaven. We bow and submit to his will. One old writer said, we may have
our own will when our will is God's will. Pray according to
God's will and submit to that. Praying has something to do with
the will of God. And it's not changing it, but
bringing us to bow unto the will of God. I remember years ago
back in the early 1980s when the economy was right sour, worse
than it is now, 81, 82. And the town where I lived at
that time in Ashland, Kentucky, they had a large steel mill. And the steel mill was about
to be shut down. There's 4,000 men working in
that place and they were about to shut it down. And so there
was a thing going around town about praying and praying and
praying, and I kind of got the impression they thought if they
could marshal enough forces and gang up on God that they could
change His mind, change His will. No, no. Prayer is not changing,
not asking for God to change His will. Praying is submitting,
finding out what the will of God is and then bowing unto it. grant thee according to thine
own heart." You can mark this down. If you ask anything according
to His will, He will hear it. He will hear it. It says that in 1 John. Look at verse 5. We will rejoice
We will rejoice. Now the church is prayed for
the coming of the Lord, for the victories given to him, for the
sacrifice that he offered, and then they bow to God's will,
grant according to thy will, fulfill all thy counsel. We will
rejoice. It's already done. We will rejoice
in thy salvation. And in the name of our God, we
will set up our banner. The Lord fulfill all thy petitions. Seeing the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished salvation, let us rejoice. Let us rejoice in Him. The believers in this psalm anticipating
the coming of the Redeemer and complete salvation by Him, they
look forward to His coming. We look back to the One who has
come, but we're all focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We look
to Him who accomplished our salvation as well. who did come and who
did complete all righteousness and all salvation for us, we
will rejoice in thy salvation. How many times have I said to
you over the years, salvation's of the Lord? I know I've said
that more than one time, haven't I? Salvation is of the Lord,
and we do rejoice in thy salvation. I tell you, if you know anything
about God, gives holy character and what he requires and what
he has given and provided in the Lord Jesus Christ, what he
has done forth and what he has done in us, you will rejoice
in thy salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
his doing. It's his doing. Under the name
of the captain of our salvation, We are not ashamed to declare
his gospel, maintain the honor of his word, fight the good fight
of faith, contend for the gospel that was once delivered unto
the saints, and we will hold up and we will set up our banner.
You see what it says in verse 5? We will rally around his banner. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
God who saved us and called us with a holy calling. We rally
around that banner, the gospel of his sovereign and saving grace
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we do declare that the Lord
will fulfill all his purpose, all his counsel. Everyone for
whom he saves, God saves on purpose. Purpose. He works all things
after the counsel of His own purpose, purpose, purpose. Look at verse 6. Now, know I
that the Lord Jehovah will save, glorify, receive His anointed,
His anointed, the Lord Jesus. He will hear from His Holy heaven
with the saving strength of his right hand. Now this is not spoken
about David, although David was anointed by Samuel as king in
Israel. David reigned 40 years as king
in Israel, but this is rather spoken about and chiefly about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Anointed by God, the Holy Spirit,
it says in Psalm 45 with the oil of gladness. The Spirit of
the Lord was upon him as our mediator, as our representative,
and in all aspects of his office, he's the anointed of the Lord,
blessed of God. He's the anointed prophet, isn't
he? He's the anointed priest, isn't
he? He's the anointed king. He's a prophet to reveal God's
will unto us. He is the priest who represents
us unto God. And he is the king who rules
and reigns over us. You'll never find anyone in the
Old Testament that held all three of those offices. David was a
king, but he wasn't a priest. Moses was a prophet, but he wasn't
a king. nor priest. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the king priest, prophet, priest, and king. He's anointed
in all his office. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Here the church
and believers were strongly encouraged with the prayer of faith and
assured of the Lord's victory for them in accomplishing salvation,
the salvation of God's elect. Jehovah will hear from his holy
heaven and grant. all His purpose to be accomplished. Jehovah will strengthen our blessed
Savior, Redeemer, upholding Him with His right hand to bear up
under sin and sorrow, to give Him power while engaged in His
priestly work, to make complete atonement for the sin of His
people, and to be raised from the dead, and to be enthroned
in glory. Notice verse 7. Unfortunately, in that day and
in this day, some trust in chariots. You know, a chariot in those
days of David and those Old Testament times, chariots were a valuable
war machine. And some trusted in chariots
to put away and defeat all the enemies. Some trusted in these
horses of battle that were dressed for battle. If you had a cavalry
in those days, well, you had the advantage on the battlefield.
The cavalry had much advantage over the infantry. Some trusted
in chariots and some trusted in horses. But we will remember
the name of the Lord our God. I remember on one occasion, it's
recorded back in either kings or chronicles. 06.20 When Israel
was facing a mighty opposition, thousands, 40,000, 50,000 soldiers. 06.21 Was it during the reign
of Hezekiah, one of those kings? I can't remember. You can look
it up. 06.22 But God dispatched one angel and wiped out the whole
camp. 06.23 When Israel got up the
next morning, the whole battlefield was covered with dead bodies.
06.24 God sent one angel and wiped them out. We will remember
the name of the Lord our God. We don't need to trust in chariots
or horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. Turn
to Psalm 33 and look at this. Psalm 33, 16. There is no king saved by a multitude
of an host. A mighty man is not delivered
by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety,
neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold,
the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon those that
hope in his mercy. Well, some trust in chariots,
and here's what's being said here. Some trust that their salvation
will be accomplished by something other than the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. That's what's being said there.
Some put their trust in this, in that, it may be church tradition,
it may be church ceremony, it may be various different things
that come under the category of chariots and horses, but we
will look to the Lord our God to provide all things for us. We will remember the name of
the Lord our God. There's none like him. There's
none like him. The name of the Lord, high and
lifted up. He said, I am God, beside me
there is no other. Now notice the contrast here. They are brought down, those
who trust in the flesh, those who put confidence in the flesh,
in the strength of the flesh, they are brought down and falling.
But those who remember the name of the Lord and trust Him, believe
Him, we are risen We are risen. We read that over in Colossians
chapter 2, remember? We are risen. You being dead
in your sin, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. We are risen
with him. Risen. And we stand upright,
complete in Christ. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and in Christ we stand complete." They are
brought down. Brought down. What a contrast
here. Some put great confidence in the flesh. Believers find
great confidence, courage, and comfort in the greatness of our
God. He's the Almighty God. Anything
too hard for God? With God, all things are possible.
Let us own His matchless name, never dishonor the gospel, but let us put confidence in
our great God. Verse 8, here's the fruit. The fruit and the outcome, they are brought down, but we
are risen. We stand upright. The fruit, the outcome, results
of the contrast between confidence in the flesh and confidence in
God. How different the end whose trust are different. How different
the end. Verse 9. Those who trust the flesh are
brought down to the pit of corruption. The wages of sin is death, eternal
destruction. The elect of God are raised from
the dead, quickened together with Christ, made righteous in
Him, made new creatures in Christ, and made to sit together in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Verse 9. This sums up the call of the sinner's heart.
Like the man in the temple, the publican said, God, be merciful
to me, thee, sinner. Verse 9 said, Lord, save. Two words. Oh, to cry that out
from the heart. You know who cries that from
the heart? Those who see their need of salvation. Those who
see that they're sinners before God. Lord, save. Save. Who else can? He's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him. A short,
direct prayer. Have mercy on me. Let the King hear us when we
call. Lord, save us, deliver us, redeem
us. And Lord, hear us. Hear us when
we call upon Thee. Not that our call merits His
attention. but that our God delights to
show mercy to sinners. You know, the scripture actually
says that Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners. God committed His love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead in sin, hath quickened us
together with Christ Jesus. Let us make that our prayer this
week. Repeat this in your mind, in your heart before God. Lord,
save me. Save me, a sinner. Have mercy on me, the sinner.