Okay now, turning to Psalm 4. The title of the message tonight
is found in the first verse. O God of my righteousness, O
God of my salvation, O God of all that I am, O God of all that
I ever will be, O God of my righteousness. This is the sum of the gospel,
is it not? The sum and substance of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. God of our salvation, God of
our righteousness, no wonder the apostles said, blessed is
the man unto whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. Believers standing in the Lord
Jesus Christ are justified from all things which could not be
justified by the law of Moses, were justified in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is known unto the believer, and loved and appreciated
unto the believer, as the Lord our God." righteousness. The believer resting in Christ,
no longer going about to establish a righteousness of his own, but
willingly and lovingly submits unto that righteousness that
is of God. That's the gospel. The gospel
is Christ, and Christ is the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ
is made to the believer. He's our very wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Oh, God of my righteousness. It's of Him. It comes from Him. It's produced by Him. It's imputed
by Him. It's a righteousness that the
Lord Jesus Christ has worked out for us. And we cry unto Him
to deliver us in this righteousness. Hold your place there and find
Psalm 71. Sometime at your leisure I would
encourage you to read the whole 71st Psalm because it talks a
whole lot about this righteousness. Notice Psalm 71 verse 24. My tongue also shall talk of
thy righteousness all the day. Look at verse 19. Thy righteousness
also, O God, is very high. Who hath done great things? O
God, who is like unto thee? Look at verse 16. I will go in
the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even thine only. Psalm 71, look at verses 1 and
2. I don't know why I did that backwards,
but look at verses 1 and 2. You'll have to excuse me. Sometimes
I think backwards. Psalm 71, look at verse 1. In
thee, O Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in that righteousness. Save me. Redeem me in that righteousness
and cause me to escape incline thy ear unto me, God, and save
me. Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort, for thou hast given commandment
to save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress." Oh, I tell
you, the blessedness to believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Okay, let's look at verse 1.
Now, hear me, hear me when I call. O God of my righteousness, thou
hast enlarged me when I was in distress. Now have mercy upon
me. Hear my prayer. Have grace upon
me. Have mercy upon me. Lord, when
I call, hear me when I call. Hear my prayer. Now what a distinct
privilege the believer has been given as a son of God, adopted
into his family by sovereign free grace. What a privilege,
a distinct privilege the believer has to call upon our God, Abba,
Father, Father, Father, hear my cry. He hears the cry of his
people. Call upon the Lord. What a distinct,
distinct privilege we have to call upon Him. And we call upon
Him this way. Turn to Psalm 145. Look at this
here. Psalm 145, look at verse 18. The Lord is nigh unto them that
call upon Him, He's nigh unto them of a broken heart, He's
safe such as be of a contrite spirit, Psalm 34. The Lord is
nigh unto all that call upon Him, now watch this, underline
this, to all that call upon Him in truth. Our Lord said, I am
the truth. I am the way. We do call upon Him who is the
author of our salvation. We do call upon Him who is the
author and finisher of our faith. He is the God of our salvation.
For salvation is of the Lord. Look at Psalm 3 verse 8. Salvation
belongeth unto the Lord. And thy blessing is upon his
people. And then he talks about this,
thou hast enlarged me. When I was in distress, when
I was in the pit, when I was in the clutches of death and
sin and guilt and despair, you've enlarged me. What does that mean? He set us free. He's given us
liberty. Past mercies are declared. Thou has delivered me. You've enlarged me. You've set
me free. This is the believer's experience
of grace. Christ has set us free. He set us free. Find Isaiah 61. Another one of my favorite portions
of Scripture. Isaiah 61. Our Lord said, you
shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. Paul
wrote to the Galatians, stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath set us free. Don't be entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. Behold I, Paul, saying to you,
if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Now
look at Isaiah 61, verse 1, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto
the meek. He hath sent me," now this is
Isaiah writing about the ministry, the coming Messiah and the ministry
that God would grant and give unto him six or seven, eight
hundred years before the Lord came and when the Lord went to
his hometown and stood up in that synagogue that day, and
they delivered him the book of Isaiah that's recorded there
in Luke chapter 4. He reads this from Isaiah 61,
and he said, ìThis day is fulfilled in your ears.î ìHe hath anointed
me to preach the gospelÖî You know the Lord Jesus Christ was
a preacher? A preacher, the prophet of God?
to preach good tidings unto the meek, he hath sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the
opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our
God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes. the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness..." There's
that righteousness again. "...trees of righteousness, they
are the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."
See what he's saying here back in our psalm? Oh God of my righteousness,
you have set me free. You have set me free when I was
in distress. Oh, when I was in distress. We
only have deliverance from our sin, guilt of our sin, the condemnation
of our sin through the Lord Jesus Christ. He redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. He set us free. Now, here's our request. Here's
our request. Have mercy or be gracious unto
us. Have mercy upon me. It's a personal
thing. It's a personal thing. This is
a believer's cry unto the throne of glory. This is David's cry
unto his God. Have mercy upon me. Hear my prayer. Oh, hear my prayer. What is our
request? Mercy. Mercy. Mercy. Not justice. I don't want what's
coming to me. I don't want what I've earned
for the wages of sin is death. But we do cry out and we do come
to God as a mercy beggar. Have mercy upon me. You remember
what the publican said unto the Lord? Have mercy upon me, the
sinner. And our Lord said that man went
down to his house justified rather than the other. What is our request? Lord be merciful unto me a sinner.
I love that scripture in Lamentations 3 where it talks about it is
of the Lord's mercies that were not consumed because His compassions
fail not. They're new every morning. It's
of His mercy. You remember this psalm so clear
and plain, Psalm 51. This is a very, very familiar
passage to believers. Psalm 51, David cries here, have
mercy upon me, O God. According to your, according
to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercy, blot out my transgression. wash me throughly from mine iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgression,
and my sin as ever before me. I have sinned against you, and
done this evil in your sight, that thou mightest be justified
when you speak, and clear when you judge." David saying this,
if you give me what I deserve, I deserve just condemnation,
but God have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon me. I love that
scripture also that Paul wrote to Titus, it's not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved. Notice the marginal reference
on the word there, have mercy is, oh be gracious unto me. You
see that? Be gracious, be gracious unto
me. Grace is God giving us what we
do not deserve. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? That is God giving us what we
do not deserve, His favor, His blessing, His grace. His mercy
is not giving us what we do deserve. For we, not giving us what we
do deserve, we deserve distress, we deserve condemnation, we deserve
trouble over our sin, but thank God, He delights to show mercy
to the miserable, grace to the guilty. Do you know He came to
save sinners? He came to save sinners. This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. I told some folks a couple of
weeks ago, I had a funeral to take care of a couple of weeks
ago, and I told the folks at the funeral service, if I could
ever find a sinner to preach to, I've got good news for you.
But there's not many of them around. Do you know that? Everybody
thinks they're okay, I'm okay, you're okay. No, we're in trouble.
Apart from God's mercy in Christ, we're doomed. were doomed. But
He came to save sinners. Now look at verse 2 in Psalm
4. Oh you sons of men, oh you sons
of Adam, just keep that in mind. Oh you sons of Adam, fallen,
ruined, guilty. Oh you sons of Adam, rebels. How long? How long will you turn
the glory of God into shame? How long will you love vanity? How long? Lord, how long will
you seek after lies? How long? How long? What a vivid
description of those who hate God and those who are going about
to establish their own salvation by their own doing, these ungodly
men would turn the glory of God, the glory of God, into a shameful
thing. They would turn the glory of
God, what is the glory of God? You remember one time Moses asked
the Lord, show me your glory? Remember what he said? I cause
all my goodness to pass before you, that's Christ, and I'll
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. God's greatest glory is
my greatest need, sovereign mercy. But there are many rebels against
God that would turn His glory, the glory of His sovereign mercy,
into a shameful thing. We see that going on in religious
circles every day, don't we? Well, that's not fair. They would
say, well, that's not fair. God saving whom He will? Well,
that's not right. My friend, who are you to reply
against God? Hath not the potter power over
the clay to make one lump unto honor and another unto dishonor? Oh, you sons of men, you wicked
rebels, sons of Adam, how long, the Lord says, will you turn
My glory and make it into a shameful thing? But what else he says there in
verse 2? How long? How long will you love vanity? You know what vanity is? Nothing. Emptiness. Man in his best state
is altogether vanity. How long will you love a vain
show, a vain thing? The emptiness of salvation. How
long will you love that? Remember what the Lord said to
those Pharisees, you are they which justify yourselves before
men, but God knows your heart. For that which is highly esteemed
among men is a vain thing, is an abomination in God's sight.
How long will you love? Vanity, vanity. There is a way
that seems right unto men, the end of that way is death. And
then he asked another question, how long, O you rebels, Will
you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity? How long will you seek after
lies? I'm reminded of a scripture over
in Jeremiah chapter 5. God said the prophets prophesy
falsely, or these false prophets. The priests bear rule by their
means and they prophesy falsely. And God said, my rebel, those
rebel people, those rebels, they love to have it so. Love not
the truth. They love vanity and they seek
after lies. I tell you one of the biggest
lies that's been put on this generation, God loves everybody. Not so. They seek after lies. Another lie that's been put on
this generation, that Christ died for everybody. That's not
so either. The love of God in Christ Jesus
and the Lord Jesus Christ died for His people. How long will
you seek after these lies? I tell you, we'll keep right
on until God makes a difference, until God makes a difference
in us. May we learn to admire His sovereign grace that has
made us to differ. The Apostle Paul said, who made
you to differ from another? What do you have that you didn't
receive of God? It is only by His sovereign grace, it is only
by His sovereign mercy that we love His glory, that we love
Him and not vanity, that we seek the truth And don't continue
in the lie of Satan. Sinner, save yourself. Do the
best you can. Everything will be okay. Oh,
no. There's a way that seems right
on the mend, but the end of that way is death. It's only by His
grace that we love His glory. It's only by His grace that we
love the truth and not the lie of Satan. I am what I am, the
Apostle said by His grace, we love Him only because He first
loved us. Look at verse 3, but no, but no, know this, there's
that little word there that just, wow, just flashes out at you,
B-U-T, but God, but God who is rich in mercy for His great love
wherewith He loved us, but no, know this, we know that we're
not redeemed with corruptible things, But with the precious
blood of Christ, know this, that the Lord hath set apart him that
is godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call
upon him." The Lord has sovereignly set a people apart for himself. What is that? What is that? I tell you what it is, it's election.
God has set apart a people for himself. God in eternity. There's
a book over here on this table that I just think so much about. You can get a copy of it when
you go out. It's by an old preacher from Kentucky. Name is C.D. Cole, Claude Deval Cole, The
Bible Doctrine of Election. I found that book in a bookstore
about 30 years ago. Paid 50 cents for it. And that,
I tell you what, it just, it opened up everything new to me. Oh, I tell you, the Bible doctrine
of election. Is it so? Absolutely so. Did David rejoice in the Bible
doctrine of election? That is, God choosing a people
unto salvation? Abraham rejoiced in it. Turn
to Psalm 65. Our Lord said, Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. The Apostle
Paul, oh, I tell you, he rejoiced in the Bible doctrine of election.
How about Peter? Peter rejoiced in that electing
love of God, the electing grace of God. Psalm 65, look at verse
4, blessed is the man whom thou choose us and causes to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple." He didn't
choose us because we were holy. He chose us in Christ Jesus to
make us holy. That's exactly what it says.
Don't turn. Let me just get it for you. You
know it by heart. And I could quote it for you,
but I don't want to mess it up. So I'm going to turn and read
it in Ephesians chapter 1. God had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy without blame before Him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Oh, He had chosen us. God had
set His people apart and made them godly in Christ and He did
this for Himself, for His glory. God loved the Lord Jesus Christ
so much that He determined from all eternity to populate heaven
with a people just like Him. That's what predestination is
all about. predestinated to be conformed to the image of His
Son. For the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is the elect. We are chosen in Him. Someone
said, election is a guarantee of complete salvation and argument
for success at the throne of grace. He said, let us come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. But I know that the Lord has
set apart him that is godly. The Lord will hear, the Lord
will hear when I call, when I call. Now someone said this, since
He chose us, Since He chose us, He cannot but choose to hear
us, sovereignly hear us, when we cry unto our Father. The Lord gives a parable about
that in Luke 18, remember? And shall not God avenge His
own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear
long with them? Oh, I tell you, Since God has
chosen us, God has redeemed us, Paul said in Hebrews 4, seeing
that we have such a great high priest that is passed into the
heaven, whoever lives to intercede for us, he said, let us come
boldly. I want to come. Come with liberty. Come with freedom. Find grace
to help in time of need. It's the throne of grace. It's
the throne of mercy in Christ Jesus. Now, look at verse 4 back
in our text. Stand in awe. Stand in awe of
Him. What does that mean? I think
it means this. With reverence in your heart,
with reverence in your heart before God, stand in awe and
worship before Him and believe Him. Sin not. Sin not. My little children,
these things I write unto you that you sin not, I wish I could
quit. One day I'll lay this old rotten
nature down. Standing awe of Him I do, as
much as I can in this old wretched man that I am. I do stand in
awe of Him, and it is my desire never to sin against God again. My little children, these things
I write unto you that you sin not. But when you do, when you
do, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. But we stand in awe of Him. Now look what it says, Commune
with Him. Commune with your own heart.
Commune with your own heart. Now this is not that old Adam
nature. This is that new nature given
in regeneration. For that old sinful Adam nature
doesn't commune with God in the heart. That old Adam carnal nature
doesn't even think upon God. But this is that new nature given
that new heart. He said, I'll take away that
stony heart and I'll give you a new heart. Commune with Him. Worship Him in your heart. and
do it upon your bed, in the quietness of your own bedchamber, and be
still, be still, be still. Stand in awe before Him, tremble
before the Lord, proceed no further in sinning against Him. And I
tell you what this is also driving at, Surrender. Surrender. Complete submission and surrender
to the Lord. Stand in awe of Him, bow down
and kiss the Son. Look what it says right across
the page, Psalm 2. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and He perish
on the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed
are all they that put their trust in Him. Trust Him. Bow to Him. He said,
every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that He is Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed and be still. Be still. Be still. Turn over
here to Psalm 46. Look at this for just a minute. Psalm 46. Go to verse 10. Be still. Psalm 46 verse 10,
you got it? Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Be still, be still. Can you think of another place
in Scripture where that's used? Be still, be still. You remember
when God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage, and they went
out, and they came up against the Red Sea. Pharaoh at one point
said, well, I'll let you go, but somehow God hardened his
heart, went out after them, and was determined to slaughter everyone
who had escaped or everyone whom God had delivered. And here they're
up against the Red Sea. They can't get through, not by
any natural means. They can't go to the right or
to the left because of the mountains that were there. And here comes
Pharaoh and his chariots and all those armed men down, descending
upon those children of Israel. What are we going to do? Moses said to the people, Fear
ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. which
he will show you today. For the Egyptians whom you have
seen today, you'll see them again no more forever." Stand still
and watch God work. Salvation of the Lord. Now look
at verse 5. Offer unto him, stand in awe
of him, bow down to him, As my pastor used to say, put up your
shotgun, the war is over, surrender, wave the flag, bow down, kiss
the son, commune with him in your heart upon your bed, and
be still, worship him, and then watch this. Offer the sacrifices
of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord. What could
more comfort the heart of a distressed sinner But to be still and know
that I am God and look to the sacrifices of righteousness,
not ours, not ours, but His. Find your total hope of forgiveness
in the sacrifice of Christ. With Him, there's plenty of redemption.
Turn to Psalm 130. Now, I mentioned to you earlier
that that's in the plural, offers sacrifices of righteousness.
Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remember reading somewhere,
somebody, when it said you see the word sacrifices in plural,
it denotes the excellency of it and the sufficiency of it. Turn to Psalm 130. And that speaks
of Christ, His redeeming blood. Psalm 130, Let Israel hope in
the Lord, for with the Lord is mercy, there is mercy. Verse
7 of Psalm 130, And with Him is plenteous redemption. He shall
redeem Israel from all his iniquity. He shall, and He did. The total hope of our forgiveness
before God is that glorious sacrifice, the blood offering, the blood
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, for He has obtained for us, not
with the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own blood, He has
obtained for us eternal redemption. You thought
I forgot, didn't you? Eternal redemption. He appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. God bought us with
His own blood. Now, trust Him. Who else would you trust? Who
else would you trust? You can't trust yourself. You
remember what we read in Philippians 3, 3? We are the true Israel
which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have No confidence in the flesh. Trust the Lord. Trust the Lord. Put your trust
in Him. Right across the page, Psalm 7 verse 1, Oh Lord, my
God, in Thee do I put my trust. Save me from all them that persecute
me and deliver me. Oh, the blessedness to trust
Him. Trust in Him. Flee to the Lord
Jesus Christ and find in Him plenteous redemption. Well, verse
6, there are many, there be many that say, there be many that
would say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the
light of thy countenance upon us. Many rebel in their carnal
thinking would cry out against God in his anger and disbelief
and would say something like, well, who will show us any good?
I tell you, oh, I tell you, God is good. He is good to his people. The believer looking to the Lord
cries out with holy confidence, Lord, lift up your favor upon
us, let your presence be upon us, for Christ is our light,
Christ is our life, Christ is our liberty. He has commanded
the light to shine upon us. Oh, Lord, lift up the light of
your countenance upon us. and make Christ to shine. The
glory of God shines in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn
us, O God. Turn over here to Psalm 80. Look
at Psalm 80, verse 3. Psalm 80, verse 3. Turn us. Turn us again, O God, and cause
thy face to shine, and we'll be saved. We'll be saved. you cause us to turn. Turn us,
O Lord, and we shall be turned. Look at verse 7, thou, thou has
put gladness, here's more about that heart, salvation is a heart
work, thou has put gladness in my heart, you put Christ in my
heart. More, you put more gladness in
my heart, more than those who in the time of their harvest
that would fill up their barns with plenty with corn, oh God
put us, He's given us much more gladness than that. Then in the
time of corn or in the time of the wine that's increased, God's
given us that new heart, Christ in the heart. Listen to this,
Christ in the heart is better than corn in the barn. Christ
in the heart is better than money in the bank. Christ in the heart
is salvation. Christ in the heart is better
than the most vintage wine in the cellar. Christ in you is
the hope of glory. He's given us an everlasting
consolation and good hope through grace in Christ Jesus. He's put gladness in our heart. You know, to the believer, worship
is not a burdensome thing. Worship's not a burdensome thing.
David said, oh, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go
to the house of the Lord. It's the highlight of our life.
We look forward to that eternal day of worship. Oh, to worship
Him without sin, to worship Him without any distraction, to worship
and see Him face to face and sing unto Him who loved us and
washed us from our sin in His own blood. Look at verse 8. I think he's speaking about this
here. We do rejoice with joy unspeakable,
full of glory. Thanks be to God who has given
us this unspeakable gift. I will lay me down in peace. and sleep. For the Lord only
maketh me to dwell in safety. Turn over here to Psalm 17. I
lay me down in peace. This is a believer's competence
because we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He made peace with His own blood. We can lay down our life at the
end of our journey when the Lord said it's enough. Man's days
are determined of God. We can lay down at the end of
our journey in sweet rest in Christ Jesus. And awake, look
what it says, Psalm 17 verse 15, As for me, I will behold
thy face in righteousness, and I'll be satisfied when I awake
with your likeness. The last part of that flip in
chapter 3, who shall change our vile body and fashion it like
unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself. No wonder death
to the believer, the Lord said in Psalm 116, precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. No wonder the
Scripture says in Revelation 14, 13, blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord. Death to a believer is not punishment,
my soul, it's promotion. It's graduation. To be absent
from the body is to be present with the Lord. Now look at the
last part of verse 8, in Psalm 4 verse 8. Lord, for thou, Lord
only, makest me to dwell in safety, in safety, in safety." We're
kept by the power of God. Kept by the power of God. You
remember that Psalm that's called the only Psalm? Psalm 62 is the only Psalm. Turn
over there. Did you know that? It says over
here, thou only makest me to dwell in safety. And Psalm 62
is known as the only Psalm. Psalm 62, look at verse 2. He
only is my rock, my salvation, my defense, I shall not be moved.
Look at verse 4. They only consult to cast him
down from his excellency. They delight in lies. They bless
with their mouth, but inwardly they curse. Look at verse 5.
My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from
him. He only. is my rock, my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. And God is my salvation, my glory, the rock of my strength.
My refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you
people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. He only makes me to dwell in
safety. I'll lay me down in peace. I want you to turn to one other
scripture and I will quit with this. Psalm 32. Excuse me, Isaiah 32. Isaiah
32. Look at Isaiah 32, 17. Isaiah 32, 17. The work of righteousness
shall be peace. Peace with God. The work of righteousness shall be peace. whose work is this? It's the
work of God. It's His righteousness and the fruit of that is peace.
We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And the
effect of righteousness, the work of righteousness shall be
peace and the effect of righteousness, Christ our righteousness, quietness,
assurance forever. My people shall dwell in a peaceable
habitation, in a sure dwellings. in quiet resting places. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
that word to your heart.