between us and the Father. If
the Father hears me, it'll be through Christ. So here, you
hear the just one, you hear the righteous one. Then he says,
give ear unto my prayer. And then he says, attend unto
my cry. Hear the right, attend to my
cry, and give ear to my prayer, which goes not out of faint lips. If someone asks you the question, what is the most important thing
in prayer? Most important thing in prayer.
We're looking at it right here. It's not the length of it. It's
not the words that we speak because we're not heard by much speaking.
It's not the time of day when we pray. But actually, if you
ask me what is the most important thing in prayer, I would say
David tells us right here in verse 1, that God hears us when
we pray. That's the most important thing,
that He hears us. It's not what we have to say,
it's the fact that He hears what we have to say. We may stumble
and fumble and It's very simple in prayer. It may not be just
exactly doctrinal, but if he hears us. Turn to Matthew chapter
6 and see if that's what our Lord, if that's not what the
Lord Jesus is teaching here in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew
chapter 6. Matthew 6, reading beginning
with verse 5. He said, when you pray, when
you pray, don't be like the hypocrites are. They love to pray standing
in the synagogues, in the corner of the streets, that they may
be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. When men see them and brag on
them and impressed with them, that's what they were looking
for and that's what they get. But when you pray, enter your
closet, and when you shut the door, Pray to the Father which
is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, and hears
us in secret, shall reward us openly. When you pray, use not
vain repetitions as a heathen do. They think they shall be
heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore likened to
them. Your Father knows what things
you have need of before you ask. He already knows what we need.
So the fact that he hears us when we call upon him. My God
shall supply all of my needs according to his riches and glory
through Christ Jesus. So this is what David's saying
here in verse 1. Lord, you hear the right man. You hear the righteous one. You
hear the just one. You hear me because of him. It's
in his name that I come. You scare him. And you attend
unto my cry. Someone says, well, there's mighty
power in the cry of a child. Mighty power in the cry of a
child. Sometimes mothers don't pay any
attention to children because they're just whining. Or they're
just complaining. Or they're just talking before
one of them cries. You're downstairs in the upstairs
and you hear that something's wrong cry. That's when you skedaddle
up real fast. So that's what David's saying,
Lord. Hear me because of him, the just one, and hear my cry. I'm serious. I'm in trouble. I need thee. I'm not just filling
in the blanks here. I'm not just playing because
it's a duty. I'm praying because I'm in trouble.
Out of the depths, David said, have I cried unto thee, O Lord? I've done what? Cried unto thee,
O Lord. Hear my voice. Attend unto my
supplication. And it's not, he says, give ear
to my prayer, because it's not a prayer out of deceitful lips. That's what that word feign means. It means deceit. My prayer is
a prayer that comes from a contrite, broken heart. And you can expect
to be hurt. So there are two things here
that one of the writers said impressed him. One is that the
Almighty should even hear us. That's the first, that's the
wondrous thing in it, that he should hear me. The eternal,
almighty, all-wise God, who rules and overrules all things, should
hear me when I cry. And then the second thing he
said that impressed me here, he said, is this, why don't I
cry more often? If he's promised to hear me,
why don't I take everything to him? Everything. He rules over
all things. Then in verse 2, David says,
let my sentence, let my sentence of vindication or condemnation,
whichever it might be, let my sentence come from your presence.
You judge me. You deal with me. You vindicate
me or condemn me. But don't turn me over to somebody
else. Let my sentence, whatever it might be, come from you. Because
thine eyes behold things that are just and right and equal. Now I want you to turn to Psalm
51 and I think we can find some help on that verse right there.
Let my sentence come from you. In Psalm 51, Psalm 51, they call
this the Psalm of Repentance. But I'm going to begin with verse
3. David, first of all, knows his
transgressions and his sins. He knows them. He admits them.
He said, I acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. Now,
I face that fact. Yes, my fault. It's my sins. It's my transgression. Not somebody
else's. It's mine. My sins. I acknowledge that. I'm at fault.
Secondly, and my sins are against God. Against thee and thee only
have I sinned. I have sinned against you, and
I've done this evil in your sight. And I acknowledge this, that
you might be just when you speak. Whatever you say, that's all
right. I deserve it. and be clear when
you judge. That's right. If you judge me on the same principles
of everybody else, the same laws, you'd be just to condemn me.
You judge me on the same principles, judge every man according to
his works, then you're clear when you condemn me, and you're
righteous when you cast me out. If I'm judged on the basis, and
God will, But he goes on and says in verse 5, this is where
it started, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived
me. I was born in sin. I have a nature of sin. That's
my problem. It's within. That's where my
sin is. And you said, verse 6, behold
you desire truth in the inward parts and I can't produce it.
I can't change my inward parts. You demand truth and I can't
fulfill your righteousness. And in the hidden part thou shalt
make men of no wisdom. So I've got one hope, and that's
verse 7, that my sentence or my vindication or my help will
come from you. You purge me with hyssop. You sprinkle me with the blood. and I'll be clean. Let my sentence
come from you. I hear people talk about when
they got saved. I hear people talk about that
they did this for God and so forth. Well, Dave is not claiming
anything he did. He said, I'm in a mess. You purge me. You announce that
I'm purged. You announce that I'm washed. You announce that I'm clean.
You do that. You purge me with hyssop and
I will be clean. You wash me and I will be whiter
than the snow. I can give it a try and everybody
else can try to help me, but I can't do that. You've got to
do it. And that's what he's saying over here. Let my sentence, chapter
17 verse 2, let my sentence come from your presence. Am I justified? Am I redeemed? Am I saved? Let it come from you. And that's
where Paul received his. He said, Whom he foreknew, him
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. And
whom he predestinated, he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say of these things?
If God be for me, who can be against me? Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God who justifies. My sentence
came from Him. My vindication came from Him.
My assurance came from Him. My hope came from Him. My washing
and purging and cleansing came from Him. It's all a gift of
glory, a gift of heaven. That's right. Because He said,
let thine eyes behold things that are just and equal. And
He beholds us where? In His Son. That's where He beholds
us, in Christ. In Christ I'm justified. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather He's risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God. who makes intercession
for us. And therefore, my vindication
and my sentence and the taking away of my guilt
comes from Thee. Let my sentence come from Your
presence. Who's in His presence? My forerunner. My Redeemer. That's where it
all comes from. We can run around here talking
about how saved we are and what we did for God. But that's not
where it comes from. The preacher shakes your hand
and says, now you've prayed that prayer, you're saved. I don't
want my sentence to come from him. He's got nothing to do with
it. I want it to come from God. Well, David tells you how he
knows it came from God. Look at verse 3. You have proved
my heart. That's where this all started.
In the heart. In the heart. This is a heart
work. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. with the
heart. The gospel is in your heart.
And David uses the same argument the Apostle Peter used. When
our Lord looked at Peter after Peter's falls and troubles and
denials and all these things, he said, Peter, do you love me?
He said, Lord, you know I love you.
Feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? He said,
Lord, you know I love you. Feed my sheep. Peter, do you
love me? Lord, you know all things. You
know I love you. And that's what David's saying
here. You've proved my heart. You know I love you. You know
it's a hard love. You know all things. You know
I love you. My son, give me your heart, the
Lord says. Keep thy heart out of the issues
of life. Heart, that's what it is. You've
proved my heart." And look at him when he says the next thing.
He says, you visited me in the night. Now I know folks get with
a religious group and the preacher runs up and down here and hollers
and blesses them out and do all that they go on, you know, and
everybody makes decisions and rededicates and comes down, all
this going on, you know, and they're saved and they're baptized.
get the rolls out and keep everybody happy and have a few potluck
dinners. But he said, that's not where
you did business with me. You visited me in the night when
there wasn't anybody else around. There wasn't any preacher cheerleaders
and there wasn't anybody pouring witness on me and wasn't anybody
urging me down the aisle. My wife wasn't standing there
crying, hoping I'd make a profession of faith. But you visited me
in the night when no one else was around. You tried me. Tried me in the night. Look at
the next line. You tried me. Examined my heart and you found
nothing. What's that mean? Here's what
he means, you tried me at all times, in all ways, and you found
no confidence in my flesh, only confidence in you. When you tried
me, that's what you found. Oh, you tried me, you found plenty
of failures and faults and foolishness and all this other stuff, but
one thing you didn't find, you didn't find me trusting in my
own righteousness. You didn't find me depending
on this flesh. When you searched me and proved
me and tried me in the night, it wasn't something I was doing
to impress somebody. It wasn't anybody to impress.
I was by myself and you were talking to me through your words.
You stripped me and broke me and humbled me and brought me
down. And you didn't find any self-righteousness in leaning
on myself. Confidence only in you alone.
That's what you find. our purpose, that my mouth shall
not transgress. What I believe in here is what
I preach out here. What I believe in here is what
I say out here. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not walk. You know, they left Peter, James, and whoever
was with him in prison, Peter was in prison, they let him out.
And before they let him out, they said to him, they said,
now, you're free, but don't preach anymore in this name. Don't,
don't, just don't. Let's don't talk about this Jesus
anymore. And Peter replied and said, now,
whether it be right to hearken unto men more than God, you be
the judge. But I cannot but speak the things
which I've seen and I've heard. It's going to come out here.
What's in here will come out here. Somebody said one time,
what's in the well will come up in the bucket. If it's good water, when you
put the well bucket down, that's what you'll get out. If it's
bad water, that's what you'll get out. What's in the well will
come out in the bucket. What's in this well will come
out in the bucket. And that's what he's saying.
Out of the heart, the mouth speaks. Not that I'll never speak what
I shouldn't say in a lot of areas, but where you're concerned and
the gospel's concerned, I won't be transgressing there. I won't
transgress the gospel. Here's an interesting verse.
He says, Now concerning the works of men, by the word of your lips, I have
kept me from the path of the destroyer. The Lord uses means
to help his people, and the chief and greatest means of helping
his people is his word. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. That's
why we're here, to study the word, that we might grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Desire the sincere
milk of the word that you may grow thereby. So he mentions
two things here. He mentions the works of men.
Concerning the works of men. Concerning the works of natural
men. That is the work and the way
and the walk of this world. Natural flesh. And those works
are well known to all of us. They're listed for you in Galatians
chapter 5. And he mentions these works of
the flesh, and the second thing he mentions is the path of the
destroyer. Who is the destroyer? Well, that's
Satan. And both of them are summed up over here in Ephesians. Turn
to the book of Ephesians. This is a very strong point he
makes here, and I want you to listen carefully to it. In Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians 2. Now wherein, he says here, in
you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. Now
here's how we know the works of the flesh, because we were
in them. Wherein in times past you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
That's their walk, that was our walk. That's their work, that
was our work. Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind. That's their walk,
that's their works, that's their way. And we're by nature the
children of wrath. In other words, we were following
the prince of the power of the air and were children of wrath,
doing the works of men under the power of Satan. So what's
going to keep me from it when I come to know Him? Look at verse
4. Concerning the works of men,
the ways of men, and also concerning the path
of the destroyer, by the words of thy lips I'm kept. That's the way it is. That's
what he said. It's by the word of God. By the
word that comes from your lips, Lord, that's how I'm kept from
the ways of the world, the works of men, and the power of Satan. By the word. Let me show you
that in Psalm 119. That's our means. That's the means the Lord's provided. When our Lord was on the Mount
of Temptation, when Satan came to Him, Every suggestion that
Satan made, the Lord answered it with the word, with the scriptures.
It is written, it is written, it is written. Now listen to
this, in Psalm 119, verse 9. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way, by taking heed thereto according to the word? With my whole heart have I sought
thee, O let me not wonder from thy commandments. Thy word have
I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. That's
the way. Concerning the works of men,
and the will of men, and the walk of men, what keeps me out
of that place? The words from your lips. That's
what keeps me. Read on. Blessed art thou, O
Lord, teach me your statutes. With my lips have I declared
all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of
your testimonies as much as in all riches. I love your word
more than all riches. I'll meditate in thy precepts
and have respect unto thy ways. I'll delight myself in your statutes. I'll not forget your word. That's
the key. Concerning the works of natural
men, the path of the destroyer, the avenger, adversary, I'm kept,
I'm kept by the word of your lips." All right, verse 5, "...hold
up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not." This
is a believer talking. This is a man who knows God,
but a man who knows himself. And is it possible for a believer
in Christ to slip and fall? Oh yes, oh yes. The road of faith, someone wrote
a long time ago, the road of faith is good, and it's solid,
and it's divine, and it's a rock, but I'm walking on it with feet
that are frail and human. And they do slip. They do slip. And God's children
are too often, we're too often capable of some bad decisions. And some very poor judgment.
And some foolish talk and ways. That's right. Has there ever
been a believer who didn't slip? Not from Genesis to Revelation.
I've read most all of this Word and tried to teach some of it.
I've never found one yet in the Word that didn't fall. That's the reason he said, if
a brother be overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual, restore
him with a spirit of weakness, lest you be, what? Tempted. Tempted. And drawn away by the
lust of the fresh. Do you know that I looked it
up today three times in the word of God, it says there's not a
just man on this earth who does good and sins not. Three times. So here he, in verse 6, same
place he looked for his redemption, he looked for his help, keeping. Hold up my goings in thy paths
that my footsteps slip not. Keep me in the word and hold
me by your hand. Spurgeon gave this illustration. This is good on this fifth verse
here. He asked the question, who? Well,
oh Lord. That's the one to whom David's
speaking. Oh Lord. Oh Lord. Who? That's who we're
talking about. What? Hold up my goings, my steps. You hold me. When, now, and at
all times. Where? In your past. Hold up my goings in your past,
in your ways. Why? Lest I fall, that my footsteps
slip not, that I be moved not away from you. Hold me up. Keep
me, and I'll be kept. And then these three verses,
I want to look at them just a minute. Three things he says in verse
6, he says, I called upon you and you heard me, O God, incline
thine ear and hear my speech. I called and he heard. I called and he heard. And then
verse 7 said, And show me thy marvelous kindness, O thou that
savest." You saved me. You heard me and you saved me.
I called, you heard, and you saved me. By your right hand,
you save all them that put their trust in thee. You save all them that put their
trust in thee. There in verse 7, "...show thy
marvelous lovingkindness." David, that's one of his favorite, favorite
words, loving kindness. Love, now kindness you show to
an enemy. You can show kindness to somebody
you just don't care nothing about, but you can show kindness. We're
told to do that. We're told to be kind, even to our enemies.
You show, but loving kindness, loving kindness is always reserved
for the beloved. So 23 times in the book of Psalms,
David talks about God's loving kindness. It's sovereign, it's
free, it's special, it's everlasting, and it never changes. And it's
always for the beloved. Always for the beloved. He saves,
show me your loving kindness, O thou that savest by thy right
hand. Who is that? That's our Lord
Jesus Christ. He's at the right hand of God.
Sit thou on my right hand, the Father said, till I make thine
enemies thy footstool. He was saved by Christ, his right
hand. I was driving in a town not so
awful long ago. I don't remember where it was,
but it made an impression on me concerning this verse here. Saved by thy right hand. That's
all the way through the word, saved by the right hand. I was
driving in this town and I was coming on a school zone. Children
were getting out of class about 3 o'clock, 3.15. I slowed down,
real slow, and I'm driving real slow through that school zone.
I looked up ahead, and there were these little fellas standing
there with their papers and their backpacks, plus hitting one another
and talking, showing each other papers and all these things.
And there was a man standing there with a badge, some kind
of security guy. And I started driving on up,
and those children were playing. holding him back, and then he
stepped right out on the curb and raised up his right hand
like this. You know what I did? I stopped dead still. He just
raised up his right hand. And those little fellas that
were standing there, they didn't even see me, didn't pay attention
to me. They still walked across that street just because he's
holding up his right hand, showing their papers. Never even saw
that car. Pardon me. What were they trusting? That right hand. or the one with
the badge. And that's what David's saying,
you know, Lord, I don't have to worry about anything. I don't
have to. He said, risen, he says, save
them, thou savest them by thy right hand who put their trust
in thee from all that rise against them. Everybody that rises against
them is put down by thy right hand. That's our Lord. Look at this verse. You'll like
this. This is a blessed verse. Keep me. Verse 8. Keep me as the apple of thine
eye. You know what the apple of the
eye is in the scripture? It's the pupil. It's the pupil
of the eye. The most delicate and most important
part I guess of our faculties is the eye. And there's no part
of the body that's protected like the eye. No other part of
the body has this God-given, built-in protection of that eye.
For example, the eye sits back and there's bones all the way
around it, heavy, strong bones that stop any blow that will
hit that eye. Like the walls of Jerusalem protect
the holy city. And then there's a lid that comes
down over it if there's any intruder headed towards that eye. That
lid will just shut and protect that eye. It comes down over. It closes at night too to shut
out the glare and let you sleep. And then there's those eyelashes
on there and they keep out the dust. You don't have any eyelashes
anywhere else to keep out the dust, but we'll, on that, on
that, I don't know. And then it's tear ducts. And they're like the rivers,
Christ said, out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. And they just wash that eye,
wash out the things that get in there, and they just, my wives
just watered me, thankful they do. Water the world, keep washing
us, washing us. And then there's a shelf up here
with an eyebrow on it, and that keeps off the rain, you know.
The eye's back there, and that keeps off the sweat and the rain.
The eye's protected. The Lord is. And that's David
saying here, you keep me. I'm the apple of your eye. That's
another way you can use it. I'm the pupil. And you keep me
and protect me as the apple of the eye. And then hide me under
the shadow of your wings. You see that old mother hen?
She's got seven or eight babies and the problem occurs up here
and they all run under her wings. And you may get to her, but you'll
come through her first. And she's big enough, I wouldn't
fool with her if I should. He said, you hide me under the
shadow of your wings. And then there's some verses
here that I've just decided I wouldn't try to fool with tonight, because
they're talking about the wicked, and I'm talking about the believer.
These enemies, the wicked. He talks about how God's going
to deal with them in His judgment and in His wrath. And that's
in verses 9 through 14. You read it a while ago. But
he comes down to verse 15, and he says, But, as for me, He asked
for me. I'm going to behold your face
in righteousness. If you'll turn with me to 1 Corinthians
15, we'll read just a little bit about that. He says, behold,
1 Corinthians 15, verse 50, I'm going to behold his face. He
told Moses, you can't look on me and live, but we're going
to behold his face in righteousness. This is when we're in his likeness. When we see him as he is and
become like him. Listen to it. This is we behold
his face because we're going to be like Christ. Conformed
to his image. First Corinthians 15.50. Now
say brethren, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God. We're not going to behold his face in flesh and blood.
Neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show
you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall be changed. For in a moment, in a twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trump will sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we'll be changed. Because
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall put on immortality. And when that happens, when this
corruptible puts on incorruption, this mortal, immortality, Then
shall be brought to pass the saying, death is swallowed up
in victory. And I shall behold thy face in
righteousness. And that's when I'll be satisfied. I'll be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. There are four things I'll leave
you with these. I'll be satisfied. First of all,
my imagination is going to be satisfied at that time. I've
tried to imagine heaven. Do you ever try to imagine heaven?
Of course you do. I try to imagine God's throne. I try to imagine what it would
be like to see the Lord. I try to imagine what it would
be like to have a new body. I try to imagine what it would
be like to be Perfectly holy. You ever think about those things?
Well, it'd be like when I see so many friends that I'm looking
forward to seeing again. And fellowshipping with them
in the presence of the Lord. You have to try. Of course you
do. Yes, you do. Well, when I see him, my imagination
is going to be satisfied. That's exactly what I'll do.
I'm going to see it. Everything. My intellect will be satisfied.
I try to study the Word and try to teach the Word of God in wisdom
and understanding, but I know in part. I prophesy in part. I preach in part. I see through
a glass dimly. But then, I'm going to know as
I have been known. You think about that. I'm going
to know God as God knows me. I'm going to know. And thirdly, I have a little trouble, I guess
maybe you do, looking at life with my understanding, looking
at God's providence and asking why. Why is this? Why is that? Going through trials
and wondering why. certain disappointments and failures
and all these things. I don't know. That's where I
have to answer people. I don't know. I just don't know.
I know God has a reason. I know God has a purpose. And
I know God has a will to perform and all of this is in that will
and purpose. But then I'm going to know that purpose. I'm going
to know what God was doing. And I'm going to thank Him for
it. I don't know what the Lord is doing, but I will then. I'll be satisfied. My imagination, my intellect, my
understanding, and then my desire. My desire. What is my desire? To be like Christ. That's what
salvation is all about. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God.
It does not now appear what we shall be, but we know this. When
He shall appear, we'll see Him as He is and be just like Him."
And that's our desire. And it's going to be satisfied
when He comes. All right, I hope that's a blessing
to you and that the Lord will use it for His glory.