This is a psalm written under
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by David, who is called in the
scriptures. I love David, and I love David's
writings. He's called in the scriptures
the man who was raised on high, taken into the secret counsels
of God. He's called the anointed of God,
ordained and sent of God. He's called the sweet psalmist
of Israel. He wrote the church's hymn book,
the Psalms. And the Lord said, I have found David. David didn't
find me, I found him. I found David. to be a man after my own heart,
who shall fulfill all my will." I'm going to listen to what he
has to say. But this is a psalm of our Lord Jesus Christ. This
is what they call a messianic psalm. This is a psalm that reveals
the person and work of the deputy. work of our Lord Jesus. For example,
let's move ahead just a little bit and look at verses 6, 7,
and 8 of Psalm 40. No one but Christ speaks these
words. Listen. Sacrifice and offering
thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou digged. That's when you bore the ear
of a willing, loving bond slave. He was a willing servant of the
Father. My ears hast thou digged. Burnt offerings and sin offerings
hast thou not required. Far, here's the great offering. Then said I, Lo, I come, and
the volume of the book is written of me. I delight to do thy will,
O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart."
How do we know that's Christ? Well, Paul tells us that. Turn
to Hebrews chapter 10. Paul quotes these words in Hebrews
chapter 10 and applies them as they only can be applied to the
Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 10. It says in verse 5, Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, quoting Psalm 40, sacrifice
an offering thou did wouldest not. In other words, God had
no pleasure in the sacrifice of bulls and goats and heifers
and lambs. That was done as a type, as a
picture of Christ. When God had respect to Abel's
offering of a lamb and the blood on the altar, It was because
Abel believed, Abel had faith in God's promise to provide a
son, a savior, a redeemer, of whom this lamb he offered was
a type and a picture. So God never, his justice was
never satisfied. His law was never honored. God
was never pleased with any sacrifice on a Jewish altar for all those
centuries. The only time God is pleased
when he looks at Christ And he said, this is my well-beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. And on the cross, it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. So Christ is saying, in burnt
offerings and sacrifice for sin, thou hast had no pleasure. Then,
said I, verse 7, lo, I come in the volume of the book, this
book, yes, and the book of God's purpose the book of the everlasting
covenant, the book held in the hands of him who sits upon the
throne, that only Christ can take and open and fulfill. In
the volume of the book, it's written of me. I come to do thy
will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offerings for sin, thy would
is not, neither hath pleasure therein which are offered to
the lost. Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will. takes away the
first that he may establish the second by the which will we're
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. This is a Messianic psalm. This is a psalm of Christ. And
this is Christ speaking in verse one. It's our psalm, yes, but
it's the psalm of Christ. In verse one he says, I waited
I waited patiently, I waited willingly on the Lord. Now why
should we find it difficult to wait on the Lord, wait for the
Lord? Why should we find it difficult?
Our Lord Jesus set the example for us. Listen to this. Our Lord
endured years of sorrow and suffering from the cradle to his last breath
on the cross. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And he waited, he endured patiently,
submissive, willingly, for God to fulfill his purpose. He waited
patiently. Suppose our Lord had been impatient,
as we so often are. Suppose he'd been impatient,
as Satan suggested, on the Mount of Temptation. You want all men
to worship you? Make these stones into bread.
Cast yourself off from this tentacle. I'll give you the kingdoms of
the earth. Impatient? Our Lord was patient. He waited,
expecting that God would come. I waited patiently for the Lord. And he inclined unto me. Our
Lord expected victory. Thirty-three and a half years,
someone said. He endured sorrow, suffering,
all of these things. But he waited, willingly content
for the Lord to deliver him. Because he knew these things.
Number one, that God is in absolute control. What did the prophet
say? All things of God. He decrees,
he designs, he does all things according to his will. I am the
Lord, there's none else. I form the light, I create darkness,
I make peace, I create evil, I kill, I make alive, none can
stay my hand, none can say unto me, what doest thou? I'm the
Lord, there's none else. Wait on it. Wait patiently, thirty-three
and a half years, fifty years, sixty years, seventy years. I'll
be satisfied when I wake with His likeness. I waited. Waiting, I waited on the Lord. I wait on Him because of who
He is. And I wait on Him because of His wisdom. And I wait on
Him because He's made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and shepherds. And this is my salvation and
my desire. I wait for the Lord. I wait for
the Lord. I wait for the Lord because the
only power I have is His power. The only grace I have is His
grace and the only wisdom I have is His wisdom. I'm a vine. I'm
a branch. He's the vine. The vine cannot,
the branch cannot bear fruit of itself only as it abides in
the vine. And patiently and willingly,
I wait for God. This is our Lord speaking. I
waited. Waiting, I waited. Patiently,
submissively, I waited for the Lord. And He inclined unto me. He heard my cry. And what did
He do? Verse 2. He brought me up. He brought me up out of a horrible
pit. Horrible pit. I read about these
pits in the Old Testament. Some of these pits were dungeons.
They were prisons. There was a deep pit dug in the
ground. There was no opening. There were
no windows, doors, or opening. It was just a deep, large hole
in the ground, a pit in the ground with a hole at the top. and captives
and prisoners were put into these pits and left there to die. The pit was deep. Imagine how
filthy, how filthy and corruptible and what a terrible state that
pit was in down there on the bottom, deep in mud, miry clay,
as he said here. brought me out of a horrible
pit out of the Maori clay. When our Lord came to this earth
in his perfection, in his holiness, in his triumphant glory, came
down here and was made flesh and dwelt among us, this pit,
the Maori clay, this horrible pit, So contrary to his nature,
so contrary to his heart, so contrary to his glory. And he describes it here in verse
12. Look over at verse 12. Innumerable evils encompassed
me about. Such corruption, innumerable
evils. My iniquities had taken hold
of me. He didn't have any iniquity.
He was bearing our iniquity. He was clothed in our flesh.
our sins in his body on the tree. My iniquities have taken hold
of me. I'm not able to look up. I'm
not able to look up. I'm not able to look beyond the
extent of them. There's so many. They're innumerable. They're more than the hairs on
my head. My heart fails me. That's the
horrible pit. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
a horrible pit, a pit of corruption, a pit of sin, a pit of humanity,
in due time, though his sufferings ended, and he was brought up.
God has highly exalted him and given him a name above everything.
That is the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow. Come up and sit
down at my right hand. And I'll make thine enemies thy
foes too. I waited. Through all of this power and
suffering, no beauty about him we should desire him. A man of
power, innumerable evils encompassed me, my iniquities are innumerable,
more than the hairs of my head, I can't even look up, my heart
faileth me. And he brought me out. He brought
me out of that miry clay. The sufferer sinks and slips
and slides. There's no place to put his feet. He's always falling, not able
to stand. My God, why has thou forsaken
me? My God, what a place. What a
condition. What a horrible state. But he brought me up out of the
miry clay, set my feet on a rock. My work is done. My work is done,
received up in glory, seated at the right hand of God. He set my feet on a rock and
established my goings. He established, the word goings
is he established my step, my direction, my possession, my
order, my work. All that my father giveth me
will come to me. And him that cometh to me I'll
in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven to this
horrible pit, to these innumerable evils, to this terrible condition. I came down not to do my will,
but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him
that sent me, that all he hath given me he'll establish my going. I shall not fail. All that the
Father giveth will come to me. I lay down my life for my sheep.
My sheep will hear my voice, and they'll follow me, and I'll
give them eternal life. And he'll establish my work,
my goings, my steps, my possessions. It's firm. It's set. It'll be
fulfilled because it's finished." There he is. And he established
my going, and then he put a new song in my heart. He even praised
our God. Turn to Psalm 22, the psalm of
the cross. Turn to Psalm 22. And let me
show you this. Our Lord goes from the moaning
and groaning and weariness and sorrow, sin and suffering, to
praise. He brought me up out of this
horrible pit. He lifted me out of this murray
clay. He set my steps, ordered my ways, and put a song in my
heart. Listen, in Psalm 22, verse 16,
this is the cross. Dogs have encompassed me. The
assembly of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and
my feet. Who is this? I redeem her. I can tell all my bones. They
look and they stare at me. They part my garments, among
them cast lots for my robe. Oh God, be not far from me. Oh God, my strength, oh my strength,
make haste to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword,
your darling, only one. From the power and the hand of
these dogs. Save me from the lion's mouth. Thou hast heard me. from the
horns of the unicorns. I will declare, listen, here's
the new song. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of a congregation of redeemed people. I'll praise
you. It's gonna be... You all that fear the Lord, praise
him! On ye feet of Jacob, glorify
him! Hear him, ye feet of Israel! Who are these people? They're
his He lifted me out of that horrible
pit, out of that miry clay, and exalted me to his right hand,
and established me on a rock, and put a song of praise in my
mouth. And what's his reward? Go back
to Psalm 40. Verse 3, he put a new song in my mouth, even
praise to our God, and many, many, many, how many? A multitude
which no man can number. Somebody said, well just a handful
is going to be saved, but whose hand? His hand. And a handful in his
hand is an innumerable company of believers. It's more than
the stars of the sky or the sands of the sea. It's a multitude
ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands and thousands which
no man can number. Many are going to see this work. Many out of every tribe, kindred,
nation and tongue are going to see this work. Their spiritual
eyes are going to be open. Oh, some saw him and didn't know
who he was. But many will see. And they'll
see what they were, they'll see where they are, they'll see whence
they came, they'll see where they're going, and they'll see
who He is, and what He did, and why He did it, and where He is
now. And what shall they do? Many will see it. Many will see
it. And fear. And fear. But there's a threefold word
here, they shall fear and they shall trust. They shall fear,
they shall hope, and they shall trust. The prodigal son feared
where he was and what he was. But he feared to go back to his
father. He said, I'll just have to say to him, I'm a, I stand
under heaven and in his sight, I'm not fit to be called his
son. I'm fearful, fearful, fearful. But he came anyway. And as he
topped that hill toward home, he saw a figure running toward
him. And hope sprang up in his heart. That looks like my dad. He's coming to meet me. He's
not coming to kill me or to whip me or to chastise me or punish
me. He's coming to greet me. Hope. And then his father put
his arms around him and kissed him. Everything's all right. Our Lord said, go see. The love of God, the grace of
God, the work of Christ, the person of Christ, the redemption
of Christ, the glory of Christ, they're going to see, and they're
going to fear. Is this possible? It's for me. When I survey the heavens, the
things you faith, what is man that's not mindful of Him? Is
there hope for me? And then we keep reading and
keep seeing God's mercy and then hope arises in our hearts. And
then he embraces us with arms of love and speaks peace to our
hearts. And we trust him. Trust him. Now this is the song of every
believer. This is Christ, but this is my
song. I chose it for our psalm. Good morning. I can say he brought
me up out of a horrible pit. And it's a threefold pit that
I was in. I was in a pit of darkness and
death and sin, under the curse of the law of sin and death.
Oh, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. No place to stand. Slippery, sloppy, filthy. surrounded by innumerable evil. But the horrible thing about
it, number two, is I didn't know it. I was also in a pit not only
of sin, but self-righteousness. Adding to my sin was my denial
of it. I'm good as anybody else. I'm
religious. My folks were religious. I'm
not so bad. I made God alive. I was not only
alive, I made God alive. Any man who says that's not sin,
he made God alive. But worse than that, I was not
only in a pit of death and darkness and sin and thought I was righteous
and good, but I claimed to be a child of God. I claimed to
be a king while I was in a pit of sin. If I talk like a prince, I must
be a prince. If I claim to be a prince, I
must be a prince, even here in this mess. That's what the religious
world says. If I dress like a king and talk
like a king and claim to be a king, I must be a king. But no, kings
are born of a king. You know, I could play a part
of the king in a play. put on a crown and a purple robe
and carry a scepter and walk around and talk about His Highness
decrees this, that, and the other, but I'm not a king. Kings are
born of a king. And sons of God are born of God. And that's the pit, the deception
of it. Death, darkness, depravity, denial,
self-righteousness, the claims to be what I'm not, horrible. he brought me out. Think about
it. Right here in this town, he brought me out. Opened my
eyes, my ears, my heart, spoke peace, made me a king. He hath made us kings and priests
under God, because we're born not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but of God. And he set me on a rock. That
rock is Christ Jesus. That's what Psalm 62 says over
here. Look at Psalm 62. In Psalm 62
verse 5, look at it. My soul, oh boy, Psalm 62 verse
5. My soul wait thou only upon God. My expectations from him. He
only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you
people. Pour out your heart before Him.
He's a refuge. He set me on a rock. Oh, my knees
shake, but my feet never move. My arms grow weary, but my feet never move. I'm on
a rock. My mind questions. I don't understand
all this. I just don't understand all this.
The older I get, the less I understand of all this. But my feet never
move. My heart strays. It questions
God's providence. My tongue speaks hastily things
I ought not to say, but my feet never move. I'm on arrival. The reason my feet don't move is
he doesn't move. He's established my goings, my
steps. When I was in the Navy, we used
to anchor our ship out from shore. That anchor was big, boy. You didn't lift it up and throw
it off the side. You remember how big those things were on
the fantail. And it sounded like an army riding
horses when they said, drop anchor! Whoa! That thing could hear it
everywhere. That thing rolling off. Down
it went. And brother, when she stuck,
she stuck. But you know, that ship moved
up here. You wake up in the morning, you'll
be facing east. Go to bed at night, you'll be facing west. But it never moved. It never
moved off the rock. Never moved off the rock. And
that's the way we are. We're anchored. Let's just talk
about our forerunner. Let me show you that in Hebrew,
if I can find it. It's here in Hebrews 6. Hebrews
6. Look at this. He brought me out
of a horrible fear. He brought me out of the mire
of clay. He established my goings. And he says here in verse 19, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which endureth, which entereth
into that within the veil, there's our anchor, where the forerunner
is for us entered even Jesus Christ made a high priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek. My anchor is not in the ocean,
it's at the right hand of God. And it won't, it won't move.
I won't. I'll move around here, but I'm
established. And it says here in verse 3,
and our Lord gave us his song, he put a new song in my mouth.
The Lord put a new song in my mouth. He brought me out of this
mire of clay of sin, depravity, deceit, self-righteousness, and
false claims and false religion. He anchored my soul in Christ
and put a song in my mouth. Now a song, even praise to our
God, a song has words. And this new song is not the
idle religious you hear going on around you at your office
and work and other places. That's chatter. That's slogans.
That's cliches. It's not empty shouting. Boy,
just shout, shout, shout. Out of character behavior. No,
sir. Not out of character behavior.
A song has words. You heard the words of Christ
in Psalm 22? I'll declare thy name to my brethren
in the midst of the congregation. I'll praise thee. Verse 25, my
praise shall be a bee in the great congregation. I'll pay
my vows before those that fear him. The meek shall eat and be
satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that
seek him. Your hearts shall live forever.
All the ends of the world shall return, remember and turn to
the Lord. Nations shall worship before
thee, for the kingdom is the Lord's and he's the governor
among all nations. love, of faith, of grace, of
thanksgiving, of praise. They're the words of the new
covenant. That's what David said in praising the Lord on his deathbed,
he hath made with me a covenant, ordered in all things and sure.
I know about that covenant, but that word's on my heart, in my
ear, in my heart, and on my mouth. It's the words of a new and living
way. He hath opened for us into his
presence a new and living way within the veil by his blood. It's the song of a new creature
in Revelation 5. Unto him who hath loved us, and
washed us from our sins, and made us under our God, kings
and priests, worthy as the Lamb. Unto him be all the glory, both
now and forever. That's not chatter. That's not
an unknown tongue. That's a known experience of
grace and faith based on the Word of God. He put a song in
my mouth. And it's a song of a new hope.
Unto Him who's able to keep us from falling and to present us
faultless before His presence with exceeding joy. Unto Him,
the only wise God our Savior, glory, dominion, and power from
this day forevermore. That's my song. Salvations of
the Lord. Verse 4. So blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust. Now when I came to that verse,
I said there's a key here. Blessed is that man that maketh
the Lord his His trust. I know who the Lord is. I know
who the man is. That's our Savior. First of all,
the Lord God his Father. But that's me and you. Make of
the Lord God. But here's the word I've had
to look up and see. What does this mean? Trust. His
trust. His claim, profession, or his
trust. And that word means confidence. He's my confidence. It means,
secondly, to take hold of holy with certainty and surety as
a refuge and to be without care. He's my trust. He's my refuge. He's my rock. He's my confidence. He's my assurance. Because of
who he is and what he did, I have no worries. I have no care. Not far as salvation's concerned.
Not far as anything's concerned. He's my provider. And trust. It's like a, similar to a child's
trust. A father, a mother, trust. Without
care, boldly, with certainty, with confidence. Trust Him to
save. I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I committed him. Whatever
the circumstances, though he slay me," Job said, I trust him. I trust him. I may be as poor
as Lazarus, as troubled as Job, as lonely as Elijah, as hated
as Paul, as rejected as Bunyan, for he will provide. Trusting Him is casting all my care upon Him
and leaning not to my own understanding. Trusting Him. Blessed is the man whose trust is in the Lord. Make of the Lord is trust. Here's
two things, and the Lord's our example. Listen to these two
things here now. I'm going to give you something here that's
going to be a blessing. That man's blessed. He's highly favored
of God to make of the Lord his confidence, his assurance, his
refuge, his trust. I'm not going to try to do this
myself. He's everything. And he respects
but not the proud. And we're surrounded with the
proud, the arrogant. Our world's getting more arrogant
all the time, more self-righteous, more selfish, more self-centered. Our Lord's our example. He never
had any flattering words or looks for kings, for great ones, for
powerful, proud people. There were plenty of them then.
Powerful, proud people. Lifted up with themselves. But
our Lord never had any flattering words for them or any looks for
them. He gave no honor to dishonorable
men. Never did. The proud and the
haughty were never his friends. He was a friend of sinners. That's
what they said about him. Why does your master eat with
publicans and sinners when he could be with us. He never had any flattering words
or flattering looks for the proud and arrogant of this world. He
never catered to them or cringed before them or compromised with
them. With the proud, the intellectual,
and the powerful. No, he didn't. He wasn't swayed
by them, or influenced by them, nor cringed before them. Blessed
is that man who knows the proud and dishonorable, and he doesn't
respect them. He doesn't cater to them. He
doesn't cringe before them. If he even has to be a servant
to them, he'll do his service and he'll honor the Lord. He
won't cringe and compromise. And blessed is that man. Look
at the next thing. Nor does he respect those who
turn aside to lies. Now this is interesting. I have to take a hard look at
this. Who are these that turn aside to lies? Everybody's a
liar. The scripture says let God be true and every man a liar.
People lie about everything. But this is a special kind of
liar. who turn aside to lies. Who turn aside to lies concerning
God and His Word. You see, Christ is the truth.
Christ is the truth. The truth lies with Christ and
in Christ. And our Lord is the lover of
truth and lies have no part in Him. And when men turn aside
to lies, they turn aside to lies concerning Christ. concerning
his person and work, concerning his grace, concerning salvation,
concerning righteousness, concerning his blood, concerning his redemption,
concerning his blessed, particular, effectual sacrifice for sin,
that the whole world, the whole religious world, has turned aside,
away from God, to a philosophy and a religion
of light. God loves everybody, the religious
world says. God wills to save everybody,
but he can't. Christ died on the cross to pay
the debt of every man. The Holy Spirit knocks at every
man's door. God has no elect. Christ has
no sufficient effectual sacrifice. Salvation is not by grace, it's
by good deeds and work. The world is turned aside to
lies. Blessed is that man who makes
the Lord, the sovereign Lord, the redeeming Lord, the electing
Lord, the Lord of purpose and propitence, makes that God his
confidence, his assurance, his message, his gospel, his hope,
and is not influenced or catered or cringed before The proud,
self-righteous, the arrogant, the religious, who turn aside
the liars. He's not touched, he's not influenced
by their harassment, their hatred, their denial, their self-righteousness. It doesn't send him. Paul said
over in 2 Thessalonians, don't you look at this with me, 2 Thessalonians
2, Now be patient with me, I've got something for you here. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Through sanctification
of the spirit, belief of the truth, He calls you by our gospel. He calls you. He chose you. He sets you apart. He saves you. He calls you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore,
Bradley, stand fast now and hold those traditions which
you've been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Stand fast. Hold them. Don't cringe. Don't
cater. Don't be influenced. Don't respect
the powerful and the proud and the arrogant and the false teacher
and those that turn us out. Don't do that. I want you to look at Psalm 11.
In studying for this message, I've got more light on this Psalm
11 than I ever, never had this light before. Start looking at trust. Trust
the Lord. And don't be influenced by the outside forces about how
powerful or prestigious. Psalm 11, In the Lord put I my
trust. Now how say you to my soul? Flee. Flee. They're going to get you.
They're going to ruin you. They're going to destroy you.
Flee. Flee like a little frightened bird to his mountain. I hear
people say, let's be like a bird to the mountain. Not me. This
little bird's in the house of the Lord. This little bird's
in his temple. This little bird's in his secret
place. This little bird's not going to your mountain. In the Lord do I put my trust.
How are you going to say to me, please, to your mountain, follow Here's
the rest of it, slow. This is how they're doing the
talking. You better run, you better quit preaching what you're
preaching, stand for what you're saying. The wicked bend their
bow. They make rid of their arrow
on the string. They're going to privately, secretly,
in the darkness, shoot you in the heart. They're going to get you. You're
going to fail and fall. But I'm not going to flee, for
verse 3 says, if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous
do? If this preacher, and these elders,
and other preachers, wherever God has them, if we don't stand,
no matter who's against us, no matter what they do, no matter
in their secret councils, in private places, in darkness,
sneak around, and seek your downfall, and seek your destruction, and
seek to put you out of business. I'm not going to flee to the
mountain. I'm going to stay right where I am in Christ, in the
rock, in the refuge, and declare His message. Declare His message. Not going to back up, not going
to... He's my trust. He's our trust. Why should we
flee to a false refuge? when we're on the rock, Christ
Jesus. Could I give you an illustration of this? Nehemiah, back just
two, three books to Nehemiah. Nehemiah, then Esther, and then
Job. Nehemiah, chapter six. Nehemiah, chapter six. Old Nehemiah, God surfaced. He saw the walls of Jerusalem
had fallen. The gates were burned, destroyed. The walls were destroyed. And
his heart wept and he cried to God. And God sent him to rebuild
the walls and the foundations. I went through a little experience
like this almost 50 years ago. The walls were down and the gates
were burned. The foundations were destroyed.
There wasn't anybody preaching grace. God's sovereign, electing,
redeeming grace. The walls were down. And God
sent Nehemiah, Nehemiah to build the walls, put the gates back
up. Foundations. And in verse 1 of
Nehemiah 6, came to pass when Sambalik, Balak, Sambalik and
Tobiah, and Gishom, the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies heard
that I'd built the walls and that there was no breach left
therein, though at that time I'd not set up the doors upon
the gates. He said, there's just one thing
left I hadn't put the doors up. The walls are up. It took a long
time, a lot of me to read those early chapters about how many
men, how much time, build the walls of Jerusalem, build a foundation,
put them back up where they belong, the city of our God. Well, these fellas verse two
there, Sam Ballack and Geesham sent on to me saying, come let's
meet together. Let's talk about this thing.
In some one of our villages in the plains of Ohno. Ohno, when
they say come let's talk, they say Ohno. Don't go to Ohno. But they thought to do me mischief.
They wanted to get him off that, what he was doing. Stop that
bill in the wall. And I sent messengers to them
saying, I'm doing a great work. I'm laying the foundations again.
I'm rebuilding the walls. I can't come down there and mess
around with you fellas. Why should the work cease? Whilst
I leave it and come down with you? And they, yet they sent
unto me four times after this story. I tell you, if Satan and
his outfit can get you to stop preaching this message, stop
building these walls, stop relaying this foundation, stop giving
the glory to God. He'll do it. Peter came to our
Lord and said, no, don't, don't, don't, don't go to Jerusalem.
He said, Satan, get behind me. Lord, I'm trying to sidetrack
you. I answered them after the same manner. Now look at verse
five. Then, oh here, they're going to try another tactic.
Then sent Sambalik, his servant, to me in like manner the fifth
time. Fifth time, with an open letter
in his hand. where it was written, it's, now
listen to this, it's reported among the heathen and Gashma
said it, that you and the Jews think to rebel for which cause
you're building the wall. I'll tell you why you're building
the wall, that you might be king. According to what I've heard
he said, you got a wrong motive. Yes, you're preaching this message
and rebuilding these walls and laying these foundations that
you might get some recognition. That you might be a sort of a
king and get a father after you and all this sort of thing. And
you have appointed prophets and other preachers to raise up to
preach of you. Follow you and talk about you
at Jerusalem and say there's a king in Judea, Judah. This old Nehemiah, he made himself
king. Get a following. Name a denomination
after him. He gets all the preachers preaching
to you. And he'll be reporting to the king these words. So you
come and let's talk about this. Let's talk about your self-glory. And I said to him, saying, there's
no such thing done as you're saying. You fainted. them out of your own wicked heart.
I'm not coming down, I'm not quitting. You're not going to
scare me off with rumors. But they all made us afraid,
saying their hands shall be weakened from the work, let it be not
done. Oh God, strengthen my hands.
Don't let this turn your people away. But he got one more thing
to try. Afterwards Verse 10, they will
not quit now. Afterwards, I came to the house
of Shemaiah, the son of Deliah, the son of Meherakbeel, who was
shut up, and he said, I'll tell you what we'll do, Nehemiah.
Let's quit this business of trying to rebuild the walls and relay
the foundations. It's going to get killed. It's
going to destroy you. Let's just quit. Let's do it.
Let's meet together in the church. Let's go to the house of God.
And let's shut the doors, just me and you and everybody believes
like we do. And we'll draw blueprints of
walls, and we'll draw pictures of foundations, and we'll read
books by great men who built walls. And we'll just sit in
that temple with the doors shut, and we don't worry about anybody
out there, and they won't bother us, and we won't bother them,
and we can be Calvinists, and we can be wall builders, and
we can be foundation establishers, and nobody's going to know about
it. Now that sounds good. That's what a lot of folks are doing. Let's go to the house of God,
let's go in the temple and shut the door. But they're going to
come and slay you in the night, they're going to come and get
you." And I said, surely, such a man as I, should such a man
as I plead, plead to you mountain, should I plead? God called me. God taught me His Word. God ordained
me. God commissioned us. And all
these have helped me to build those walls and lay that foundation. God, should I flee? Should anybody
or anything cause me to die? When God sent such a man as I. Nothing to me, He sent me. Nothing
of me, it's all Him. Who is there that being as I
would go to the temple to save his life? Tell me. Nobody here. Nobody here gonna run. Should
I run? Lo, I perceive God did not send
him. He pronounced this prophecy against
me, but Tobiah and Sambalic hired him. Oh, isn't that sad? And he was hired that I should
be afraid and do so in sin. that they might have matter for
an evil report, that they might reproach me. My God, my God,
think thou upon Tobiah and Zambalic, according to these their words,
and on the prophetess Nehodah and the rest of the prophets
that have put me in fear, would put me in fear." So the wall
was finished, because this man wouldn't flee as a bird to his
mountain. And this congregation is not
going to flee as a bird to his mouth. Our trust is in Him. Confidence is in Him. Hope is
in Him. This message is not a dream.
It's a reality. The Lord is our trust.