how appropriate. David, who wrote the psalm we're
studying this morning, the author of the psalm is David, son of
Jesse, the anointed of God, who was called the sweet psalmist
of Israel. He played on an instrument, much
like a guitar. And he sang these psalms that
he wrote. I thought how fitting that Jonathan
David should play upon the guitar this morning and sing for us
before I talked about the hymn of David, the sweet psalmist
of Israel. Man after God's own heart. When
did he write this psalm? Well, look at verse 25. I think
we have a clue, undeniable clue from his own mouth. The time
of the psalm was in his last days. He said in verse 25, I've
been young and now I'm old. Yet in all these years, and David
died I believe at 75, yet in all these years I've never
seen the righteous forsaken." Seventy-five years, he said,
I've never seen God's seed or the seed of the righteous go
hungry. I've seen people go hungry, a
lot of them, but not his seed, not his children. I've seen folks
without a place to sleep, but not his children. I've seen folks
with nothing to wear, but not his children. Have you? Never. Never, never. Not one. Not one. They don't have all they want,
but they have all they need, spiritually and materially and
physically. He cares for them. Now, the subject
of this psalm, the subject, golden precepts and precious promises,
the subject of the psalm has to do with our journey through
this world, our pilgrimage. We are sojourners. This world, as the song says,
is not my home. Abraham dwelt in tents with Isaac
and Jacob and looked for a city whose builder and maker is God.
But this psalm talks about our sojourn, we're passing through,
we spend some time here on this earth. And in this psalm, through
the writings of David, the Lord sweetly, sweetly hushes the complaints
of his elect. He hushes their cries. And he calms their troubled minds. Their trouble, Paul said that,
I'm troubled. I'm perplexed. I'm cast down. But I'm not destroyed. I'm perplexed,
but I'm not distressed. I'm troubled, but I'm not forsaken.
He calms our troubled minds. And he comforts the broken heart.
And he sets forth here promises, golden precepts and precious
promises, of which verse 4 is a beautiful example. Delight
thyself, delight thyself also in the Lord, and he'll give thee. That's the precept, and he will
give thee. He shall, shall. I love the shalls
and the wills of God's Word. He that believeth on the Son
shall not perish, but shall have eternal life. He shall give thee
the desires of thine heart. All right, let's go back to the
verse. Let's see what the Lord has for
us. You know the Word. Faith comes by hearing the Word.
Growth comes by hearing the Word. Peace comes by hearing the Word.
Comfort comes by hearing the Word. There's a lot here if we'll
hear it. He that hath ears, let him hear.
Fret not. Fret not thyself because of evildoers. People who do evil are people
who do you evil. Don't be envious against the
workers of iniquity. What does the word fret mean?
It means, just got the meaning in there, envious. It has several
meanings. To fret is the opposite of contentment. It's the very opposite of contempt. To fret is to be angry. To fret
is to be envious. To fret is to be jealous. Because
we're under trial and affliction and trouble, and the wicked are
not in trouble. And we fret. David did. The reason he can write this
is because he experienced it. Turn to Psalm 73. Listen to this. Psalm 73. Psalm 73, verse 3. David says, David's threatened
here now. I was envious, fretful at the
foolish. I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
There are no bans in their death. Their strength is firm. They're
not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like
other men. You see that, you've seen it this past week. Down in verse 12, Behold, they
are ungodly, but they prosper in the world, popular, they increase
in riches, Verily, I've cleansed my heart in vain, I've washed
my hand in innocency all day long. It seems like I've been
plagued and chastened evermore. If I say I'll speak thus, behold,
oh, I should offend against the generation of our children. But
when I thought, though it was too painful for me, until I went to the sanctuary of God
and I understood something. I understood their end, the end
of the wicked, the future of the wicked, condemnation, separated
from God. Surely thou didst set them in
slippery places, and casteth them down unto destruction. How are they brought unto desolation
in a moment, utterly consumed with terror? Their foot shall
slide in due time. You know, it used to be the custom,
I read about this, that when a murderer or a criminal was to be executed, hanging or
death by the electric chair, that the last days on earth they
gave him anything he wanted. Anything he wanted for his last
meal, anything he wanted in prison, they made his life a lot easier
than the other prisoners, a lot easier. But do you envy him? Would you be jealous of him?
Let him have all he wants. Let him have turkey and dressing
and all the trimmings, because It says in verse 2, they'll be
cut off. They'll be mown down like the
grass and withers the green herb. Don't envy the wicked. Don't
envy the unbeliever. Don't begrudge him anything he
can get on this earth. Anything. Because he'll soon
be cut down. But don't you fret. We have this
promise that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.
We join heirs with Christ. Join heirs with Christ. All right,
verse 3, trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord and do good. Faith will cure prejudice. How can you overcome fretting?
Faith. Believe in God. Our outward conduct
depends on our inward confidence. If I believe God, I won't fret. Now, if we trust men, trust the
flesh, trust ourselves, we have every reason to fret. Turn to
Psalm 146 and listen to the psalmist here. Psalm 146. In Psalm 146, he says, verse
3, he tells us where not to put our trust. He told us here in
verse 3 of our text, trust the Lord, trust the Lord. But now
verse 3 of Psalm 146, he said, don't put your trust in princes,
in leaders, in men, even though they're powerful men. nor in
the son of man, any man, in whom there's no help, his breath goeth
forth." Every man, every man, whether he's a king or a pauper,
whether it's the most powerful man on earth or the weakest man,
the only thing that separates both of those men from the grave
is breath, one breath. That's a small thing. Vapor. But when his breath stops, he's
dead and he's dead. Doesn't matter how high or how
low. So don't trust him. His breath goes forth and he
returns to his earth. That's all that's his, is the
earth. And in that very day, his thoughts, his plans, his
purposes, his power, perishes. Happy. Thrice happy. Highly favored. Blessed. is he
that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope and confidence
and trust is in the Lord his God." I honestly, if I know anything
about what I know or what I believe, if the Lord were to ask me this
morning, how do you want to spend your last day? In what state
of health? In what occupation? In what place? In what way? And how many days? And how would you die? And how
would you take your precious wife with you and so forth? I'd
say, Lord, I don't want any say in any of that. Not any say. I trust you. Wouldn't you do
that? I believe I know my heart. I
believe I'd say, Lord, please don't. Please don't give me what
I want. Give me what's best for me. I
would. And that's what He's saying here.
Don't you trust yourself or anybody else. You trust Him. Trust Him. Fully trust Him. Like old Caleb. I love that word
Caleb. You know what? When Moses sent
those two fellows to spy out the land, one named Joshua, one
named Caleb, and ten others with him, twelve of them in all, old
Caleb and Joshua came back and said, we can take it, the other
ten said, no, you know what Caleb, what his name means? Faithful
dog. That's what it meant, faithful
dog. His father named him a faithful dog, Caleb. And every time you
read his name in the Bible, I think most every time, it has this
word following. Caleb, who followed the Lord
fully. Trust him fully. You can trust him for pardon.
There's none other name unto heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. Trust him for the forgiveness
of sins. His blood. Trust him for righteousness. His holiness. Trust Him for every
provision the Lord will provide. Abraham said, son, the Lord will
provide. He always has and He always will.
Trust Him for protection. He'll give His angels charge
over thee. My children are traveling today,
some of them, this afternoon. Some of your children are traveling
out there on that dangerous highway. But there's an angel riding on
each fender. That's right. Pray for him. Ask God to give him yearning
mercies. I do every time I open my mouth to him. Hedge him about. Protect him. But he will. Trust
him. Trust him. Trust his providence. The steps of a righteous man
are ordered by the Lord. Every step. It may be through the waters
of sorrow, it may be through a dark and stormy day, it may
be on the mountaintop of happiness and joy, but the steps of a righteous
man are ordered by the Lord. Trust Him. I believe I can say with David
that I'm 71 years old and I've been here on this 13th street
a long time and I've seen a lot of people begging bread. But I've never seen God's seed
being read. Trust Him for provision. Look at verse 4, delight thyself
also in the Lord. What does this mean, delight
thyself in the Lord? Well, I think the Song of Solomon
tells us. Turn over there to the Song of
Solomon. Chapter 2, as a wife delights herself in her beloved
husband, as the husband delights himself in a beloved wife, just
delight, delight ourselves. And this is what we have here
in the Song of Solomon. It's a picture of Christ and
His church. In chapter 2 of the Song of Solomon,
the Lord Jesus speaks, chapter 2, verse 1, And he says, I'm
the rose of Sharon. I'm the lily of the valley. That
could be no one but Christ. He says in verse 2, as the lily
among the thorns, so is my love among the daughters. You've seen
a beautiful white lily blooming out there in a swamp among the
thorns and briars. He said, that's my beloved. Her
beauty is my beauty. Her countenance and joy is my
joy, but I made her beautiful. But among other people, she's
like a lily among the thorns. And then the church speaks and
says in verse 3, As the apple tree among the trees of the woods,
so is my beloved among the sons. An apple tree is so much better
than an oak tree. Oak tree will give you shade,
but it won't sustain you. Give you food. I sat under his
shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting
house, the house of feasting. His banner over me was love."
See, that's the Lord delighting in His people, and His people
delighting in Him. Look at chapter 5 of Song of
Solomon. One more here, chapter 5, verse
9. Somebody says to the to the church,
talking about the Lord Jesus, what is your beloved more than
another beloved? What is your beloved more than
Mohammed, Confucius, Buddha, some other god, idol? Who thou fairest among women?
What is your beloved more than another Messiah that thou dost
so charge us? Well, I'll tell you, she said,
my beloved is white, holy, pure, My beloved is ruddy, he's a man,
strong, cheapest among ten thousand. His head is the most fine gold,
his locks are bushy and black as a raven, eternally young.
His eyes are as the eyes of a dove by the rivers of water, washed
with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are bed of spices
as sweet flowers, his lips like lilies dropping sweet-smelling
myrrh. His hands are so generous as a gold ring set with burl. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires. His compassion. His legs as pillars
of marble set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is
as lebanon excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. He's
altogether lovely. That's my beloved. And that's
my friend. Delight in the Lord. That's what
it means. Delight in the Lord Himself.
That's what the Himself. Himself. Not just His blessings,
but Himself. He's perfect. He's all things. He's altogether lovely. He's
God. And I delight in His will. The
Lord Jesus said, lo, in the volume of the book that's written of
me, I come to do thy will. I delight. to do thy will. His commandments are not grievous.
His Word is not burdensome. His yoke is not heavy. I delight
in His Word. Let me show you that. Turn to
Psalm 119. Psalm 119. David is writing here about the
Word. The Word which we're reading.
The same Word he read. Think of it. By God's providence
and will, we have the same scriptures that David had and the apostles. Psalm 119, look at verse 16. I will delight myself in thy
statutes. I will not forget thy word. Verse
24. Thy testimony is also my delight,
my counselors. Verse 35. Make me to go in the path of
thy commandments, for therein do I delight." Verse 47, "...I
will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved." That's what
it is to delight. It's to delight in Himself, in
His will, in His Word, and to approach His throne. Isaiah said,
They seek me daily, and delight to know my ways. They forsake
not the ordinances of their God, and they take delight in approaching
His throne." They seek me daily, and delight
to know my ways. They forsake not the ordinances
of their God. They take great delight in approaching
His throne. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Come before His presence with
singing. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before Him with singing. I was glad when they said to
me, let's go to the house of the Lord. We come boldly before
His throne of grace, that we may find mercy and grace to heaven.
Delight. I delight in His comforts. I
delight in His covenant. I delight in the mercies of the
everlasting covenant. In Jeremiah 9, listen to what
Jeremiah said in summing up this subject. In Jeremiah 9, There are wise men, God gives
wisdom. There are mighty men, God gives
strength. There are rich men, God gives
riches. But in Jeremiah 9, verse 23, thus saith the Lord, let
not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and don't let the mighty
man glory in his might. And let not the rich man glory
in his riches. But him that glorieth, delighteth,
let him glory in this, that he understands and knows me. I am
the Lord which executes lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in
this earth, and in these things I delight." Can you say that? Delight in
the Lord. And verse 4, delight thyself
also in the Lord, and He'll give you the desires of your heart. Delight in Him, like the bride
in the Song of Solomon. Delight in His will. His will,
His ways are not burdensome. Delight in His Word. Delight
in His presence and worship. Delight in His covenant, for He delights in those things.
And in leaving this world and finding our delight in Christ
is leaving nothing for everything. That's right. One man said, in
leaving the world and clinging to Christ is like leaving a sinking
ship. for the rock. It's like leaving
a burning building. It's like leaving a gold mine
whose roof is caving in. And Moses knew that because he
said, even the reproach of Christ, even the reproach of Christ is
greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. Verse 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Now, I speak to every believer here first. Every believer in this building. You know the Lord. I speak to
you. You know the Lord. You know His
Word. You love His Word. You have experienced
and proved His love over and over again, haven't you? You've
been a recipient of many manifold mercies. Now then, cast all your
care upon Him. He cares for us. Cast all your
care upon Him. Spurgeon said, roll the whole
burden of life. The whole burden of life and
eternity, roll it over on the Lord and leave it there. Not only your present trial,
which seems so big, but all of our lives and our cares and our
burdens and our trials cast away anxiety. Worry and fear rest
in Him. Resign my will, my life, my way
to Him. Every burden, every care, every
sin, every child, every plan. Take your burden to the Lord.
Well, I've done that many a time, but I kind of missed that last
three words, four words. And leave it there. That's for proper. Take your burden to the Lord.
And leave it there. Commit thy way to the Lord. I'm
saying, I'm talking to believers. Now here's a hymn that a saint
of God wrote. Thy way, not mine, O Lord. However dark it may be, lead
me by thy hand and choose. Every path for me. Smooth, let
it be, or rough. It'll still be the best. Winding
or straight, it matters not. It'll lead me to eternal rest. I dare not choose my lot. I would
not if I might. Choose thou for me, Lord. And I walk aright." Now then,
that's to the believer. Now then, to those here this
morning who've never experienced the saving grace of God, who've
never fully received Christ, believed on Christ, found rest
in Christ, but you're almost persuaded How do I know you're
almost persuaded? You wouldn't be here if you weren't
almost persuaded. Old King Agrippa, Paul was standing
before him in chains. He called them bonds. Bonds were
fetters, chains. Agrippa had a crown on his head
and a purple robe and the scepter of a king. sitting on a throne
with all of his riches and friends with him, and captains and generals. Pow! There stood this prisoner. He told him to speak. And Paul
started talking to him about the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The love of God in Christ. The
mercy of God in Christ. Eternal life in Christ. How that
He loved us and gave Himself for us. Was buried and rose again. Ever lives to make intercession.
And the glorious hope and future of every believer. And when he
got through, Agrippa looked at him. He said, you know, almost
you persuade me to be a Christian. I'm almost persuaded. But he
wasn't fully persuaded, he had too much of this. Though he admired
and respected that, and somehow knew that that would
last longer than this. And he said, almost you persuade
me to be a Christian. And Paul said to Kierkegaard,
I would to God that you were not almost persuaded, but altogether
as I am. Wish you had my hope, my joy,
my crown, my life, my Lord, my Redeemer, like me. Except for
these chains, I wouldn't want you to have them, he said. But
I wish you as altogether as I am. And that's what I'm saying, if
there's anybody here who never rested in Christ, I say this
to you this morning, now, not later, now, commit your way to
the Lord. Commit your way. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life.
His ways are not our ways. He's not going to submit to our
way. We've got to submit to His way, which is Christ. Receive
the gospel. Believe the gospel. Trust Him. Lord, I trust You. I commit my life, my all. Like
Paul said, I know whom I have believed. I know who the Savior
is, the only Savior. You know. There's no other. There's
no God beside me. I'm a just God and a Savior.
Look to me and be your Savior. I look. I know whom I have to
be. I'm persuaded He's able to keep
that which what? I commit. Here it is. Lock, stock and barrel. I flee
to Him. I trust Him. I rest in Him. Would you do it? Look, it says,
commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust Him. And He'll bring it
to pass. He'll bring to pass every promise
in this book on your back. Trust Him. Old or young, commit thy way unto the Lord.
Verse 6 says, "...and He will bring forth your righteousness
as the light, and your judgment as the noonday." Now let me hurry. It says, rest in the Lord. I
can give you this very quickly. Rest in the Lord. What does that
mean? When our Lord created the world,
our God created the world, the Scripture says, "...and the Lord
rested from all His works." On the seventh day, he rested. Not from weariness. God doesn't
get tired. Not from fatigue. Why did he
rest? Because he was finished. The
work was done. It was complete. It was good. It was perfect. Nothing could
be added to it. He rested. Our Lord Jesus died
on the cross. The Scripture said he cried,
it is finished. It's finished. The work of redemption,
the new creation is finished. Complete, perfect, good. And
he rested. He has ceased from his labor
and entered into his rest. He sat down on the right hand
of God. As far as redemption is concerned,
there's nothing else to do. Now, you rest. Turn to Hebrews, chapter 4. See, this is not what I just
said. Hebrews 4, verse 10, speaking of Christ. Hebrews 4, 10, look at it. He
that is entered into His rest, Christ, He has ceased from His
own works as God did from His. As the father rested when the
world was created, the son fulfilled his redemptive work, rested.
Verse 12, let us labor. That word means endeavor. Endeavor. Strive. Make an earnest
effort. Be diligent. Let us labor. Therefore to enter into that
rest. What rest? His rest. Christ's
rest. Lest any man fall after the same
measure of unbelief. Quit trying to work your way. Trying to appease a holy God.
Oh, we work. We pray. We preach. We give. We witness. We labor. But it's works of faith and labor
of love. But as far as redemption is concerned,
we're resting. A bulletin board on a church
between here and Virginia and where it was, it said this, Are
you drifting or are you rowing? Think about that a minute. I
know what they're saying. Are you drifting or are you rowing?
Neither one. I'm not drifting. I'm on a path
and a way charted by my God to glory. I'm just like a ship in
a canal. I'm headed one way. I'm not drifting.
But I'm not rowing either. He's the pilot. He's in charge,
the ship. He's taking me. I'm riding with
him. I'm not drifting, I'm not rowing.
This whole generation of religious people is a foul-up. Are you drifting or are you rowing?
Neither one. I'm resting in Christ. But yet I labor in His vineyard. He's my master. And it's a work
of faith. It's a labor of love. But I'm
not rowing. I'm not providing the propulsion. I'm not providing the strength. I'm not moving the ship. He is.
But it's finished. Rest. That's what you do. I said a while ago, who have
not believed, commit yourself to the Lord, rest in Him." Now
here's one you want to look at, verse 8, cease from anger. Now watch it, cease from anger.
There is a good anger. There's a good anger. The Scripture
says in Ephesians 4, be ye angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your
wrath. There's an anger which is not
sinful, for anger is found in God. God is angry with the wicked. In this morning's lesson, it
says He was angry with Israel. Our Lord Jesus Christ was angry
when He went into the temple and plaited that whip and drove
those people. Now, He said, get out of my house. My house shall be called a house
of prayer, and you've made it a den of thieves." And there
was fire in his eyes, righteous anger. That anger arises from a true
zeal for God, for His holiness against evil, against disobedience. I'm angry
with what's happening to my country, aren't you? Angry. The things
that are permitted makes me angry. But don't allow anger to possess
you, to overwhelm you, to overcome you. What he says is when the
sun goes down, let your anger subside. Let it be over. Our Lord went into that temple
and drove him out. And he came out. He's countenance
was loving and gracious. Don't let it continue. But here,
three things about this anger. Don't be angry with God, ever.
Ever. As far as His providence is concerned.
Eli said, it's the Lord, let Him do what He will. Job, all
that happened to him, he never, he got angry with his friends,
didn't he? Justly so. Those fellows that agitated him.
He never charged God with foolishness. He never got angry with Him.
The Lord is wise and good. Never find fault with His providence. Secondly, don't get angry with
those who do not believe the gospel. You have loved ones and
children and friends who do not believe this gospel. In fact,
they really despise it. Don't get angry with them. If
it wasn't for the grace of God, we'd despise it. Isn't that right? Don't get angry with them. Keep
the door open. You can't fellowship with them
around the gospel, your loved ones and your children and your
family. Find somewhere where you can
keep the door open. Keep the line of communication. That's good advice now. Don't
be angry with them. I am what I am by the grace of
God, not by any special wisdom on my part. Don't be angry towards those
who offend you and who hurt you. I know the anger comes, but don't
let it continue. Don't let the sun go down on
that. Because God's the first cause. I think Joseph is the
best illustration of this for us. He could have, oh, the torture
those fellas put him through. His brothers, the torture. in
a pit, in slavery, in jail. They did it. But He said to them,
now don't be angry with yourselves. I'm not angry with you. You meant
it for evil, but God meant it for good. God's the first cause. And I'm not going to get mad
at Him. But let me add the fourth thing.
Right here it says, cease from anger, forsake wrath, Verse 8,
fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Don't get even. The Lord told us, vengeance is
mine, I will repay. Now let's look at verse 27, I'll
close. A double precept. Depart from
evil and do good. Depart from evil. I want to say
this to our young people especially. I know this is a tough day to
live in, in which to live. Peer pressure is an awful thing. But depart from evil. We know
that. The Bible says, put down the
old man, crucify the old nature, mortify your members which are
upon the earth. Don't feed the flesh. Don't feed
it. You see, what we read is going
to feed the spiritual man, or if we read the wrong thing, it's
going to feed the old man. He's still there. Don't feed
him. What you watch on TV, what you go to the movies and watch,
the music you listen to, the people you associate with, all
of these things, we've got that old nature, that old man. And
there's a new man, a spiritual man. And the wrong things feed
this old man, keeps him stirred up, keeps him motivated, keeps
him active and agitating. And this new man, it's a battle. But don't feed him. Feed this
man with the Word. Hang around with the right kind
of people. Go to the right places. Watch the right type of programs.
Read the right kind of literature. Don't read that trash you're
feeding that old man. And you can't mortify him and
feed him at the same time. You can't crucify him and pat
him on the back at the same time. You cannot put him down while
you're putting him up. Depart from evil and do good. Look for something to do that's
wholesome and of God. Look for somebody to help to
glorify God. The Lord loves justice and equity
and kindness. The Lord is kind Himself and
plenteous in mercy. Let's be like Him. All right,
I'll let you read the rest of it.