Psalms 40

These are the words of David.
And we must never lose sight of the fact that though the Bible
is verbally inspired, the Holy Spirit inspired God's word. It says, Holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The Bible is God breathed. I believe and preach, and most
of you believe, I'm sure, that the Bible is verbally inspired.
It doesn't contain the word of God, it is the word of God. But
the Lord God uses the personality and experience of his servants
who wrote the Word. In other words, this is a psalm
of David. You'll see it right there, to
the chief musician, a psalm of David. These are the words of
David, though they are inspired by the Holy Spirit, this is the
true experience of David. He lived it, he felt it, he expressed
it in a psalm. The Holy Spirit inspired the
Word. Yet these are the words of David. He lived them, he experienced
them, and he expressed them. But secondly, now hold the Bible
there at Psalm 40 and turn to Hebrews 10. At the same time,
this is what we call a Messianic psalm. These are the words of
Christ. And when the Apostle Paul spoke
about our Lord in Hebrews 10, Look at Hebrews 10, verse 5.
Now, you'll see the very same words that he uses in Psalm 40
are used here, speaking of Christ. Now, watch this, Hebrews 10,
verse 5. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me, in burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo! I come, in the
volume of the book, it is written of me, you see it there in Psalm
40, verse 7, the same words, it is written of me to do thy
will, O God, and this is Christ. You see, in Hebrews 10, verse
5 through 9, is Christ the Lord. And the very words that David
uses over here, which I say are the words of David. He experienced
them, he felt them, he expressed them in a psalm. But yet they're
the words of Christ. This is a Messianic psalm. David,
in writing, is speaking the words of the Master, the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. For example, turn to Psalm 22,
if you will. Psalm 22. This is a Messianic
psalm. This is hundreds of years before
Christ came, and you'll find in Psalm 22, look at verse 1,
Psalm 22, 1. Now, David is speaking here.
The Holy Spirit is directing him to speak. And yet, they're
the words of Christ. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the
daytime, thou hearest not in the night season, and am not
silent. Then look at verse 16. Dogs have
compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me,
they have pierced my hands and my feet. Verse 17, I may tell
all my bones, they look and stare upon me. Christ was stretched
on that cross, his bones were revealed. Verse 18, they part
my garments among them, and cast lots, or gamble, for my robe,
my vesture. So you see, just like in Psalm
22, this is David speaking. And the Holy Spirit is leading
David to write just what David felt and what David experienced,
and yet David is writing the words of Christ himself, who
is the Son of David. O thou Son of David, have mercy
upon me. Son of David, Son of God. And
then thirdly, now this is true too, and when we're preaching
and teaching the Word of God, we must not lose sight of these
three things. Number one, it's the prophet
writing, inspired of the Holy Spirit, words he's felt, experienced,
to a degree understood, yet they're the words of God. They're the
words of Christ himself, but thirdly, these are also the words
of all of God's tried and believing people. I can take many of the
Psalms and read them at a certain time or during a certain experience
or condition, and these are the very words that I would be saying. So complete is the union of Christ
with his people. So complete is the union of Christ
with his people that it's possible to speak of Christ and to speak
of them with the same words. When David spoke of himself,
he spoke of his Lord. When David spoke of himself,
he spoke of Christ. Many of the words now in this
psalm belong exclusively to Christ and only to Christ in their fullness. In their fullness, for example,
that part I read from Hebrews 10, that doesn't belong to me.
That belongs to Christ in its fullness. It belongs to me to
a degree, but not in the fullness in which it belongs to Christ.
Speaking of Christ, that's the reason that Paul can come over
here in Hebrews 10 and talk about the Savior. For example, Isaiah
53, he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. That
belongs exclusively to Christ. exclusively to Christ. But in
most of these psalms, these words belong to us, for we, too, are
sons of God. So let's look at it for a moment.
First of all, I'm going to try to cover five or six or seven
verses, but first of all, the psalm begins with a word that
you and I have a lot of difficulty with. It begins with this word, I waited.
I waited. I waited patiently for the Lord. The original has it this way.
Waiting, I waited. Waiting, I waited. Turn to Psalm
27, verses 13 and 14. These are two of my favorite
verses. I wish I could learn them. I wish I could experience
them. unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the
Lord. Be of good courage. He'll strengthen
thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Unfortunately, this is not our
way, is it, to wait? Unfortunately, we are so impulsive
and we're always in such a hurry and we want things to be done
right now. that one of the most difficult things for us to do
is to wait on the Lord. Charles Spurgeon said it would
be well for every minister and every believer to learn two words
and to learn them well. Pray and wait. Pray and wait. Is not our impulsiveness responsible
for most of the false conversions in the churches. Turn with me
to Matthew 13. Now, is this not true? Turn to
Matthew 13. Isn't our impulsiveness responsible
for a lot of the false conversion? Wouldn't it be better if we encouraged
those to whom we preach and those to whom we witness and our children
to wait on the Lord in the matter of conversion? I'm talking about
in the matter of revealing Christ, in the matter of commitment.
in the matter of surrender, in the matter of receiving Christ,
to wait on the Lord. Don't we get in trouble, and
we get them in trouble pushing them, pushing them into some
kind of profession of faith. Listen to what our Lord says
here in Matthew 13, verse 20. He that received the seed into
stony places, the same as he that heareth the word, and anon
with joy receives it immediately. He receives it right away, quickly.
He receives it with joy. Yet hath he not root in himself,
having no root, he endureth for a little while. For when tribulation
and persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is
offended. Why do we not wait on the Lord
in this matter? I see so many preachers who say,
my congregation expects results. I talk to evangelists and they
say pastors expect results. I talk to other people and they
say parents expect results. They want to see something happen.
They want people to be saved. They want to see folks join the
church. They want to see folks baptized. They feel not like
the Word is not faithfully preached unless they see some results
of the preached Word. Wait on the Lord. That's what
the Word says. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians
3, verse 5. Listen to this. Who is Paul? And who is Apollos, but ministers
by whom ye believe, even as the Lord gave to every man? I planted,
Apollos waters, but who is solely, completely, and totally responsible
for the growth and for the increase? God is. God giveth the increase. So then neither is he that planteth
anything, neither he that waters, but God that giveth the increase. Do we not need to learn to wait
upon the Lord in our ministry in this church? Do you know that
the average length of time that pastors spend at their churches
is from three to four years? That's the average length of
time. Is that not failing to wait on God? I told a young minister
not long ago, I said, I believe that we ought to have long pastorates,
because I believe God in the early years of our pastorate,
he's teaching us and he's teaching the people, he's molding us,
he's bringing us together, he's preparing us for what he'll do
in the future. And if we're not faithful in
little things and in few things and in times of trouble, we'll
certainly not be given the responsibility of ruling over big things, important
things. We need to wait on the Lord.
I waited, I waited. I waited patiently for the Lord. And he said, the Lord heard me,
he inclined unto me, and he heard my cry. I expected help from
God, and God sent it. God sent it. Now, two things
I want to point out about this. First of all, it's a marvel of
God's grace that he would condemn sin even to hear us. It's a marvel
of God's grace that he would even be mindful of us. Why should
we grow impatient with God and weary with waiting on God when
it's a gift of his mercy and grace to do anything for us?
You see what I'm saying? Now, we are impatient people.
We want God to do something now. We want God to hear us now. We
want God to answer now. We grow impatient with the Lord.
But if we just realize that it's a marvel of his grace that he
would even hear us, David said, when I consider the heavens the
work of thy hand, what is man that thou art mindful of him,
that God should even be mindful of us, let alone answer or give
us anything, but that he should even be mindful of us as a marvel
of mercy? And then, watch this, David said,
I waited, I waited patiently. Waiting, I waited. Waiting, I
waited. I think about Moses sitting on
the back side of that desert for 40 years. 40 years in Pharaoh's
house, 40 years on the back side of the desert, 80 years of age,
and then God raised him up and used him for his glory. But we
waited. He said, he heard my cry. When
did he hear it? He heard it, first of all, in
his own time. That's when God heard it, in
his own time. In due time, God sent forth his
Son into the world, in his own time. I waited patiently for
the Lord. He bent over and heard my cry. But he did it in his own time.
And secondly, he did it when the trial had accomplished its
design. Let patience have her perfect
work. That's what James says, let patience
have her perfect work. Then he heard me when I could
understand his instructions. When I could understand his instructions.
You know, when we're witnessing to people
about salvation, when we're witnessing and preaching and talking to
people about this thing of coming to Christ, There's a certain
point in which God gives them understanding, understanding
of their lost condition, understanding of their need of Christ, and
he brings them to the point where when they are sufficiently shut
up to his grace. And that person is not going
to cling to Christ totally and fully until he has been brought
to that place where he is sufficiently shut up to God's grace. And we
don't know when that time is. We don't know whether that person
has totally released his hold upon this tradition, or that
tradition, or this human arm of flesh, or this human rock,
or this something else, you know. Only God knows that. And that's
the reason we must leave sinners in the hands of God. God will
not save a man until God can get all the glory. God will not
meet and minister unto a man or through a man until God can
get all of it. Take Gideon, for example. Now,
you and I would have thought, well, Gideon is in a good place
to depend on God. Well, God didn't think so. He
had, what, 30,000? And God told him to whittle that
group down a little bit. And he got them down to five
or six thousand, he said, that's not sufficient, that's not enough,
God says too many. Now you and I would think, boy,
Gideon, here he is, he'll have to depend on God, but God whittled
him down even farther, and he came down to the point where
he had three hundred men. He had to go and make war with
thousands, having only three hundred. You say, that's an impossibility. That's what Gideon said, it's
impossible, all right? Gideon's been brought to the
place, Scott, where he'll give God the glory. He's been brought
to the place where he sufficiently will cling to and depend upon
the power and grace of God alone. And when we say, well, how long
do I wait, preacher? You wait until his due time.
You wait until the trial has accomplished its design. Maybe
a year, two years, five years, ten years, maybe twenty, thirty,
forty years, I don't know. But we'll wait until the trial
has accomplished its design, what God purposed to accomplish.
We'll wait until we can fully understand his purposes and his
promises, and we'll wait until we can give him all the glory,
and we'll wait until we can sufficiently be shut up to his grace. And
I don't know when that is, I just know that's what has to be done.
I waited patiently. I waited. Waiting, I waited. Who did I wait for? I waited
for the Lord. I didn't wait for the arm of human strength to
deliver me, I waited for the Lord. I didn't wait until things got
better, I waited for the Lord. I didn't wait until the due season,
I waited for the Lord. And he bent over, and he heard
my cry. And what did he do? All right,
notice the second thing in verse 2 and 3. He brought me up. He brought me up. out of an horrible
pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and
established my going." Now, there are three powerful statements
in these two verses regarding the believer. And these three
powerful statements accurately describe the work of redemption.
First of all, he brought me up out of a horrible pit. One old
writer said, the prisons of old were pits, and these pits referred
to in the Bible were prisons, and they were deep pits, like
a well, like a hand-dug well, like this, and deep. And they
had only a hole at the top, that was all, just a hole at the top
where they dropped the prisoners. They let him down into the hole,
way down deep into the hole, where the slick sides and the
bottom of these prisons were filthy, slimy, muddy, full of
corruption, and there was no way out except that hole right
there. And he said, that's descriptive
of our condition in sin. We're in a horrible pit. We're
in a corrupt pit. We're in a filthy pit. We're
in a diseased pit and he, he brought me up. He lifted me up. He had mercy upon me. He restored
my soul. He lifted me up, up to life,
up to liberty, up to light, up to himself by a powerful resurrection
out of a horrible pit. He lifted me up. And the second
thing, and he lifted me out of the slippery, slimy clay and
set my feet on a rock. Now stay with me here. Because
of my sin, because of my evil, I was in a horrible pit, a prisoner
of God's law, a prisoner of God's justice. And Christ had mercy
upon me. and grace upon me, and he loved
me, and he reached forth his hand by his grace, and he lifted
me up. He lifted me up to life and life
and liberty. By his powerful hand he raised
me to newness of life, and he lifted me from this mire of slippery
clay, and he set my feet on a rock." One old man said this about this
verse, he said, Give a man a solid foothold and he can carry his
burden. Give a man a solid foothold and
his burden is made lighter. But when a burden, though it's
small, is carried on slippery clay, on a slimy foothold, it's
impossible to carry it. But the believer is lifted off
the miry clay and off the slippery places, and his feet are established
on the rock Christ Jesus. And he can survive as long as
he has that rock, because that rock is sure. It's a tried stone. It's a sure stone. It's a precious
cornerstone. We were talking down at the hospital
this morning, Myrna Moore and I, Myrna Myers and I, about what
we believe. And I said the problem with our
day is this, that the religionists of today have lost the absolutes. The absolutes. Now the absolutes
are the place where we put our feet. That's our foundation.
What are the absolutes? The absolute is something definite,
something immovable, something that is sure. What are these
absolutes? Well, I'll give you four. Number
one, this is an absolute, the word of God. Now, if you lose,
I was talking about some preachers that they brought in all kind
of false doctrine in the past, doctrines which were not in God's
word. And the reason they brought in these doctrines is they did
not believe that this Word here is finished, that it is the Word
of God, that it's sure, it cannot be added to nor taken from. This
Word is an absolute. It's true because it's God's
Word. It's true because God sent it. And everything is established
by the Word of God. This is an absolute. If you lose
this, you can say, Christ loves sinful men because Christ sent
him. You can say God will have mercy because God said it. You
can say there's a covenant of grace because God says it. You
can say election is true because God says it. You can say Christ's
death is sufficient because God said it. You can say there's
a heaven and a hell and a judgment and an eternity because God said
it. Because of this absolute. That's where our feet are. And
when we carry the burden of sickness, and the burden of trials and
distress and all these things, these burdens are lighter when
our feet are steady. But if you slip it around, you
can't carry anything, you know. When your feet are on slippery
places, unsure, unsettled, sinking sand, you can't hold steady,
you can't brave the storm. The wind will come and blow you
off. But when your feet are planted on this rock, this absolute,
then you can't be moved. You can carry any load. I'll
tell you another one is God's grace in Christ, God's mercy
in Christ. Jesus Christ the Lord is God's
appointed Redeemer. Jesus Christ the Lord is God's
appointed Mediator. Jesus Christ the Lord is God
Almighty's appointed representative for us. That's so. The third
one is his atonement. His atonement is sure. By one
sacrifice he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. My
sins are paid for because he paid for them. If he bore them,
I don't bear them. If he paid the debt, I don't
owe it. If he took my hell, I won't suffer it. If he took my death,
I won't die. That's certain. And I'll tell
you another, is Jesus Christ is interceding for us right now.
And he even makes my foolish words to be acceptable before
the Father. He makes my prayers that are
so full of flesh to be accepted. He makes my person that is so
full of sin to be accepted. That's absolute. Now, you hold
to those, that's the rock. He lifted me out of a horrible
pit, out of the darkness and maury clay and filth and corruption
of my sin. He washed me. He cleansed me. And he set my feet on a rock. And that rock is Christ. And
that rock is his atonement. And that rock is his intercession.
And that rock is his word. And that rock is his grace to
the chief of saints. And then watch this quickly,
it says in verse 3, and he put a new song in Mammarra. He put
a new song in Mammarra. A new song. A new song. It is the song of a new man,
created in Christ Jesus. It's the song of a new covenant.
Not a typical covenant. Not a representative covenant.
Not a ceremonial covenant. but a covenant which all things
are fulfilled. All I do is receive it. It's
a song of a new and living way whereby I can come bold into
God's presence. I don't have to send a priest. I don't have
to go behind Abraham if he goes first. I come bold into God's
presence by a new and living way. It's a song of a newness
of life. I walk with the King. It's a
song of a new heaven and a new earth. It's the song of a new
heart, which praises the living God. And this new song is the
gospel of Jesus Christ, which the Holy Spirit blesses to the
edification of the Church and the conversion of sinners. For
he says, it's praise to God, verse 3, and many shall see it
and fear and shall trust in the Lord. Now notice verse 4. Blessed is that man that maketh
the Lord his trust. Blessed is that man that maketh
the Lord his trust. What's he saying here? Here's
what he's saying. Oh, the happiness. Oh, the happiness. And some of
you have discovered this. Oh, the happiness of the man
who can say with Job, though he slay me, I trust him. Oh, the happiness of the man
who can say with Peter, I believe that thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. Oh, the happiness of the man
who can say with John, I know I'll pass from death unto life. Such a man can be persecuted
as Job. Such a man can be poor as Lazarus. Such a man can be hated as Paul.
Such a man can be as lonely as Elijah. Such a man can be exiled
like John. Such a man can be bowed down
with David. But if God is his refuge and
God is his trust, none of these afflictions can keep him from
being happy. Happy. Oh, the happiness. That's
what he's saying here. Blessed. Happy. Now, you can't explain that to
a whirling. You needn't try. Happiness to him is a bag of
gold. Happiness to him is the hand clasp of a friend. Happiness to him is popularity
and praise. Happiness to him is a full belly. Happiness to him is the entertainment
of this world. Happiness to him is something
else. But look at Psalms 1. Turn over there with me a moment.
Psalms chapter 1. Listen to this. Blessed, and that word is Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is
in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate
day and night, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His
leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doth shall prosper.
The ungodly, not so, they are like the chaff which the wind
driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not
stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the
ungodly shall perish all their happiness. He may be persecuted
with Job, he may be poor as Lazarus, he may be as sick as Hezekiah,
He may be as hated as Paul, he may be as lonely as Elijah, he
may be exiled with John, he may be as bowed down as David, but
he is happy. Happy. That's what Paul is talking
about when he says, Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord. And look at verse 4. And he respected
not the proud. In other words, he does not bow
down or cringe before proud, worldly popularity, possessions,
and wealth. It just doesn't influence him. He does not cringe before these
worldly idols. He does not bow down to them.
They do not influence him. He does not pay respect to that
which the world counts or considers valuable. With whom would you trade places?
You think about that a little while. With whom would you trade
places in this work? If God's given you a knowledge
of Christ, you'll say, with no one. And then he's not disturbed.
He's not disturbed by those who bow down before false gods. Now,
let me read verse 5. Let's look at this a moment. Many, O Lord, my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done. Creation, now you think
about this a moment. Creation just swims, like the
ocean, which is full of life. The ocean, you've gone down the
ocean on the television cameras and you've seen just millions
of forms of life. Well, creation just swims with
the wonderful works of God. I'm not going into it, but Monday,
Darcy and I went up on top of Monongahela National Forest Cranberry
Glades and just walked among some of God's handiwork. And then down Hills Creek Falls,
where God has made things so perfect, so beautiful. And you
see what he has done. Creation just swims with the
wonderful works of God like the ocean swims with life. And then
providence. You ever thought the fall of
a bird? Our Lord Jesus said, not a sparrow
falls to the ground without the help of the Father. The hairs
of my head are numbered. God Almighty directs all human
life, whether it be the crowning of a king or the killing of a
criminal. God Almighty directs all human
life, whether it be the destruction of a nation or the overflowing of a river
bank. That's right. Providence. Many, O Lord, are
thy wonderful works. Read them. They cannot be reckoned
up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, there more than can be numbered in creation and providence,
but wait a minute, redemption. Redemption. Election. Adoption. Redemption. Justification. Righteousness. Sanctification. Resurrection. Glorification. The works of God,
they're planned by God. He says here, here's the key
to this, and verse 5, "...many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful
works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward."
God planned them. They're not without direction.
They're not without order. They're not without thought.
God planned them. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. He declares the end from the
beginning. He declares things as they are done, though they're
not yet done. God planned them, and God worked them out, wrought
them by his Spirit through the merits of his Son. They're wonderful
works. They're wonderful in their variety.
They're wonderful in their fullness. They're wonderful in their unchangeable
glory. They're wonderful works. They're
works that only could be done by God, and the results These
works are the results of his thoughts to us. And these thoughts
come not by chance, but they come by his purpose. And they're
innumerable, innumerable. You know, David said, O Lord,
forgive me of my secret sins. And you and I so often have thought
about those as being sins that we know about that others don't.
But you know what one of the better writers said? That those
are sins, David's praying for the forgiveness of sins that
he doesn't even know about himself. That's what he's talking about.
My secret faults, secret faults. Well, you know, this is what
David is saying here now about the works of God. Now, here,
you know, we praise God for help. We feel it. We praise God for
eyesight. We see it. We praise God for
hearing. We hear it. We praise God for friends. We
touch them. We praise God for redemption,
we experience it. We praise God for salvation,
we feel it. We praise God for eternal life,
we have a hope in it. But now what about all the wonderful
works of God that you don't even think about? How about his deliverance
this day? How about his mercy this day?
How about his loving kindness this day? How about, that's what
he's saying here, if I could declare and speak of them, there
more than can be numbered thy wonderful works in creation,
in providence, in redemption, thy thoughts to us would. God
thinketh upon his people. I'm glad that God doesn't just
think of us when we think of him. Aren't you? I'm glad God doesn't just minister
to me when I minister for him. All right, the last thing, look
at verse 6. I'll close with this. Mine ears hast thou opened."
Now, this is Christ. Burnt offering, sin offering
hast thou not required. Here David goes beyond himself,
inspired by the Holy Spirit, and speaks the words of Christ.
Now, when one thinks of the wonderful works of God. Now, let's tie
verse 5 with verse 6. Verse 5, David said, Many, O
Lord my God, of thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and
thy thoughts which are to us. When one thinks of the wonderful
works of God, the believer immediately goes to Christ. Immediately goes
to Christ. Because all of the works of God
are wrought by the Spirit through the merits of the Son. Everything
that God has done on behalf of his people is through his Son,
Jesus Christ. Now, what are the sacrifices
here that are not required? He said, burn offerings and sin
offering hast thou not required. Well, these are the sacrifices
and burnt offerings under the law. When were they required
from Adam to Christ? Why were they required as types
and shadows? Why are they not now required?
Because Christ has come, and he's fulfilled them all. You
see that? Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire, burnt offerings and sin offering hast thou not required.
They were required from Adam to Christ. Why? As types and
shadows. Well, why are they not now required
that Christ is come? He's fulfilled them. He's put
them away. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. That's what Hebrews 10 says.
What is the sacrifice that's now required? This is the sacrifice
of Calvary's cross, the blood of the Son of God. By whom is
it required? Well, first of all, by God's
justice. God's justice requires that Christ die, that the blood
be shed, that the offspring be presented. God's wisdom requires
it, God's law requires it, and man, in order that he might have
a suitable sacrifice and a suitable effectual Savior to give him
hope of eternal life, requires a sacrifice. the person by whom
this sacrifice is offered. Look at verse 7. Then said I,
Lo, I come, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me. I delight to do thy will. What
is the will of God? The redemption of his people.
the full redemption of his own. And Christ said, I come to do
your will. But you know, Cecil, there's a verse, a statement
here that I've read again and again and never understood why
it was here. Verse 6 and 7 and 8. Now look
at verse 6 again. Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire. I know what that means. I know
what burnt offerings and sin offerings are, it's not required.
I know what that means. Because the blood of bulls and
goats can't take away sin. And then I know what Christ said
when the volume of the book is written of me. This is all written
about Christ. All this is about Christ. Genesis to Malachi. I
come to do thy will. I know what the will of God is,
the redemption of his people, the one sacrifice to put away
all guilt and sin of all believers. Why in the middle of this did
he say, mine ears hast thou opened? My ears hast thou bored, is the
word, digged, is you're in your margin. It goes back to Exodus. It goes back to the bond slave.
That's where it goes. You see, when a Hebrew was a
slave, the seventh year, he was free to go. For example, if I'm
a Hebrew and I'm a slave, a servant, and I'm kept in a master's house,
seventh year I go free. But, now watch this, if I love
my master, if I love my master's house, if I don't want to go
free, if I'm content to remain in his house as his slave, And they call that a bond servant,
a bond slave. What I'm to do, I'm to go down
to the door of the temple, one at the temple or the house or
somewhere, and they bore my ear with an awl, bore a hole in it. They digged his ear. And from
that day, from that day, he served in that master's house and never
again had the opportunity to leave. He stayed there because
he wanted to. He never again left that house.
He stayed there because he wanted to, he stayed there because he
was willing to, he stayed there because he loved his Master,
he stayed there because he was delighted to stay. Christ, he
said, no man takes my life from me. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when
he came down here to die for my sins and your sins, he came
willingly. When he was in subjection to
the wrath of God, bearing our sins and our shame, Notwithstanding
what he said in Gethsemane's garden, whatever that means,
it doesn't mean what most folks think it means, that this cup
might pass from me. Christ came down here with his
ears bored as a willing, loving bond slave to the Father's will,
and he died that we might live. Our Father, we're grateful for
your word. What comfort Oh, our Father,
yet how rich and how beyond measure and understanding. We just get
a little bit, and what joy is a little bit that we get. Quicken
our understanding, enlighten our hearts, reveal unto us these
precious things that are written. We're never weary of delighting
in that which is written. That which honors and glorifies
our Lord Jesus Christ. Again, we pray for Brother Edgell,
we pray for all who are here tonight, every home representative.
We pray, O Lord, that you would use this word for whatever it
please it be, for our good and our glory, for Christ's sake.
Amen.

Psalms 40

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Psalms 40

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