The Lord Be Magnified

Psalm 40, verse 16, let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, the Lord be magnified. Who is the speaker? The speaker is David. David the chosen. God sent the prophet Samuel down
to the house of Jesse to anoint a king for Israel. Jesse had,
I believe, seven sons. He sent one of them out in the
field to take care of the sheep while they were going through
the ceremony of anointing a king and picking one of his sons to
be the king. For no one would be interested
in this lad becoming king. So before the prophet Samuel,
Jesse presented his six prominent sons. handsome, strong, wise,
mature. When the first one came before
Samuel, even the prophet of God looked upon him with approval. And he said, well, surely the
Lord's anointed is before him. The Lord said, Samuel, this is
not the one. Well, they brought the second
son, and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth.
They brought them all in. They passed in review. As the prophet of God looked
upon each one, he said the same thing. Well, surely the Lord's
anointed is before him, but each time God said no. Finally, Samuel
said to Jesse, all the sons you have, God sent me down here to
anoint a king. He's all the sons you have. Jesse
said, no, I've got one more. You wouldn't be interested in
him, I didn't think. Well, the prophet said, we'll
not sacrifice till he comes. So they sent a messenger out
yonder in the field where David was playing his guitar and watching
over the sheep. They said, your father wants
you down at the house. David said, well, you'll have
to watch my sheep for me. So the lad stayed there and watched
the sheep, and David started home, probably clothed in a piece
of fur, a pair of leather moccasins, his hair blowing in the wind,
running down the hills, through the valley, came to the door,
probably the back door, Wiped his feet, came into the main
room, and there all those people stood around the wall. The honored,
great prophet of God, Samuel. Everybody looking mystified. And as he appeared in the door,
God said, Samuel, there he is. There he is. Arise and anoint
him. He's mine. God does not see as
man sees. Man looks on the outward countenance. Man's easy to fool, easy to deceive. God looks on the heart. There
He is. You see, you're calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called, but God hath chosen The foolish things
of the world, the things that are naught to bring to naught
the things that are, that no flesh should glow in his presence.
David the chosen, that's who's talking here, let those that
seek thee, let those that love thy salvation say the Lord be
magnified. Turn to Acts 13. I want to show
you a scripture. You know, you hear people all
over the religious world talking about David, the man after God's
own heart. If someone asked you to turn
and read that in the scripture, could you do it? Do you even
know that it's in the scripture? Well, it is. It's in there twice.
This is where it is, Acts chapter 13, verse 22. Acts 13, 22, And when he had
removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king,
to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David
the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill
all of my will. The heart of David and the heart
of God were one. From the beginning to the end
of his reign, one thing could never be questioned. David loved
the Lord. His heart was in tune with God. David walked with God. Abraham
was said to be the friend of God. David, the man after God's
own heart. Who's speaking here? It'd be
well for us to sit up and listen, wouldn't it? Here's the man whom
God chose. Here's the man after God's own
heart. Here's the man whom God exalted
and honored above all men. For the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Redeemer, was called the Son of David. Jerusalem, the city
of God, is called the city of David. The hymn book of the church,
the book of Psalms, is called the Psalms of David. The Messiah,
the Scripture says, will sit on the throne of David. And the words in our text this
morning, written by David about himself, are the exact words
spoken in Hebrews 10 verse 5 through 9 by the Lord Jesus Christ. David is a type of Christ. You
who know something about God's Word, look at verse 6 and you'll
recognize this scripture being from Hebrews 10, 5 through 9. These are the words of Christ.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not. Desire mine ears hast thou
opened or digged. burnt offering, sin offering,
hast thou not required? Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book it's written of me, I delight to do thy will,
O my God, thy law is within my heart." That's Christ. Yes sir, it would be well for
us to sit at the feet of this man and learn to preach. Learn what to preach. Listen
to him as he preached. And then go forth with him to
cry, the Lord be magnified. What did he preach? Well, look
at verse 9. I have preached. Here's the sum
of his message in verse 9 and 10. I have preached five things. Underscore them mentally, if
not actually. I have preached righteousness.
Righteousness. Verse 10. I have declared thy
faithfulness. I have preached thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness. I have not hid thy truth." There
are the five points of David's message. Righteousness, faithfulness,
thy salvation, thy lovingkindness, and thy truth." Now, let's look
at them one at a time. First of all, David said, I have
preached thy righteousness. What does this mean? Well, God
is holy, we know that. God is holy. Isaiah said, in
the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord lifted up on the
throne. The smoke filled the temple.
His presence the house. The cherubims and seraphims cried,
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty. And the post of the temple moved.
And I cried, Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips. I
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. God is light. In Him is no darkness. God is
righteous. And this we will preach. But
this is not what David's talking about. When he says, I have preached
righteousness, I have not hid thy righteousness, he's not talking
about God's immaculate, infinite, unchangeable, righteous character. Well, God's law is righteous.
The law is perfect. The law demands perfect love,
perfect obedience, perfect righteousness, inwardly, outwardly. in action,
in attitude, and this we will preach. For this law is necessary
to reveal the failure of my righteousness." Paul said, I would not have known
sin had not the law said, thou shalt not covet. But this is
not what David means. David is not talking about preaching
the righteousness of the law. God's kingdom is a righteous
kingdom. thy righteousness." Well, what is he talking about?
Well, let me give you three scriptures that will reveal what David is
preaching here and what we must preach. Turn to Romans 10. Now,
this will help you if you'll look at it with me. David said,
I have preached thy righteousness, thy righteousness. In Romans 10 verse 1, Paul is
writing here, and he says, Brethren, my heart's desire, my prayer
to God for Israel, for my brethren, for my people, for my kinfolks,
is that they might be saved. They might know God. They might
be delivered from error, from tradition, from custom, and brought
into a knowledge of the living God. I bear them record. I know of them. He says they
have a zeal of God. They speak the name of God. They keep the ceremonies and
ordinances of God. They go about with a religious
air. They have a zeal of God, but
it's not according to knowledge. It's not based on a knowledge
of the living God. They're ignorant of God's righteousness. Oh, here's what David's preaching.
God's righteousness. He said, I have declared thy
righteousness God's righteousness. And Paul, talking about Israel,
said, they're ignorant of God's righteousness. It needs to be
preached because they don't know what it is. Well, they know God's
holy. Then that's not it. They know
the law is holy. Then that's not it. They know
the kingdom that is to come is holy. They know that, but that's
not it. What are they ignorant of? God's
righteousness. Now read on. And they're going
about to establish their own righteousness and have not submitted
themselves unto God's righteousness, the righteousness of God. Look
at the next verse. Christ, Jesus Christ, is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes it.
Christ is God's righteousness. That's why He came down here
to this earth. Christ, the Son of God, very
God of very God, who thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, by whom all things were made, came down here to this
earth, robed in human flesh. God's Son was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh, born of a woman, born under the law. And in the flesh He obeyed the
law. He obeyed the civil law, the
ceremonial law, the judicial law, the moral law, the law of
the home, the law of nature, every law of God he obeyed perfectly. He said, I didn't come to destroy
the law, I came to fulfill it. He told John the Baptist, suffer
it to be so, to fulfill all righteousness. Christ is God's righteousness.
Christ is the revelation of God's righteousness, the manifestation
of God's righteousness, the embodiment of God's righteousness. In Him
dwelleth all the fullness of God. Turn to II Corinthians 5. Listen
to this. Christ is God's righteousness.
We're not standing up here this morning to preach my righteousness,
which is what? Filthy rags? Yours? which is filthy rags. We're not
up here just to declare unto you the righteousness of the
law. That would not be good news. That would only put us in a state
of spiritual depression. But we're here to declare the
good news of God's righteousness, which is, look at 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21, "...he hath made him to be sin for us, who know
not sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God, the
righteousness of God in him. Christ is my representative.
Christ is my surety. Christ is my federal head. Christ
is the one who's identified with me. And as the God-man, he came
down here in this world and took my place before the law. And
because of his obedience, he imputed to me a perfect, he reckoned
to me a perfect, he charged to my account a perfect righteousness. That's God's righteousness. Turn
to Philippians 3. Here's the third scripture. Philippians
chapter 3, verse 9. You know, preachers stand in
the pulpit today. They don't teach the Word of
God. They don't preach the righteousness of God. The average preacher
just stands up and says something religious and tells people to
believe on Jesus. Here's my question. Believe what
about Jesus? Who is He? What did He do? Where did He come from? Why did
He do it? Where is He now? What's He going
to do later? Tell me about Him, and then I'll
make up my mind whether I want to believe on Him. But don't
just say, believe on Jesus. Tell me who He is. And what he
did and why I should believe on him. Look at Philippians 3. Paul talked about his religious
background. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He
was circumcised the eighth day of the tribe of Benjamin. He
was a Pharisee. He was a religious man. He was
a moral man. He was a law-abiding man. But
he said, I count all these things but dumb. I count them as worthless. worthless material to be thrown
on the scrap heap. Look at verse 8, that I might
win Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law and which is no good, which is shot full
of holes, which is shabby, which is filthy rag, which is of no
account in God's presence, that I might be found in him, not
having mine own righteousness, but that righteousness which
is through the faith of Christ, through the obedience of Christ,
through the work of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God. That's what I need. That's what
I need. Now, my friends, that's the righteousness
of God which we preach. Which we preach. It is the righteousness
of God in Christ. It is a representation of Christ. It is a redemptive work of Christ. It is a sanctifying work of Christ. It is the person of Christ. That's
the good news of the righteousness of God. That's where it is. That's
where it's found. Not here. Not here. And not here. And not here. And not in the customs and traditions
of men. and not in the vows and decisions
and resolutions and reformation of men. It's found in a person,
all right, but that person is Christ Jesus the Lord. That's
the righteousness of God. All right, turn back to Psalm
40. The Lord be magnified. The Lord be magnified in righteousness. The Lord be magnified. All right,
look at the second thing he preached. I preach thy faithfulness. I
preach thy faithfulness. You know what this is? What's
he talking about here? Faithfulness. What is faithfulness?
Dependability. Loyalty. Perseverance. He's talking
about God's immutability. That is, God changes not. The Scripture says, I am the
Lord. I change not. The gifts and callings of God
are without change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Swift to its close ebbs out life's
little days. Earth's joys grow dim. Its glories
pass away. Change and decay all around me
I see. O thou that changest not, abide
with me. These flowers brought out here
yesterday, beautiful, fresh, fragrant. Tomorrow, they won't
be very pretty. The next day, they won't be pretty
at all. The next day, they'll be withered
and brown and dead. That's everything that I know
anything about, just like that. My flesh, my family, my friends,
our organizations, everything is just like that. Oh, they last
a little longer than a day, maybe a year, maybe a decade, maybe
a half a century, but at the longest, 70, and then they'll
be gone. That's what the songwriter meant.
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away, change and decay. All around me I see, O thou that
changest not, of this I am sure. Nothing about God changes. Nothing. Turn to Isaiah 46. Listen to the Word of God. Our
God will remain unchangeable in executing all his purposes,
all his decrees, and all his counsels. Now when you said preacher, occasionally
the Bible talks about it repented God that he made man. Moses prayed
that God would repent of the evil which he, and the wrath
which he determined to do. When the scriptures speak of
God repenting or changing or seeming to alter his purpose,
the scriptures speak in the language of men and show it as it seems
to be. As it seems to be. Because God
intended it to be as it was. And as it was done, Hezekiah
was given 15 additional years in the language of men. But from
all eternity, that's how many years he had. Look at Isaiah
46, verse 9. Remember the former things of
old? I am God, there's none else. I am God, there's none like me.
Verse 10, Isaiah 46. I declare the end from the beginning. And from ancient times the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, I will
do all my pleasure. The God of man's imagination
is like unto himself. That's what Scripture says. You
thought I was altogether such a one as yourself. The God of
the Bible is only like himself. He never changes. He says, my
counsel shall stand. I will do my pleasure. My purpose
is never altered. I am the Lord, I change not.
He's faithful. Our God will remain faithful
in every promise, every prophecy, every type concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but not one jot or one tittle or one promise or one prophecy
shall pass away till it all be fulfilled. Christ came according
to the Scriptures. He died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. He was buried and rose again
according to the Scriptures. He ascended to the right hand
of the Father according to the Scriptures. And He'll come again
according to the Scriptures. They will not change. Our God
does not change. And then our God will remain
faithful in all His promises to the believer. He says, all
things. And sometimes we struggle with
that, don't we? All things. And sometimes we
are blue and discouraged, but all things. And sometimes God
takes a long time getting it done, but all things. And sometimes
it's darkest just before the morning, but all things work
together for good to them that love God. That's so. That cannot be altered. Our God
does not change. I have preached our faithfulness.
I care not how dark it gets. I care not how rocky the road
gets. I care not how lonely the journey
gets. All things work together for
good to them who love God. He said, I'll never leave thee.
It may seem like it. I'll never forsake thee. The
heavens may be brash. Oh Lord, David said, how long
am I going to pray and you not hear me? God heard him. God heard him. He said, I'll
never leave you. I'll never forsake you. That
soul that owned Jesus hath leaned for repose. I will not. I will not desert to expose that
soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never,
never, never, never forsake." David said, I preached our faithfulness, our faithfulness. And then the
third thing, look at Psalm 40 again, I have preached Thy salvation. Now you listen carefully right
here. I have preached Thy salvation. Now here is the foundation of
every bit of it. David rightly calls this thing
of redemption, of eternal life, of passing from death unto life,
of knowing the living God, of true religion. He calls it thy
salvation. Now, you call it what you will.
You can call it your experience or your decision or your commitment. David calls it God's salvation. I'll show you that in several
places. Turn to Psalm 51. Look at it with me. You know,
Jonah said, Salvation is of the Lord. Here in Psalm 51 verse 12, David
prays, restoring to me the joy of whose salvation? Thy salvation. Why does he call it thy salvation? His soul is the one that was
saved. God didn't save himself, he saved David. God never was
lost. David was lost. God never was
in the horrible pit. You lifted me out of a horrible
pit, out of the miry clay? David called it thy salvation
because God did it. David didn't lift himself, God
lifted him. David didn't choose God, God
chose him. David didn't seek God, God sought
him. David didn't cleanse himself,
God cleansed him. It's thy salvation! is of the
Lord in its origin. Salvation was not decreed in
the

The Lord Be Magnified

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