this morning to the book of Psalms,
and to number 62, Psalm 62. Truly, my soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. How long will you imagine mischief
against a man? You shall be slain, all of you.
As a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence. They
only consult to cast him down from his excellency. They delight
in lies. They bless with their mouth,
but they curse inwardly. My soul, wait thou only upon
God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my
salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. And 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.
God is a refuge for us. Surely men of low degree are
vanity, and men of high degree are a lie. To be laid in the
balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not
in oppression, and become not vain in robbery. If riches increase,
set not your heart upon them. God hath spoken once, twice have
I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord,
belongeth mercy, for thou renderest to every man according to his
works. I want you to notice in this
psalm in verse one, David confesses that he is waiting upon God. Truly my soul waiteth upon God. And then he acknowledged that
his salvation came from the Lord. From him cometh my salvation. And that's true of every person
who is saved. Every person who is saved, your
salvation comes unto you from the Lord. He purposed it, he
purchased it, and he applies it to individual believers. But notice David calls it my
salvation. God gives his salvation to whom
he will, but he never takes it back. When he gives a person
salvation, then that person can refer to it as my salvation. The apostle in Romans said, now
is our salvation nearer than when we believed? Of course,
there the apostle is talking about that salvation that awaits
us when we are resurrected, when we are in heaven with the Lord
in our resurrected body every day. brings us near to that day,
to that time. But now, while in this world,
we may call his salvation, our salvation, my salvation. Three times in this psalm, I
notice that he refers to God as his rock, two times as his
defense, and then also two times as his refuge. If you notice
in verse two, he only is my rock and my salvation, he is my defense. Verse six, he only is my rock
and my salvation, he is my defense. Verse seven, in God is my salvation
and my glory, the rock of my strength and my refuge is in
God. And verse eight, trust in him
at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Verse eight is going to be my
text. And it divides itself into three
parts. And that's the way we will look
at it this morning. First of all, trust in him. at all times. The fact that David uses the
word times, plural, trust in him at all times, it suggests
to all of us that the life of a child of God in this world
will not always be the same. Our life in this world will not
always be the same. There will be times of joy and
times of sorrow. There will be times of what we
call smooth providences, and there will be times that men
refer to as hard providences. David himself, the author, the
human author of this psalm, we know that he is called the sweet
psalmist of Israel, and he was a man after God's own heart. And yet, as you read his life,
as it is recorded in the word of God, you find that it was
filled with all kind of experiences. That's the reason the book of
Psalms is so special to God's children, because no matter what
you're going through, you will probably find some word in the
Psalms that refers to that same thing that the psalmist went
through. And many are the experiences
of the people of God in this world. I was thinking about David
being the author of this, this Psalm and trust in him at all
times about the time he fled from Jerusalem after he had been
king a long time. won many battles and was well
respected among the nations. But then one of his sons rose
up in a rebellion against him, tried to steal the throne, Absalom. And David and his followers,
a few that stayed with him, they were fleeing from Jerusalem. He was walking without shoes
even. barefooted, running, fleeing
for his life. And there was one of the descendants
of Saul who had been the king that God rejected by a man by
the name of Shimei. And he saw David and his group
going along, and he was up on a higher elevation, and he was
taking little stones, and throwing them at David, and cursing David,
and calling him all kind of names. And one of David's chief men,
he said to David, he said to David, Let me go and
take that man's head off. Let me destroy him. And you know
what David said? David said this. Let him curse. Let him curse,
for God has sent him. Turn over in your Bible. to the
book of Ecclesiastes. Towards the front of the Bible,
Ecclesiastes. And look in chapter three. Trust
in him at all times. And the point that I'm trying
to make here this morning is that the life of a believer,
of a child of God, will have many different experiences. Here in Ecclesiastes chapter
3, Solomon wrote, to everything there is a season and a time
to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born and a time
to die. A time to plant and a time to
pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to
heal. A time to break down and a time
to build up. A time to weep and a time to
laugh. A time to mourn and a time to
dance. A time to cast away stones and
a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time
to refrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to
cast away. A time to rend and a time to
sew. A time to keep silence and a
time to speak. A time to love and a time to
hate. A time of war and a time of peace. Someone might say, is it ever
a time to hate? Absolutely. The Lord Jesus Christ,
one of the things that is said about him is he loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. We don't hate the person, but
we hate iniquity, and we love righteousness. There's a time
to hate, as the wise man said, and a time to love. I want you
to notice in verse 11 there in that chapter. He, that is God,
hath made everything beautiful in his time. His time, God's
time. Also, he has set the world in
their hearts so that, now watch this, no man can find out the
work that God maketh from the beginning to the end. No man can understand God's providence. When you try to figure out, well,
God did this because of that, or God didn't do this, you can't
do it. John Flavel, one of the English
Puritans, wrote a book that is called The Mystery of Providence.
And certainly God's providence is mysterious. There's several
mysteries in the Word of God that God has revealed, but not
providence. The mystery of providence. Man
cannot understand the things that happened to him and happened
to others, and many times it seems like those that are the
most wicked prosper in this world. You know, the psalmist said that
in Psalm 73. Those that seem to have no regard
for God, no interest in God, seem to prosper more in many
ways than those that love God and serve God. And it's mysterious
to God's children. Let's consider David's exhortation,
trust in him at all times. First of all, the God we trust
in doesn't change. His immutability, as we call
it, his unchangeableness is a great encouragement to his children. Trust in the Lord at all times. Our circumstances change. It's
kind of like the will, some call that will in Ezekiel's vision,
the will of providence, and that which is at the top eventually
will be at the bottom. And yes, our circumstances change. Our needs change. But our God,
our Father, He doesn't change, and His purpose as we read there
in the scripture, his purpose under heaven. Everything is beautiful
in his time. And I'm convinced that one day
when God's children reach their heavenly home, they will be able
to look back and all of us will say the same thing. He hath done
everything He has done everything well. Every circumstance, every trial,
every dispensation of providence that we've experienced as we
go through this world, we will be able to see by God's grace
that it was all working together for good to them who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose. Trust in Him
at all times. Because the God we trust in,
he doesn't change. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father says, I am the
Lord, I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today, and forever. And God the Holy Spirit,
as he was given to be the comforter of God's children. He comforts
us in every tribulation. The apostle Paul tells us in
1 Corinthians 2. He's the God of all comfort,
who comforteth us in every situation. How does the Holy Spirit comfort
us? Well, he comforts us in two ways.
First of all, He reveals the person and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ to us. That's what the Savior said.
He said, when the Comforter is come, and when he comes to you,
if he does, whom I will send unto you from the Father, the
Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, now listen,
he will testify of me. That's the way the Holy Spirit
comforts the children of God. First of all, by testifying of
Christ, testifying of His person, of who He is. We sang about that,
the very Lord Jesus, just a few minutes ago. Both God and man,
His person. We're teaching the small children
on Wednesday evening in a class, and the teacher told me she taught
three things that God cannot do. He cannot change, he cannot
lie, and he cannot die. Well, the children in the class
knew that Jesus is God, but God cannot die. That is a mystery,
isn't it? That is a mystery. But if He
isn't God, His death would do us no good. He must be man. That's the reason we always point
out, yes, He is God and man, but He's one person. And what
the one nature did dying, we speak of him as that person who
died and he is God. And therefore his blood, his
blood is effectual to take away the sins of his people, to cleanse
us from all sins. The Holy Spirit comforts his
children. We're cast down by many things, and this is the
way the Holy Spirit comforts us. He testifies of Christ. I was reading recently this past
week, in fact, of a Hindu man. I believe he was in India, and
he got concerned for his soul, for the sins of his soul. He
thought, well, I'm going to take a trip, a 400-mile trip. I'm going to walk. And he had
his sandals. He had nails driven up through
his sandals so the pointed edge would be under his feet. And he was making his journey,
trying to appease God. And that's what so many people
still are trying to do in religion. Not just the Hindu religion,
but the so-called Christian religion as well. How many people in so-called
Christianity are still trying to do something to appease God,
to satisfy God, to save their souls? But anyway, this man,
after he had walked some distance, he sat down by a riverside and
he heard some singing. And then he heard a man preaching.
And there was a Christian group there holding a service by the
riverside and missionary preaching. And the missionary began to preach
about the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. And
speaking about the fact that the Lamb of God is God manifest
in the flesh, And yes, he took the sins of his people in his
own body and bore them on the tree. And this man cried out,
that's what I want. That's what I want. And as I explained the gospel
or preached the gospel and bore to him, the man was saved. And
what did he do with his sandals? He threw them away. He knew that
all the suffering that he could inflict upon his own body could
not take away one sin. But the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's dear son, washes away every sin of those who trust in him. Another way he comforts his people,
not only by testifying of Christ, but also of assuring the believer
that he has an interest in the work, the person and work of
Jesus Christ. So trust in the Lord at all times. Why should we do that? Because
our God doesn't change. And secondly, the high priest,
of those who trust in God may be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. Every child of God here today,
you have a great high priest, not just a high priest, but a
great high priest. And I love the way the apostle
wrote this in Hebrews or the way it's translated at least,
for we have not and high priests which cannot be touched with
the feelings of our infirmities. You know, from Aaron all the
way down to the time that Christ came into this world, how many
high priests must there have been? When one high priest would
die, then his son would take his place and so forth and so
on. And surely in that long line
of high priests, there were some who were unfeeling. I mean, they
just didn't have any feeling for anybody. And the apostle
tells us, that's not the way our high priest is. That's not
him at all. Unfeeling, uncaring. No, he said,
for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin. Thank God, first of all, we have
a high priest. And thank God, secondly, that
we have a high priest who can be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. I want to mention just three
or four things here. First of all, God's providence
for some of his children involves poverty. Now forget about the
lies that are being told today of this prosperity gospel. which
is just a deception. That's all it is. It's a work
of the flesh. Many of God's children have gone
through severe poverty in this world. I've known a few myself,
and I would say some that I've known, I would consider myself
like John the Baptist said about the Lord. I'm not worthy to unloose
their sandals. And yet they were poor, materially
poor. but they were loved of God. And
you know they have a high priest, they had a high priest, or have
a high priest who could be touched with the feeling of their infirmities,
for he too knew what it was to be in the world that he had created,
his world, and yet to be able to say the foxes have holes and
the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where
to lay his head. Yes, he can be touched if a person's
going through poverty. Another providence for some is
to be misunderstood and slandered. And when the Lord saves an individual,
many times you try to witness to your family and they never
understand you. The first thing they think is,
he thinks he's better than us. She thinks she's better than
us. You know, if the world could
only see the heart of a true child of God, they would know
that certainly isn't true. Nobody sees himself as bad as
the person sees himself. But that's the way the world
thinks sometimes, misunderstood and slandered. Think about the
Lord Jesus Christ. He may be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. He was a holy, harmless, separate
from sinners, Son of God in this world. And yet he was accused
of casting out devils by the prince of the devil, Beelzebub. What about God's Providence for
some of his children, a lengthy sickness. Their days are long,
their nights are filled with pain and restlessness. Yes, we have a high priest who
can be touched with the feelings of their infirmities. You know,
in the prophecy of Isaiah 53, which no one can read that and
not see that it's talking about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I
had the privilege one time of reading that to two people, a
young man who was a paraplegic and his mother, and both of them
were Jews. And I read that chapter in the
hospital in Guadalajara, Mexico to them. And I never will forget,
the lady said, who is he talking about? I've never heard that
chapter. Who is he talking about? You
can't read that chapter and not know he's talking about Christ.
That's the reason the Jewish rabbis just rather not read that
chapter. But you know one of those verses
there says, Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. But when Matthew In his gospel,
when he quotes that, this is the way he says it, himself took
our infirmities and bear our sicknesses. Yes, we have a high
priest. If a person is suffering from
sickness and sometimes, and I know some, you know some, we have
some in our church that have suffered for years. You say,
why? That's one of the mysteries of
providence, isn't it? Why? And some of God's children suffer
this providence of loneliness. I think this happens to a lot
of people, especially as we get older and God takes a husband
or takes a wife and the one that remains is lonely. But you know, we still have a
high priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities
because no one, no one was ever as alone as Jesus Christ on the
cross. No one. When he said, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Yeah, he can be touched. Well, here's the second part
of the message. Pour out your heart before him. Trust in the
Lord at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before him. In Peter's first letter, he said,
casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Did you
know that Peter was quoting a verse from the Psalms when he wrote
that in his letter? Casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. He was quoting from Psalm 55. Turn back just a few pages, Psalm
55. And verse 22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
and he shall sustain thee. Do you have a Bible that has
marginal readings? I hope you do. But do you know,
or do you see there before the word cast in my Bible, there's
a little letter there, and it refers us back to Psalm 37. Look back to Psalm 37 in verse
five. Sometimes these marginal references
are a real help in studying the Word of God. Here in Psalm 37
and verse 5, commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him and
he shall bring it to pass. Do you see in your scripture
there a little number before the word commit? And you look
in the margin and it is roll, roll. Roll thy burden upon the
Lord. Now, I thought about this this
past week. We had to have a big pine tree
taken down at our house. And that pine tree was well over
100 years of age, I'm sure. It was so big, the man who cut
it down, when he came the first time, he put his arms like this,
and he went halfway around. I mean, he could have marked
it and got on the other side and did the same thing. So as
they were bringing it down, you know how they do it. They finally
cut in the trunk of the pine tree. I guess it was about 30
inches maybe in length. But as it came down, it was getting
heavier and heavier. They had a machine to pick it
up on the road and put it in the truck to take it away. but
they had to get it to the machine. And finally, they got to the
place that just had to roll it, roll it. And I thought that some
people have a burden so heavy, so heavy, you just, you can't
pick it up. You've just got to roll it. Well,
you said, well, how do you roll it? How do you roll it upon the
Lord? Casting your burden upon the
Lord for he cares for you. Here it is right here in this
psalm. Pour out your heart before him. That's the way you roll it upon
the Lord. That's the way you cast it upon
the Lord. Whatever your burden is, a lady
asked a preacher one time, she said, preacher, do you think
it's all right if we pray to God over the little things in
our life? And he said, lady, What do you think in your life
wouldn't be little to God? Now let that sink in. What do
you think in your life wouldn't be little to God? It's big to
you, sure, but not to our God. No, the burden's heavy. Roll
it upon the Lord. He can bear it. It's heavy to
you, but not to him. Pour out your heart unto the
Lord. And as you're pouring out your
heart, and don't leave anything out, and don't be afraid to say
anything to God. Tell him just exactly how you
feel. And as you're doing so, keep
this verse of scripture in mind. Romans chapter 8 and verse 32.
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Freely give us all things that
we need. He's already given an unspeakable
gift, his son. Yes, pour out your heart unto
the Lord. And lastly, God is a refuge for
us. You know, in Isaiah chapter 28,
God speaks of some people who made lives their refuge. Pity, pity the poor people who
do this. In the storm that is coming,
those refuges shall be all swept away. What are some of the refuges
of lies that people hide in or harbor in, seek refuge in? Well, let me give you a few.
Well, I've always lived by the golden rule. That's a refuge
of lies. Well, I tried to keep the Ten
Commandments the best I could. That's a refuge of lies. Well,
I've always tried to be a good neighbor. That's another refuge
of lies. And when the storm comes, and
it's coming, all those refuges of lies will be washed away. And you will stand, if you're
like that, you will stand before God naked. I mean, you won't
have anything to plead. The only thing you can call your
own in that day will be your sin. And you need a refuge. When you meet, I need a refuge.
When we meet the justice of God, and we're going to, we need a
refuge. The Lord is the only true refuge. And I encourage you this morning,
seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he's
near. And as believers, we recognize storms come in our lives just
as well as others. But God is our refuge. Many years ago, when we were
living in Mexico, this has been over probably about 50 years
ago, maybe not quite that long. But they opened up. The reason
I remembered this, it was such a big deal. Down on the coast
of Yucatan, there was a fishing village or town, really. But
their fishing boats, when a storm would come, they were just exposed.
The Gulf of Mexico, you know, hurricane or something like that.
Well, these fishing boats, they're just like toys out there, corks
on the water, you know. And they were exposed, so the
government built a refuge. And they called it a Mayan name
with also the name abrigo. And I said, I was just learning
Spanish. What does that word mean, abrigo? Well, I was told it means an
overcoat. I think it really just means
a coat. But when it's cold, when it's cold, You put on an overcoat. It's a refuge from the cold. And when the storms are coming
out there, these ships could come in, work their way in. And there was a refuge there,
an abrigo. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's a
refuge for every sinner. To look to him. He said, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. Who is your refuge? When trials
come, when storms come, and they do come, where do you run? Where do you go? Where do you
look for help? There's only one true refuge.
It must be the same as David had. God. God is my strength, my defense,
my refuge. He is the rock of my salvation. May the Lord bless His word. You know, we don't give what
is called invitations in many churches. After the preacher
finishes preaching, tells the last sad story, then he invites
people to come down to the front and accept Jesus. Saying a hundred
verses of just as I am without one plea until we can get everybody
down to the front. We don't do that. But I sure hope no one thinks
that we're not trying to give an invitation, because I am. The invitation is in the message.
Look to Christ. Trust in Him. Flee! Flee to Christ! Because there's
a day coming, my friend, when you won't have an opportunity.
Flee today. Now is the day of salvation.