to worship God with, to sacrifice,
and Samuel told him, for God, it's better to obey than to sacrifice. And God rejected him. He was
still the king when David wrote this psalm, but he was rejected
as king. The other man is named Doeg. He's an Edomite. He was the chief
herdsman. of Saul the king. He was over
all of his flocks. He was an Edomite. He was a descendant
of Esau. And then there's, of course,
Abimelech. He was a high priest. and David. And David was fleeing from Saul. Saul had sent men to apprehend
him and destroy him, and he fled. And in his fleeing, he left with
basically just the clothes on his back. That's all he had.
And he went to Abimelech, the high priest at the tabernacle. And Abimelech was somewhat fearful
of him, but he helped David. David deceived him. David told
him the reason he didn't even have a sword with him. Can you
imagine that, David, the mighty warrior that he was, that he
didn't even have a sword with him? But he told the high priest
the reason he didn't was because the king's business required
haste and he had to leave in a hurry. And the priest gave
him that sword that had been put up there in the tabernacle,
which was the sword of Goliath. And remember, he said, there's
none like it. Goliath, the giant that David had slain. And he gave him that sword and
he gave him the showbread. No one but the priests were to
eat the showbread. The 12 loaves of bread which
were put on the table of showbread inside the tabernacle. It was
changed every Sabbath. And no one was to eat that bread
but the priest. But the priest told David, that's
all we have here. And David said, well, let us
have that. And so the priest gave them that
bread to eat, David and his men. Our Lord mentioned that, remember,
when they accused him of breaking the Sabbath. But anyway, Doag told King Saul about David
coming to the tabernacle to the high priest. But what he didn't
tell him was that David had deceived him. He made it sound like Hamilech
was helping David because he was for David. And so King Saul
sent for the high priest and all the priests except one. One
priest escaped from the town, the city where they lived. And
Saul gave the command, kill them all. Slay all the priests. And the scripture says his men
wouldn't do it. I assume they were all Israelites
and they wouldn't dare touch the priest of God. But this Edomite,
this Edomite who was there, who had deceived the king, who had
made it look like the priest had helped David on purpose,
that he killed not only the priest, but their wives and their children. Can you imagine that? And notice
that's the reason the psalm begins with verse one. Why boasteth
thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? Yes, a man mighty in wickedness,
a man mighty in evil. O mighty man, boasting because
you have slaughtered unarmed men and women and children. You're really something, aren't
you? You're really something. Why boasteth thou thyself in
mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth
continually. Thy tongue, you see, it was his
tongue. That's how he deceived Saul,
and that's the reason Saul gave the command to slaughter all
the priests. No wonder in the New Testament,
the apostle James writes, the tongue is a fire. A world of
iniquity, so is the tongue among our members that it defiles the
whole body. This man, Doak, an evil man,
a wicked man. Imagine him killing these unarmed
people. Saul, a wicked man. But here's the thing that we
must recognize. So was David. By nature, David was a wicked
individual as well, just like all of us here this morning. As we come into this world, original
sin, we were shapen in iniquity. If you look in the psalm just
before this in verse five, Psalm 51 in verse five, David confessing
his sin declared, behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin
did my mother conceive me. Many people have the idea that
people become sinners by sinning. No, we were born sinners. In Adam, we fell, and our federal
head, Adam, represented us in the Garden of Eden. And yes,
we come into this world with a depraved Nature. Total inability. That's what
we call it. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me drawing. Salvation is of the
Lord. It is of the Lord. Why? Because
men are depraved. Because men are evil. Men are
sinners by nature. And what I'm saying is that David,
yes, this man Doeg, an evil man, Saul, a wicked man, but so was
David by nature, a sinner, just like you and I. A sinner by birth,
a sinner by choice, a sinner by practice. That's true of all
men and women. But notice in our text now, in
verses eight and nine, But, but, oh, that sounds a little bit
like Ephesians chapter two, doesn't it? A little bit like Ephesians
chapter two, when the scripture says that we were dead in trespasses
and sins, that we walked according to the course of this world under
the power of the prince of the air, but God, But God, who is
rich in mercy, with his great love, wherewith he loved us. That's the difference. That's
the difference. And here it is, David, he says,
but I, but I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever
and ever. I will praise thee forever, because
thou hast done it. And I will wait on thy name,
for it is good before thy saints. David likens himself here to
a green olive tree in the house of the Lord. And I want us to
think of this as it is a shadow, or we might call it a type, of
every child of God. of every person in this building
today and every person in God's wide world who is saved. David refers to himself as a
green olive tree in the house of the Lord. That's his type,
a shadow, a picture of every child of God, of you and of me,
those of us who know him as our Lord and as our Savior. And I
want to point out four things about this tree in the house
of the Lord. First of all, a tree in the house
of the Lord is planted here. A tree in the house of the Lord
is planted here. Who does David praise for planting
him in the house of the Lord? Oh, my free will. Oh, no. He's not praising his free will.
No, no. Notice in verse 9, I will praise
thee forever and ever. Yes, throughout all eternity. I will praise thee forever and
forever. Why? Because thou has done it. Every tree in the house of the
Lord was planted there by God. Only God can plant a tree in
his house, in his family, in the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the one who chose and predestinated
us, the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2, unto the adoption
of children by the grace of God, by the goodwill of God. I want
you to keep your places here, but turn with me to Matthew just
a moment. Matthew chapter 15. First thing we see about a tree
that pictures every child of God is the Lord planted this
tree. Matthew chapter 15. If you've turned here in verses
12, And 13, we read, then came his disciples, that
is the disciples of the Lord Jesus, and said unto him, knowest
thou that the Pharisees were offended after they heard this
saying? But he answered and said, every
plant which my heavenly father hath not planted shall be rooted
up. The disciples came to the Lord,
our Lord had been teaching, and they came and said, don't you
realize that that kind of teaching offends the Pharisees? The religious
leaders, the saying in that day was if anyone goes to heaven,
one will be a Pharisee and the other will be a Sadducee. And his disciples said, you're
teaching to the Lord Jesus. Your teaching offends them. Don't
you realize that? What was it that had offended
these people? What was it in the teaching of
the Lord Jesus that had offended these people? Well, look back
in that chapter to verse eight. Well, verse seven, he said, you
hypocrites. Well, did Isaiah prophesy of
Usain? This people draweth nigh unto
me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. You see, Christianity has to
do with the heart, with the heart. Our Lord said out of the heart
proceed these murders and adulteries and all these evil things, out
of the heart. Religion, and that's all they
had, these Pharisees. Yes, they were very religious.
We live in a religious world. Man by nature is religious. I
don't know if a man could live and not be religious. He's got
some religion of some kind. Every man does. But religion
always starts on the outside. Well, let's clean up the outside.
Let's turn over a new leaf. Let's reform. Let's quit our
drinking. Let's quit our cursing. Let's
quit our whatever it is. Let's stop it. Let's quit it.
Let's change. But the problem is the heart. And man cannot change his heart. The heart is desperately wicked. This is what God says in Jeremiah. The heart is desperately wicked
and deceitful above all things. Who can know it? Only God knows
a man's heart. God, the Lord Jesus had told
these people, you're those that worship me with your lips, but
your heart is far from me. Paul said, with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Yes, the heart. is so bad off
by nature, by nature, he's so bad off, reformation won't help
him. No, he can reform over and over
and over again. It's not reformation, it's regeneration. Our Lord said, except a man be
born of water and of the word, of the spirit. He cannot see
the kingdom of God. Man must have a new nature. And
that is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Using the gospel, yes,
of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. That's what
the scripture says in James chapter one. Yes, they were offended
because notice also there in Matthew 15, In verse 9, but in
vain they do worship me. Vain or vanity, emptiness, all
over this world today. And you know it's true. People
are going to places, they're called places of worship. And
people are going through ceremonies and rituals and rites. And my,
they're so impressive to the eye and to the ear, the sound
of the music, the beautiful stained glass windows. All that appeals
to the flesh, that going through service, a ritual, tradition,
has nothing to do with the Bible, with the Word of God, period. It's sad, isn't it? You see it
on TV. We had a big display of it a
couple of weeks ago. All those people in their little
red bonnets and red outfits, you know, and the red thing on
the top. And, oh, it was so beautiful. And people say, I'm so impressed. I'm so impressed. If I were going
to be anything, that's what I would be. Yes, and you would be twofold
more a child of hell. Tradition. That's all it is. Doesn't come from the Bible.
God has given us his word, what we are to believe, who we are
to believe, I should say, and how we are to live. And men have
made all kinds of rules and come up with all kinds of traditions.
No, a man must be planted by God in the house of the Lord.
must be born of the Spirit of God. Second, a tree in the house of
the Lord must have the water for life. The Lord Jesus Christ
gives living water. He is the water of life to the
trees planted in the house of the Lord. He said, because I
live, you shall live also. Met that lady at the well, that
woman at the well. It's recorded in John chapter
four. She was a Samaritan and he asked
her to give him a drink of water. And she said, well, how is it
that you being a Jew would ask me, a Samaritan, to give you
a drink of water? I had such a hatred, such an
animosity between the Jews and the Samaritans. She was, she
marveled that he would even speak to her. And he told her, he said,
woman, if thou knewest, if thou knewest the gift of God and who
it is that speaks unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. Now these trees that are planted
in the house of the Lord, they know who he is. They know who
he is. Our Lord said, if thou knewest
the gift of God and who speaks unto you, those trees that are
planted, that are regenerated by the spirit of God, they know
who he is. He's the eternal son of God who
came into this world, born of the virgin, sinless, The one
and only mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. They know who he is. And they
know the gift of God. They know that salvation, it's
not earned. It's not deserved. It's a gift. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And not only do they know who
He is and they know that salvation is a gift, but they ask. Have you ever asked? Have you
asked this morning? What did He say? They would have
asked and I would have given. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Yeah, these people, these
trees that are planted in the house of the Lord, they know
who he is and they know salvation is not earned, it is not merited,
it's a gift, a free grace gift. And they ask for it. And the reason they ask is because
they trust, they believe in him. You wouldn't ask someone for
something if you didn't have some faith that he would give
you that. Have you asked? I remember a pastor friend years
ago told about, someone told him, well, God won't save me.
God just won't save me. And he asked him, he said, well,
have you ever asked him to save you? No. No. Well, ask him. Ask him. He's not going to lie to anyone. He's not going to deceive anyone. Ask him. I'm so thankful. Many years ago, I began asking. I haven't quit asking. I haven't
quit asking, and by the grace of God, I'm gonna keep on asking,
Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner, because that's what I
am. Just like the Apostle Paul said,
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom he said,
I am chief. He didn't say I was chief, I
am chief. You see that new nature. When
a person is born again, we come to realize in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. No good thing. If we boast, and
we should, we should boast, we should brag, but not on ourselves,
but on Christ. Amen. Here's the third thing
about these trees. A tree planted in the house of
the Lord will bring forth fruit. You know, David here says, I
am like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord. Now, olives
were very useful in that day, still are. But the olive tree
produced olives, and then the berries, they're squashed, aren't
they? They're pressed, I should say,
not squashed, pressed. And they give their oil. And
that oil was used for many things in that day. It was used for
their lamps in the temple, in the tabernacle in David's day. But there was always the seven
lamps that were burning, and that oil. came from olives. And olive oil savors our food,
doesn't it? They used it to savor, flavor
food. And it also was used to refresh. From what I have read and from
what David says in the 23rd Psalm, thou anointest my head with oil. In that hot climate, I mean,
temperature is very over 100 degrees and people come from
a journey and they come into a tent or something and they'd
anoint the head with oil, it would refresh them. And oh, the
tree that God plants in his house produce fruit, fruit. Paul in Galatians spoke about
it as the fruit of the spirit and the first thing he mentions
is love. And all these other things that
he mentions all come out of love. Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness,
goodness, faith, humility, temperance. Think of how very useful is the
fruit in a believer's life. Useful to himself and useful
to those around him. I want you to look at another
verse with me. This is very special to me, and
you'll see why. Look with me at Psalm 92. Psalm
92 and verse 13. Those that be planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall still bring forth fruit in old age. You see why I said
it was special to me? I'm still praying and asking
to be filled with the Spirit of God and bring forth fruit.
Aren't you? Don't you desire that, to bring
forth more fruit? Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
patience, temperance, kindness. Against such there is no law.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall
be fat and flourishing. To show, why? To show, to testify
that the Lord is upright. He's my rock and there's no unrighteousness
in him. Well, here's my last point. First
of all, a tree in the house of the Lord is planted there. By
the Lord, a tree in the house of the Lord must have water for
its life, and Christ is the water of life. A tree planted in the
house of the Lord will bring forth fruit. And number four,
a tree planted in the house of the Lord will never die. Will never die. Some of us have
seen some very old trees. Several years ago, I was in Florida. I believe Pat was with me. I
was preaching there in Orlando. And we were taken out to see
a tree. First time I'd ever had that
happen. You need to go out and see this tree. And this tree
was named Lady Liberty. Lady Liberty. It's a bald cypress. And it's estimated to be 2,000
years old, in the swamps there almost. And there was a little
distance from that tree, there was a stump over here, which
at one time had been older, 20 and 12, that tree died. And it
was estimated to be 3,500 years old when it died. And I thought, as I was preparing
this message, thinking about those trees, when David wrote
this psalm, that tree, if they were correct, that tree was alive
when David wrote this psalm, that one that was 3,500 years
old when it died. Lightning, if I understood it
right, lightning struck the tree and it caught on fire, and that's
what killed it. But all plants have a lifespan,
don't they? Sometimes you start off in the
spring and you bring home some plants and they bloom and they're
so pretty. But you know, after a while,
the sun takes the summer, they die. They have a lifespan, all
trees. But I tell you, this tree has
everlasting life, shall never die. This body will die. This body
will. But the believer won't. Whosoever
liveth and believeth in me, our Lord said, shall never die. Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life. Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? That's the question, isn't it,
to each one of us. Do you believe the Son of God? If you do, it's because He first
loved you. gave you faith, gave you repentance,
and now you want to live for him and serve him. I pray that
the Lord would bless this word to all of us here this morning.
David is going to come and lead you in a couple of hymns, and
Christi, if you will, let's meet here in the back.