If you will, turn with me in
your Bibles today to Psalm 116. Psalm 116. I'm going to read
the first nine verses I loved the Lord, because he
hath heard my voice and my supplications, because he hath inclined his
ear unto me. Therefore will I call upon him
as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed
me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is
the Lord and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. The Lord
preserveth the simple. I was brought low and he helped
me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered
my soul from death. mine eyes from tears and my feet
from falling. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. This morning, I want you, if
you will, to keep your Bibles open to this passage that I've
just read. I want us to look at this today
as a personal testimony. personal testimony of David,
the psalmist David. And there are several truths
that are suggested to us, and you and I, those of us today
who know Christ as our Lord and Savior, will see that these things
that he wrote of are true in our lives and maybe you're here
this morning and you will find these things true to be in your
life if you have never confessed Christ as your Lord and Savior. My first thought is that salvation
is personal. I, notice the first word, I love
the Lord. Salvation has to do with you
as an individual, has to do with men as individuals. Now it's
a great blessing to be born into a Christian family, but that's
not salvation. It's a great blessing to attend
a church where the Word of God is believed and known to be the
Word of God and is proclaimed as the Word of God. That's a
great blessing, but that's not salvation. It's a great blessing
to be in a congregation that believe the truth about salvation,
the sovereign grace of God, to hear the Word of God proclaimed. believed and proclaimed. That's
a great blessing, but it is not salvation. Salvation is personal. David,
he was able to say, I love the Lord. Are you able to say that
this morning? On the day of Pentecost, we read
this in the book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, we're told
that about 3,000 souls gladly received Peter's word and were
baptized. But each and every one of those
3,000, if they were truly converted, each and every one of those 3,000,
they were pricked in their heart individually And they said, what
must we do? And they heard the message that
Peter proclaimed, repent. Salvation doesn't come to a group
of people as a group. Now, I've read of days of great
awakenings. We know in our country there
was a first great awakening, there was a second great awakening. And many souls, no doubt, I'm
talking about in the 1700s and 1800s, there's no question that
many souls were born again and brought into a local church.
But everyone who truly was saved was saved as an individual. They
weren't all just rushed in as a group into salvation. Salvation is personal. The Lord
Jesus Christ, he said this, all things are delivered unto me
of my father. Now, I assume when he said all,
he meant all. All things, all men, all decisions,
all things are delivered unto me of my father. And no man,
no man knoweth the son, but the father. Neither knoweth any man
the father save the son. Now listen, and he to whosoever,
whomsoever the son will reveal him. That word whomsoever is
personal. It's not a plural word, it's
a singular word. No man knoweth the Father save
the Son, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He to whomsoever
the Son shall reveal Him. Salvation comes by revelation. It's the work of God, the work
of the Son of God by His Spirit revealing the truth, the gospel
to an individual. Notice the difference in these
two texts. Our text here in Psalm 116 is,
I love the Lord. That's personal, isn't it? I
love the Lord. And then in 1 John, in chapter
four and verse 19, we read, we love him because he first loved
us. Look at the difference between
those two texts. They both declare the truth. But that last verse, we love
him because he first loved us, we might find that verse written
in a church statement of faith. And that's a wonderful truth,
that God has always loved his elect, that God's love for his
people is an eternal love. And I'm sure David knew that,
and I'm sure he would have confessed that. But notice how personal
David is. I love the Lord. I love the Lord. And that's ever so important
to every one of us. Like I said, it's good to be
in a church and the people love the Lord, but so if I'm in a
group of people and they love the Lord, but do I love the Lord? Can I say I love the Lord? I love him. I can read that scripture. We love the Lord. We love him
because he first loved us. And I know that's true. I know
that's a doctrinal statement that is absolutely true. But
the psalmist said, I love the Lord. And that just makes me
realize and mention to you and I this morning that salvation
is personal. The Lord Jesus told some people
one day, he said, if ye believe not that I am, if ye believe
not that I am, that ye is singular, isn't it? If ye, if ye believe
not that I am, ye shall die in your sins. You know, every time
the gospel is preached, This was brought out in our Bible
study class earlier by Brother Streeter. But every time the
gospel is preached and the power of the Holy Spirit, two things
happen. Some people hear the word of
God, believe the word of God, and rejoice in the word of God.
It's a savor of life unto some. But there are others, when they
or in a congregation, it's not a savor of life unto them, it's
a savor of death. Their hearts are hardened. When
a person hears the gospel, today is a day to believe. It's not
tomorrow, it's not when I get older, it's today. Today is a day of salvation. That's my first point I wanted
to bring to us from these verses, that salvation is personal. The second thing that I would
point out to us, if you still have your Bibles open there,
a child of God loves the Lord. Do you notice the word, the title,
Lord, is in capitals, isn't it? It's not the man upstairs. It's
not the man upstairs. David doesn't say, I love the
man upstairs. I love a greater power. No, no. I love the Lord. That is Jehovah. God's people, God's children
love him. And the fear of the Lord is a
beginning of wisdom. And when a person is born of
the spirit of God, That fear is a certain reverence for God
because of who He is and who we are. I love the Lord. I love the Lord. You know, when
Moses, you can read this in chapters 32 and 33 of Exodus, but Moses,
he asked the Lord one day, and he'd already seen a whole lot.
Think about this. He had seen the plagues in Egypt. He had seen the Red Sea open
up. One day he asked the Lord, show me thy glory. Show me thy glory. And this is
what the Lord said to him. I will make all my goodness pass
before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. Made all of his goodness pass
before Moses. And then he put Moses in the
cleft of the rock. And I know that he passed by
And he told Moses, you can see my back parts, but no man can
see my face and live. But he passed by and he proclaimed
the name of the Lord. And this is so interesting when
we think about this name and it's this name, Lord, it's Jehovah,
Jehovah. And when he proclaimed his name,
he said this, the Lord, the Lord God. Now that name, Jehovah,
Lord, speaks of the fact that He is eternal. But not only eternal,
He is I Am. He was I Am before time began. And when all time has ended,
and yes, there will be a time when God declares, time shall
be no more. And when that time comes, He's
still I am. And he hasn't changed between
before the foundation of the world and when time comes to
an end. When he brings time to an end,
his eternality, but it doesn't only declare his eternality,
but his self existence. God doesn't need us. God doesn't
need his creation. It seems to me that most of religious
thought today is that somehow God needs us. He doesn't need you. I mean, he's always been. Got along
just fine before you ever came into this world. He doesn't need
you. He doesn't need me. We live and
move and have our being in him. We need Him. And that name, that
title, Jehovah, His self-existence, He doesn't need anyone. And even
the work of Christ, you see this in Psalm chapter 16, even His
work, the work of Christ didn't add anything to God. Didn't add
anything to God. And this word, Lord, Also, this
title also tells us that he's a covenant God. God has made
a covenant. And basically there are two covenants. There's a covenant of works and
every lost person who comes into this world, every person who
comes into this world comes in lost and is under that covenant
of works. And that covenant demands that
we obey God perfectly. But thank God he made a covenant
of grace also. He made that covenant. It's an
everlasting covenant. He made that covenant with us
in our head that is Christ. The Lord. And then he repeats
that. The Lord. The Lord. Why does he repeat that? Why
does he repeat his name? Well, look. Look again. Look again. Look again. And no matter how long we look,
He is infinite in every way. If you think about His holiness,
He's infinite in holiness. Think about His love. Think about
His wisdom. You know, the Apostle Paul in
Romans 11 said, oh, the depth of the wisdom of God. It's past
finding out. Look, look again. The Lord, the
Lord. And you'll never come to the
bottom in looking and learning about him. He's infinite. But then he added the word, the
name God, the Lord, the Lord God. And that of course speaks
to us of his power, his power that he is a ruler in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Lord, you know the apostle Paul
wrote in Romans 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, Jesus is Lord. You know, there's an article
on the back of the bulletin today, and Brother Joe Terrell was the
author of that. I hope you'll read it, but he
brings this out, that we don't make Christ Lord. You know, that's
preached in so many places. Make Him the Lord of your life.
No, God made Him Lord. God made that Jesus who was crucified
both Lord and Christ. When we confess Him, as that
verse says, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, not just Jesus, but the Lord Jesus. Who's your master? Who bought you? And who has conquered
you? Who has delivered you and become
your master? Thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Who's your master? Who's your
Lord today? If you're a child of God, he
is. It's interesting in the book
of Acts where we have the messages of the apostles, what messages
we have, that we always see this order, Lord and Christ. Lord and Jesus. It's never reversed. It's always Lord. The apostles
went forth. Once they saw the resurrected
Christ, They went forth preaching this message that He's alive,
and not only is He alive, but all authority, all power is given
unto Him, both in heaven and in earth, and He's on the throne. He's on the throne and has been. That is, the God-man, Jesus Christ,
is on the throne. The Lord. That's what David was
confessing here. I love the Lord. I love the Lord. Now here's a third thought that
comes to me from these verses. A child of God has had experience
with sorrows and the pains of hell. Notice that in verse three. The sorrows of death compassed
me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord. Now, I want to be very careful
here. I don't want to say too much
about David's conversion experience. There's always a danger when
we talk about a conversion experience that someone will hear that and
they will take that to be a rule that I've got to experience that
same thing. I heard a pastor recently speak
about his mother who was then in heaven when he made this statement,
but he said she troubled all her life with assurance, a godly
woman. But she troubled all of her life
about assurance until almost the end of her life. And he said
the reason was her mother, his grandmother, her mother, when
she was under conviction of sin, it was like God took her and
just held her over the pit of hell. And she always talked about
that, and so her daughter, came to believe that if she didn't
experience something like that, how could she be saved? John
Bunyan, he said he was under conviction of sin for seven years
before he found peace. So we always have to be careful
when we talk about a person's experience. But at the same time,
in a person's conversion, he or she will be made aware, first
of all, that he's lost. That he's lost. How can you be
found if you're not lost? Several years ago, I met a brother
out in California, and he told me of an experience that he had
had He was on vacation and attended a service somewhere in the Midwest
and he said after the service he was talking to the pastor
and he asked the pastor, he said, how long have you been a Christian?
And he said, all my life. I've been a Christian all my
life. And his word was, that's too long. That's too long. He hadn't always been a Christian. Every child of God knows something
about conviction of sin. David speaks about the pains
of hell here. And it may describe what a person
experiences when his conscience is loaded down with guilt. The guilt of sin can be very
troubling. There's no question about it.
When a person truly recognizes, I've sinned against a holy God,
and God is angry with the wicked every day. You say, does the
Bible say that? It sure does. God is angry with the wicked
every day. Well, I don't consider myself
to be wicked. You may not, but if you don't
know Christ as your Lord and Savior, That's how God describes
you as ungodly, hateful, hating one another, wicked. A person has to experience some
kind of conviction that sin has separated me from God. And there's a gulf. There's a
mountain, or whatever you want to call it, but there's something
that separates me from my God. And the scriptures tells us it's
our sin. Our sin. David, he felt some
of that. He knew something about that.
Look at the verse again. The sorrows of death compassed
me. The pains of hell got hold upon
me. I found trouble and sorrow. Have
you ever had any sorrow over your sin? Have you ever found
any trouble over the fact that you are a sinner? That you're
lost? You know, as Brother Richardson,
I believe it was, said one time, a person has to hear the bad
news before he can hear the good news. The bad news. The bad news. David heard that
somehow. He felt that. But then fourthly and lastly,
a child of God rejoices in the gospel. You see this in verses five and
six, and I want to point out four things there to us in those
verses. A child of God rejoices in the
gospel. Gracious is the Lord. You know, one of his titles in
the New Testament is the God of all grace. We all know that
grace means unmerited favor. The Lord is gracious. When he
declared his goodness to Moses, he said, being gracious to whom
he would be gracious. When I think of his unmerited
favor of grace. There are so many truths that
come to my mind, but let me just mention a couple. God is gracious. First of all, God will allow
a substitute to pay our sin debt. That's grace. He could have demanded that each
one for himself pay that sin debt. But do you see unmerited
favor in the fact that God has allowed a substitute to pay the
sin debt? And God will accept it and has
accepted it. That's grace. That's unmerited
favor. He could have demanded that each
and every solid person who comes into this world pay his own debt. No exceptions. No exceptions. Pay or be eternally lost. But in his grace, he has provided
one who would pay, not only accept the payment of a substitute,
but he provided a substitute to pay that payment. You know,
Abraham, when he was, what, about 120, something like that, maybe
not quite that old, he's going up the mountain, his son Isaac
is with him, and God's told him to take his son up on that mountain
and offer him as a sacrifice. And Isaac tells his dad, he said,
Father, here's the fire. Had to carry the fire with him.
They didn't have any matches. Right? Here's the fire. Here's the wood. Where's the
lamb? Where's the lamb? Where's the substitute, the sacrifice? And those words that Abraham
spoke to his son Isaac, my son, the Lord shall provide himself
the lamb. And you know that can be understood
in two different ways, can't it? He would provide a lamb for
himself or he would provide himself as the lamb. And he's done both. He did both, didn't he? He provided
himself the lamb. We sing that hymn when I see
the blood. Whose blood are we talking about?
We're talking about the blood, we're singing about the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man's blood. Grace, the Lord is gracious. For by grace are you saved through
faith. If we're saved by grace, The
Lord is gracious. He doesn't have to show grace
to anyone. And if you can ever find, now
listen to me, if you can ever find one little reason why God
would save you, why God would be gracious to you, that's not
grace. You're not talking about grace
anymore. You're talking about merit. No,
the Lord is gracious. And second, we read the Lord
is righteous. He is gracious, but not at the
expense of his justice, not at the expense of his holiness.
Sometimes you may be asked by someone, they'll say, well, if
God is love, and he is, If God is love, why doesn't he just
overlook or forgive all the sins of everyone? Why doesn't he just
do that? A person who asks that question
doesn't realize that he's more than love. Yes, God is love,
but he's also holiness. He's also justice. Yes, and his
justice and his holiness must be satisfied. The Lord is righteous. And I know he would not have
saved one sinner if he had not found a way whereby his holiness
and justice would be satisfied, and yet he could pass over, pass
by the sinner. The Lord is righteous. Let me
ask you something. Would you accept salvation? Would
you be saved if it meant that God would not be holy? Would you? Would you accept salvation if
it meant that God would lose his purity, his holiness. Think about that. I want to be saved, don't you?
But I want to be saved in a way that glorifies God. I don't want
to be saved in any way that would somehow cast reflection upon
him and his holiness. The third thing that the psalmist
here says, first of all, he said, the Lord is gracious, and then
he said he's righteous, and now he says he's merciful. Merciful. Oh, God is merciful. You know, mercy looked upon man
and his lost estate, and it marked the present suffering and future
woe. It saw what we had brought upon
ourselves and what we were bound to experience. That is an awful
eternity separated from God. And mercy found, mercy found
a substitute. Mercy found a way that God might
be just and justify the ungodly. There was a man we read about
in the gospels that was a beggar. He was a blind beggar. And I
suppose people took him out, led him out there to the side
of the street where he where he begged every day. His name
was Bartimaeus. One day he heard that Jesus of
Nazareth was going to pass right by where he was sitting. And
there was a big crowd. A lot of people. Made a lot of
noise. But you know, he started crying
out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. The people going, be quiet. Be
quiet. Who do you think you are? We
don't want to hear you. But the more they tried to shut
him up, the louder he cried. Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy upon me. And you know the story, don't
you? The Lord, the Son stood still. The Son of God stood still
and called Bartimaeus to him. And he just threw off everything.
Now, a beggar doesn't have a whole lot. I mean, he had a cloak, I guess,
to keep him warm. But I tell you, when the Lord
called him, he just threw it all off. I've got to get to him. I've
got to get to him. And what did he find? He cried
for mercy. What did he find when he came
to Christ? He found mercy. What would thou
have me do to you or do for you that I might see? And immediately
the Lord gave him his sight. And what do you think that man
did? What do you think he did? Well,
the scripture tells us, doesn't it? Well, he followed Jesus in
the way. He followed the Lord, worshiping
and praising him. Now, one last thing. Notice the
Lord preserveth the simple. Do you see that in that next
verse? The Lord preserveth the simple. Those whom God saves by His grace
through the blood of Jesus Christ, He preserves. He gives His sheep
everlasting life, and they shall never perish. They shall never
perish. I like a story that you've probably
heard before. Charles Spurgeon told it in some
of his sermons. But there was a man who applied
for church membership in a local church. Back then, they would
bring a person before a committee and ask him his experience, his
conversion experience, because they wanted to keep the church
pure. And this man came and they said, well, tell us your experience.
I'm a poor sinner and nothing at all. Jesus Christ is my all
in all. Well, that's not good enough
for us. We can't trust that. No, you
can't become a member now. You can't be baptized now. So
about three months later, they called him back. And they asked
him again, what's your experience? I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. Some people say he was simple.
All of God's people are simple in that way. Jesus Christ is
all in all. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. I want you to look at one other
verse. Turn to Jeremiah. It's not too far towards the
front of the Bible. Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse
40. And I call our attention here
because The psalmist said the Lord preserveth, preserveth the
simple. In Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse
40. This is one of those covenant
promises, 3240. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do
them good. That's a wonderful promise, isn't
it? This is God's covenant promise,
and that covenant was sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ.
Never going to be changed, never going to be altered. I will not turn away from them
to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts that
they shall not depart from me. He won't turn away from us if
we know him as our Lord, and we won't turn away from him.
Why? Because he has put his fear in
our hearts. It's amazing what some people
will go to to try to disprove the word of God, I remember that
scripture which, where the Lord says, he has his sheep in his
hand. And no man is able to pluck one
of them out of my hand. And one writer, he said, well,
that's true, but you know, people can, they can wiggle out between
the fingers. It's amazing, isn't it? what
link some people will go to to deny the plain scripture, the
promises of God. He preserves his people. He keeps us. And he does it by
giving us a heart so that we won't depart from him. May the
Lord bless this word this day.