Black Forest this evening to
look at Psalm 40. Psalm 40. I would imagine that most of
us have heard the hymn, He Brought Me Out. The chorus to that hymn
goes like this. He brought me out of the miry
clay. He set my feet on the rock to
stay. He puts a song in my soul today,
a song of praise, hallelujah. The author, I know, Because if
you see that hymn printed, it will refer to verse number two
of this psalm, Psalm 40. He brought me up also out of
an horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He brought me out of the
miry clay. He set my feet on the rock to
stay. He puts a song in my soul today,
a song of praise. Hallelujah. The truth is, the
truth is that while these words may serve to describe a believer's
conversion experience, these are the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ. All of the words in this psalm
are the words of the Lord. And we know that, we know that
the psalm refers to Christ because if you look down to verses six
through 10, these words are quoted by the apostle in Hebrews chapter
10, verses five through seven. Let me read you from Hebrews.
Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice
and 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, to do thy will, O God. As we look at this psalm tonight,
as we read through it and make some comments upon it, I encourage
you to take this psalm, get alone, and pray over this psalm, and
ask the Lord to enable you to enter in to the Lord Jesus Christ,
because surely these are His words in this psalm, and it is
a blessed psalm. And I studied for this message
and I thought I would say that this is something like holy ground. When you come to meditate and
think upon this psalm, it's like God told Moses, take off your
shoes at the burning bush because you're on holy ground. And it
was holy ground because the Lord was there and the Lord The Lord
Jesus Christ is in this psalm. We're going to look tonight at
the psalm, dividing it into four divisions. The first division,
the first three verses, I waited patiently for the Lord, and he
inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out
of an horrible pit, out of the marry clay, and set my feet upon
a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in
my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see, and fear,
and shall trust in the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ never,
never, when he was here in the flesh, he never displayed any
impatience at God's providence. He never displayed any impatience
with God's providence for him in this world. But these verses
here especially refer to the time when he was suffering, suffering. I know all of his life was a
life of suffering. I pointed that out recently in
a message when the Lord said the baptism with which I am baptized. Not I will be baptized with,
but the baptism with which I am baptized, that is present tense.
His whole life in this world was a life of suffering. He was
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But these verses here tonight,
they refer especially if we could in our mind think of him when
he entered into the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his
crucifixion. And then his mock trial when
he was taken before the religious leaders at first and then the
civil leaders, how he was mistreated, maltreated by the soldiers, by
his accusers. the cross, the time that he spent
there upon the cross suffering. the agony that he knew. And then
the three days that his body was asleep in the grave. These verses refer especially
to that end time of his life in this world. Waiting. I waited patiently for the Lord. This could be translated waiting. I waited. Throughout his sufferings,
he waited. He waited And at the same time,
he cried unto the Lord. Let me read from Matthew chapter
26 if you want to turn here with me. When we think about him crying
unto the Lord and praying, this passage here in Matthew 26 speaks
of him that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, beginning with
verse 36. Matthew 26 and verse 36, Then
cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith
unto the disciples, Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder. And
he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began
to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, my soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, tarry you here and
watch with me. And he went a little farther
and fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh, my father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as
I will, but as I will. And he cometh unto the disciples
and findeth them asleep and saith unto Peter, what, could you not
watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second
time and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup may not pass
away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he
came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. And
he left them and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying
the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples
and saith unto them, sleep on now, and take your rest. Behold,
the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the
hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. He is
at hand that doth betray me. And there's a verse in Hebrews
chapter five and verse seven I'm going to read, who in the
days of his flesh, speaking of Christ, in the days of his flesh,
when he had offered up prayers and supplications, now listen,
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save
him from death and was heard in that he feared. Notice the
psalmist tells us here, I waited patiently for the Lord and he
inclined, he inclined unto me and heard my cry. He brought him up out of a horrible
pit, out of the miry clay. Now the word which is translated
pit here has a signification of a cavern. a deep cavern in
which he was, and it's a word that pictures a cavern where
there's water and the sound of water, the sound of water roaring
in this cavern. And that's where the Lord Jesus
Christ was as our surety when he endured the punishment, the
punishment for the sins of his people, when he was made a curse.
That's what he was. He was made a curse. The scripture
said, cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree. And when
he was hanging there upon that tree, he was made a curse for
us that he might redeem us, that is his people, from the curse
of the law. The law cursed everyone and curses
everyone who does not obey it perfectly. And none of us have. And we were all cursed by the
law. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ,
by his suffering, he has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
One writer commented on this horrible pit. Messiah, in his
sufferings for us, had to bear the thunders of the divine justice
against our sins. The horror of the maledictory
sentence of the law. the mocking of men, and the howling
of insulting demons. And this Murray Clay, it pictures
someone who's not able to get his footing. It's slippery. And then he's loaded down and
slides. And I couldn't help but think,
of this miry clay if it doesn't picture the bottomless pit. You
know, several times in the revelation, hell is described as a bottomless
pit, being cast into a bottomless pit, a place where you cannot
get any footing, any stability. The Lord Jesus Christ was in
such a place that night, or that day, rather, upon the cross. But he brought him out, he says.
He brought me out, brought me up also out of an horrible pit,
out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established
my goings. And that rock, no doubt, is the
throne of God. For that's where he is today.
And that's where He's been since His ascension back to the Father
upon the throne of God, which is also His throne, the throne
of the Lamb. In verse 3, He hath put a new
song in my mouth. The night before His crucifixion,
the Bible tells us that after giving them what we call the
Lord's Supper, they sang a hymn and went out into the Mount of
Olives. And no doubt what they sang was
one of the psalms. That was very common. They sang
one of the psalms that night. But the song the Lord Jesus Christ
is singing today is a much greater song, the song that he now leads
his saints in singing in heaven, it's a song of redemption accomplished. Redemption accomplished. He hath redeemed his people by
his blood. And notice it says many. Verse
3, and he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto
our God. And many, many shall see it. Many. A multitude described in
revelation that no man can number. shall see his work of redemption. That is, shall see his sacrifice
upon the cross. And I want you to notice the
order here. They shall see, they shall fear,
they shall trust. What a word about our experience
in coming to know the Lord. First of all, we see. He gives
us eyes to see. We see our sinfulness. We see
our sinfulness, and we see how that Christ is a perfect Savior. He's exactly the Savior that
I need, that I must have if I'm to appear before God. And we
trust. We see, we fear, and we trust. Charles Spurgeon commented, trusting
in the Lord is the evidence of salvation, nay, the essence of
salvation, trusting in the Lord. Well, the second division of
the Psalm, verses four and five, blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust and respecteth not the proud nor such as turn
aside the lies, Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works
which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered. This actually is
an exclamation. Blessed, notice it, blessed is
that man, O happy, O the happiness of that man. Which man? That man that maketh the Lord
his trust. That's you tonight. If you trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, happy, blessed
is the man. And I was reading again the life
of George Buehler. And one of the things I've noticed,
he said that every believer, every morning, should start off
with these two things. First of all, rest. rest in the Lord. And second,
happy. Happy in the Lord. Blessed is
the man that maketh the Lord his trust. There's no cause for
discouragement, for depression, for God's people, because we
are blessed if we trust in the Lord. Blessed, happy is the man. It's like that first Psalm. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor setteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is
in the law of the Lord. Yes, blessed is that man. And I want you, he says the man
that trusts in the Lord, he doesn't turn aside to lies. Well, many times, you know, here
in the Old Testament, lies refers to idols, lying vanities. They can't do anything, but they
promise a lot. Blessed is the man whose heart
is fixed, trusting in the Lord, and will not turn aside to idols
or to heresies, those false teachings that false prophets bring and
would subvert the believer. And I want you to notice this
in verse five, these two words, my and us. You see those two
words in verse five, many of a Lord, my God are the wonderful
works, which thou has done and thy thoughts, which are to us
word. Remember now, these are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ. who through His incarnation,
we know, calls God, My God, My God. Many, O Lord, My God. And through Him, all believers,
that we too may know God as our God, My God. But then, now I
said these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, now
look at the verse, verse 5. Many, O Lord, My God. are thy wonderful works which
thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward. First it was just him, right? My God, singular. But now it's plural, us, his
thoughts concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and all of his people
together. All of his people. Thoughts which
take in our fallen Adam, our reconciliation, our conversion,
our pardon, him upholding us, perfecting us in heaven. Thoughts
of love. The Lord Jesus Christ, in his
prayer in John 17, said, Thou, speaking to the Father, Thou
hast loved them, that is, his disciples, Thou hast loved them
as Thou hast loved me. Thy thoughts, many, O Lord my
God, are Thy wonderful works. And don't we see that in creation? We know this world is cursed,
we know that. But yet you cannot help but marvel
at the beauty of creation. God's works. That didn't just
happen by a big bang. We know better than that. God,
in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And
then his works of providence. Mike and I were visiting last
Monday. We were talking about providence,
how wonderful providence is. When we look back in our life
and see how the Lord, as we sang that hymn just a little time
ago, all the way my Savior leads me. His providence in directing
our steps and guiding us to bringing us to where we are tonight. We
didn't just happen to come here. It's not just luck that brought
us here. There's no such thing as luck. There's God's providence,
God's will. And what a blessing it is to
think about His wonderful works of creation, His wonderful works
of providence, but my, His wonderful works of redemption. Did you get those words we sang
in that hymn a while ago about His love in that first hymn at
the cross, His love? Can you imagine that, that God
loved you, that he loved me so much that he gave his only begotten
son? Many are thy thoughts. Look,
I want to read a verse that you don't have to turn here, but
Jeremiah chapter 29, and these are the words of the Lord. to the nation of Israel, but
they apply to every child of God. God said, for I know the
thoughts that I think toward you. We don't know, do we? We don't know what's on tomorrow.
And we get anxious, but God knows. He said, I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace.
Oh my. What a thought. Thoughts of peace,
that we might have peace with God. And not of evil. And notice,
to give you an expected end. What an end God has reserved
for His people. To be with Him, at His right
hand, there's fullness of joy. The third division, back in the
psalm, verses six through 10. Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire, or didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burn
offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said
I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. I have declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness
and thy truth from the great congregation. The offerings of
the law, the blood of animals, the fine flour, the wine offerings,
all of those things, they never pleased God in the sense they
had no power to take away sin. The only thing about those offerings
that were typical, if a man offered those, not trusting in that offering,
not trusting in him offering that offering, but looking at
that offering and seeing that picture's the one that's promised
to come. By faith, looking to Christ.
But the blood of animals, and bulls, and goats could not take
away sin. Their value was only as they
typically pictured the Lord Jesus and his great offering. Now it
says, my ears hast thou opened, Now this may refer to the law
of the Hebrew servant. Remember, a Hebrew servant, he
could only serve for six years. In the seventh year, the owner
had to turn him loose. But if he said, I love my master,
I love my wife, I love my children, then his ear would be bored opened
as this, digged as this verse says, and he would remain a servant
forever. It may refer to that, but it
especially has reference to Christ's obedience, his prompt obedience
to do the Father's will. I come to do thy will, O God. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. And he alone perfectly did God's
will in every respect. Not to do God's will, of course,
is sin. But the Lord was able to pray,
I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And notice
these two statements. I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. The Lord Jesus, first of all,
he was a preacher. He was a preacher, he came preaching,
repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He came preaching
and he preached righteousness at his baptism when he went to
be baptized and that's when he entered into his public ministry,
you know. And John said, no, said, I have
need to be baptized of you. And you come to me. And the Lord
said, suffer it to be so, John, that we might fulfill all righteousness. That we might fulfill all righteousness. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ and all of the members of his body, all believers, that
we might fulfill all righteousness. Then in his sermon on the mount,
he said, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. And in that same sermon, he said,
except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added
unto thee. Men are concerned about food,
about clothes, about the things of this world, and we must have
a certain concern for those things, but our Lord said this, seek
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these
things will be added. They'll all be taken care of.
God's gonna take care of his people. He preached righteousness. And he maintained the righteousness
that the law required. And he unfolded the way by his
death as a substitute, how that God may be righteous, and justify
the ungodly by faith. And then the last division, the
fourth division is the longest division 11, verses 11 through
17. These verses are prayer. They are the prayer of our Savior. Withhold not Thou tender mercies
from me, O Lord. Let Thy loving kindness and Thy
truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have come
past me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help
me. Let them be ashamed and confounded
together that seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be driven
backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate
for a reward of their shame that say unto me, aha, aha, that all
those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such
as love thy salvation say continually, the Lord be magnified. But I
am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my
help and my deliverer. Make no tearing, O my God. These last verses are the prayer
of the Lord Jesus Christ in light of his afflictions. And it is
a prayer in which he asks for and is confident. You cannot
read these verses without saying, yes, he's asking, but he's confident
of receiving God's tender mercies and bringing him through this
great ordeal, all of his untold sufferings. As one who trusts in Him, we
should meditate upon these truths in verse 12. For innumerable
evils, sorrows, innumerable sorrows. You can't calculate the sorrows
that came upon the Lord Jesus Christ. For innumerable evils,
sorrows have come past me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me. Yes, but you know that he had
no iniquities of his own. No, he didn't. But the iniquities
of his people, the sins of his people, were laid upon him and
they became his. He became accountable for them
before the holy law and justice of God. And the load of sin was
so great, so great, he could not look up. so that I am not able to look
up. And really, I'm not able to see,
is what he is saying here. And think about this, when you
look at that verse and meditate upon it, the iniquities, which
he calls mine, were ours. If you are a child of God tonight,
recognize your iniquities, is what he's talking about. Your
iniquities, my iniquities caused him innumerable sorrows, more
sorrows, he says, than the hairs of his head. And this reminded
me of that verse in Lamentations where we read, is it nothing
to you, all you that pass by? Behold and see. If there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. But we see his faith and his
confidence in expressing in that last verse, yet the Lord thinketh
upon me. The Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ
was deserted upon the cross in a mysterious way. We can't explain
this. I can't explain it. I know it was his manifested
presence of the Lord that was withdrawn. God cannot be divided. There's no division in God. He's
one God. But yet he experienced a forsaking
of the Lord, which is likened to what's going to happen to
the lost when they leave this world and go into hell. We can't even begin to imagine
what hell is like. Forsaken of God. In this world,
people don't know God. Many people, they don't know
God. But still, the presence of God is here in many different
ways. But to go out of this world lost
without Christ, be cast into a devil's hell, is to be forsaken
of God. That's what our Lord experienced,
wasn't it? And he was forsaken so that his people will never
be forsaken. The Lord, he said, thinketh upon
me. We see that separation, but still
in that cry from the cross, my God, my God. He still called him his God,
didn't he? Even when he was forsaken, he
still believed in God, trusted in him. My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Well, I pray the Lord would bless
these words to us tonight, and I encourage you, if you will,
to take this psalm and pray over it, read through it, and think
about it. meditate upon it, what a blessing
it is to realize these are the words of our Savior. Brother
Bill, if you will, lead us in a hymn. Let's all stand and turn
to number 127. So sorry about the change, but
let's