Let us open our Bibles tonight
to the book of Psalms. And tonight I would like to read
Psalm 11 and speak to us from one of the verses in this Psalm. Psalm 11. And the Lord put out
my trust. I'll say you to my soul, flee
as a bird to your mountain. For lo, the wicked bend their
bow. They make ready their arrow upon
the string that they may privately shoot at the upright in heart.
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The
Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven.
His eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous,
but the wicked in him that loveth violence his soul hateth. Upon
the wicked he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and an horrible
tempest. This shall be the portion of
their cup. For the righteous Lord loveth
righteousness, His countenance doth behold the upright. I want to speak to us tonight
from verse three, which is really a question. If the foundations
be destroyed, what can the righteous do? And my message this evening
has two parts. The first part is simply this. There are foundations that can
be destroyed. We assume that from this text. If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? So there are foundations that
can be destroyed. There is no consensus as to what
is meant here by foundations that can be destroyed. And when
I say no consensus, I mean among the commentators, among the Jewish
commentators, as well as among the Christian commentators, there's
no consensus of opinion as to what is meant by the foundations
that can be destroyed. There's a lot of opinions, a
lot of different ideas and suggestions. And after studying, I want to
give you what I believe is meant in this verse, what foundations
can be destroyed. We say that it is a Psalm of
David. There's no title to this Psalm.
It just simply says a Psalm of David. And it is agreed among
all the commentators that it must have been written when he
was being persecuted by King Saul. When he was advised, if
you notice in verse one, to flee, to flee as a bird to your mountain. A time when David was being hunted
by King Saul. As he said in another psalm,
as a partridge, as a bird, upon the hills and among the caves
and the mountains, the rocks. It was a time, and this is what
I believe is meant by the foundations that can be destroyed. It was
a time when instead of justice being administered, there was
injustice. That the king, who was the judge,
the final authority in the nation of Israel, that he instead of
administering justice, he was responsible for the injustice
that David experienced. The Apostle Paul in the New Testament
speaking of the believer's responsibility towards civil authority said,
rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. But we say that was not true.
that Saul, he was a ruler, and yet he was a terror to good works. That is, he was a terror to David,
who had only been loyal to King Saul and showed his loyalty in
fighting the battles of Israel. Remember that one battle he fought
when he was the only one, when all the armies of Israel were
afraid of the giant, Goliath. But David stepped forward and
in the name of the Lord, he went forth. What a great victory God
wrought through David. And you would think Saul would
have been forever thankful and would have showed justice to
David, but he didn't. We know that he sought to kill
David. One time, he threw a javelin
at David, trying to destroy him there in the palace of the king. And then David had to flee. And
when David fled, I believe this is one of the Psalms he wrote
when he was fleeing from this wicked king, King Saul. And If
you notice, and especially I believe refers to this that happened
during this time, an awful thing happened. David, in fleeing from
King Saul, he had to leave in a hurry. He left without anyone
going with him. He was alone. Didn't even take
his weapon with him. Took no provisions with him.
And he fled, and he came to the priest. I want you to look back
with me, if you will, to 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel. And first, we'll read in chapter
21. Verse 1, it says, Then came David
to Nob, to Abimelech the priest. And Abimelech was afraid at the
meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and
no man with thee? Well, we know why he was alone.
He was fleeing. He was running for his life from
the king. David said unto Abimelech the
priest, and we notice here that David lied. That's all you can
say. He lied. He told the priest,
when the priest asked him, why art thou alone and no man with
thee, David said unto Abimelech the priest, the king hath commanded
me a business. That wasn't true. That wasn't
true. And it said unto me, let no man
know anything of the business whereabout I send thee and what
I have commanded thee. And I have appointed my servants
to such and such a place. Now therefore, what is under
thine hand? Give me five loaves of bread
in mine hand, or what there is present. And you know the stories
you read on there, the priest told him there's no food here
except that food that's placed on the table of showbread. And
no one is allowed to eat that bread except the priest. But
he gave it to David, and David And those who were with him,
they did eat that bread. And David asked for a weapon,
and the priest said, the only weapon that's here is the weapon
that you used, David, when you cut off the head of Goliath.
The sword of Goliath is here. And David said, give it to me,
for there's none like it. But now notice in the next chapter,
1 Samuel chapter 22, Verse 8, well that's verse 7.
Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Here now,
you Benjamites, will the son of Jesse, that is David, will
the son of David or the son of Jesse give every one of you fields
and vineyards and make you all captains of thousands and captains
of hundreds, that all of you have conspired against me, And
there's none that showeth me that my son hath made a league
with the son of Jesse. And there is none of you that
is sorry for me. What a wicked man, felt sorry
for himself. Here he was the king. You know,
places of responsibility, places we would consider high places
are slippery places. They're dangerous places. And
this man, though he was a king, and yet he thought everyone was
against him. Jonathan his son had made a league
with David. No one told Saul about it. Or showeth unto me my son has
stirred up my servant against me to lie in wait, as it at this
day. Then said Doag, the Edomite. Now, he was not an Israelite.
He was a descendant of Esau, Edomite, which was said over
the servants of Saul and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming
to Nob, to Abimelech, the son of Ahaitab. And he inquired of
the Lord for him. Now, he didn't see that. The
priest did not inquire of the Lord for David. The priest was
deceived, Abimelech was deceived, and gave him bread and gave him
that sword. But you see, this wicked man
who was a servant of Saul, he's lying now, and he's lying on
the priest. I saw the son of Jesse coming
to Nob, to Abimelech, the son of Ahathub. And he inquired of
the Lord for him and gave him victuals, gave him the sword
of Goliath, the Philistine. Now that was true, but he didn't
tell Saul all the truth, did he? He was partial in telling
this story. And he tells it in such a way
to ingratiate himself to Saul and to speak evil of the priest. Then the king sent to call Ahimelech
the priest, the son of Ahathub, and all his father's house, the
priests that were in Nob, and they came all of them to the
king. And Saul said, Here now, thou
son of Ahathub. And he answered, Here I am, my
lord. And Saul said unto him, Why have you conspired against
me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread
and a sword? And it's inquired of God for
him that he should rise against me to lie in wait, as it is this
day. Then Ahimelech, the king's charging
him now with treason, isn't he? With treachery. Then Ahimelech
answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all
thy servants, says David? Which is the king's son-in-law,
and goeth at thy bidding, and is honorable in that house. Did
I then begin to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me, let
not the king impute anything unto his servant, nor to all
the house of my father, for thy servant knew nothing of all this,
less or more. And the king said, thou shalt
surely die, Ahimelech, thou and all thy father's house. The foundations
are destroyed. You see what I'm saying? The
foundations. The order of civil justice were
destroyed by this wicked king, Saul, who was now upon the throne. And the king said unto the footman
that stood about him, turn and slay the priest of the Lord.
Because their hand also is with David and because they knew when
he fled and did not show it to me. But the servants of the king,
now these were Israelites no doubt, these servants of the
king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priest
of the Lord. They just wouldn't, touch not
mine anointing. That was God's word. And the
king said to Doeg, turn thou and fall upon the priest, this
Edomite. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned
And he fell upon the priest and slew on that day four score and
five, 85 persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city
of the priest, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men
and women, children and sucklings and oxen and asses and sheep
with the edge of the sword. And one of the sons of Ahimelech,
the son of Ahathub, named Abathar escaped and fled after David. And Abathar showed David that
Saul had slain the Lord's priest. And David said unto Abathar,
I knew it that day. I knew it that day when Doag
the Edomite was there. that he would surely tell Saul.
Now notice this, I have occasioned the death of all the persons
of thy father's house. The guilt that came upon King
David. But he asked this question, if
the foundations be destroyed, what evil Saul had perpetrated
upon these innocent priests of God. If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do? He felt his helplessness, no
doubt. His guilt, but at the same time,
his helplessness. So that's the way I believe we
understand the foundations that can be destroyed. Anytime When
the civil governments are not responsible, then the foundations
in that country, that society, are destroyed. Now, here's the
second part of the message. I want to mention to us tonight
four foundations that cannot be destroyed. Four foundations
that cannot be destroyed. Number one, the foundation of
Christ's church cannot be destroyed. I want us to look, if you will,
in Matthew chapter 16. The foundation of Christ's church
cannot be destroyed. Matthew chapter 16. And verses 13 through 19, we
read, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist. Some, Elias, and others, Jeremiah,
are one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that
thou art Peter, and upon this rock. Now the rock is Christ. The rock is not Peter, you know
that. How many times in the Old Testament,
especially through the Psalms, do we read that God is my rock? Their rock, speaking of the pagan
nation, their rock, their God is not as our rock, as our God,
because our rock is the only true and living God. Christ is the rock. The God-man
is the rock, he's the foundation of his church, and it cannot,
it cannot be destroyed. Satan himself was destroyed by
using, by the Lord Jesus Christ using Satan's own weapon, death,
to destroy Satan. Just like David, in defeating
the giant, used the giant's sword to cut off his head, so Christ
used Satan's sword. What was Satan's sword? Death. So Christ used Satan's sword
to destroy Satan. I don't know if you've ever read
the book or heard the title of the book, at least, by John Owen,
one of the old Puritan writers. The title, it's actually taken
from his works, but published as a single volume, The Death
of Death and the Death of Christ. The Death of Death and the Death
of Christ. In other words, by his death,
by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, he dealt a death blow
to death itself. He cut off the giant's head.
The stone which the builders rejected. And we find this in
the Psalm also, I think it's Psalm 118. The stone which the
builders rejected. And it's quoted several times
in the New Testament. The stone which the builders
rejected. Who were the builders? The religious
leaders of Israel. And they all turned thumbs down
on Christ. They all rejected him, but the
stone which the builders rejected hath become the head of the corner. He is the foundation stone upon
which the Lord's, upon which his church is built, and it cannot,
it cannot be destroyed. The scripture says of him, Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Isn't it wonderful tonight to
know that the foundation of our Lord's church, which is his body.
Remember that in Colossians 1 and verse 18, we are told he is the
head of the body, the church, the head of the body, the church. He is the foundation of the church. The church is one foundation
is Jesus Christ, our Lord. We sing that sometimes, that
hymn. What a beautiful hymn it is, because it's the truth. It's
the truth. And the foundation, or the church,
rather, of the Lord Jesus Christ is His body. And all of His people,
all of those who are saved by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
are all members of this same church. It's not a local church,
it's a church that is inclusive of every believer from every
dispensation, both the old dispensation and now this dispensation that
we live in, the new dispensation, the dispensation that Christ
ushered in by his death. This is the blood, my blood of
the new covenant, the new dispensation, new testament. He's the foundation. Cannot be destroyed. All right,
here's the second. The foundation of God's choice. God's choice cannot be destroyed. I want you to look with me in
2 Timothy. The foundation of the church
cannot be destroyed. Christ is the foundation. And
here in 2 Timothy, we find out that the foundation of God's
choice cannot be destroyed. In 2 Timothy 2, and verse 15,
the apostle says, 2 Timothy 2, verse 15, study to
show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. but shun profane
and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth
a canker, of whom is Aminias and Philethes, who concerning
the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past
already, and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless, here it
is, nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. Here's the foundation that cannot
be destroyed. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure, steady, having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. And let every one that nameth
the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Now, Paul names two
men, two men who denied the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice
what he says concerning Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning
the truth have erred. And this is wherein they erred,
saying the resurrection is past already. And notice he says,
and overthrow the faith of some. Now we may be sure that those
whose faith was overthrown, it was temporary faith. It was like
those in the parable of the sower. Remember some of the seed, there
were four types of soil or four places where the seed, the same
gospel, the same seed was sowed in four different places. And
some fell upon the rocks, the stony ground here. And what happened
in that case, in their cases rather, is the word or the plant,
it springs up quickly. They hear a message and quickly
they make what they believe to be their decision, their profession
of faith. But there's no depth. There's
no earth. And so the seed springs up, but
then The scripture says when affliction, and affliction's
going to come for every child of God. Paul said that we must
through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Affliction's
going to come to everyone, to God's children and those who
are not God's children. And affliction will never ruin
a true believer. But it will reveal a false believer,
a false profession of faith. And so when affliction or persecution
arises, now notice, for the word's sake, as I said, everyone experiences
afflictions, both lost people and saved people. As sparks fly
upward, so man is born for adversity. But when the Word of God, when
persecution arises because of the Word, for the Word's sake,
immediately, it says, immediately, they are offended. And so, being
offended, they fall away. So what I'm saying is this, that
these two men who are named here, they erred. They denied that
the resurrection is yet future. They said it's already happened,
and they overthrew the faith of some. But notice, nevertheless,
they didn't overthrow the faith of God's elect. They didn't do
that. But those who were stony ground
heirs, Their faith was overthrown. They turned back. Remember in
Pilgrim's Progress? Pliable, you remember Pliable? He was convinced to leave the
city of destruction also, wasn't he, by Pilgrim. The first, when
they fell into the slough of Despond, wasn't it? Once Pliable
finally got out, And he said, I'm going home. If this is the
beginning of the Christian life, he said, I'm going home. I don't
want any more of it. The pilgrim, he went on. Nevertheless,
Paul says, the foundation of God standeth sure. And what is his foundation? The
Lord knoweth them that are his. The Lord knows them because He
has made them His choice. And not only has He made them
His choice, but their names are written in the Lamb's Book of
Life. And nothing, nada, nothing is
going to erase one of the names from the Lamb's Book of Life. And thank God it is a Book of
Life. That is, those whose names are
written, those who are chosen by God and whose names are written
therein, they receive eternal life. It's the Lamb's Book of
Life. They were chosen in Christ and
predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ.
That's what the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter one.
And this foundation cannot be overthrown, cannot be destroyed. Sometimes I've attended funerals
and listened to a man preach and he presents what he considers
to be the gospel, and then he says that now if you'll do this,
that, or the other, whatever it is, God will write your name
in the Lamb's Book of Life. And I thought, why don't you
read the scripture? Why don't you read the Bible that tells
us that the names were written in that Book of Life from the
foundation of the world? There's no writing anyone's name
in the Lamb's Book of Life today. I heard a preacher one time,
he denied the truth of God's sovereign election. He came up
with a very novel idea how to explain that. He said, well,
he said in the beginning, God wrote everybody's name in the
Lamb's Book of Life. Everybody, every person who will
ever live. I wonder about those who die
in infancy. But somehow, yeah, he wrote everyone's
name in the Lamb's Book of Life. He said, he didn't find that
in the Word of God. And when a person doesn't believe,
then God erases their name. God takes their name out. What
a lie, what a travesty upon the Word of God. No, the foundation
of God standeth sure. God knows His own. The third
foundation, is the foundation of God's promise and oath. It cannot be destroyed. If you look in Hebrews chapter
six, just a moment, Hebrews chapter six, the foundation of God's
promise and oath cannot be destroyed. Beginning with verse 12, Paul says that you be not slothful,
but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself,
saying, surely blessing, I will bless thee and multiplying, I
will multiply thee. And so after he had patiently
endured. You know, one of the graces of
the Holy Spirit is patience, isn't it? It makes me think of two other
characters in that Pilgrim's Progress. You remember one was
impatient, I believe her name was. She wanted everything now,
now. Abraham, the scripture says,
patiently endured. Day after day, year after year,
God promised a seed, God promised a son, and no fulfillment of
the promise. But he waited patiently. He was
strong in faith. We read in Romans chapter 4. He was strong in faith, giving
glory to God. He believed that what God had
promised he could do and would do. But what we find here is
not only did God give him a promise, but he took an oath. He swore. For men verily swear by the greater,
and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath." The
oath, think about it, the oath added nothing to the certainty,
the immutability of the promise. It didn't add anything to the
promise. But it was given by God and it
impresses us the more of the certainty of God's promise. The blessing that God promised
Abraham was the everlasting joy of salvation that in his seed
that all the nations of the earth would be blessed. God gave him
that promise and then God took an oath. That by two immutable
things, when God speaks, God is immutable. His word is not
going to be changed. It's not going to fall to the
ground. It's going to be accomplished.
Why? Because God is God, and He's immutable. That by two immutable
things, verse 18, in which it is impossible for God to lie
or we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us. This foundation of God's
promise and oath in Christ, it cannot be broken. It is sure,
it is sure to you, it's sure to me, it's sure to all who flee. who flee from the wrath of God. And where do we flee? We flee
to the hope to Christ that is set before us. And this foundation is the foundation
of His promise and His oath. It cannot be destroyed, cannot
be overthrown. And the last one, the foundation
upon which every believer rests cannot be broken. the foundation
upon which every believer rests. If you look back in Matthew chapter
seven, when our Lord is concluding this message that's called the
Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter seven, verse 24 and 25. He said, therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat upon that house, and it fell not. Why? Because it was
founded on the rock. On the rock. The foundation is
Christ, his perfect righteousness, his sacrificial death in our
stead and in our place, and those who hear Notice he said, he that
heareth, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, do we hear?
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. That's what he said
in so many places in the gospel. Has God given us ears to hear? The seeing eye and the hearing
ear, both are of the Lord. It's God who gives us ears to
hear, not these physical ears, but the ear of the soul to hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear live. It's God who gives eyes to see. Christ is the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sins of the world. Whosoever heareth my words and
believeth them rest upon Christ. The rains come. It doesn't say
we're going to be exempt from the rain. When a person rests
upon Christ, he'll never have any more problems. He'll never
have any afflictions. He'll never have any problems. Never got that from the Word
of God. No, the rains come. The floods come. The winds blow. But the house that's built upon
the rock that rests upon Christ, it stands, it remains. The eternal
God is our refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. These
four foundations that cannot be destroyed are really one. They're really one. That one
foundation is Christ. We sing the hymn sometimes, I
want us to sing it in just a moment. On Christ's solid rock I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. And I know we've sung that many
times, but have you ever noticed that third verse? His oath, his
covenant, his blood, support me. In the whelming flood, on
Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Number 272. Let's sing that,
David, if you will. Hymn number 272. Let's sing all four verses. Especially
notice that third verse.