Let's open our Bibles today to
the book of Psalms. Let's turn to Psalm 57. Psalm
57. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me. For my soul trusteth in thee,
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these
calamities be overpassed. I will cry unto God most high,
unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send
from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would
swallow me up. God shall send forth his mercy
and his truth. My soul is among lions, and I
lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of
men whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp
sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above
the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. They have prepared a net for
my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have
digged a pit before me into the midst whereof they are fallen
themselves. My heart is fixed, O God, my
heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory, awake, psaltery
and harp. I myself will awake early. I will praise Thee, O Lord, among
the people. I will sing unto Thee among the
nations. For thy mercy is great unto the
heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God,
above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. God's word is so rich and so
full that it amazes me that anyone who has read much of the Word
of God could ever doubt its inspiration of God. As the scripture says,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. All the scripture is profitable
to God's children to build us up in the faith. And I want to
bring some truths to us today from two statements which are
found in verse one of this psalm. The two statements are, the shadow
of thy wings and until these calamities be over past. First, consider the statement,
the shadow of thy wings. the shadow of thy wings. The psalmist David, he used this
metaphor several times in the Psalms. Let me read just a few
to us this morning. In Psalm 17 and verse 8, he said,
keep me, this is a prayer, keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. And I was thinking when David
prayed this prayer, keep me as the apple of the eye, he had
scripture, because God declares that he does keep his people
as the apple of the eye. You know when an object flies
towards your eye, your hand just, I say automatically, I know it's
not automatic, but it is, isn't it? To protect your eye, because
the eye is such a delicate member of our bodies, and yet God's
children to God are as the apple of the eye. And yet he prayed,
keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. And then in Psalm 36 in verse
7 he said, how excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore
the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy
wings. In Psalm 61 in verse 4, he said,
I will abide in thy tabernacle forever. I will trust in the
covert of thy wings. In Psalm 63 in verse 7, because
thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will
I rejoice. And then in Psalm 91, in verse
4, he said, he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his
wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield
and bucklers. Now, the shadow of thy wings. There are two thoughts which
are suggested to me when I read these words. The shadow of thy
wings. First, The shadow of thy wings
reminds us of the propitiatory, or the mercy seat, which was
under the wings of the cherubim. When God commanded Moses concerning
the tabernacle, remember He gave him instructions how everything
was to be built, everything was to be made, and we know We know
from the Word of God that everything in the tabernacle in some way
pointed to and pictured the Lord Jesus Christ. But when it came
to the mercy seat, the propitiatory, God told Moses and the cherubim,
shall stretch forth their wings on high covering the mercy seat
with their wings and their faces shall look one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall the
faces of the cherubim be. Now one of the texts that I read
just a moment ago from Psalm 91, I'm confident that this is
what the psalmist meant. In that psalm, I read this verse,
he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings
shalt thou trust. But remember that psalm, Psalm
91 begins like this, he that dwelleth in the secret place
of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
Now what was the secret place of the Most High? We know from
the tabernacle, and later as the temple was built by Solomon,
the secret place of the Most High was the Holy of Holies. Remember, there was a holy place
in which the priests could go, and they did every day to minister,
but then there was that holy of holies, and that's where the
Ark of the Covenant was, and that's where the mercy seat sat
on top of the Ark, and the cherubim were fashioned into the mercy
seat, and their wings covered the mercy seat. Now, the mercy
seat was the propitiatory. Now, what does that mean? Well,
it simply means where God's wrath and God's anger was placated
or appeased. We live in a day, and I suppose
it's probably been this way for many, many generations, but people
love to hear about God as a God of love. And He is. He is. God is love. But God is
light. And in that epistle, 1 John,
where the apostle tells us God is love, he first of all, before
that, he makes this declaration, God is light, which signifies
that God is just, God is holy, God is righteous, and God hates
sin. Make no mistake about it. God
hates sin. Every sin is an affront against
God. Every sin would rob God of His
glory. Every sin would rape God. Every sin would dethrone God. And God hates sin. There's no doubt about it. And
yet all of us are guilty of sin. All mankind. You're not an exception. I'm not an exception. There are
no exceptions. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. And yet God has provided a propitiatory,
a sacrifice. And it is a blood sacrifice. That is the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know that publican. Remember
our Lord gave the story of two men who went up into the temple
to pray. And one was a Pharisee. He was
a religious person. He had all the credentials of
religion. Everything religion could place
upon a man, he had it. And he stood there commending
himself, didn't he? He told God how many times he
fasted. He told God what he gave tithes
of. I mean, he had just a laundry
list of good things, of good works, which he had done. And
here's this other man who's standing there, a publican, and he strikes
his breast and he says, God be merciful. And that word merciful
there is propitious. God be propitiated toward me. Now, the Apostle John tells us
in 1 John chapter 4 and verse 10, herein is love. I use this
verse in a message I was privileged to preach recently in Mexico. Herein is love. You know, love
is found in many places. And we hear there's no love like
a mother's love. And I suppose that's true. Mothers love their children,
and so do fathers. I have four children. I'm a father.
I love my children. Mothers love their children.
I love this country, don't you? I do. I love this congregation. But John tells us this. If you
could look over everything here, here is love. Here, what he's just about to
tell us. Herein is love. This is love
now. This is love here. And what is
it? Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be what? To be the propitiation for our
sins. To be that one sacrifice that
appeases placates the wrath of God, which our sins merit. God is not indifferent to sin. If you look with me, if you want
to turn here to Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three,
the apostle says so much in just these few verses here. Romans
chapter 3 and beginning with verse 24. He says, being justified freely
by His grace through the redemption, through the blood sacrifice,
through the offering of the Lamb of God, being justified freely without a cause on our part.
That's what that word freely means. Without a cause on our
part, we are justified through and never apart from the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus. Whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in His blood. To declare His
righteousness, that is God's righteousness, for the remission
of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. That's
those Old Testament saints. Yes, their sins were forgiven,
just like our sins are forgiven, not through the blood of those
animals. It's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
can take away sin, but Those Old Testament saints, those who
were saved before the coming of Christ, were saved in the
same way that we are saved, that anyone has ever been saved, and
that is through the sacrifice, the propitiation that the Lord
Jesus Christ made. He became the propitiation. That's
what the apostle says. To declare, I say, at this time,
His righteousness, that He might be just. God is absolutely just,
holy, righteous, and He's not going to justify any man, woman,
boy, or girl in any way that does not mean that He is just. That He might be just and the
justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. If you look back at
this psalm, Psalm 57 now, the title, we did not read this,
but the title is, When He Fled from Saul in the
Cave. That is, we do not know that
this title was inspired, but it was given to this psalm supposedly
when David fled and sought refuge in a cave. Now we do know from
1st Samuel that he did on at least two occasions make caves
his place of refuge. Saul the king sought to kill
him, sought to destroy him. Now I just say this, a cave,
a cave might be a refuge from the wrath of man, Did you hear
what I said? A cave, a hiding in the ground
might be a refuge from the wrath of man, but not the wrath of
God. Men use many things in which
to hide. You may be here today and you
are hiding in some refuge that you have made. Some people hide
in the refuge of church membership. Oh, I'm a member of certain,
certain church and, you know, I've been a member there for
a long time. That's what I'm trusting in.
That's my refuge. And other people, they make a
refuge of their professional faith. Sometime back in their
life, somewhere, sometime, they walked down some church aisle
or they raised their hand or they repeated some prayer. That's
what I'm trusting in. That's what I'm trusting in.
And other people, they trust in this refuge of their morality. I'm a very moral person, I want
you to know. And I thank God that many people
are very moral. I wish we were all more moral.
But my friends, that's not a refuge from the wrath of God. It is what Isaiah, what God says
in the book of Isaiah. He calls all of these things
refuges of lies. Refuges of lies. There's no substance
to them. And he says this, judgment also
will I lay to the lie. Now, you might look real good
to me. All of you do, obviously. I might
even look good to some of you. But let me tell you something.
Upside the straight line, the Lord Jesus Christ, perfect, absolute
obedience in every thought, every word, and every action, I don't
look so straight now. Neither do you. God's going to
lay judgment to the lion and righteousness to the plummet.
Is that wall, is it straight or is it kind of bent in? Well, you put the plummet there
and you'll find out, won't you? What's he talking about? He's
talking about the day is coming when all men will stand before
God Almighty. We're not going to be judged
by fellow men and women, but we're going to be judged by the
absolute holiness and righteousness of God. And then he says this,
judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to the
plummet, And hell shall sweep away the refuge of lies. Here's
this man, this woman, hiding in this refuge, but it's a refuge
of lies. Church membership, morality,
good works, all of these things that people seek to use as a
place to hide from God. Hail, H-A-I-L, the hail shall
sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow
the hiding places. Water has a lot of power, doesn't
it? You see these rivers flooding, get out of their banks, boy,
they just move stuff along. Let me tell you something. If
you're in a refuge of lies, you're trusting in these things or other
things that you've made up. There's only one refuge. There's
only one refuge for sinners. And that's not a place. That's
a person. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the
righteous. He is the only one refuge for
sinners. His name is Jesus. And why is He named Jesus? For
He, the angel told Joseph, He shall save His people from their
sins. You call Him Jesus, Jehovah Savior. Let me show you, turn back a
few pages to the book of Ruth. the book of Ruth. And I just
want to read one verse here. Ruth chapter 2 and verse 12. These are the words of Boaz.
And remember Boaz in this book becomes a kinsman redeemer. But these words he's speaking
to Ruth. Now what, who was Ruth? Well,
Ruth was a stranger, first of all, just like you and I. Us Gentiles, we were strangers
from the covenants of promise. Ruth was a Moabitess. That means
she was under a curse. All the Moabites were under a
special curse. That's you and I, but we too. have been cursed because of our
sin. But notice what the kinsman redeemer
says to this lady. The Lord recompense thy work,
and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose wings thou art come to trust. Let me ask you today,
have you come to trust under his wings? to trust in that one
propitiatory, that one sacrifice, that one offering that does satisfy
God. Another thought, not only the
statement under his wings makes me think of that mercy seat which
was under the wings, but the shadow of his wings reminds us
as believers that God is our refuge in trouble. It's a picture of God's protection
or watch care over his people and it's taken from a very commonplace
example. Maybe people who live in the
city today, it's not so common but in David's day and some of
us recognize immediately where this metaphor is taken from.
We see the baby chicks out in the yard and above there's a
hawk and he's waiting for the opportunity to dive down and
snatch one of the chicks and carry it away. But the chick
finds safety under the wings of the hen. Safety. In Psalm 46 and verse 1, the
psalmist said, God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble. He's always present, present
help in trouble. Think of the safety that you
and I, as God's children, if you are one of God's children
this morning, if that blood of Christ has cleansed you and washed
you from your sins, think, think with me. of the safety that we
have in Christ. Safety so much so that the Apostle
Paul was inspired to write, if God be for us, and he is if you're under his
wings, if God be for us, who can be against us? Who can
be against us? Our troubles may be too big for
us. We may be like those baby chicks.
The hawk's too big for us. The trouble's too big for me.
But not for God, under the shadow of His wings. In Hebrews 4, the
scripture says, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the
time of need. Now second, the second statement
in this verse I want us to think about for a few minutes is until
these calamities be overpassed. Until these calamities be overpassed. Well I have three thoughts I
want to mention to us. First of all, calamities may
be expected by God's people. Calamity. You say, what is a
calamity? Well, it might be any number
of things. And have you ever thought about this? That when
you read the Psalms, the psalmist doesn't name, he doesn't go into
detail what his particular trouble was at that time, what his particular
calamity was at that time. And the reason for that is this.
If he named the calamity, then we would come to this verse of
scripture and we'd say, well, my calamity isn't that calamity. That doesn't refer to me. No,
it does refer to you, child of God, whatever your calamity might
be. There are all kinds of calamities,
sickness, sorrow, financial problems. I mean, they're just too manifold,
too many to name all the calamities. But God's people, here's my point,
God's people may and we should expect calamities. Don't fall
for the lie of Satan, which is so preached and believed in our
day that if if you're one of God's children, that everything
is going to be smooth sailing for you through this world. Evidently,
that thought was even around in the days of the apostles,
because the apostle Peter wrote this word in 1st Peter. He said, Beloved, who are the
beloved? The beloved, those who are loved
of God, for whom he did foreknow. whom he did for love. Them he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. Peter
said, Beloved, think it not strange, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
happened unto you. If you've fallen for the lie
of Satan, And you believe that as a child of God, you're never
going to have any problems. You're never going to know any
calamities. Then when the calamity comes,
what are you going to do? You're going to do exactly what
Satan wants you to do. You're going to question whether
you really are a child of God or not. Don't think it's strange, Peter
said. The world, now the world thinks
it's strange, obviously. And if you look at it logically,
and the world does, they do not look at it by faith, they look
at it by sight. And here, you say, preacher,
that God is all-powerful. Amen. He is. You say that God
works all things after the counsel of His own will. He does. Absolutely. Well then, it's foolish to believe
that God who loves his children so much that he gave his son
as a sacrifice to save them would allow these calamities to come. That just doesn't seem logical,
does it? We walk by faith, not by sight. The Apostle James even wrote
this, God's children, count it all
joy. Count it all joy when you fall
into diverse temptations, knowing this. And when calamity comes
your way, you've got to know this. Now James mentioned particularly,
knowing this, that tribulation worketh patience. But know this,
whatever the calamity is that has come in your life. God has
a purpose in it. Know this. Know this. It didn't
just happen. It's not just accidental. It
didn't just fall out of the sky. It's part of God's purpose concerning
you. And did you notice the word is
plural? Until these, not calamity, but
calamities, and sometimes it seemed like they come in bunches.
They did for Job, didn't they? Just as soon as one runner came
and said, listen, all the camels are gone, all the sheep are gone,
another one, another one, another one. Sometimes they come in bunches. Calamities may be expected by
God's people. Number two, calamities will pass
over. Now the picture in this text
is that of a storm. You know a storm comes and the
wind blows and it rains and then it passes over. And you go out
the next morning and the air just feels cleaner, doesn't it? It just, the storm passes over. And these calamities, whatever
they may be, they are going to pass over. That lady said her
favorite verse in the Bible was, this also shall pass. This also
shall pass, whatever it is. The Apostle Paul knew something
about calamities, wouldn't you say? He names a bunch of them,
being stoned, being beaten with rods, being shipwrecked, being
out in the deep several nights. He knew something about calamities,
but yet he was able to say this, for our light affliction, which
is but for a moment. Now it seems like it's a long
time. When is this going to end? When? When is God going to send
deliverance? But in the light of eternity, our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, just a moment, just a moment, worketh for us
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. I have one other
thing. Notice in the text again, if
you will, Psalm 57 and verse 1. Be merciful unto me, O God,
be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee. Yea, in the
shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge until these calamities
be overpassed. Calamities call for prayer and
trust. David, to these calamities be
overpassed, he prays, be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto
me. It's always time to pray for
mercy, always. And David knew something about
God's mercy, something about God's sovereign mercy. David
had seven brothers, and when God sent Samuel, to the house
of Jesse to anoint one of them to be king. Each one passed before
the prophet, but God had chosen David. David knew something about
God's sovereign mercy. His mercy is unto all, the scripture
says, but yet his sovereign mercy in saving his people David, he
prayed for mercy, be merciful unto me. You know, he wrote that
Psalm 136 and 26 times he declares in that Psalm, his mercy forever,
his mercy forever. God has mercy upon whom he will
have mercy and to them upon whom he has mercy, he will forever
have mercy. When in the midst of calamity,
pray for mercy. Pray for mercy to sustain thee. Pray for mercy that you will
not turn back, that you will not give up. Pray for mercy that
in the calamity you will glorify God, that you will not speak
unadvisedly with your lips in a time of temptation and a time
of calamity. Pray for mercy. God, hold thou
me up. and I shall be safe. Not only
is it a time to pray, it's a time to trust. David trusted in God. He didn't look to his circumstances,
he didn't look to his feelings, he didn't look to any man to
see him through, but to God alone. God is in control of the calamities. God is, as the scripture says,
God of the valleys as well as God of the mountains. Be merciful to me, O God, be
merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee, yea, in the
shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge. Would you run with
me this morning? God gives you the grace just
now, once again. You say, I'm already there. Well,
come again. Will you run with me under the
shadow of his wings? To the blood, to the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, all my hope, all my salvation. May the Lord
bless his word to those of us here today.