Speaker 1: 0:06

Good morning everybody. I invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 10 this morning. We're wrapping up the Summer Psalm series, at least for this year, and I hope it's been an encouragement to you. I want to introduce it to you by a brief review.

Speaker 1: 0:28

Psalm 10 is really a psalm that shows the two ways that people react within God's church to the apparent absence of God. I say apparent because God is never absent, but sometimes he appears hidden. Sometimes he appears that way to us, and what we've seen is the wicked, or what the Bible calls hypocrites within God's church lead a life of apostasy. This is the group that's attacking David. They live in Israel, they claim they're God's people and yet they hate God's king David, his chosen, appointed king. That, of course, is a picture of those who rose up within Israel who hated King Jesus, and we read about that in the Gospels. But we see sort of a glimpse of that in the life of King David, and we read about it here in this psalm, in verses 2-11. And we saw the wicked lead a life of arrogance. They depend upon worldly security. They have vile, hateful speech, double-tongued speech, and they'll even resort to violence or oppression if need be, and so that's how they respond to the apparent absence of God. They go about their wickedness. But we also see in Psalm 10 how the godly respond to the apparent absence of God. And of course we see that in King David they respond in a different way, living their life by faith and trusting in the wisdom of God and in His coming judgment, and more specifically in this Psalm, to His coming judgments within history.

Speaker 1: 2:05

Christopher Ashe said something I thought was helpful. Listen to what he says. He says when we think about all this abuse that King David is taking. He says we need to be very careful that the spirit of the wicked these wicked that we see in Psalm 10, does not seep into the church of Christ. When there's any kind of abuse within the church, any misuse of power, whether it be physical or emotional or pastoral, it's the weak and vulnerable who suffer. And so we see here, in verses 2 through 11, david's pulling back and the Holy Spirit's pulling back the curtain that we can see such hidden abuses. And back in verse 1, we see David crying out for God to act. Lord, act, protect the innocent. And then, in verses 12 through 18, david expresses his confidence that God will indeed act. And those are the verses we're going to look at together today. So, with that brief introduction, I want to ask you to stand and I'm going to read from verses 12 through 18 this morning.

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This is the infallible and errant holy word of the living God. Receive it by faith. Holy word of the living God. Receive it by faith. Arise, o Lord. O God, lift up your hand.

Speaker 1: 3:30

Forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart you will not call to account. But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation that you may take it into your hands. To you the helpless commits himself. You have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call his wickedness to account till you find none. The Lord is king forever and ever. The nations perish from his land. O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted. You will strengthen their heart. You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever. God's people said amen, you may be seated, father. It's through your word that our minds are renewed and we're transformed to be more and more like Jesus Christ. Grow us in wisdom, Lord, that we may understand your will, that we may lead a life pleasing to you In Jesus' name, amen. What we see right out of the gate here, the why for the ungodly, the why for the ungodly. Look at verses 12 and 13. Arise, o Lord, o God, lift up your hand. When he says O God, there that's the word El, it's kind of short for Elohim. It's God is the transcendent one. His greatness and majesty are emphasized in that name. Oh God, lift up your hand, forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart you will not call to account. So here you see, in verse 12, david, after praying a heart-wrenching lament. In verses 1 through 11,. Now he's beginning in prayer and because of prayer and by the grace of God, he's getting his confidence renewed, his faith is being renewed in his situation. Notice what the wicked do. They take God's patience for the fact that God's not going to execute his judgments.

Speaker 1: 5:48

As Calvin says, that God's up in heaven sitting idle or lying at ease, as if he doesn't care what's going on on earth or going on amongst his people. Well, he does indeed care, william Secker, because justice seems to wink. Men suppose her blind, but justice is not blind because God is not blind. God sees and he sees all things. He sees all things. And so we see this attitude of thinking that justice is blind in verse 11. He, the unbeliever, says in his heart God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it. What foolishness. God sees all things and he's just so. He has to deal with it and he will deal with it. And so David calls upon God here in verse 1, to arise. Arise. That's important we understand again.

Speaker 1: 6:49

We've seen this several times in these first 10 Psalms this call for God to arise. He's not calling on God to wake up. It's not as if God's taking a nap and sleeping on the job or he's loafing up there. No, not at all. He's not insulting God. He's not saying to God get with the program. It's not with arrogance or flippancy that he's coming to God. What he's doing is he's crying out in faith for God to arise.

Speaker 1: 7:15

He knows who God is. He's the heavenly warrior, he's a divine king and a warrior of heaven. Sometimes you'll read in the Bible the Lord of hosts, he's the commander of all the 10,000 upon 10,000 of angels in heaven. He's the one who does battle and he's the one. David, though he is a king, is in a vulnerable position. He himself is helpless and he's asking God. God, I need you to arise and do battle for me. I need you to intervene. I'm your chosen king. And in David's case, it's not just about David. He's the king. And as the king goes, so goes the people of God. And we understand that with Jesus right. And so Spurgeon says.

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Faith boldly addresses God. David isn't just calling. He's not just telling God his problems although that's a good thing to do. We should take our hardships to God. He's calling God to rise up and deal with wicked people. He's not doing it in arrogance. He knows he needs God's grace. He knows he needs God's mercy. That's evident in these first 10 Psalms. It permeates them, and yet he's asking God to intervene and deal with these wicked men and what they're doing Notice.

Speaker 1: 8:34

He calls upon God by his covenant name Again. How many times have we seen this? Oh Lord, all capitals capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. We need to remember the significance of this name. It's very significant. It signifies that God draws near to man, and it's specifically referring to the fact that God draws near to man in covenant, in personal relationship, with promises, promises that he will keep and he will show himself faithful to. And so David's remembering that. If you, you know, the Psalms have five books within them, and book one is Psalms one through 41. And throughout Psalms 41, you'll notice this name dominates for God. David's calling as the King of Israel, calling upon God to remember his promises and to act upon those promises. And so David's, in the midst of this affliction here and this injustice, and it's very comforting, even as he calls God by his name, to remember that God is not just far off, disconnected from things, but he's a God who draws near to his people.

Speaker 1: 9:47

He begins by revealing his name. The Lord Yahweh is God's name. God revealed his name to his people. I'm doing my best to learn all your names. I got a ways to go. Be patient with me.

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But why is a name important? That's when intimacy really begins, isn't it? When I know you by name. Right, nick, right, right, wendy. See, some of you are going to stare at me at the door. You remember my name. Don't do that to me. But if I forget, I'll ask you again and I'm going to forget. It doesn't mean you're not important, it just means I'm a limited man. But God knows your name. See, this is the Lord. This is the God who knows David by name. He draws near to him In Genesis 1, the name that dominates there is Elohim El.

Speaker 1: 10:41

It's God in his greatness and majesty and transcendence. And then you get to the garden scene in Genesis 2. And if it was a movie, it's like the camera would come in and you'd see this intimate scene. This is where he's called Lord, lord, god, the covenant Lord. This is where God is walking with Adam in the cool of the day. Aren't you glad? God draws near. He draws near to his people, he's with us, emmanuel, and so he draws near to David by way of covenant, his promises and in this loving relationship. And why is that such good news? Because David knows that God is lovingly faithful and he does not change.

Speaker 1: 11:27

I've said to you before and I'm going to say it one more time before we get out of the summer psalm series when you see this covenant name of God in scripture, all capitals in your English Bible just start singing great is thy faithfulness, because that's what David he's counting on his promise keeping God. And so that's what he's saying. This isn't just a name, a title for God. This name has great significance and David's under this affliction, and he's recalling this name when he's under affliction. And what does David know? Well, david came a thousand years before Christ, but you see, 400 years before David was the time of Moses.

Speaker 1: 12:09

And you remember, around the time of Moses, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and they were abused by the Pharaohs. They were afflicted, they were hurting, they were forced. When one Pharaoh came to power, he began to make them make bricks without straw, every day, in the sweltering Egyptian heat. No rest, no Sabbath. But you see, that's not our God. The Sabbath was made for man, not man. For the Sabbath. God is good, isn't he? He's not a taskmaster, he's good Hemaster. He's good, he cares, he's mindful of us. As Psalm 8 said, he cares for you.

Speaker 1: 12:53

And there must have been many times when the Israelites and God's people, when they were suffering in Egypt, must have wondered where are you, lord? Don't you hear us down here? Can't you see us? Don't you remember the promises you made? Exodus 2, verse 23,. During those many days, the king of Egypt died and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God and God heard their groaning and God remembered what His covenant. If I was explaining that to a second grader, I'd just say God remembered his promises. He always remembers his promises With who? With Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel and God knew. God saw and God knew and he is jealous for his people.

Speaker 1: 14:03

Remember when Jesus confronted Saul before he became the apostle Paul I think I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago he didn't say Saul, saul, why are you persecuting the church? What did he say? Saul, saul, why are you persecuting me? That's how jealous God is for his people and Christ is for his bride. You ever groan and cry out to God for help in your afflictions and injustices and wonder God, where are you?

Speaker 1: 14:38

These Psalms seem to bring that up a lot, don't they? At least in these early Psalms, exodus 3, here's what we read the Lord says to Moses I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. You see, god saw the injustice. He heard it. Why? Because of the wickedness that was going on because of their hard-hearted hatred toward God's people. I know their sufferings.

Speaker 1: 15:08

The Lord said to Moses and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, who am I? That I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. And he said but I will be with you. And then Moses said to God if I come to the people of Israel and say to them the God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me what is his name, what shall I say to them? And God said to Moses I am who I am. And he said say to the people of Israel, I am, has sent me to you.

Speaker 1: 16:01

God also said to Moses say this to the people of Israel the Lord, the covenant Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever. And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. I am who I am. The Lord is. I am who I am the all sufficient one. Can you imagine somebody coming up to me? Hi, what's your name? I am who.

Speaker 1: 16:29

I am, wow, the all-sufficient one, the one that's dependent on no one or nothing. You and I are dependent constantly, for every breath, every heartbeat, every single day. We're totally dependent upon God giving us life and upholding and sustaining our life. He's dependent on nothing and no one all sufficient. He's the one, therefore, to be dependent upon the God, who reveals his name as I am, who I am, as the Lord. He's the one who promises Moses and, by extension, the Israelites and, by extension, to you, dear Christian, verse 12 of Exodus 3,. But I will be with you, I will be with you. Moses had to be a nervous wreck going there, pharaoh right, but God is with you, dear Christian, he's with you. Fear not, don't you love? There's 365 or 366 fear nots in the Bible, one for every day of the year.

Speaker 1: 17:40

The Lord is the God who is with his people in their affliction, in their affliction, and not only in the affliction of slavery, but throughout all of history. And this is who David is calling upon. He's thinking back, he knows this name. Is this the same God Christians can call upon in our affliction. Well, we get to the gospel of John. What does Jesus say? I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth and the life Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is. I am who I am and he's the same yesterday, today and forever. He's the one Jude 5 says in the New Testament, that led the Israelites out of Egypt. Jesus, the Lord, before he became incarnate, led the Israelites out of Egypt. The one who revealed his name is the Lord and therefore he's the one David is calling on to arise. He's calling on who we know as Jesus, the son of God, to arise.

Speaker 1: 18:56

What's the fundamental confession of the New Testament? Jesus is Lord and he is to do our battles. And he is to do our battles. He will do spiritual battle for us and with us. We need to remember that Jesus is compassionate, tender and gracious. How can I say this? But he's not one to mess with.

Speaker 1: 19:23

Whenever we begin to get a flippant view of Jesus, read through Revelation, you're like whoo, who was that on the white horse? It takes your breath away. And so remember that arise. Here is that ancient battle cry. The ark would go out to battle with God's people. When the ark would go out Numbers 10, verse 35, they would say arise, o Lord. They're asking God to go into battle with them and for them. They knew the victory belonged to the Lord. That's what that arise is. And so in verse 12, o God, lift up your hand. Forget not the afflicted. Or you could say forget not the poor. That's another way of saying forget not God's people who are suffering under unjust treatment here, lord, those who are helpless. And so David prays. As he prays, he regains his confidence with true faith, and it's beginning to reemerge like a flower. His faith is opening back up.

Speaker 1: 20:23

And look at verse 13. Why does the wicked renounce God, see? Why does the wicked at verse 13. Why does the wicked renounce God? See? Why does the wicked despise God? Why does the wicked treat him with contempt and reject God? That's what it means. And why does he say in his heart you will not call to account. How bold is that? In foolishness, you're going to say to God, who is just, you're not going to call to account. You might as well say you don't care, lord, you don't care when people get abused, lord, you don't care. When people get physically abused, emotionally abused, you don't care, you forget, you turn your eyes away. That's blasphemy, is what that is. Of course God cares.

Speaker 1: 21:15

Otherwise, what is Jesus doing on that cross? He's absorbing the sins for the wickedness that goes on on this earth so that we could put our faith in Christ and have eternal life, that our sins could be forgiven. That cross shows us not only the forgiveness of God but the justice of God. Sin matters and wickedness matters so much that Jesus Christ had to die. God never winks at sin. Thank God he's patient, amen. Thank God he's patient, but he never winks at sin.

Speaker 1: 21:59

And that's where the wicked get confused. To renounce God. It's blasphemy. And in this case these people are apostate. They're in God's covenant people. Today we'd say they're in the church, but they're not living like it. Their profession does not match up with what they profess.

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And you remember what all the prophets said Judgment begins in the house of the Lord. It's very sobering, very sobering. You know what a scoffer is. These wicked people were scoffers. Oh, where's the judgment of God?

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The apostle Peter refers to the scoffers in 2 Peter 3. Here's what Peter says Scoffers will come in the last days. The last days is that time between the first coming of Christ and the second coming. Scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires. They will say where is the promise of his coming? Where's Christ coming? He says he's coming back to judge the living and the dead. Where is he? Where is the promise of his coming? Where's Christ coming? He says he's coming back to judge the living and the dead. Where is he? Well, peter says let me remind you when people, in so many words, when people saw Noah building that ark, they were scoffing at that too. But when the water started coming down, the laughing stopped. And then Peter says, but by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godly ungodly. The day of judgment and the destruction of the ungodly.

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If a person doesn't take the final judgment with seriousness, why would they take the intervening judgments of God in history with any seriousness? And that's what we have with those attacking David. They don't think God's going to intervene, they're just blowing that off, disregarding him. They might as well be spitting in God's face. What do we see in David as he's praying?

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Here we see a picture in many ways of Jesus, that greater king, that greater son of David, praying for his church, for his people. I think I mentioned this once before in this series. But when Jesus died for our sins, he didn't stay on that cross or in the grave, he rose from the dead. And he didn't just rise from the dead, he ascended into heaven. And when he ascended into heaven, he sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, and he's still doing his ministry from the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, and he's still doing his ministry from the right hand of God. And what's he doing there? Well, one of the things he's doing is he's interceding for his people. Part of what that means is he's praying for us, us who believe in him. He's praying for his people.

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You remember the Robert Murray McChain quote. I've gotten so much encouragement from it. I say it to you again If I could hear the Lord praying for me in the next room, I could face a million enemies. Dear Christian, christ is praying for you. He is praying for you. And what does that mean? Well, do you remember when Jesus was talking to Peter? And Jesus said to Peter Satan wanted to sift you like wheat, but I prayed for you. You see, god preserves his people. He's the one who draws the boundaries around those who are coming after God's people.

Speaker 1: 25:49

Didn't turn out so good for Judas, but it did for Peter, and so we see here the why for the ungodly. But notice the godly man's faith. As we move to verses 14 and following you, remember back in verses two through seven, we see the wicked's folly. We saw their arrogance and their worldly security that they felt and the vile speech they had and the violence that they resorted to. Well, here, in verses 14 to 18, we see the godly man's faith. There we saw folly. It's contrasted with David's faith here, and we live in a world where people scoff at the final judgment, that they don't take it seriously and they certainly don't take any count of the fact that God intervenes in history at times to bring many judgments.

Speaker 1: 26:38

I have to say this Sometimes, people I've heard this so many times. This is very popular in America. Well, why do you care, christian, how your neighbor lives? Why do you care about that? What difference is it to you? Have you ever heard this? I'll tell you why I care how my neighbor lives, same reason I care how I live, same reason I care how I live. God judges, and he judges nations and he judges cities and he judges people. It does matter how our neighbor lives, my friends. It matters a great deal. And we ought not to be among those in our culture that say, well, you just live however you want and I'll live how I want. That isn't how it works. As Americans we're in this together, and when God brings judgment on America, that's a scary day. It does matter how we live. We have people in our culture, even many in the church, that would say that God would never arise to do battle.

Speaker 1: 27:54

They've reduced Jesus to some weak wimp who doesn't really care if people get abused. That's not our Lord. That is not our Lord. That is not our Lord. There are, thank God, jesus' default is gentleness and compassion and patience. But there are times he pulls out the whip and turns over furniture in the temple and there's times he looks with anger at people that didn't want the little children to come unto him and times when he got sick and tired of the religious people who wanted to criticize because he mercifully healed a man on the Sabbath, and all those accounts.

Speaker 1: 28:37

Jesus was angry and there's a time and a place for the anger of a righteous man, and Jesus shows us that. You even see it in some of the Bible translations. The Revised Standard Version of the Bible Good in so many ways, and yet you get to 1 John, 2, chapter 2, and several other verses and they've taken out the word propitiation and stuck the word expiation in there. And you're thinking to yourself who cares, pastor? Well, I'll tell you why. I care, because they're changing who God is. Propitiation has to do with his wrath and his judgment toward men, and in that 1 John passage it's saying Jesus was our propitiation. He's the one that became the lightning rod of the anger of God for our sins. Why, therefore? We don't have to fear the final judgment. But they put a softer word in there, expiation, which is a good biblical word, but it doesn't go there. They took it upon themselves to change the word of God because we couldn't handle a God who actually is angry with sin and wickedness and abuse of people, but indeed he is God cares very much.

Speaker 1: 30:00

Notice what this Psalm tells us, what occurs in David, verse 14, but you do see. You see, but you do see, you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands. To you the helpless commits himself. You have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked, and so on. What David's doing here is what Paul calls us to do in Ephesians 6. In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And so I like Derek Kinner. He says David's faith. It's like that faith just keeps popping back up. It just keeps popping back through. It just won't quit. It gets beat down and starts to shrivel up like a flower close in and then it opens back up and you just see what, david. And then it opens back up and you just see what David. It just keeps coming back. That's God preserving David by his grace.

Speaker 1: 30:57

Notice what David's faith does. Notice first, it remembers God. It remembers it keeps breaking through. Why? Because he remembers in verse 14, but you do see, lord, it keeps breaking through. Why? Because he remembers in verse 14, but you do see, lord. He remembers that God sees all things and when God sees injustice, god has to deal with injustice sooner or later. So now he's remembering God, you do see, and he's thinking back, no doubt, to all those times God helped him in the past. Can you, this morning, think back? With troubles and hardships and difficulties, all the things you and I have worried about through the years, has God not shown himself faithful? He is a faithful God. He may take us through deep waters, but he is with you and he always shows himself faithful. And David's remembering how God is. And when we're confused, when we're going through difficult times, when we feel abandoned by God, we don't sense his presence. One of the things this psalm is teaching us go to God in prayer. You may not sense his presence, but he is there. He's there and with you and he cares.

Speaker 1: 32:08

Faith has to be strengthened like a muscle, and the way you exercise faith is through prayer, through prayer. I was talking to one gentleman after the first service and he came out and he said yeah, but pastor, sometimes what we do is we do like that dumb thing where you haven't been working out for a year and then you go and try to do a 10-hour workout, you know, and and he goes. We need to be every day, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit every day. Exercise your faith a little bit every day with the Lord. God strengthens our faith. Married couples you know that sometimes, when you're away or in your friendships, when you don't see a friend and you're apart from a good friend, your heart grows fonder. You come to appreciate anew and afresh because you realize just how valuable they are. What's the same with us and God? Sometimes God lets us sense, or not sense, his presence, to kind of renew our appreciation for his presence and his goodness in our life. And so with David he did something like that. He also lets us experience these things so that we would come to learn the sufficiency of God's grace. God's people live by God's grace alone and we come to understand the beauty of his presence.

Speaker 1: 33:31

Do you remember the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12? God had shown Paul some amazing spiritual things. Right, he says this so to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, in other words, to keep me from being arrogant. And what God had shown me, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me. God sent a messenger of Satan to harass Paul. And then Paul says three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I'll boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Speaker 1: 34:22

So he's remembering. He's remembering and he's praying. Notice what he does. Here too, he remembers, remembering and he's praying. Notice what he does. Here too, he remembers, but then he commits himself. He commits himself that could be translated abandons himself to the Lord. He's not looking to himself to get relief, he's looking to the Lord to relieve him. He's putting on the shield of faith. That's what he's doing. It's giving him courage to endure. And as he's doing, this light begins to shine in the darkness and confident hope begins to come up. And so he remembers and he commits himself.

Speaker 1: 35:03

And then notice he doesn't just commit himself to the Lord, he actually prays. He doesn't just commit himself to the Lord, he actually prays. We believe in prayer, but sometimes we don't actually pray. But David prays. So he says in verse 15, break the arm of the wicked, call the wickedness to account, call the wicked to account, incline your ear to do justice, so that the man of earth, what he may strike, terror no more. He's asking God to do what only God can do. David was in that vulnerable position. He couldn't do it. Let them know they're men of the earth, mere men. Take their arrogance and humble them, lord, verse 18. And then he not only petitions the Lord and actually prays and puts it before him. That's what we need to do. Whatever difficulties you're having, take it to the Lord in prayer. He cares for you, he hears you and he will act in his perfect timing and his infinite wisdom. And then notice, david not only remembers what God has done for him in the past and for God's people, and he petitions God. He commits himself and petitions God to deal with things in the present, but now he's looking to the future and hopes in God. Verse 16, the Lord is king forever and ever. The nations perish from his land. And then verse 17. You see what he's doing. It never tells us that the problem is resolved. In this psalm Some of the psalms, I love it by the end there's a nice bow in place.

Speaker 1: 36:44

I like those. Isn't that why some people watch the Hallmark Channel? Don't we long for there to be bows at the end? I know they're cheesy, but you know I used to make fun of people watching Hallmark Channel. But you know, the older I've gotten, the more I realize you know what. They just want things to turn out good, right, isn't that what we all want?

Speaker 1: 37:02

But sometimes God leaves us in our difficulties. He leaves us in our difficulties. He leaves us in our difficulties. That's what makes verse 17 all the more important. You will strengthen their heart. God may or may not pull you out of the present difficulty you're in. Sometimes he does, and we give him praise. But when he does it, if you'll go to him, he will strengthen your heart. He will show that his grace is sufficient for you in your life right now. He will help you. What we need sometimes is strength for today, hope for tomorrow and David's letting hope begin to strengthen his faith.

Speaker 1: 37:42

The question comes down to, as we read this psalm are we going to rely upon ourselves, upon our own power and wisdom and our own righteousness and our own security? And what happens when we do that? We end up boasting and glorifying ourself. Or are we going to entrust ourselves, abandon, commit ourselves unto God and rely upon his grace and his power and his wisdom, his justice when we're being mistreated and when other people are being mistreated and relying on God's mercy. And see, when we do that, he gets the glory. He gets the glory. Here's the good news in this Psalm. Look at it, verse 16. The Lord let me flip it over here and look at it here. The Lord is king forever and ever. That's Jesus. He is king forever and ever.

Speaker 1: 38:35

David was helpless, not by his choice. Jesus, that greater son of David, the king of kings, that perfect king, voluntarily became helpless and powerless to die for our sins. That we could have eternal life, that we could have the forgiveness of our sins, that we might live in hope, knowing that our Savior is our judge and our judge is our Savior. When I look at the judgment throne, that's who I want to see. Isn't that who you want to see? And we can live our life in peace, knowing that he'll give us strength to get through. Jesus, like David, took on grief and cries of lament. But a king who will die for me and go into the depths of hell for me, for my salvation, that's a king I can trust. That's a king I can live for. That's a king I can die for. Let me end with this.

Speaker 1: 39:38

I think Habakkuk the prophet. In conclusion, he captures the spirit of this psalm, I believe, in a very beautiful way. You remember Habakkuk? God had just told him the Babylonians are coming. Habakkuk says, yeah, but they're worse than we are. Lord, you remember what God says? I know that, but I'm dealing with you first, because judgment begins where, in the house of the Lord. I'll deal with them later. Habakkuk was humbled, but here's how he ends his book. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor the fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like the deer's, he makes me tread on my high places. David could have said amen, and if you believe that, this morning I want to hear you say amen.