Remain At Your Post

[0:00] There are 150 psalms.

[0:23] The Psalter are the prayer book and the song book of God's people. The time period of the Psalms is the entire Old Testament. Moses lived and from his pen came the first five books all the way up until the end of Revelation.

[0:38] So the Psalms are what Christ and the church received as a prayer book and a song book. So now we, with all of the scripture, with the intended meaning of the Holy Spirit and all the Bible, we get to go back and study the Psalms in that way, in that light.

[0:53] Every Psalm that we're studying, I just, I feel like it's just wonderful. I want that to be my prayer every week. Psalm 11 certainly has done that for me as well.

[1:05] Before I read this, I'll explain a couple things about it. This is another Psalm of David. David was the king of Israel. He was also a musician and a poet. There's a superscription here.

[1:19] In some versions, you'll read that it's upon the shimineth. And that's the Hebrew word. The meaning of these old words is uncertain. But that actually adds to the authenticity of how ancient these Psalms truly are.

[1:31] The best, I guess, guess of scholars is shimineth. It has to do with the number eight. It could be the eighth chord on a harp, the eighth note.

[1:41] But the other meaning that John Gill pointed out, I thought was very interesting, at least worth considering, is all the scholars, even the Jewish rabbis, saw that this is a messianic Psalm.

[1:53] It's talking about a future fulfillment that David would never see with his eyes on earth. And so in that sense, the Lord Jesus came on the day of the Lord, which is the eighth day, the first day of the new creation.

[2:04] Well, as I read Psalm 11, we read it trusting that this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word. It's God's very own word for you, his people.

[2:16] When I'm done reading, I'll say, this is the word of the Lord, and we'll respond, thanks be to God. Psalm 11, I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible. I have taken refuge in the Lord.

[2:30] How can you say to me, escape to the mountains like a bird? For look, the wicked string bows. They put their arrows on bow strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

[2:44] When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? Verse four. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord, his throne is in heaven.

[2:56] His eyes watch. His gaze examines everyone. The Lord examines the righteous, but he hates the wicked and those who love violence.

[3:09] Let him rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked. Let a scorching wind be their portion and their cup. For the Lord is righteous. He loves righteous deeds.

[3:21] The upright will see his face. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

[3:43] Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. Lord, we rest in you.

[4:00] Lord, we rest in you. You have not let your children be on earth as orphans. Instead, you've given us your Holy Spirit, the comforter.

[4:11] Lord, we rest in you. Lord, we rest in you. And though we're in this world, we are not of the world. Lord, though we are surrounded by sin and evil, and we battle even the remaining sin in our own flesh, Lord, we trust your promise that the wicked do not win.

[4:26] The wicked do not prevail in the end. Lord, we rest in you. You are a God who sees all and who is close, and you sustain your people. You are the head of the church.

[4:39] You build your church. The gates of hell cannot prevail against you. We trust these promises, Lord. I pray that you will minister your word from Psalm 11 to strengthen this army, these soldiers, this church.

[4:55] Amen. There's much in the West that's crumbling and eroding all around us.

[5:08] Freedom of speech is crumbling in the West. In March of 2023, a Canadian pastor named Derek Reimer was arrested for a second time, this time for speaking out against drag events for kids.

[5:28] Each time, the government fined him $10,000. Freedom of speech is crumbling in the West. How do pastors like that remain at their post where God has put them?

[5:46] The acceptance by the public of God's moral law is crumbling in Colorado. Let's be specific and let's be real. There's been a mass exodus in recent years.

[6:02] People fleeing Colorado, going to states that support values that they hold dear as a family. And there's also been a mass influx.

[6:13] So the replacement ratio is equal. But people are pouring into Colorado specifically for lax abortion laws and aggressive gender expression laws protected in the state.

[6:27] How do Christians remain here in Colorado? You've wrestled with this. I know you have as a family. Within our own little body here, one of our own has had to be very clear about her values and her boundaries as a Christian at work, especially this month.

[6:50] And in retaliation, her boss has assigned her Sunday mornings that shift specifically to keep her from gathering with God's people. How do we remain?

[7:03] Each one of you is a follower of Christ. Each one of you takes up your cross daily following him. And each one of you is not on your own. He's put us together as a body.

[7:14] Each one of us has a role to play in this body, this army of God. Each one has a function. Each one has a spiritual post. During the week when you pray for anyone here that you visited with who the Lord put on your heart and burdened you to pray for them, you are fighting at your post before the throne of heaven.

[7:36] And God has a post for every single member here. Sometimes as a family we'll gather to pray and little Alyssa will pray for one of you for something I didn't even know about. That's her role in her post.

[7:49] Each one has a place in God's army. How do we remain together, remain as the church militant in this life, when it feels like the bricks underneath our posts on the walls are crumbling away?

[8:05] Doesn't it feel like that many times? Well, that's the imagery we get in Psalm 11. These wicked people are telling David, flee like a bird.

[8:18] Don't stay at your post. Flee. Flee. And there's King David. You can almost picture one of those ancient walls with the towers. And the soldiers looking out with their bows drawn to fend away the enemy.

[8:32] But it's much worse. The enemy is on the inside. And those bricks are being pulled out. These towers are wobbly. How does he stay at his post? So, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, today I want to exhort you, remain at your post.

[8:51] Remain at the post God has given you. The first point is why it's hard to remain at your post. It's hard to remain at your post.

[9:01] Why is that? In verse 1, we see that the wicked, they're appealing to David's soul. It's persuasive. It's convincing. The soul is the personality.

[9:14] It's your emotions. And he says, why wicked people do you say to my soul, flee like a bird? It's getting to him. He wants to flee. They're saying, abandon your post, David.

[9:28] Take another job. Relocate somewhere easier. Well, isn't that exactly what the enemy wants? He wants to scatter the troops.

[9:39] He wants you and me to abandon our post and to retreat. So, the wicked appeal to your soul. Why else is it hard to remain at your post?

[9:51] The wicked mock your faith. In verse 1, they say, flee like a bird to your mountain. They jeer at David's witness. You've experienced that when the wicked instruments of Satan will take something that's right, but they'll say it back to you in a way that mocks and makes you want to not do the right thing just to not let them be right about it.

[10:16] You've had that happen. Flee like a bird to your mountain. Well, that's the right thing to do as we take our refuge in the Lord. The Psalms are full of describing the mountain of God as a place that's safe and that the Lord surrounds his people on his mountain.

[10:31] But the wicked are mocking this witness that David has told them. David's fine saying, I am like a bird. He puts himself very low in the Psalms. And they're mocking that very witness he gave.

[10:43] It's hard to remain at your post. The wicked also stir up your fears. The wicked stir up paranoia and distrust from inside.

[10:54] You've seen that happen in churches, haven't you? They say, behold, David, the wicked, verse 2, the wicked bend the bow.

[11:05] They have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart. David, get out of here. You don't even know how bad it is inside the kingdom.

[11:17] From the shadows, from the dark. There are trained assassins. They've taken the arrow and put it in the string, and their bow is bent. And what are they aiming at?

[11:28] They're aiming at the soul of God's people, the righteous. The ones that the enemy wants to flee and abandon the post. They're coming after you. They're stirring up distrust, paranoia.

[11:41] The fear is inside of our heart. But it's hard to remain at your post when that's going on, especially from the inside, isn't it? Well, who are these people that the enemy are going after and trying to chase them out of the kingdom?

[11:57] In Psalm 11, they're called the upright in heart. One who is holy in heart. One who is observant of the divine commands in practice in their actual life.

[12:09] To illustrate this from the Bible, who comes to mind when you think of one who is upright in heart, who's desiring to observe God's commandments in practice within a wicked, evil kingdom?

[12:24] You're probably thinking of maybe Joseph or Daniel. Great examples to us. And it's for that very reason that they went after both Joseph and Daniel, wasn't it? The wicked hate that Daniel is praying to his Lord three times a day.

[12:39] Trusting in a greater kingdom. That makes Daniel a target to the wicked. And one last thing that the wicked do that makes it hard to remain at your post.

[12:51] The wicked want you to be hopeless. The wicked want you to have no hope. In verse three, they say, if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

[13:03] They say, don't you see all the signs, all the evidence around you? There is no hope. This kingdom is crumbling. All the pillars are wobbly. There's cracks in the flooring.

[13:14] The base has already shifted out from under your feet. That tower you're standing on is tipping over. You can't stand and fight where you are anymore. They make you feel hopeless.

[13:26] It's hard to remain at your post. What is it then that Psalm 11, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, teaches believers to do in response to this reality?

[13:42] Verse four is when it turns good. Look at verse four with me. What I see is that Psalm 11 teaches believers to take your eyes off the wicked.

[13:54] Take your eyes off the wicked. But you can't just not look. You have to put your eyes somewhere else. Notice where he puts his eyes in verse four. He puts them on the Lord by faith.

[14:05] Verse four, The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. Take your eyes off the wicked.

[14:16] Put your eyes on the temple and on the throne of the Lord in heaven by faith. Yes, everything your physical eyes are seeing will lead you to be hopeless, discouraged, and to want to flee.

[14:28] But instead, put those eyes by faith on the temple and the throne of God in heaven. Notice what the Psalms, just limiting to this near context of the Psalms, what the Psalms say about both the temple and the throne of God.

[14:42] First, the temple. Psalm 5, 7. We saw this last summer. David says, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy. When you think of the temple of the Lord, think of a multitude, a lavish, abundant mercy, and go there.

[15:00] And in thy fear, I will worship toward thy holy temple. Psalm 18, 6. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God, and he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

[15:19] If you're distressed, if you're crying out desperate, that prayer goes straight to the temple of God who hears you. Praise God that he rules and ministers from his holy temple.

[15:33] Amen? So he says, the Lord is in his holy temple, and here's what I know about that. He also says, the Lord's throne is in heaven.

[15:44] Verse 4. The Lord's throne is in heaven. Here's what the Psalms say about the throne of the Lord. Psalm 93, 2. The throne of God is established of old.

[15:56] These wicked seem to have crept up and taken over out of nowhere. The throne of the Lord is of old. He is from everlasting. Psalm 45, 6. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.

[16:08] It will not go away. His rule extends for all generations and for eternity. The scepter of the kingdom of God is right. These wicked make everything crooked and twisted, but God's scepter, what he holds up as the king, it is straight.

[16:25] Psalm 47, 8. God reigns over the wicked as well. God sits upon the throne of his holiness and he reigns over this kingdom, over the wicked even.

[16:37] That's the temple and the throne of the Lord. That's what we put our eyes on instead of looking at the wicked. You'll be invited to exhort one another with these words in a moment.

[16:48] Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. What happens? The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

[17:05] Amen. So take your eyes off the wicked and put them on the Lord. Number three we see in Psalm 11. David reminds himself of who God is.

[17:17] When it's hard to remain at your post, remind yourself of who God is, his attributes. Three attributes are in focus in Psalm 11.

[17:29] First, the Lord is omniscient. The Lord is all-knowing. Verse 4, his eyes see the children of man.

[17:40] Who is the children of man? It's every human being that came from Adam. Wicked and righteous alike. God sees all. God is all-knowing, omniscient.

[17:52] Number two, the Lord is good. The Lord is good. And he exercises his goodness by providentially using whatever the wicked intend for evil God uses for good.

[18:06] Verse 4, his eyelids, or another translation, his gaze, tests the children of man. And verse 5 specifically says he tests the righteous.

[18:18] So God sees all. And when he sees the wickedness happening to his people, the righteous, he tests them. He uses that to refine, to purify, to prepare them for eternal glory.

[18:33] With this translation of eyelids, think about that. Both are true. God's eyes see everything, but also his eyelids test. When it seems like God's eyes are closed to what you are suffering and enduring, it seems that way.

[18:51] You know he sees all, but it seems like all you're getting right now are his closed eyes, his eyelids. It appears to you that he is not looking at you or seeing what you're having to endure, but he sees you.

[19:08] And when it feels that way, it's because he is purifying you. He is preparing you through the suffering for eternal glory and communion with him.

[19:22] And the Lord, finally, he's not only omniscient and good to rule over with providence, but he's also holy. The Lord is holy and righteous. Look at verse 5. His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

[19:38] Thomas Brooks commented, All sin strikes at the holiness of God, the glory of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the law of God.

[19:49] All sin strikes at the very essence of who God is. And therefore, God's heart, so to speak, rises up against all sin because God is holy.

[20:01] God is righteous. And God is also just. So remind yourself of who God is. The next thing in verse 6 is that David prays for God to display his justice.

[20:18] David knows these are true of God. This is who God is. But then he prays for God to put that on display. Use your power. Use your omniscience. Respond because you are holy with justice, God.

[20:31] This is the part of the Psalms that stretch us. But we should pray as well for God to display his justice when we see so much wickedness prevailing. In verse 6, he says, let God rain coals on the wicked.

[20:48] He says, Lord, give the wicked their due. children, coals, if you have a fireplace in the winter, it's when the wood is burned down so it's at its hottest point.

[21:00] And we've had some hail this summer. Can you imagine if every one of those little pieces of hail, instead of being hail, was a block of coal at its hottest, falling across Colorado with the dry grass, the wildfires would be rampant.

[21:15] That's how David is praying for God to display his justice on the wicked. Verse 6, may fire and sulfur and a scorching wind be the portion of their cup.

[21:29] Okay, the phrase portion of their cup, it's a measured out punishment that correspond to what is deserved. David's saying their wickedness deserves so much punishment.

[21:42] this is what needs to go in their cup. It needs to be in proportion to their wickedness. God, in righteous judgment, must appoint to the wicked what they need to drink as a just retribution, as a display of his justice against their evil.

[22:03] And what is it that should go in the cup in the portion of the wicked that David prays? In verse 6, he asked that God would put fire and sulfur in their cup.

[22:15] This is an illusion of how the Lord rained down fire and sulfur from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And the New Testament tells us that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was an illustration and a type of the final coming judgment on the whole earth, the eternal fire of hell and judgment.

[22:36] That's what goes into the cup of sinners. That's what they need to drink. The last image in verse 6 is a scorching wind.

[22:47] These scorching winds could blow up from the northern part of Africa, sweeping across the Mediterranean. They could also blow from the east. Do you remember in Job, a strong, hot east wind blows and kills his little plant?

[23:00] The name for this type of scorching wind is Sirocco. Sirocco. It's a hot, dust-laden, cyclonic wind that goes at the speed of a hurricane.

[23:13] Imagine this gem here filled with sand and that sand brought to a feverish temperature. And then imagine the Lord moving the air in such a powerful way that this hot, sandy wind blasts whatever's in front of it.

[23:28] David is praying, Lord, take that destructive wind that would burn and wipe out anything in front of it. Put it in the cup of the wicked and make him drink that. Psalm 11 teaches us to pray for God to display his just rule.

[23:46] And if we don't see it in this life with these eyes, the Lord will bring it one day in glory. Well, as we look at the final part of Psalm 11, there's a response.

[24:02] David responds to how he's feeling, who he sees God as, what he needs. So that's my exhortation to you is respond in the light of who God is.

[24:14] I want to draw your attention to the bookends of this Psalm, the first verse and the seventh, the last. In verse one, here's his response. He just tells you up front, here's how I resolve this. In the Lord I take refuge.

[24:29] Why do you take refuge in the Lord, David? Verse seven, for the Lord is righteous. He loves righteous deeds. We've seen how God loves the upright in heart, how God is holy, and how anyone who is a sinner deserves to drink this cup of judgment.

[24:49] How can David be so sure that he can take refuge in the Lord? How can David know that God loves righteous deeds and that's good news for David? Everybody knows publicly David is a sinner.

[25:01] John Calvin wrote, the just God is the rewarder of perfect righteousness and the avenger of sin. None here are perfectly righteous.

[25:15] All of us deserve for our sin to be avenged. That description of the cup, the portion of the wicked, that's what each one of us deserves to drink. Amen?

[25:26] This is what we were born deserving and this is what our own sins piling on merit for us. Calvin also wrote, but in Christ God's face shines out full of grace and gentleness to poor unworthy sinners like David, like me and like you.

[25:50] God justly does this. He can offer refuge because Jesus Christ obeyed. Jesus Christ said, Lord, if it's your will, take this cup away from me so I don't have to drink it.

[26:04] But Jesus prayed because of God being gracious towards sinners like us, not my will but your will, Father, be done. And our Lord took the cup of God's wrath on the cross and he drank it down to the very last drip.

[26:20] That's why you and I, we can turn our eyes to the hillside of Calvary where justice and mercy embraced. There the Son of God gave his life for us and our measureless debt was erased.

[26:38] So we can say with David now, in the Lord I take refuge for the Lord is righteous. He loves righteous deeds not mine but Christ's righteous deeds that he put on as if they were mine.

[26:53] I take refuge. John Gill pointed out David is not taking refuge in himself in his own heart in his own righteousness and strength nor in men the greatest of men the princes of the earth nor in his armies or any outward force.

[27:10] He is taking refuge in the Lord who is righteous. I take refuge. One commentator pointed out the tense of the verb this phrase is denoting a continued exercise of faith in the Lord.

[27:27] I took refuge in the Lord yesterday. I take refuge in the Lord right now with all of you. This afternoon I need to take refuge in the Lord again.

[27:38] Tomorrow you and I need to take refuge in the Lord we continue to take refuge in God trusting in who he is. Trusting his words to us.

[27:50] In Isaiah the Lord Jesus quotes this as his own words fulfilling his covenant faithfulness. And we sing this fear not I am with thee oh be not dismayed for I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

[28:06] I'll strengthen thee help thee and cause thee to stand upheld by my righteous omnipotent hand. That's how we respond in the light of who God is we trust him and we trust his word.

[28:19] Lord. Now the blessing of the gospel is not just that our sins have been forgiven. That's merely a means to an even greater end.

[28:32] This last little bit could have just been short but it became long. I'm just warning you because this really consumed my thoughts this week. Look at verse 7. The upright shall behold God's face.

[28:50] So my final exhortation from Psalm 11 is look forward to the day when God will fully finally fulfill his promises. Look forward to that day.

[29:01] There is more to come. Yes we're forgiven now. We take refuge in him now and continuously but there's greater glory greater blessing to come. Okay so the ESV translates this as the upright shall behold his face.

[29:14] The King James has the order switched around. You have to decide which one you think is maybe the best representation of Psalm 11. King James has it this way.

[29:26] His God's in the plural countenance beholds the upright. Well the nice thing is that these are both biblical truths. Does the triune God behold the upright and see you?

[29:37] Yes. He already said that in this very Psalm. Is it also true that the upright shall behold the face of God? Yes. Both are biblical truths. The wonderful thing about Hebrew in particular is it's poetic that way.

[29:49] It can be taken to represent more than one truth because it's one meaning one interpretation. So the upright you who now by the work of God and the application of the Holy Spirit have grown to love the moral law of God John Gill said God looks at you with pleasure and he takes delight in you he takes care of you he protects you and defends you and he will at last save you God sees you Father Son Holy Spirit he sees you and sustains you who take refuge in him you whom God has freely made upright by grace you shall also behold his face would you turn to Psalm 17 maybe one page over Psalm 17 and look at verse 15 this is such a great verse memorize this one and use it when you feel like it's hard to remain at your post Psalm 17 15 says

[30:51] I shall see your face in righteousness I shall be satisfied when I awake with seeing your form there's a satisfaction that overwhelms the believer when he sees God and this is a promise that Christians believers from every generation will see God by the work of Christ and when you see him you will be satisfied this is called the beatific vision the first part of that little word means blessed and the last part means to make like the beatitudes are the blessings so beatific means to make blessed or satisfied it's a vision of God that will make you incredibly blessed and satisfied notice how Jesus brings this to the forefront on the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 6 6 blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied

[31:53] God Matthew 6 8 blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God I want to show you three ways according to scripture that we are moved by God from glory unto glory unto glory how do we see God now how will we see God when we die and how will we see God one day at the resurrection first we see God now by faith in Jesus Christ 2 Corinthians 4 4 says believers see by faith the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God for God who said let light shine out of darkness has shown into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ you have seen God in the face of Jesus Christ now by faith John 14 9 Jesus affirms this he that has seen me has seen the Father if you see Jesus Christ by faith now you are seeing

[32:54] God number two God promises that you will see him spiritually at your death when your body dies when your soul is joined in heaven apart from your body your soul will be with the Lord in paradise before the resurrection of your body and even without your body being joined to the soul at the resurrection you will see the Lord spiritually the teaching of scripture is affirmed in our confession chapter 31 1 your soul which neither dies nor sleeps having an immortal substance shall immediately return to God who gave them the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness are received into paradise where they are with Christ and behold the face of God in light and glory waiting for the full redemption of their bodies so your death will be a glorious day where this promise will be even more gloriously fulfilled than it is now by faith

[33:59] Puritan John Flavel agreed there will there will be a beat vision at the moment of death our triune God and the mysteries of one God and three persons they will be made known to you in a way that now your limited mind can't fathom third and finally there will be a great resurrection you will see God physically one day at the resurrection of your body you will receive glorified eyes just as our Lord Jesus rose from the dead and he had a glorified body and your glorified eyes will behold what revelation says in many places and thank you Jonathan for your help with this you will see the throne of God and of the Lamb your glorified body will physically along with your soul cause you to behold God just as the Son of God keeps his glorified human body forever more you will have glorified senses and you will be able to in this resurrection body say with

[35:10] Job in chapter 19 verse 25 I know that my redeemer lives he will stand upon the earth after my skin has been destroyed then I will see God in my flesh whom I even I will see on my side my eyes will see and not as a stranger my heart is consumed within me even greater glory at the resurrection the Lord gave John the apostle to close off the New Testament revelation this glorious vision in Revelation 22 verses 3 and 4 3 this this is a promise for you who are in Christ you will stand at the throne of God and of the lamb one day you will worship him along with the vast multitude from every people nation tribe and tongue over all the centuries that he has saved by faith and you will see his face so beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ receive this exhortation from Psalm 11 remain at your post don't stop meeting together as some are in the habit of doing pray for one another serve one another love one another don't move to Texas we need you at Reformed Heritage Church don't abandon your ministry here like the hymn says ever lift thy face upon me as I work and wait for thee resting neath thy smile Lord Jesus earth's dark shadows flee it's not the Christians who need to flee the dark shadows flee from the light of the presence of God brightness of my Father's glory sunshine of my Father's face keep me ever trusting resting and fill me with thy grace amen amen let's spend time in prayer responding to the word that we've heard thank you very much being here going