As I read Psalm 31 aloud, I invite you to follow along with your own eyes.
And then to keep this open in front of you as we work through so that you can see the word of God, the verses,
and that the Spirit can minister to all of us because we trust it's his inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, powerful,
and all-sufficient word for you and me, his people.
Psalm 31.
To the chief musician.
A Psalm of David.
In you, O Lord, I put my trust.
Let me never be ashamed.
Deliver me in your righteousness.
Bow down your ear to hear me.
Deliver me speedily.
Be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me.
For you are my rock and my fortress.
Therefore, for your namesake, lead me and guide me.
Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me.
For you are my strength.
Into your hand I commit my spirit.
You have redeemed me.
You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
I have hated those who regarded useless idols.
But I will trust in the Lord.
I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy.
For you have considered my trouble.
And you have known my soul and adversities.
And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a wide place.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble.
My eye wastes away with grief.
Yes, my soul and my body.
For my life is spent with grief.
And my years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity.
And my bones waste away.
I am a reproach among all my enemies.
But especially among my neighbors.
And I am repulsive to my acquaintances.
Those who see me outside flee from me.
I am forgotten like a dead man.
Out of mind.
I am like a broken vessel.
For I hear the slander of many.
Fear is on every side.
While they take counsel together against me.
They scheme to take away my life.
But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord.
I say you are my God.
My times are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hands of my enemies.
And from those who persecute me.
Make your face shine upon your servant.
Save me for your mercy's sake.
Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord.
For I have called upon you.
Let the wicked be ashamed.
Let them be silent in the grave.
Let the lying lips be put to silence.
Which speak insolent things proudly.
And contemptuously against the righteous.
O how great is your goodness.
Which you have laid up for those who fear you.
Which you have prepared for those who trust in you.
In the presence of the sons of men.
You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence.
From the plots of man.
You shall keep them secretly.
In a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
Blessed be the Lord.
For he has shown his marvelous kindness in a strong city.
For I said in my haste.
I am cut off before your eyes.
Nevertheless you heard the voice of my supplications.
When I cried to you.
Oh love the Lord all you his saints.
For the Lord preserves the faithful.
And fully repays the proud person.
Be of good courage.
And he shall strengthen your heart.
All you who hope in the Lord.
The word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Please be seated.
Oh Lord we thank you for your word.
That's living and active and sharp.
We pray that by the power of your Holy Spirit.
Your word will pierce into us Lord.
That you'll divide the innermost part of us.
That by cutting us open with your word Lord.
The seed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Will find good soil.
And that it will bear much fruit in our lives.
So that you will be glorified.
And your kind mercy will be made known to all.
Through the lives of your people.
Whom you've redeemed.
By your grace alone.
For your glory alone we ask.
Amen.
Well prayer is a window into a person's soul.
When a person's praying.
We get to hear through their words.
The thoughts.
The meditations.
The beliefs of their innermost being.
Even after suffering through a day of conflict with a loved one.
After our frustrations may have reached a boiling point with one another.
Isn't it true in our experience that.
If we can just hear.
One another pray.
The grace of God has a way of melting the ice.
Prayer brings us around the foot of the cross of Jesus.
And we see.
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Working like.
360 degrees.
Around his cross.
Because prayer.
It reveals our views of God.
It reveals our views of ourselves.
And of one another.
In the light of God's glory.
In prayer we can.
Confess our weakness.
In prayer we.
We confess our struggles.
And our fears.
But also through prayer.
We.
We find our hope.
We remind one another.
To trust in God.
Prayer is a window.
Into the soul.
Psalm 31.
Is not only.
What some have called.
An exquisite.
Masterpiece.
Of Hebrew poetry.
It's that.
But it's more.
Psalm 31.
Is a prayer.
It's the prayer of a king.
And we get to listen in.
By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
These words that David prays to God.
Are recorded.
And preserved for us.
And we get a window.
Into the soul of this anointed man.
Who's really a shadow.
Of the anointed king.
Jesus Christ.
As we walk through this.
Psalm.
Verse by verse.
You'll get to hear.
One more time.
This king's fears.
And struggles.
The king's view of God.
View of himself.
And you'll be encouraged.
By what his trust.
And his hope.
Are anchored in.
So my encouragement is.
Hear the prayer.
Of this king.
And may God melt your heart.
My sermon title is.
What the king's prayer.
Reveals.
What the king's prayer.
Reveals.
And I'd like to point out.
Four glorious truths.
In this psalm.
Number one.
The king's prayer.
Reveals.
The grounds.
That God has laid.
For our pleas.
To him.
This king's prayer.
Reveals.
The grounds.
That God has laid down.
Upon which he'll accept.
Please.
Request.
From us.
In this psalm 31.
David's having to exercise faith.
He's trusting.
In what he cannot see.
Look at verse one.
In you oh Lord.
I put my trust.
God is spirit.
God is invisible.
But he puts his trust.
In the Lord.
And he says.
Let me never be ashamed.
There's a threat.
There's.
There's a very real threat.
That he will be ashamed.
According to what he can see.
That's his fear.
He's trapped.
And he's in need.
So he cries out in verse one.
Deliver me.
And he says.
Deliver me.
In your righteousness.
The basis for his faith.
His hope.
His trust.
It's in the character.
Of the Lord.
To put it another way.
He's praying.
Lord.
Because you are righteous.
Deliver me.
This is the ground.
God has laid.
To hear our.
Our pleas.
Because God is righteous.
Psalm 31.
Teaches God's people.
To trust.
That God does.
Care about you.
God does.
Draw near.
God does.
Hear it.
When we cry out.
To him.
That's what he prays.
Next in verse two.
Look at it.
Bow down your ear.
To me.
Deliver me.
Speedily.
In our Bible study.
One of our.
Our moms.
Pointed out.
It's like a parent.
You know.
The child.
Is crying.
The parent.
Draws near.
And bows the ear down.
Close to him.
To hear.
To show you.
I see you.
I hear you.
I care about you.
I'm near to you.
And his trust in God.
Is pictured now.
Next with.
With two images.
They're parallel.
One to another.
These are both.
Beautiful.
Powerful.
Encouraging pictures for us.
Even though we don't live in.
In the ancient.
Near east.
And we don't.
We don't have to deal with.
Siege warfare.
Which was brutal.
The two images.
Next are these.
Number one.
It's a rock.
Of refuge.
A rock.
Of refuge.
And number two.
What he calls.
A fortress.
Of defense.
To picture.
Rock of refuge.
You're visiting from Texas.
If you have time this afternoon.
You could get there.
I think it's in under.
90 minutes.
Down in El Paso County.
Paint.
Mines.
Regional park.
It's a regional park.
And you can go down.
And you can see where the erosion.
Maybe some of the ancient.
From the flood.
It's left these deep.
Caves and tunnels.
And created all these beautiful layers.
In the rock.
And you can just picture an army.
Trying to chase down a man.
Or his.
His army.
Scurrying away.
And finding.
Shelter.
Hiding.
In these rocks.
Of refuge.
Remember how David had to call these caves.
He had to call them home.
In Psalm 4.
He laid down his head.
To sleep at night.
While he's on the run.
And he's in hiding.
From King Saul.
Remember he had that fortress.
It was.
It was a natural fortress.
That God provided him.
Called En Gedi.
Down in southern part of Israel.
And that's where the Lord preserved him.
So a rock of refuge.
For David.
Brings all these.
Very real images.
Of survival.
And finding a place.
To hide himself.
When the blistering sun.
Is out there.
And it's scorching everything.
You can get in the shade.
You can find protection.
That's a rock of refuge.
The second one is the fortress.
Of defense.
We're so blessed.
We live in Colorado.
All these images of.
The.
Of Israel.
In ancient Israel.
We have them right here.
The best one for me.
Thinking of a.
This fortress of defense.
Would be like when you hike up.
To see a.
A fire lookout.
You know.
You'll go up a trail.
You'll.
You'll switch back and forth.
Some of them are above the.
The tree line.
See it's just up there.
In the middle of nowhere.
And.
And here's this little.
In our case.
It's just a little wooden cabin.
But the kingdoms.
In the ancient world.
Had these.
Fortresses.
These garrisons.
Put up on the.
The high points.
Where they can see.
In a long ways away.
So if one of the enemies.
Bring in all their troops.
And trying to flank us.
Or set up.
An attack.
We can get word back quickly.
And we can mobilize.
So you can picture this.
Man-made fortress.
These stones piled up.
Up.
Up on top of a hill.
And if the enemy were to try to get you there.
You have the high ground.
You can shoot arrows back down them.
And you can protect yourself.
From this fortress.
Of defense.
But the order in which David prays this.
It's.
It's different than what we would expect.
There's a unique repetition here.
In verses two and three.
Seems to be backwards.
First he says.
In verse two.
Be.
My rock of refuge.
Be.
A fortress.
Of defense.
For me.
So it sounds like he's asking God.
To become something new.
But notice.
The very next verse.
Part of this.
This.
Poetic parallelism.
In verse three.
He says.
Be those things.
For you are.
My rock.
And my fortress.
Why ask God.
To become.
Something that you.
Just claimed.
That God is.
I learned.
That.
When.
A weaker.
Party.
Is in a covenant relationship.
In a treaty.
The vassal servant.
In relationship.
To a more powerful.
Sovereign Lord.
You're appealing.
For protection.
You're appealing.
On this covenant.
This treaty.
That you have.
And you do it.
By reminding.
The powerful Lord.
Of their name.
Reminding them.
Of who they said.
They are.
In this covenant.
Relationship.
To you.
So this is a covenantal.
Prayer.
In verses two and three.
Isn't that beautiful?
The poet is saying here.
Act.
Like who you already promised.
To be.
God.
This appeal to God's covenant promises.
Is reinforced.
In the rest of verse three.
Therefore.
For your name's sake.
Lead me.
And guide me.
We can pray this way too.
These are the grounds.
God has laid.
For our pleas.
God has told us.
Here's who I am.
As your Lord.
This is my name.
I am.
Your rock of refuge.
I am.
Your fortress.
Of defense.
Pray to me.
Trusting.
That's who I am.
And that's who I will be.
For you now.
Think of the other.
People all around.
Israel.
They're building up.
Their own fortresses.
They're stacking up.
Stone walls.
They're taking over.
The garrisons.
Of other nations.
And David.
Now is calling the people.
Chief musician.
Get all the congregation.
To sing this truth.
Yahweh.
Is the true rock.
And the true fortress.
All these other things.
That the world.
Put their hope in.
They can be penetrated.
They can be destroyed.
You can dig under those walls.
The Lord.
Is the only one.
That we can count on for safety.
In him alone.
Do we find our security.
The only true.
Unbreachable.
Fortress.
Is the invisible.
Covenant keeping God.
The basis of our faith.
The basis of our hope.
Our trust.
It's the character.
Of the Lord himself.
This psalm teaches us.
To remind God.
Of his covenant promises.
To us.
And to lift up our needs.
Our troubles.
Our cares.
And our fears.
In light of.
Who he is.
We can pray like David.
Lord.
Because you are righteous.
Deliver us.
Lord.
You are caring.
You do draw near.
You do listen.
We can ask you.
In that same way.
Father.
Bow your ear down to me.
Deliver me quickly.
Brothers and sisters.
Reflect.
This week.
Maybe even this morning.
In the weakness of your flesh.
What do you.
Want to put.
Your hope in.
Instead of God.
If God.
If God leaves us to ourselves.
We are so frail.
Aren't we?
What do we want to put our security in.
Besides the Lord.
Remember the psalm.
We sing this.
This hymn.
That echoes.
The truth of this.
Wonderful verse here.
That my hope.
Can be built on nothing.
Less than Jesus blood.
And righteousness.
Anything other than Christ himself.
Is less.
I dare not trust.
The sweetest frame.
No matter how good it looks.
But wholly lean.
On Jesus name.
His oath.
His covenant.
His blood.
Are what support you and me.
In the whelming flood.
When all around.
My soul gives way.
He then.
Is all.
My hope.
And stay.
The king's prayer here.
Reveals the grounds.
God has laid.
For our.
Pleas.
To him.
His oath.
His covenant.
His blood.
We remind God.
Of what he's promised.
And we trust.
That he will be true.
To his word.
The second glorious truth.
We can learn.
Is that the king's prayer here.
Reveals.
The fierceness.
Of the battle.
This is a song of lament.
A song of trouble.
In the king's prayer.
It reveals that.
How fierce the battle is.
That this king.
Has to endure.
In Psalm 31.
David fears for his life.
But who is he afraid of?
You're going to have to.
Jump around with me.
For a few verses here.
Because I want to.
I want to try to make this clear.
I think it's very important.
Who are these enemies of David.
That are threatening his life.
Look at verse 11.
He says.
I am a reproach.
Among all.
My enemies.
Well think of Israel.
Surrounded.
You've got the Phoenicians.
On the north.
You've got the Philistines.
On the south.
You've got Egypt.
To the west.
And then you've got.
Those crazy.
Amalekites.
Just seeming to be.
Everywhere.
In the shadows.
His enemies.
These other nations.
Are all around.
And they worship idols.
But that's not really.
The emphasis on verse 11.
Let's keep reading.
He also says.
I am a reproach.
Notice the emphasis.
I'm a reproach.
Especially.
Among my neighbors.
Within the visible domain.
Of God's kingdom.
On earth.
Within Israel.
I am repulsive.
To my acquaintances.
Those who see me outside.
The word for word.
Is those who see me on the streets.
The streets of Jerusalem.
The streets of Israel.
They flee.
From me.
He says.
But I.
I know why.
Look at verse 6.
Here's the reason.
I have hated those.
Who regard useless idols.
The king has denounced.
The worship of.
Of false gods.
No.
Not within the.
The domain of God.
This cannot happen.
He's denounced it.
He's hated those.
Who have brought.
Idolatry.
Into the kingdom of God.
The phrase here.
Is.
Idol.
Keepers.
I have hated.
Idol.
Keepers.
And then the contrast.
Comes with the rest of verse 6.
But.
He says.
I trust.
In the Lord.
I trust.
Those are the only two options.
You either trust.
In a.
A demon.
Idol.
You're an.
An idol keeper.
Putting your trust in that.
Creaturely invention.
Or you're putting your trust.
In the creator.
There's no two alternatives.
There's no other alternatives.
Besides those two.
Because the king.
God's anointed.
Servant.
Here.
He trusts the Lord.
Instead of idols.
He's hated by those.
Who are keeping those idols.
Both inside the kingdom.
And outside the kingdom.
The ones inside the.
The borders of Israel.
Are supposed to.
Trust in the Lord.
But yet they're harboring.
These pet idols.
And worshiping them.
In their hearts.
Instead.
His neighbors.
Within the.
The same walls.
Are secretly.
Worshiping.
Demons.
Rather than the holy God.
And how is it.
That these.
Idol keepers.
Attack.
God's anointed king.
Look at verse 13.
I hear the slander.
Of many.
What's that like?
Fear.
Is on every side.
While they take counsel.
Against me.
They scheme.
To take.
My life.
Away.
Those who keep demons.
Hate.
God's.
Servants.
Can you put yourself there.
Scheming.
To end your life.
Slander.
Fear.
On every side.
Like their.
Walls are closing in on him.
And.
So.
David's.
And.
So.
David's.
Confession.
Later on.
Is.
Understandable.
Take your eyes down.
To verse 22.
I have said.
In my haste.
I am cut off.
From before.
Your eyes.
David's.
Miserable.
He feels so trapped.
He says.
Look at verse 12.
He says.
I am forgotten.
Like a dead man.
Out of mind.
It's like I don't even exist anymore.
I'm like a broken vessel.
Everything I thought was my life.
Like this clay jar up here.
Has been.
Smashed down on the rocks.
I have no life.
And in that moment.
The Lord ministers to him.
Look at verse 22 again.
Nevertheless.
You heard.
The voice.
Of my supplication.
When I.
Cried.
To you.
He felt like God.
Had cut him off.
He felt like.
God didn't see him anymore.
And by the end of the psalm.
He bears witness.
You heard me.
When I cried.
I asked Lord.
Bend your ear down.
And you did hear my prayer.
Part of his cry.
Is for justice.
Look at verse 17.
Lord this evil.
These.
Idol worshipers.
It's horrible.
How long are you going to let it.
Keep going like this.
In verse 17.
He says.
Do not.
Let me.
Be ashamed.
O Lord.
For I have called.
Upon you.
Let the wicked be ashamed.
Let them be silent.
In the grave.
Let the lying lips.
Be put to silence.
Which speak.
Insolent things.
Proudly.
And contemptuously.
Against.
The righteous.
Father.
Deal with it.
I can't defend myself anymore.
A wise pastor.
This was.
This was a while back.
But I remember his words.
He was going through something difficult in their church.
I didn't even know the details exactly of the situation.
And he reflected back on.
On 25 years of ministry.
He says.
What happens in churches.
And in Christian relationships.
Is that.
You open up the word of God.
You read the word of God.
God.
The Holy Spirit communicates.
A spiritual truth.
And the spirit.
Uses his word.
To topple down.
An idol.
That's what God does.
He says.
Even if you.
Communicate.
God's truth.
In the most.
Loving way.
When that truth.
Threatens.
Another person's idol.
The demon.
Behind that idol.
Will cause that person.
To want.
To kill you.
Verse.
Psalm 20.
Psalm 31.
Teaches us.
The intensity.
The fierceness.
Of the battle.
It's matters of life and death.
And some of you have loved ones.
God's put you in their life.
To speak a word of truth.
In a loving way.
But behind that truth.
Behind that simple.
Bible verse.
There is a spiritual.
Battle going on.
And it's fierce.
And there will be casualties.
We will feel it.
We will suffer.
We will also be weak.
Like David.
And confess.
Oh Lord.
I feel like you don't even see me.
Like I'm cut off.
The battle.
Is ferocious.
of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
for you are my strength.
I have no strength of my own.
And then to rest in God,
rest in his power, not our own,
and entrust yourself to him.
I learned that this was a common prayer at bedtime
when you're going to bed in ancient Israel
to say those words or something similar in verse 5.
You know, we have Psalm 4a.
Lay me down to sleep in peace,
for thou, Lord, only will make me dwell in safety.
And in verse 5 of Psalm 31,
into your hands I commend my spirit as I go to sleep.
I'm vulnerable, I'm resting.
You know the number of my days.
My spirit is in your hands, not my own,
and I can fall asleep.
Into your hands I commit my spirit.
The verb here is to entrust my spirit
to the hands of God.
I give you charge over my innermost being.
Lord, I'm placing my soul in your care.
To you, I send my spirit,
and I rest in faith.
What he says the rest of verse 5.
You have redeemed me,
O Lord, God of truth.
The source of my confidence
is the word of God.
God is the God of truth.
He has spoken the promise of redemption,
and I commend my spirit.
I rest myself in him,
even in the fierceness of the battle.
Even if by laying down to sleep,
I'm most vulnerable,
I could never wake up.
In David's case,
a spear could pierce him in the night.
And we learn to trust the Lord
in the fierceness of the battle as well.
When all around my soul gives way,
we can testify,
He then is all my hope and stay.
On Christ, the solid ground, I stand.
And on Christ, the solid ground, I can rest.
The King's Prayer reveals
the fierceness of the battle.
The third glorious truth
is that the King's Prayer reveals
the great cost of his victory.
The King's Prayer reveals next
the great cost of his victory.
David is not the hero of Psalm 31.
He confesses in verse 9,
Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am in trouble.
My eye wastes away with grief,
yes, my soul and my body,
for my life is spent with grief,
my years with sighing,
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
David's describing his inner man
and his outer man,
thin,
wasting away.
He needs the Lord to show him mercy.
He's run out.
His tank is totally dry.
I'm in trouble, he says.
And my eyes are full of tears and grief.
The Lord humbled me again this week,
and it hit me heavy yesterday,
working through this psalm.
The Lord convicted me
that my heart is bent on keeping idols.
I have idols.
I have idols I thought would no longer tempt me,
but God, as a loving, gracious Father,
scared me in a good way.
It's like I'm sensing this truth
from my loving Father.
Jason,
if I stop holding you near me
for one moment,
you will covet things of this world
until you drown in them.
You are weak.
You're an idol keeper,
naturally.
And you deserve my justice
and my wrath.
Without me, you are wicked.
And if you love any idol more than me,
or try to bring an idol alongside me,
your guilt and your filth
will be exposed.
You deserve to be put to shame.
As I read Psalm 31,
I realized I am one of those idol keepers.
And that's what I deserve.
It's the wrath of the righteous king
poured out on me.
So the response for idol keepers
like me and like you,
it's in verse 10.
We need to confess to the Lord God,
my strength fails
because of my iniquity.
Have mercy on me, Lord.
My own strength fails
because of my iniquity.
Because we're idol keepers,
ones who would hate God's servants
if we were left to ourselves,
we can't pray Psalm 31
perfectly for ourselves.
There's only one person
who could pray Psalm 31
in innocence,
in righteousness.
Who is it alone
who trusts in God
with all his heart,
all his soul,
all his mind,
and his strength,
who has no iniquity
that he needs to confess,
no mercy he needs to receive.
It's only our Lord Jesus Christ
who is righteous.
Think of Psalm 31
from the lips of King Jesus.
It's our Lord Jesus Christ
who stands against idols
by his own strength.
Only Jesus Christ
has the power
to demolish the idols
of our hearts.
Only Jesus Christ
could endure the fear
of demons on every side,
taking counsel together
through evil men,
Romans and Greeks,
and Jews alike,
inside and outside of Israel.
Only Jesus Christ
was strong enough
to have the vessel
of his body
broken like a clay pot,
to feel cut off
from before God's eyes,
forgotten like a dead man.
Only Jesus Christ
could lay down his life
willingly
in order to take it up again.
Only Jesus Christ
could trust God
in the fullness of faith
and recite these very promises
from Psalm 31.
It's the prayer of the true King
revealing the great cost
of his victory.
We read in Luke 23, 46
how our Lord Jesus Christ
cried out
in a loud voice
verse 5
of Psalm 31.
O Lord,
into thy hands
I commend
my spirit.
And then he breathed
his last.
Do you see what this
reveals?
The King Jesus
was meditating
on the words
in Psalm 31
as he hung
from the cross.
A song
of lament,
of anguish,
of suffering.
Directing his prayers
to God,
trusting in God's character
with perfect faith
according to his human nature.
Our Lord Jesus Christ
could pray
Psalm 31
from the cross
trusting
it has happened,
it is being accomplished,
it is God's decree.
You have redeemed me
O Lord God of truth.
I trust in you.
Your word is truth.
Your covenant promises
you will keep.
Our Lord Jesus Christ
could trust the promise
in verse 7.
Look at that.
Picture Jesus hanging.
The words didn't make it
out of his mouth
but in his mind,
in his heart.
Verse 7,
And I will be glad
and will rejoice
in your mercy
for you have considered
my troubles.
You have known
my soul
in adversities.
The Father knows
the Son
in his suffering.
You have not
shut me up
into the hand
of the enemy.
You have
set my feet
in a wide
place.
But as for me,
look at verse 14.
In the words
of Jesus
from the cross,
As for me,
I trust in you,
O Lord.
I say,
you are my God.
My times
are in your hand.
I will die,
but my death
will be a great victory.
Even through my death,
you will still
deliver me
from the hands
of my enemies
who persecute me.
Think of our Lord Jesus
trusting the promise
of verse 16.
Lord,
now the sky
has turned dark.
My body
is covered in blood.
I'm bearing
the sin
of my people.
And I'm receiving
your wrath
on my body.
But verse 16
is the hope.
Make your face
shine upon
your servant.
Save me
for your mercy's sake.
Our Lord Jesus
does not need
the Father's mercy,
but those
He's redeeming
need the Father's mercy.
And that's the promise
God the Father,
God the Son,
and God the Spirit
accomplish.
Securing the mercy
of God
through His servant,
Jesus Christ,
so that His face
will shine
on God's people
who are found
in Jesus.
The victory
belongs to the Lord.
Our redemption
has been secured.
When darkness
veils His loving face,
we can rest
on His same
unchanging grace.
The King's prayer
reveals
the great cost
of His victory.
The fourth
and final
glorious truth
for today
is that the King's prayer
reveals the great
reward
of His suffering.
The King's prayer
reveals the great
reward
of His sufferings.
Well,
if these were
the thoughts
on the mind
of our Lord
on the cross,
did it happen?
Did He experience
going from
fear on every side,
closing in,
suffocating Him,
the crushing weight
of the wrath
of God
and go from there
to having His feet
now put in a wide
place,
set firm,
not hanging by the nails,
but standing,
victorious?
Did God's face
shine upon
our Lord Jesus,
the only worthy
servant?
Think of how
our Lord Jesus
could proclaim
the rest of the
verses of this
psalm,
bearing witness
to us from heaven
for all His army
on earth
to hear
and believe
and be encouraged.
Think of verse 19
from the lips
of Jesus.
Oh,
how great
is Your goodness,
God,
which You have
laid up
for those
who fear You.
He's gone
before us.
He's the front
runner of our faith,
and He turns
back around
and praises God.
How great
is God's goodness,
which He has
stored up
for all
who will follow
in my path
and fear the Lord,
which You have
prepared for those
who trust in You
in the presence
of the sons
of men.
From heaven,
He's saying,
you who are in the
presence of men
on earth,
the Lord is good
and He has prepared
great rewards
for You.
And how will they
know on earth
until He returns
for His own?
How will we
trust this witness
from Christ?
In verse 20,
we have this promise
that I believe
it's for the church.
Look at verse 20.
God shall hide them.
These are the ones
who fear God
who are in the presence
of men on earth.
God shall hide them
in the secret place
of Your presence
from the plots
of man.
God shall keep them
secretly
in a shelter
from strife
of tongues.
The Lord will give
His people shelter
from this world.
He will protect
His soldiers
on earth
with His very own
presence.
He describes
this shelter,
this pavilion
as a spiritual
mystery.
It's hidden
to the eyes
of the world.
They can't see it.
It's not visible.
It's disguised
and the world
will overlook it.
This reminded me
of 2 Corinthians 4.
Paul writes
that we commended
ourselves to
everyone's conscience
in the sight of God
and our gospel
was proclaimed
as an open
statement
of the truth.
The gospel
is preached
clearly
for all to hear.
But listen to
what Paul writes
next,
2 Corinthians 4.
3.
Even if our gospel
is veiled,
it is veiled
to those who are
perishing.
In their case,
the God of this world
has blinded the minds
of the unbelievers
to keep them
from seeing the light
of the gospel
of the glory
of Jesus Christ
who is the image
of God.
This is that
secret pavilion,
that hidden shelter.
How is it
that the Lord
disguises
His presence
among His people
in this world?
It's disguised
in the simplicity
of our worship.
As His people,
we meet up
in a rented
school gym.
We sing
simple songs
that visitors
who don't know
the Lord
think are foolish.
We proclaim
a gospel
that this world
thinks is ridiculous.
They'll mock it.
We read
from the Bible.
We preach.
We pray together.
We baptize.
We share
in the Lord's Supper.
And in these
simple ordinances
that the Lord
has given us,
we are
this meeting place,
this tent
where God protects us
with His very own
presence
in the presence
of our enemies.
One day,
we have this
glorious promise
in verse 21.
The strong city
of heaven
will be revealed.
Blessed be the Lord,
He has shown me
His marvelous kindness
in a strong city.
You hear how this king
started off hiding
in the rocks
of refuge
in these outposts
on the mountaintops,
but now He's
in a strong city.
It's heavenly Zion,
the new Jerusalem,
that will soon
come to earth.
We trust by faith.
Now,
soon,
it will be by sight.
We behold,
our king has gone
before us.
He keeps us secure
still.
And how do we respond?
He tells us
how to respond
in the last two verses.
This king has been praying
throughout this whole psalm.
Now he's not directing
his words to the Lord.
He's speaking
to the congregation.
He's speaking
to the army.
Oh,
love the Lord,
all you His saints,
for the Lord
preserves
the faithful
and fully repays
the proud person.
Be of good courage
and He shall strengthen
your heart,
all you
who hope
in the Lord.
Our king's prayer
reveals
that the Lord
is our only
refuge.
And this prayer
reveals that
the reward
of His suffering
is to rule
with His people,
with you and me,
forevermore.
And this is our strength.
The king calls you
and me,
put your hope
in the Lord.
Be of good courage.
And the promise
is that God
will strengthen
your heart.
Let's thank the Lord
for being
our rock,
our refuge,
and ask Him
to help us
as we trust in Him.
Oh, Lord,
we praise You.
We thank You
that Jesus Christ
won the victory
that we could never win.
He secured
the reward
that we don't deserve.
We thank You
that we can run
to Jesus Christ.
He is our mighty fortress.
He is our solid
rock of refuge.
Help us to hide
in Him, Lord.
We pray that You
will preserve us
in the fierce
spiritual battle.
We pray that You
will protect us, Lord,
keep our feet
from stumbling.
We are weak.
We are thin.
We pray that You
will continue
to be our strength,
continue to supply us,
Lord,
our needs
as we walk with You.
For Your glory we ask.
Amen.