Well, church, please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to Psalm chapter 11.
Psalm chapter 11. We're continuing our summer series through the Psalms this morning,
and we've made our way to the 11th chapter.
If you didn't bring your own Bible, that's okay.
We have Bibles there in the seat backs and the chairs in front of you,
and you're welcome to use those this morning.
But we always do encourage you, if you would, have your Bibles open.
I want you to see it with your own eyes on the pages of God's Word.
So Psalm chapter 11, and when you've found it, let's stand in honor of God's Word this morning.
To the choir master of David, in the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain?
For behold, the wicked bend the bow.
They have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
The Lord is in His holy temple.
The Lord's throne is in heaven.
His eyes see.
His eyelids test the children of man.
The Lord tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
Let Him rain coals on the wicked.
Fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is righteous.
He loves righteous deeds.
The upright shall behold His face.
Let's pray once more.
Lord, we pray now that you would speak clearly to us.
Draw us to Christ this morning.
Remind us of the truths of your Word and of your reign and of your power.
We pray in Christ's name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Amen.
Like most kids, when I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to watch cartoons.
After a nice stressful week doing whatever it is a kid likes to do, Saturday morning would come around
and I would pull up with a bowl of cereal and a pillow or two, lay out and be excited to watch my Saturday morning cartoons.
And many of you, I'm sure, are familiar with the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons.
This is black and white cat, Sylvester, who was trying and always failing,
but always trying his best to get his hands on this little yellow bird named Tweety.
In every episode of Sylvester and Tweety, Sylvester, he was coming up with all sorts of new ideas,
new ways to get his hands on Tweety.
His intention was to get Tweety Bird and slide him in between two pieces of white bread and have Tweety for lunch.
But usually, Tweety would either outsmart him or outrun him.
He would find some way to avoid getting caught.
But every now and then, a third character would appear.
Hector the Bulldog.
He was on Tweety's side.
And so when Hector the Bulldog showed up, well, guess what?
Tweety Bird, he didn't have to run.
He didn't have to fly.
When Hector was there, Tweety got a whole lot more confident.
Why?
Because Hector was there to make certain that Sylvester did not do a thing to harm Tweety.
Now, when I was a kid watching Sylvester and Tweety, I knew I was watching high-quality television, right?
But what I did not know at the time was that watching this show was actually preparing my heart to better understand the message of Psalm chapter 11.
Because what we see here in Psalm chapter 11 is, yet again, the wicked are attacking.
Yet again, the wicked are coming up with another scheme to try and get their hands on King David.
They want to do him harm.
But in Psalm 11, instead of running, instead of flying away like a bird to the mountains, David stands firm.
Not because the threat is small, not because he is strong, but because he knows, he understands, he believes.
The Lord is on his side.
This morning, what I want us to do is I want to see two reasons why the righteous should not fear the threats of the wicked.
This is going to be our outline this morning.
Two reasons why the righteous should not fear the threats of the wicked.
Reason number one.
First, we do not fear because the Lord is our refuge.
Point number one.
We do not fear because the Lord is our refuge.
Well, apparently, again, the wicked are at it again.
And it's as if David is either remembering or maybe he's imagining a conversation with somebody else who is filling David in on the threats against him.
And this unknown advisor is telling David how he thinks he ought to react to the threats of the wicked.
And so he says, David, my advice to you is to run.
My advice to you is to flee, to run away, go hide.
Why?
Because what these wicked men are planning is an attack against David that is dangerous, destructive, and devastating to the king.
And we're going to see all of this here in the psalm.
He says that their attack is dangerous for King David.
He says, verse 2, the wicked bend the bow.
They have fitted their arrow to the string.
This is an image of a mighty hunter with a bow and an arrow.
And the bow is bent, which means that arrow is ready to fly.
They are intending to do some damage.
They've set the arrow and they're taking aim.
And to this counselor's perspective, compared to the strength of the wicked, David is like a little bird.
He's flying helplessly.
He's being hunted by the wicked.
He's in danger.
The wicked are armed and they're ready to attack.
But not only are they dangerous, these wicked men are also destructive.
They have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.
Their intention is to destroy.
It says they do their work in the dark.
And we hear that language of darkness.
Our minds ought to go to this connotation of wickedness and evil.
These are dark, evil deeds.
They attack in the dark.
Their ways are dark.
They are children of darkness attacking the children of light.
Our boys recently got a bow and arrow.
I have a friend who thought it would be a good idea for three boys to play with a bow and arrow.
So we have a few ground rules.
For one, before that string is pulled and before that bow is bent,
everybody else is now standing behind the person with a bow and arrow.
Right?
That's common sense.
But also, this isn't even a rule.
It's also common sense.
At least I think it should be.
We don't go shoot the bow and arrow at night.
Why?
Because you have no idea where that arrow is going to fly.
You let it go.
You don't know if it's going to hit the church.
You don't know if it's going to hit a power line.
You don't know if it's going to hit the house.
You don't know what damage is going to do.
Well, here David says,
The wicked shoot in the dark.
It's as if they can't even fully see clearly where they're aiming or who they're shooting
or what damage is being done.
They just let the arrows fly.
And this is reckless and destructive behavior.
And ultimately, this counselor says that David needs to run because these attacks,
if they land, if they're successful in what they're doing,
these attacks are going to be devastating for King David.
He asks this question in verse 3.
He says,
If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Now, we don't know exactly what they were aiming at, what the attack was,
but we know that their intention was to completely destroy the foundations of the righteous.
So this could be an assault on David's character,
trying to undermine the confidence of the people in King David.
It could be an assault on the throne itself, trying to take away the throne.
Whatever it was, their aim, their intention,
was to deal a devastating blow to the very foundations of the righteous.
And this counselor says,
If they succeed, if the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
It's hopeless for you, David.
You are better off to run away.
Get out of there.
Flee to the mountains.
Save yourself.
Run from the threats of the wicked.
From his perspective, the wicked are unbeatable.
David's in a losing position.
The righteous cannot win.
Sometimes it feels like that, doesn't it?
The world that we live in, it feels that way.
It feels like wicked people and all the forces of evil.
It feels at times like their strength is insurmountable,
is unconquerable, is unbeatable.
And so all the righteous people, all that they have to do,
is hide.
Run away.
Flee.
But look how David responds.
Verse 1.
In the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul,
flee like a bird to your mountain?
The Lord is my refuge.
David is not unaware of the danger.
He's no fool.
He sees the strength of the wicked,
but he looks it in the eye.
And he says,
I'm not going anywhere.
Why?
Because I'm strong?
Because I'm capable?
Because the threat is small?
Because the threat is insignificant?
No.
Because the Lord is my refuge.
This is similar to what Psalm 46 says.
You can flip there if you'd like,
or mark it for later.
One of my favorite Psalms,
Psalm 46,
says,
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore,
we will not fear,
though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved
into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.
I mean,
just picture that scene.
Imagine it in your mind.
The earth is shaking.
The whole earth is giving way.
The mountains are crumbling.
The waters are raging.
The mountains are moving
into the heart of the sea.
This is a picture of chaos and destruction
all over the entire globe,
but in the midst of it,
the psalmist says,
we won't fear.
Why?
Because God is our refuge.
This is the secret to Christian boldness.
You want to know what it means to be bold?
You want to know why Christians are bold
in the face of danger?
Would you like to grow in boldness?
Here's the secret.
Okay?
Here's the secret.
Christians are bold in the face of the wicked
because we take refuge in the Lord.
Something you should know about Christians
is that Christians are bold.
We don't run away from hard things.
Often, in fact, Christians are known to run to hard things.
Not recklessly like the wicked,
but confidently and boldly.
We don't just run and flee at the first sight of danger
to go make our lives more comfortable and more safe.
Christians are bold,
even against the strongest attacks of the enemy,
not because we're strong,
not because the attacks are small,
but because we believe God is strong.
God is capable.
God is powerful.
And we take refuge in Him.
This is the secret.
We're just saying,
a mighty fortress is our God.
Did we sing it?
A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing,
our helper.
He amidst the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
You know, King David
knew this better than anybody, didn't he?
This is the same man who,
as a young man,
as a child,
stood before Goliath,
a seemingly insurmountable, wicked man,
an undefeatable Philistine,
almost 10 feet tall,
stood in front of him
with nothing but a sling and a couple of stones,
and faced him,
looked him dead in the eye,
and said,
we're not going anywhere.
And to those who looked,
they had to wonder,
what is the secret to David's boldness?
Well, listen, he said,
you come to me with a sword,
and a spear,
and a javelin,
but I come to you
in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel,
whom you have defied.
His secret was that he took refuge
in the Lord.
I shared the story last week
with you of the three missionaries
who were murdered in Haiti.
One minute,
they're coming out of the church building,
ministering to children.
The very next minute,
they're captured by a gang,
and robbed,
and beaten,
and eventually shot
from the eyes of the world.
This looks like foolishness,
but we know better.
They weren't oblivious
to the dangers around them.
They went there fully aware
that this exact scenario
was a possible ending
to their time in Haiti.
So why did they go?
They went,
because to them,
the threats of wicked men
did not outweigh
the presence and the power of God,
and the call of God
on their life.
They took refuge in the Lord.
They believed the promise of Christ.
Whoever desires to save his life
will lose it.
Whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it.
They believed the word of Hebrews 13, 6.
He has said,
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
So we can confidently say,
the Lord is my helper.
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
This is the secret
of Christian boldness.
The righteous are bold
in the face of danger
because we take refuge
in the Lord.
So the question for us then,
do you share that boldness?
Do you share this boldness?
If you find yourself
looking out at the world
as wicked as it is,
if you find yourself trembling
or fearful,
if you find yourself
feeling afraid
of what might happen,
what others might do to you,
what others might say about you
or to you,
if you go and speak
the name of Christ,
if you find yourself fearful,
the secret to boldness.
It's not your strength.
Take refuge in the Lord.
Now,
it's easy to say,
isn't it?
But you might be wondering,
well,
what is it about the Lord
that makes him
such a place of safety?
What is it about the Lord
that makes him a refuge
for those who rely on him
and trust in him?
Well,
we see this answer
in our second point
this morning's second.
We do not fear
because the Lord
is our righteous ruler.
We do not fear
because the Lord
is our righteous ruler.
David,
he's confident,
he's bold
because of where God is
and who God is.
You see that?
Where is he?
The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord's throne
is in heaven.
He's reigning in heaven.
David's confidence
is that God is king
over all the earth.
He's reigning from his holy throne
up in heaven.
He's reigning and ruling
over all things.
And even more than this,
this sovereign king
who's reigning over all things
has taken it upon himself
to make promises to David.
You remember,
God has anointed David king.
David was God's choice.
God's anointed king.
God had raised him up
to be his anointed ruler
over his people.
And God,
the king,
had promised David,
2 Samuel 7,
that from his own line
would come another king
who would reign forever,
whose kingdom would have no end.
God himself,
the king,
the sovereign king,
out of his own initiative,
had linked himself up to David.
By God's grace,
David's good and God's glory
are now intertwined.
They're bound up together.
And so because of this,
David knows,
listen to this,
because David is God's anointed king,
David knew that all of his enemies
ultimately were God's enemies.
David knew that any threat against him,
any work against his life,
any opposition to him
is ultimately threats against the Lord.
And so he entrusts himself to the Lord
to deal with it.
Psalm chapter 2.
You remember Psalm chapter 2.
Psalm 1 and 2.
They set the stage
for the whole rest of the book of Psalms
and asked this question.
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and his...
What?
Help me.
And his anointed saying,
let us burst their bonds apart
and cast their cords away from us.
What's God's response to this?
Verse 4.
Psalm chapter 2.
He who sits in the heavens
laughs.
The Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath
and terrify them in his fury,
saying,
as for me,
I have set my king on Zion,
my holy hill.
And do you remember how it ends?
Verse 10.
It says,
Now therefore, O kings,
be wise.
Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son,
lest He be angry
and you perish in the way,
for His wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
David,
the anointed king.
He rests in the sovereign reign of God
and the promises that He has made.
David's throne is under attack,
but he rests in the truth
that God's,
the Lord's throne is in heaven,
unbothered by the threats of man.
David also knows
that just because the Lord is in heaven,
just because He's up there
reigning and ruling,
that doesn't mean that He's unaware
of what's going on here on earth.
Quite the opposite.
In fact,
because God is completely sovereign
over everyone and everything,
because of the unique vantage point
that He alone has
from His throne in heaven,
He is totally aware
of what happens
in every corner of His domain.
David knows that
the Lord is on His throne
and He sees the righteous
under attack.
The Lord is on His throne
and He sees the wicked
bringing the attack
on the righteous.
Because of who He is,
a righteous king,
David finds boldness
and comfort.
He says in verse 4,
the Lord's eyes,
His eyes see.
His eyelids test
the children of man.
And He sees David
and his struggle
and He sees the wicked
and their threats.
As we saw last week
from chapter 10,
it may not always seem
like the Lord sees
what's going on here
in this world,
but we trust the Lord
does see
and the Lord
will take it
into His own hands.
The wicked can't even see
the impact
of their arrows
shooting in the dark,
but the Lord
is far more aware
of the damage they do
even more than they are.
and the Lord
has two very different
responses
to the righteous
and to the wicked.
Verse 5,
look there with me.
He says,
the Lord
tests the righteous,
but His soul
hates the wicked
and the one
who loves violence.
David knows that
for the righteous,
trials like this
are simply tests.
The Lord tests
the righteous,
he says in verse 5.
If you are a Christian,
if you are suffering
some trial,
if you're enduring
some pain
or some persecution
or some hardship,
we rejoice
to know that
because God is king
and God is good,
that He's a righteous ruler,
that what man means
for evil,
God means
for good.
The wicked want
to destroy you,
but God intends
to refine you.
We've seen
enough
of God's word
at this point
to know God
never,
ever,
ever promises
that His people
will not receive threats,
will not be hated,
will not endure
violence
or suffering.
He doesn't promise us
that we won't be
dragged away
from our church
when we go serve Him
in Haiti,
but He promises
that He has good purpose
in every trial
that His people face.
Hebrews 12,
verse 6,
the Lord disciplines
the one He loves
and chastises every son
whom He receives
like a good father.
He disciplines us
for our good
that we may share
in His holiness.
So James,
it tells us
to count it all joy,
my brothers,
when you meet trials
of various kinds
for you know
that the testing
of your faith
produces steadfastness.
We can endure
threats
and temptation
and trials
of all kinds
with boldness
and with joy
because we know
that in the end
the Lord means it
for His glory
and for our good.
What does Romans 8 say?
All things work together
for good
for those who love God
and are called
according to His purpose,
but for the wicked
and for those
who do not know the Lord.
For the wicked,
on the other hand,
the end result
is very different.
We need to understand this.
Look again there
to verse 5
one more time.
He says,
the Lord tests
the righteous
but His soul
hates
the wicked
and the one
who loves
violence.
His soul
hates
the wicked.
We don't like
that language,
do we?
This is uncomfortable
language,
isn't it?
This is hard
for us to understand.
We're not comfortable
with this sort of talk.
The Lord hates
the wicked
and in some ways
if we're not careful,
we can find ourselves
explaining it away.
Well,
God doesn't really
hate the wicked.
That's not true
or the God
that I love,
He worshiped,
the God that I worship
loves everyone
the same.
He doesn't hate
anyone.
He loves everybody
equally
and I understand
the impulse
to say those things
but I want to offer
just a word of caution.
We have to be careful
that we don't explain away
what God's word
clearly says,
verse 5,
or that we don't
explain it away
where we make ourselves
seem more compassionate
and more kind
than God Himself.
If that were possible,
it's not.
So how do we think
about this?
Well,
in one sense,
yes,
in a general way,
the Lord does show
love to everyone.
He extends common grace
to everyone.
The sun shines
on the righteous
and the unrighteous
alike.
The wicked
and the righteous
both experience joy
and happiness
and eat good food
and enjoy all sorts
of pleasures
in this life.
These are all
good gifts
of God
to everyone.
He has a sort
of general love
for all of His creatures
and in another
all-important sense,
all of the incredible
riches
of God's love
are extended
to all wicked men
in Christ.
God so loved
the world
that He gave His Son.
That's an act of love.
God shows His love
for us
and that while we were
still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5a,
that's an act of love.
In the gospel,
we see a wide invitation
for wicked men,
for sinners,
to enter into
the love of God
through Jesus Christ.
But at the same time,
in a way that
we don't quite understand,
partly because
it makes us
uncomfortable
to try and understand it,
verse 5 says,
God has hatred
in His soul
for the wicked
and the one
who loves violence.
This is not
an emotional response
on God's part.
It is
positional.
Positional.
The wicked,
those who are
in sin,
are positionally
under the wrath
of God.
They are
positionally
objects
of His wrath.
There are only
two types of people
in the world.
The Psalms
make this very clear
to us.
There's the wicked
and there's
the righteous.
We are none of us,
50-50.
None of us
are a composite.
We are either
positionally wicked
or we are
positionally righteous.
There is no
middle ground.
Those who are
beloved of God
and those who are
hated
of God.
The righteous
are loved by God.
The wicked
are hated by God.
Jacob,
I loved.
Esau,
I hated.
The righteous
are destined
for eternal life
in Christ.
The wicked
are destined
for eternal destruction
away from the
presence of the
Lord.
God is in a
position of
favor and love
towards the
righteous.
And God is in a
position of
wrath and
destruction
towards the
unrighteous.
He is for the
righteous.
He is against
the unrighteous.
This is
uncomfortable.
But unless we
get this,
we'll never
understand why
David can pray
the way he does.
Verse 6,
Let him rain
coals on the
wicked.
Fire and
sulfur and
scorching wind
shall be the
portion of
their cup.
How can he say
something so
cruel?
Again,
he prays like
this because he
knows his
enemies are
God's enemies.
So he prays
the wrath of
God against
his enemies.
Here's the
thing.
David deeply
believed
something about
God that
we tend
to struggle
to understand.
David took
comfort in
God's
holiness.
His holiness.
Where is
he?
He is
reigning in
heaven, but
also who
is he?
Verse 7,
The Lord
is righteous.
And what
does he
love?
He loves
righteous
deeds.
He
is
righteous.
He
hates the
wicked and
those who
love evil.
Psalm 97,
it says,
righteousness and
justice are the
foundation of
his throne.
This is who
he is.
He is holy.
Holy.
That's a word
that we are
familiar with.
We hear it
often.
We sing,
holy, holy,
holy,
Lord God
almighty.
But I think
it's also a
concept that
we struggle to
fully understand.
So here's a
definition.
Richard Lentz
says,
the holiness of
God refers to
the absolute
moral purity
of God
and the
absolute
moral distance
between God
and his human
creatures.
Let me say
that again.
Richard Lentz
definition of
holiness.
The holiness
of God
refers to
the absolute
moral purity
of God
and the
absolute
moral distance
between God
and his
human creatures.
1 John 1
5 says,
God is light
in him.
There is no
darkness
at all.
This is
absolute,
total,
perfect
purity.
God is
holy.
In the second
part of Mr.
Lentz's
definition,
we are not.
There's a
distance
here.
It's
impossible to
bridge this
gap.
God is
holy,
and we
are not.
We can't
even fully
comprehend
holiness
because there's
nothing in
our life
or experience
that comes
close to
God's purity.
And so what
happens is you
and I,
we evaluate
things on a
scale of
good,
better,
best.
I'm not as
bad as this
guy,
or the thing
I did is not
as bad as
what she
did.
But if we
understand that
God is
holy,
we have to
understand that
God is not
on the scale
and God does
not judge on
the scale.
God is
holy and the
standard,
the rubric
by which he
evaluates everyone
and everything
is not on a
scale of good,
better,
best.
He judges
everyone and
everything by
his own
standard of
perfect
holiness.
If this
judgment on
the wicked
seems harsh
to us,
it's probably
because in
some way we've
either minimized
our wickedness
or we've
minimized his
holiness.
Possibly both.
What we need to
understand is that
God is king,
that God is
holy,
that God is
against the
wicked,
and that all
of us
naturally
left to
ourselves
are wicked.
And we read
these Psalms and
we hear about the
righteous and we
hear about the
wicked.
We have to
understand that
naturally left to
ourselves,
we are not
the righteous.
We are the
wicked.
Every one of
us has raged
against the
Lord and his
anointed.
It doesn't
matter if
you're a
convict,
a criminal,
or if you've
simply disobeyed
your parents
even one
time.
R.C.
Sproul in his
book,
The Holiness
of God,
that ought to
be,
by the way,
required reading
for every
Christian.
He says that
every sin,
is an act of
cosmic treason,
a futile attempt
to dethrone God
in his
sovereign
authority.
How do you
think God
the king will
handle that
sort of
rebellion?
We have to
understand that
the punishment
fits the
crime,
right?
We understand
that.
The punishment
fits the
crime.
The punishment
correlates not
just to the
severity of our
crime, but
also to the
significance of
the one we
have offended.
Think about
it.
If you kick
your brother,
that doesn't
happen in my
house or
anybody else's
house, I'm
sure.
You kick
your brother,
you get in
trouble.
You kick
your mom,
you ought to
get in more
trouble.
Not because the
action is
different, but
because the
recipient of
the action is
more significant.
If you
somehow walk
up to the
president and
have access to
the president and
you kick the
president, guess
what?
You're going to
get in a lot
of trouble.
And what do
you think will
happen if you
spit in the
face of the
king of kings
who created you
for his glory,
who's given you
every opportunity
to repent and
to turn to him
with love and
adoration and
honor and
worship as he
deserves, that
you have spurned
the one who is
worthy of all
honor and praise
and chosen instead
to worship and
serve yourself?
So what then
is our hope?
How in the
world does this
give us any
confidence?
How in the
world do we
make certain that
we are not
under his
hatred but in
his love?
Well, this is
where we'll
close church.
The righteous
are fearless,
not because of
our strength,
not because the
threat against us
is small,
but because we
take refuge in
Jesus Christ,
who is our
righteous ruler.
King Jesus
is the true
anointed king.
Jesus Christ is
the true
eternal ruler
of all of
God's people.
Jesus Christ
is the
righteous man,
none other.
Jesus Christ
is the
promised son
of David,
who like
David,
faced wicked
accusations and
threats against
his life,
but who did
not run from
his accusers,
who went to
a familiar
place to pray,
knowing he
would be
betrayed,
who like a
lamb before
his shears was
silent as he
made his way
to the cross.
Why?
To make
wicked
people
righteous
in the
sight of
God.
By his
own life,
death,
and resurrection.
Christ the
King is the
true righteous
ruler of all,
and we,
the wicked,
are made
righteous by
faith in
him.
The only way
you can read
this psalm
and put
yourself in
the category
of righteous
is if you
are counted
righteous in
him.
There is no
other way.
The gospel
is the
unthinkable
good news
that God
made his
beloved son
the object
of his
hatred
so that
wicked people
like us
might become
the objects
of his
love.
We ought to
marvel at
this,
church.
We ought
not say,
I deserve
to be
loved by
God.
You don't.
You and I
deserve the
wrath of
God.
But by his
grace alone,
he has loved
us in
Christ
and has
rescued us
from this
domain of
darkness
by his
own blood
and he
has adopted
us into
his own
family,
brought us
into his
love as
his own
sons and
daughters
and given
us an
unshakable
rock solid
hope that
transforms every
circumstance we
face in this
life.
What can
the wicked
do to
you in
Christ?
Christ.
If God is
for us,
who can be
against us?
The devil
and all of
hell cannot
take you
away from
the reign
and rule
of Christ.
This is
good news
for us,
church.
If you
have not
yet submitted
yourself to
the Lord
and repented
of your sin,
all of us are
guilty.
If you've not
yet repented
of your sin
and bent the
knee and
bowed your
heart to
King Jesus,
what stops
you from
doing so
now?
And if
you have
trusted in
this good
and holy
King,
listen to
this,
the blessing
of his
reign in
your life
is not
just escape
from danger,
as wonderful
as that is,
it's the
gift of
an unbelievable,
unshakable
hope that
no threat,
no danger,
no trial,
no enemy
can ever
take away
from you.
And this
is where
David closes
this psalm.
Look there.
The Lord
is righteous.
He loves
righteous deeds.
And the
upright
shall behold
his face.
The righteous
have nothing
to fear.
We have
nothing to
lose.
And we
have all
of eternity
beholding the
glory of God
to look forward
to.
does that
not make
you bold
in this
life,
church?
So I'll
close again
as we did
last week
with this
vision of
our future
hope.
When the
Lord returns
from Revelation
21 and
22,
when the
Lord returns,
Revelation
21 verse
27 says,
nothing unclean
will ever enter
it,
nor anyone
who does
what is
detestable
or false,
no wicked
person,
no wicked
thing,
no threat,
no danger,
but only
those who
are written
in the
Lamb's
book of
life.
Chapter 22
verse 3,
no longer
will there
be anything
accursed,
but the
throne of
God and
of the
Lamb will
be in it,
and His
servants will
worship Him.
They will
see His
face,
and His
name will
be on
their foreheads,
and night
will be no
more.
They will
need no
light of
lamp or
sun,
for the
Lord God
will be
their
light,
and they
will reign
forever
and ever.
Let's
pray.
Lord,
what a
gift,
what a
gift to
know that
we who
are wicked
might be
cleansed,
freed from
our wickedness,
forgiven
fully,
not by our
strength,
but by your
grace,
God,
and adopted
as your
sons and
daughters,
and given
this unshakable
hope of a
future,
looking into
your face
and worshiping
you for the
rest of
eternity.
We praise
you,
God,
for the
gospel.
We praise
you,
God,
for the
life and
death and
resurrection
of Christ.
We praise
you,
God,
that you
are a
good and
a just
and a
holy God,
and you
will accomplish
all your
purposes.
Jesus,
we thank
you and
we praise
you for
all this
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.