Address—Nick Simon
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If we could start this afternoon by singing #294.
O Come thou stricken Lamb of God, who sheds for us Thy own lifeblood, and teach us all Thy love. Then pain in life was sweet, and death were gained. Take thou our huts and let them be forever close to all but Thee, Thy willing servants. Let us wear the seal of love forever there #294 if someone could stop that, please.
You my friend's Christian.
Right away and we get, you know.
So we just look to the Lord for His help.
Our God and Father, we just created Thee for Thy health. This afternoon as we open up Thy word, we seek to be guided by it, to be encouraged by it. We would pray, Lord, for each one in this room. Thou knowest the circumstances of each of our lives. Thou dost know what we need. Let us know it before we know it. And so, Lord, we just again would pray for the encouragement and comfort of Scripture as we open up Thy word.
We just pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
If I could, uh, he anticipated what I wanted.
It's not just the talking that makes your mouth dry.
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This afternoon I would like to continue what seems to have been something of a theme that we've had before us, and that is that which we suffer in our lives outwardly and the inward response. And Brother Jim helped me yesterday and the comments that he prefaced his little discussion on Psalm 23 with, because I will also be looking at a number of Psalms. In fact, what I would like to do with the Lord's help is to look at those psalms.
Where that little heading which, as Jim pointed out, forms a part of the first verse.
Those psalms where we know the circumstances.
In David's life now we can go and we will, Lord willing, look at these, those circumstances in the book of Samuel, first Samuel in particular, and in first Samuel we find, as it were, the history. But when we open, open up the Psalms.
We find what was going on inside of David's heart. We'll find that David was very much a man of light passions such as we. Same trials, same difficulties. Now, just a little word. And again, Jim has already spelled this out yesterday, but I would like to repeat because I feel that the sums are often taken up in a way in which they're misunderstood.
The psalms are.
The language.
Of.
Israel.
Specifically, the Psalms of David are those of a man under law who did not know what it was to have assurance of sins forgiven.
Whose hopes and aspirations concerned the land of Israel?
So the Psalms are, as was mentioned, prophetic.
They're they're broken up into five books. We don't have time to look at that.
And they form, uh, a prophetic progression, as it were. The other thing that we learn about the Psalms is that they're not merely, well, I should not, I should say they're not human sentiment. They certainly correspond to those experiences that David had, but they're not mere human sentiment. In fact, very often the Psalms perhaps begin in an experience that David had.
And then move beyond, clearly beyond David's life, and in those psalms we hear very often the Spirit of Christ.
Other times we hear the Spirit or the words of the remnants of Israel in the day to come. Just to read a couple of verses to provide scriptural backing for what I've just said, look at Second Samuel 23.
Second Samuel 23, verse one. Now these be the last words of David. Dave is the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel. That's the first point to remember. The Psalms concerned Israel.
Secondly, it says the spirit of the Lord spake by me. They are divinely inspired. There are not mere human sentiments, and we should keep that in mind too.
Now, if we understand those principles, we can take the sums and rightly apply them in our own lives. There won't be confusion. We won't need to spiritualize them. We won't need to make ourselves Israel to see how they apply.
And so with the Lord's help, that's what I would like to do. I'm not going to take them up prophetically. I'm not going to take them up as it were, The Spirit of Christ speaking in the Psalms that we might touch on that here and there. I'm going to take them off as the expressions of David.
And his trials and take the principles that we can draw from that that are applicable to us who are in a Christian position and apply them to our lives. Now, this is not, I would say, the highest view of the Psalms, but let's not forget that David did write them and he wrote them in the trials that he went through. And we can learn from that, so.
Just a word of comment, I have counted 14 psalms that have in their headers.
A description of when and where they occurred. Now some of them may be a little fuzzy, but I think overall we know what period in David's life they correspond to. So there are 14 of them.
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Of those seven occur when Saul is pursuing David, and they're the ones that we're going to focus on this afternoon when he was in rejection. Now we live in a world today that has rejected Christ. So some of the things that he speaks of, we should feel ourselves.
If we are in tune with the Lord Himself, we will find that we live in a world and we will fill the rejection of the world because it is a world that has rejected Christ. Now there is one other Psalm, umm, the first one will begin with, and it's the first of these Psalms, by the way. We'll go through them chronologically in David's life, and as we do that, we'll find out that we're going to jump around in the psalms. The sums are not going to go in the same order as David's life chronologically.
That's because the Samsa group morally and as I said, they're grouped into five books and there's a prophetic progression there. So the Psalms just remember a group for other reasons. They're they're ordered for other reasons and they're not chronological. But the very first one that we're going to look at is going to be Psalm 56. But before we go there, we need to look at the portion in First Samuel this corresponds to.
And I believe it's.
In, umm, First Samuel 19, now we're not going to get through 14 sums, much less even 7:00 or 8:00. There's eight that correspond to First Samuel. We're not going to get through them. We'll just see how far we get. Unfortunately, we're not necessary. Unfortunately, perhaps, uh, fortunately there's a lot of scripture to be read. So more scripture and less for me is a good thing.
The first concerns, first time concerns, uh, David when he saw Santa watch his house and Michael his, he was married to Michael, his wife. And since that's important to what we're going to say, let's just turn back to the previous chapters, first Samuel 18 and just read a little bit to get some context of the circumstances surrounding David's marriage to Saul's daughter.
So chapter 18 verse 20 And Michael saw daughter love David, and they told Saul and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain or one of the two. He had two daughters and he was going to marry one to Dave. And that didn't work out. When he heard that Michael loved David, then he made sure that David marry Michael and Saul actually wanted it to be a snare to David.
Now turn over to the next chapter.
In verse 11 of chapter 19, Saul also sent messages unto David's house to watch him and to slay him in the morning.
And Michael, David's wife told him, saying, if thou save not thy life tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slant.
So Michael let David down through a window, and he went and fled and escaped. And Michael took an image and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats here for his bolster and covered it with a cloth.
And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick. And Saul sent the messages again to see David saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him. And when the messengers will come in, behold, there was an image in the bed with a pillar of goats hair for his bolster, and salted unto Michael. Why have thou deceived me so, and sent away my enemy, that he has escaped? And Michael answered, So he says unto me, Let me go, why should I kill thee? So David fled and escaped and came to Samuel, to Rama. Now let's look at that's the history. Now let's turn to Psalm 59.
Which would give the inward so if the what we had back there in first Samuel was what was outward in David's life, that was which is affecting him outwardly in this scene. This is what's affecting him inwardly. Psalm 59 to the chief musician I I don't necessarily know how to pronounce all these words, but Alto skiff Mitchum of David.
When Saul sent and they watched the house to kill him.
Deliver me from mine enemies, Oh my God, defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
For lo, they lie in wait for my soul the mighty are gathered together, the mighty I gathered against me, not for my transgression, nor for my sin. Our Lord, they run and prepare themselves without my fault, and awake to help me. And behold.
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Thou therefore, our Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen. Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah. They return at evening. They make a noise like a dog, and go around about the city. Behold, they belch out with their mouths. Swords are in their lips, for they say, For who say they doth hear? But thou, O Lord, shall laugh at them. Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision because of his strength. Will I wait upon thee?
God is my defense. The God of my mercy shall prevent me. God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. Slay them not, lest my people forget. Scatter them by Thy power, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride. And for cursing and lying which they speak, consume them in wrath. Consume them that they may not be, and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.
And that evening let them return, and let them make a noise like a dog, and go around about the city. Let them wander up and down for meat and grudge if they be not satisfied.
But I will sing of thy power. Yeah, I will sing of Thy mercy in the morning, for Thou hast been my defence and my refuge in the day of my trouble unto Thee. O my strength will I sing, for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.
We were just touched very briefly on these as we go through them.
The first thing to note is that Michael, David's wife, seeks to deceive those that come to search for David, and when the man finally forced their way into the house, she lies as to what David said. She says that David threatened to kill her if she didn't let him go. At least that's the way I interpret who was.
David on the other hand, when we turned to the Psalm, we find out something that we don't see in Samuel. We find that David is praying. We find quite a different attitude with David. He commits himself to God. Deliver me from my enemies, Oh my God, defend me from them that rise up against me. So while Michael is depending on her own contrivances, David is trusting in God. Now the lesson here, young people, is when you pick a mate, whether it be your wife.
Orgels, whether it be your husband.
One, we don't enter into an unequal yoke, but pick someone that is spiritually your equal.
Husband and wife together can be a tremendous help and support.
But if your wife has was the case with Michael is one that doesn't know the law doesn't trust the Lord is seeking to deceive to deliver David.
I I don't know for David personally because scripture doesn't tell us, but for myself that would be such a a tremendous hurt in my life to think that my wife is seeking to lie and to use cunning to deliver me and not willing to join me in prayer.
As I said, husband and wife can be a tremendous help to each other. When one is feeling down, the other can encourage.
It's so important that when you pick your mate that you pick someone that is your spiritual equal or.
And that doesn't mean you say, well, I'm not very spiritual, so I'll look for a wife that's not very spiritual. I trust that it would be an exercise to you, to each one of you, to think about where you are in your life.
Another thing to notice, and it's also something that, uh, we found at the beginning of Psalm 23, it said, the Lord is my shepherd. Here we have Oh my God.
Is he your God?
Do you know Him? Is there a personal relationship with Him? Do you know the one that you can cry unto? You know one thing that we notice as we go through these psalms, how personal the relationship between David and God is. And sometimes David's language is quite bold.
But do you know God such that in your difficulties you can fall down at your knees and cry to God as my God?
Now there is a reason why it says God. As I said, these Psalms are prophetic and most of the Psalms, as I mentioned, those that correspond to experiences in First Samuel, mostly occur in the second book of the Psalms. In the second book of the Psalms, the remnant of Israel in the coming days, seen as driven from the city, and the language they use is to call upon God, not totally, but for the most part. Other books we find out that they refer to God more.
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As Jehovah, the name of covenant relationship. But here in this book we see Israel driven from the land and God is the title that's preferred.
Let's just look a little further down here, verse three of the Psalm below. They lie and wait for my soul. The mighty are gathered against me, not from my transgression from my sin, our Lord. Now David's not boasting here in any way. So what he's saying is, Lord, what have I done that they're pursuing me like this? David hadn't done anything to deserve Saul's wrath.
There's a verse in First John that I would like to read.
It's in the third chapter.
It's in uh, first John 3 verse 20. If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things, beloved. If our heart condemn us not, then we have confidence toward God.
As we go through these psalms, we'll find out that the righteous are not spared trials in their life. And as I said at the beginning, we Live Today in a world that rejected Christ and as the Lord told the disciples, and I'll just read it, you don't have to turn to it in John 15.
He says the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. We should not expect anything differently in this scene down here in this world that rejected Christ. And so as we go through these psalms, we'll find out that the righteous do suffer.
But how much better it is that we suffer not because of things that we have done. Now, as we move on, we'll find out that David did indeed suffer for mistakes that he made in his life.
Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap.
And so we do at times suffer as a consequence of choices that we have made in our life. But again, as we go through these Psalms, we'll find out there is a way back. There is a way back as we had yesterday when in connection with the word restore.
Another verse that comes to mind is first Peter, the third chapter.
In verse 16, having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil viewers and evildoer. They may be ashamed that falsely accused your good conversational conduct in Christ. So how much better again I would repeat that is to suffer because we are walking with the Lord and for the Lord and not as a consequence of bad choices that we have made in our life.
One thing that we lose in the English translation of the Psalms is a good deal of the poetic structure of the Psalms. But you notice that in verse six it says they return at evening. They make a noise like a dog and go around about the city. I don't know where you've been in your life, but have you ever felt that your problems, and they may be people, they may not be people, but are like a pack of dogs pursuing you relentlessly, won't give up.
Well, as I said, I'm just gonna pick and choose from these sounds. Look how the Psalm ends. Look at verse 14. At evening let them return. Let them make a noise like a dog and go round about the city. Let them wander up and down for meat and grudge if they be not satisfied. But what's David gonna do? But I will sing of thy power. Yeah, I'll single out of thy mercy in the morning. For Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble unto Thee. O my strength will I sing, for God is my defense.
And the God of my mercy.
One thing I really enjoy about this conference, and I've only been twice, this is my second time, is the adult thing that we enjoy. I particularly enjoy what our brother brings out about the hymns and the Little Flock Hymn book.
And, uh, one thing that he said to us the night before last, I believe, was have we have a meltdown and just said to the Lord, what would you have me sing to you? And that's what David does at the end of your, uh, the Psalm verse 17 Unto thee, O my strength will I sing. You know, it's beautiful to sing of someone. So guys.
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You love some girl and uh, if you came to me and said, I've composed a song about this girl, she's the most amazing person in this world. She's the most beautiful. She's the cleverest, she's everything. And you sung that song to me. I would say, wow, that's you must really love her now. What say you went and signed it to her?
What a difference. What a difference. You know, it's one thing to speak of God, and that's good. There's nothing wrong with that. And we should.
Imagine singing to God.
You know, when Burt mentioned that the other night, I have never done that. I've never knelt down and said, Lord, what would you have me sing to you?
I'm glad the Lord doesn't mind if we sing in key or not because I'm not very good at that. There's one other thing we'll touch on in this. Umm, and there's so many things that you should just sit and meditate on these psalms. Read the portion in Samuel and come and read the Psalm and just meditate on it. Sometimes it seems to be a huge disconnect. You read what's going on in Samuel and you read the Psalm and go, I don't see how they relate, but you meditate on it for a while and the Lord will bring things before you.
So there's one other expression that occurs in here. As I said before, the preferred, uh, name of God used in the second book of Psalms is Elohim, which means God. But you notice up in verse five, it says, O Lord God of hosts.
Do you know who in scripture used the title Lord of Hosts first?
And I'll take an answer if someone knows.
And I'll be standing corrected, but I'm pretty sure I am correct. It was Hannah.
It was a woman who was in deep distress.
The Lord of Hosts is a name that's particularly associated with Israel when Israel is not going on for the Lord, when Israel is in trouble. And if you read the book of Judges, you'll find out just the state of Israel.
That Hannah lived in it was not pleasant.
And I don't know what assemblies you come from. I don't know what difficulties are occurring in the assemblies that you come from. But Hannah lived in Israel in a day when things were not good, and she cried unto the Lord of hosts. That word host literally means his armies. It's not a word that we use today.
That it would mean the Lord and all his armies.
And uh, we don't have time to turn to it, but we could look at Elijah, I believe, who opened, had the eyes of a young man opened so he could see that heavenly host. And sometimes I feel so low.
Now I could wish I could see it too. But you know, as Christians, we've been poured into an even closer place.
A a much closer place, I should say, than Hannah was. It says, uh, I'll just turn to it. Read it in Galatians chapter 4. I could turn to Romans chapter 8.
Colossians chapter 4 says that because yeast sons, God has sent forth the spirit of His Son into your heart, crying ABBA father.
When we turn to the Lord, we can turn to Him as Father.
You know, when we kneel down and pray, repetition tends to diminish the importance of things. We hear it over and over again, and so it just becomes a routine. But when we pray, we pray to our Father and our God or our God and Father.
But do we realize that we're praying to God as our Father that we can approach him as a father? You know, unfortunately, we live in a world in which in many cases, fathers have given a very bad impression of what fathers are about. I trust that you're not in that position and that you did have a loving father and that you.
Feel that closeness when you approach God. OK, let's move on. So the next time will be Psalm 56.
And this corresponds to what we have in First Samuel 21. So you can hold your hand in Psalms and you can turn also to First Samuel 21.
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Now I'm going to read a lot here. Well it's the chapters only 15 verses, but we'll read it all first time. You're 21. Then came David to knob the hemp to him elect the priest. And Himelec was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? And David said unto him, Elect the priest. The king hath commanded me a business, and Seth and to said unto me that no man know anything of the business, whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee. And I have appointed my servants to such and such place. Now therefore, what is under thine hand, give me 5 loaves of bread in my hand, or what there is present. And the priest answered David and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is hallowed bread.
If the young men have kept themselves at least from women. And David answered the priest and said, Of a truth, women have been kept from us about these three days since I came out. And the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in a man of common. Yeah, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. So the priest gave him hallowed bread, for there was no bread there but the show bread that was taken from before the Lord, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away. Now a certain man of the servants of soul was there that day detained before the Lord, and his name was Doeg and Edomite, the chiefest of the herdmen that belonged to Saul.
And David said unto Himalek, And is there not here unto thine hand, spear, or sword, if I have neither brought my sword?
Nor my weapons with me, because the King's business required haste. And the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom mausoleus in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If that will take that, take it, for there's no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that. Give it to me, give it me. And David rose and fled that day for fear of soul, and went to Akash the king of Gath. And the servants of Akash said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing one to another of him? And dances, saying, soul has plain as thousands, and David is 10 thousands?
And David laid up these words in his heart, and was so afraid of Akish, the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the door of the gate, and let it spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Aish unto his servants, Lo, ye see, the man is mad. Wherefore then have you brought him to me? Have I need of Mad Men that you have brought this fellow to play the Mad Men in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house? David therefore departed things and escape to The Cave of Adalam.
Now we actually covered two sums here, Psalm 56 and Psalm 34. Psalm 56 corresponds to what we have in the 10th, 11Th, and 12Th verse where it says that David feared Saul and he went down to Akash, the king of Gath. So let's look at Psalm 56.
To the chief musician upon Jonathan, Jonathan Elam Rikokum Mitchum of David, when the Philistines took him in gas.
Be merciful unto me, O God, for a man would swallow me up. He fighteth daily his, he fighting daily oppresses me. My enemies would daily swallow me up, for they be many that fight against me. O Thou most high, what time I am afraid I will trust in Thee. In God I will praise His word. In God I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they rest my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps when they wait for my soul.
Shall they escape by iniquity and line? Anger cast down the people or God? Thou tell us my wanderings, Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book when I cry unto thee? Then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me.
In God will I praise his word, In the Lord will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust? I will not be afraid. What man can do unto me?
Thy vows are upon me, O God, I will render praises unto thee, for thou hast delivered my soul from death.
Wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
So when we look at what had just happened to David, we find that I should have kept my finger back there in the Samuel.
That David is fleeing from Saul and he goes to a Himalaya, the priest. Now what does David do? David lies.
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What does David do? He eats hallowed bread, which was not right for any man but the priest to eat. Now I know that in the Gospel that takes this up in a different light, where David is seen as the rejected 1, the rejected Messiah. But just speaking strictly from the Law, it was not lawful for David to eat that bread. Now it was actually the old bread. It's been replaced. So it was actually the old bread that had been removed. But the Lord himself says it was not for any but the priest to eat.
Secondly, David takes sword.
What goodwill Goliath sword do him? You know, when David fronted up against Goliath, they dressed him in armor and he said, no, it's not tested, I can't use this. But now he resorts to David's sword, he lies, he resorts to natural means to defend himself. He eats the bread which he should not have eaten. And what does he say in the Psalm? The most one to me of God, for men will swallow me up. He turns to the king of the to Akash.
The King of Gath for help. And what pitiful help, man proves to be what pitiful help? You know, as I said, we live in a world that's rejected Christ. And if we expect the government of this world to uphold the principles of the Word of God, we're going to be bitterly disappointed. There are times when we make use of the government in the right way, but we don't look to the government to uphold for us Christian principles. We're certainly thankful that there are, as has been said many times in these meetings, that we can hold them in peace, that we're not threatened.
You know, it does say that the governor doesn't hold the sword for nothing. We are thankful for justice. We're thankful for the things that the government provides. And we pray for those that are in power. We pray for Obama. We're not Democrats, we're not Republicans. We pray for our president.
But we don't go much on the streets. We don't try to overturn this world. When we turn to the world for its help, we find that it's a poor help indeed.
He says mine enemies would daily swallow me up, for they be many that fight against me, O thou Most High. But then it turns to something more positive. What time I am afraid I will trust in thee now. What did it say back in Samuel? It said David arose and fled that day for fear of salt. Well known proverbs.
Proverb, 2925.
The fear of man bringeth a snare, but who supporteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. So for a moment, as it were, David forgot that, and he fled for this well's help because he feared man.
But we find he says, What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee. And then twice he says something very similar. And again the poetic structure is lost in the English, but he says in God I will praise his word. In God I have put my trust, I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. And then verse 10, it says in God will I praise his word, in the Lord will I praise his word, in God have I put my trust will not be afraid what man can do unto me?
So when we turn back to the word of God, when we put our trust in what God has said.
Then we have confidence again. What are you resting on? What are you trusting in? You know, if you're anything like me, when circumstances come that.
Umm are difficult troubles coming our lives? We try to fix it ourselves. Are you resting in your own strength? Are you resting upon the sort of Goliath or you resting upon the word of God?
And when soon as David, as I said, he rests in the word of God, it says in God I have put my trust. And I think the new translation says in God I put my confidence.
Verse Oh well so much there was something back in the previous time I think that I wanted to touch on I'll just read it. You don't have to turn to said in verse seven of the Psalm 59 that we looked at swords are in their lips here it says every day they rest or torture my words.
You know, words do hurt.
It said the sword, swords are in their lips, so words do hurt. But what do we do with those hurts? What do we do with them?
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You know, we can, just as it were, give them to the Lord and say, Lord, they're trying to hurt me, but they're hurting you. He can take them.
You know, you spoke yesterday about lawyers twisting your words, but unfortunately we don't need lawyers to twist our words. Sometimes those we think are our friends twist our words.
You know, you just need to take a sentence and drop one word out and it completely changed the meaning of the sentence. You know, I said the other day, we're talking about the difficulties of proof reading and how.
Time consuming. It is the 1St edition of the King James Bible said thou shalt commit adultery.
One word missing completely changes the sense. We've all experienced that people deliberately changing the sense of what we say. But what we can we do well.
It says in verse eight of Elsa 56 Thou tell us my wanderings.
Put thou my tears into thy bottle. Are they not in thy book?
The Lord knows our wanderings. You know, we all have a wilderness experience in our life. We must all have a wilderness experience in our life. But as someone said the other day, we don't all have to wonder in our lives. So the children of Israel, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They did indeed have to pass through the wilderness, but they didn't have to wander there. But we find ourselves wandering in the wilderness.
And it says he knows. He knows the Lord provided for the children of Israel those 40 years He did. He provided for them all the way.
When I was a boy, I don't remember exactly how old.
I'm going to say about 10 ± 2 years.
Was a particularly dark year in my life and you might say what could a 10 year old?
What could happen to a 10 year old that would feel so terribly dark? Well, certainly not as bad as what may happen to some, but that was a year in which, first of all, a friend of the family died. And you know, after that point, I don't recall going to a funeral. Maybe I had, but I went to the funeral of that totally person and it was OK. Funerals are gloomy. But anyway, as a 10 year old.
But then, uh, I don't remember the order in which things occurred. My, either my grandfather or my aunt died. We're particularly close. I didn't have the fellowship that you young people have. You take it for granted, no doubt don't. But it was my cousins, my uncle and aunt, another aunt that I had that never married, who came together on the Lord's Day. We didn't remember the Lord that we met together.
That's a long story which I won't explain. And my grandfather was there. He was certainly the spiritual leader and head of the family. And as I said, an aunt died. She had a long battle with cancer. She had six children. I had a cousin who was my age and uh, she was the youngest and the remaining five were older than her. Then my grandfather died.
Then my uncle died.
A different uncle, not the one married to the same aunt. And uh, in that period, the, the, the husband of the very first person I mentioned, he was a friend of the family. He died.
It it seemed like the little world that I had enjoyed up to that point was just falling apart.
And my grandfather had a chemical manufacturing business with his two sons, FA Blair and sons. And as a result of my grandfather dying and an uncle dying, the remaining uncle sold the business.
And, uh, there were many interesting things at that factory that summer. I spent a good time with that uncle.
And at that factory, and there was an auction held and the people came from far because there were chemical equipment that dated back to the early 1900s.
And amongst those items was a little green bottle with a glass stopper.
And as the auctioneer carried out his business and the price rose and rose, a cousin of mine, one who had lost her mother just a few months earlier, bid on that bottle. And the price kept rising and rising until the person, other person bidding recognized that one of the family was bidding on the item. And they stopped and she bought that bottle. The next day was the Lord's Day. And as I went to my uncle's house, this was our custom.
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For a morning meeting, it was probably in the afternoon. After meeting I noticed that bottle on a dresser and there was a note card up against it.
And on that note card it said, Put thou my tears into thy bottle.
The young people, the Lord counts your tears. Dear middle-aged people, the Lord counts out tears. They're all the ones the Lord counts your tears.
You know I don't always know what to do when someone cries. I don't. You know how how there are a few gifted people that know what to do. But don't we get so awkward in situations like that?
But the Lord knows, and He counts our tears.
Then it says when I cry, then shall my enemies turn back. You know, it doesn't say when I go out to battle, my enemies turn back. How often we want to front things head on. You know, there are times when things have to be addressed head on, but I guarantee that only comes after a long delay in a long period of before the Lord. And sometimes our brethren out there when they're not there with us, it's a good check on us. We're perhaps we're being a little bit too.
Impetuous.
Too aggressive, he says. When I cry unto the Lord, then shall my enemies turn back? We don't have to go fight. Remember it said of the others that were attacking us that the sword was in their lips. We don't need a sword in our lips.
And then he says this I know for God is for me. Can you say this? I know.
You know, we live in a world where it says you can't know you're safe, you can't know there's a God, you can't know that you're gathered to the Lord's name.
Can you say this? I know why can I say this? I know because I'm cleverer than you.
No, because of what we had. I have put my in God have I put my trust.
In God, while I praise His word, in the Lord will I praise His word. It's because of His word that we can say I know, I know.
Because God has told me so. And did you know that God is for you?
I don't wanna raise of hands, but how many of you have ever felt that God is against you? No raising of hands.
Maybe we should, but I because I think, dear young people, you're sitting here right now thinking God is against me, everyone's against me, no one is for me. That you would probably find that everyone in this room at some time or another has fell to that lie of Satan that God is not for you.
You know, that's one thing that Jobs struggled with in all his trial. He didn't understand that in his trial God was for him. It says in Romans, the goodness of God leadeth man to repentance. The goodness of God, it's a God in his goodness that he sent his son. God in mercy, sent his son to a world by sin undone.
God in his love sent his Son to die for you and me on Calvary's cross. And God doesn't just drop us when we're saved. He doesn't.
Just write our name in the book that was mentioned this morning and that's it. OK, now you're on your own. I'll see you when you get here. No, it's the goodness of God that preserves us and keeps us all day long. You know, in these Psalms we come across the word mercy a lot. It's probably in this, umm, maybe not. Anyway, we'll, we'll read it many times. Mercy. It's not always mercy. In Hebrew, the word is cathedral and, uh, it's invariably translated mercy, Grace, loving kindness, loving kindness.
OK, let's move on. As I said back there in First Samuel, we've actually covered two psalms. So the first Psalm we just looked at, Psalm 56 was when David goes flees because of Saul, because of his fear of soul, he flees to a kish for his help. And as I said, he follows him, finds him to be no help at all. Then we read how David had to feign himself mad and let the spit fold down his beard and he escapes now.
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That back in Psalm 34. Now you're probably thinking, oh, David thinks himself pretty clever.
He managed to get out of that one a bit of quick thinking and he got himself out of that. Well, let's find out what was really going on in David's heart. Psalm 34 as Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before him, Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name.
I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked upon him and were light, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of his trouble. The Angel of the Lord encampeth the round about them that fear him, and delivereth thumb O taste, and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. O fear the Lord, ye Saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The Young Lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
Come, ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to count the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are a broken heart, and save as such as be of a contrite spirit. Many of the afflictions of the righteous. But the Lord delivereth them, them him out of the mall.
He keepeth all his bones. Not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servant, and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate. Well now time is short, so this will be our last sum. And even as I was reading that, I was thinking of many things that I missed in the last Psalm that we could have spoken on. So they said. These psalms are worthy of time to meditate on that. We find in this Psalm that rather than at all.
If you have any credit to himself for escaping the clutches of a kish, he gives all the credit to God. We might think that David used his cunning, but he says quite clearly, I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from all my fear.
Perhaps it was the Lord that told him to act in this particular way, You know, when we get ourselves into scrapes and difficulties, and this was a difficulty that was of David's own doing.
As I said, he lied, he took up the sword of Goliath, he resorted to man's help instead of God, and so he made some bad choices. But you know, David didn't say I'm too dignified to let it run down my face and act like a madman. You know, the one difference between David and Saul is that when God chastens David, Davis says you are right and he takes that.
Place in that position, if he has to look mad, if he has to let spit rundown his face, he does it.
So you read Soul. It's completely opposite. We if we went on with these Psalms, we get to Osama about doeg the Edomite. And when we read back in Samuel, we find a little speech that Saul gave his people. Saul never admitted once to anything he did was his own fault. There's always someone else's fault. When I say never, someone will probably find something that will contradict that, but.
You know, there are we we sometimes grudgingly. Oh yeah. Well, I guess. But David, he takes that place, that low place you notice down in in umm.
Verse 18 the Lord is 9 to them. They're a broken heart and saved as such. Be a contrite spirit. Your heart is broken today and you. Usually we connect a broken heart with a broken off relationship and perhaps there is someone in this room today that has a broken heart because of a broken off relationship.
Perhaps you have a broken hop because there is someone that you love, but you don't free to tell them and they just seem to ignore you.
You're in a good place because it says here the Lord is near to those that have a broken heart. Do you feel the nearness of the Lord in your life? You know back earlier well.
There are so many good verses in this Psalm, but one thing, David having learned his lesson, he says in verse 11, Come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
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He wasn't afraid to speak about this. You think David wants to tell his children what he had to do to escape the King of Gas? No, no, he he wouldn't let on about that. But no, David, having learned his lesson, is more than willing to let others know about it, so they might learn, so they might learn, so he might be able to instruct them. And he says, what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good?
You know, as I mentioned my grandfather earlier, he gave me a Bible as he did all his grandchildren when they reached a certain age. And he wrote in the front of my Bible that this verse from Proverbs 4.
And it's verse 10 and the verse he wrote in my Bible was, Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many.
Now I've spoken on this before and maybe I even spoke on it last year, I can't remember. But anyway.
As a little boy, I could not understand why my grandfather wanted me to live a long time.
But you know, the same thought is in this verse here he says David says what man is he that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good. You know, I don't think my grandfather wanted me to have necessarily a long life on this earth that he wanted me to hear the instruction that God has given us. He wanted me to enjoy that eternal life that is ours when we put out trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the long life he wanted me to have. Now understand eternal life is more than the length of days.
But in the context of the verse he put in my Bible, I believe he wanted me to hear and so isn't it? In that case, it was my grandfather that instructed spiritually. I'm after my grandfather died, my 1:00 remaining uncle was the one that was the spiritual father, as it were to our little group that I grew up with.
But there is a right path. Keep thy tongue from evil when thy lips from speaking guile. We've spoken a little bit about swords in tongues, and we could turn to James and we could find out what a unruly member the tongue is, depart from evil, do good, seek peace and pursue it. So there's a right path, but there's also a right spirit and that's what we had in verse 18. The Lord is lying to them that have a broken heart and save as such should be of a contrite spirit. The notice in verse 17, it says the righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
Oh, you say, that's wonderful, I like to be delivered. Then we read in verse 19, many of the afflictions of the righteous. You go, oh, I don't like to hear that.
You know.
Our lives are very much like a street full of potholes.
We walk down and we fall in the pothole and the next time around we walk down the street and we fall in the same pothole and the next time around we walk down the street, we walk in the same pothole. There's a little story about that, but I don't have time for it. How about trying a different St. because that's the story of your life. How about trying a different path?
Don't. Don't just cross over to the other side of the road, just take a completely different Rd.
But notice this, He says he keepeth all his bones, and not one of them is broken. Now I know that speaks of the Lord.
But you know, sometimes the Lord has to crush us, as it were, but He is a loving father and He will never break a bone, it says in First Corinthians 10. I'll just read it.
Mm-hmm.
That's uh.
First Corinthians.
Would help if I was in first, not second Corinthians. 1St Corinthians 10 says there is no temptation or trial taking you, but such as is common to man, that God is faithful, not suffering to be tempted or tried above that which you're able. So there are many afflictions to the righteous, but God will never break a bone. He may have to put the pressure on us, but He will never break a bone. He knows exactly what's required, exactly the amount of pressure required now.
Before we finish, as I said so often, these psalms begin with the sentiments of David, as it were in his trial, but then they move on and we have the Spirit of Christ speaking in the psalms. We know that this verse speaks of the Lord Jesus, not one bone. If his body was broken, He didn't let it run down his face. Others spat on his face.
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He took that place. So next time you feel that someone spits on you, just say Lord.
You took it for me.
I don't take it personally.
No, that's easier said than done, I granted, but how we need to be reminded of these things. And as I said, my we continued kind of the same. I believe that we began in 2nd Corinthians 4 that which is outward and the effect it has on the inward. These psalms were written by David when he was under great trial. Great trial. I don't know whether you're a poet or not I'm not. Maybe you are in your trials. Write poetry.
The Lord can use your trials in your life.
He can use them as he used David to teach others, to encourage others.
Let's just close with prayer.
Our God and Father.
How often we feel afflicted.
How often the affliction results from poor choices that we've made in our life.
But other times they just seem to come our way, and oftentimes we despair and want to run away, perhaps leave the assembly, look for help elsewhere.
Lord, just pray that these psalms might be an encouragement to us.
We know in the words of the hymn that we often sing, all the paths of Saints are treading trodden by the Son of God. We just pray that encourage us that I'll keep that will keep our eyes upward on our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, that man Jesus who walked through this wilderness scene, who tasted those things of which we taste in our lives. We just thank thee and praise thee, oh God and say, Oh God and Lord and Savior.
He is praying his name, Amen.