4 addresses on 3 Psalms

… Psalm 22 Und in der Nachtsaison, und ich bin nicht leise, aber Du bist heilig, O Du, der uns die Gläubigen Israels besitzt. Unsere Väter haben an Dich vertraut. Sie haben vertraut, und Du hast ihnen geliefert. Sie haben an Dich gekriegt, und wurden geliefert. Sie haben an Dich vertraut, und wurden nicht verwechselt. Aber ich bin ein Wurm, und kein Mann. Ich habe Angst vor den Männern und den Menschen. Alle, die mich sehen, lachen mich aus. Sie schießen die Lippen aus. Sie schütteln den Kopf, und sagen, dass er auf den Herrn vertraut, dass er ihm geliefert wird. Lass ihn ihm geliefert werden, sehend, dass er in ihm glücklich ist. Aber Du bist er, der mich aus dem Wurm genommen hat. Du hast mir Hoffnung gegeben, als ich auf meiner Mutter's Brust lag. Ich wurde auf Dich aus dem Wurm gesetzt. Du bist mein Gott, aus meinem Müttergehirn. Sei nicht weit von mir, denn die Schmerze ist nahe, denn es gibt niemanden, der mir helfen kann. Viele Hunde sind vor mir gekommen, starke Hunde von Bächen haben mich umgedreht. Sie haben mich mit ihren Mäuern als einen schreckenden und schreckenden Löwen aufgemacht. Ich bin ausgepumpt, wie Wasser, und alle meine Knochen sind ausgepumpt. Mein Herz ist wie Wachs. Es ist in den Mitteln meiner Knochen gemolken. Meine Stärke ist wie ein Potschd ausgerüht, und meine Zunge schlägt an meine Zähne. Und Du hast mich in die Schmutz der Todes. Denn Hunde sind vor mir gekommen, die Versammlung der Wütenden hat mich umgedreht. Sie haben meine Hände und meine Füße zerstört. Ich kann all meine Knochen sagen, sie schauen und blicken auf mich. Sie teilen meine Klamotten zwischen sich, und stellen Lächeln auf meine Rüstung. Aber bleib nicht weit von mir, Herr. Oh, meine Stärke, helfe mich. Verliere meine Seele vom Schwert, mein Liebling, von der Macht der Hunde. Save me from the lion's mouth. When emergencies occur, they often happen so quickly that those immediately involved are so busy reacting in the emergency that there's very little time for reflection while things are coming to a head. And it's only afterwards that there's time to consider some of the deeper implications of what has happened or what has been said. And it's very rare that there's the opportunity to consider before the event, during the event, and after the event the significance of something that's very important. In the mercy of God, there has been preserved to us scriptures which tell us very plainly before the event, during the event, and after the event of what was involved when Jesus died at Calvary. The Psalms in particular, written about a thousand years before the event, tell us what it felt like to the Lord Jesus. Not only at that dark, stark moment when he suffered for sins, but in the events leading up to his death at Calvary, what it meant to him, the perfect, sinless Son of God. We often give thanks, don't we, that we are glad that we don't know what's just around the corner. We often feel we couldn't really face up to things. It's bad enough being involved in them at the time. But if we were given advice in advance of what was going to happen, we would never be able to face up to them. In his omniscience, the Lord Jesus knew full well not only what would occur, but why it would occur, and all the issues involved. Now we'll be looking at some verses along that line. It's well to note in passing that the Gospels record the events as they occurred and the comments of those who looked on. In the New Testament epistles, we are taught the deep significance and the results of the death of Christ upon the cross, the implications for him, the results for him, the implications for us, the results for us. And we can reflect 2,000 years later upon all these things. But we are looking tonight at these verses which describe to perfection, again, let us say, 1,000 years in advance of the event, words prophetically put onto the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ, what it would mean to him to die at Calvary. Now, we'll be looking at one or two of the implications there. But what we would like to do is to go down these 20 verses and the first half of verse 21 in the spirit in which the Holy Spirit has included them in the canon of Scripture. Now, there are two questions, twice over we need to ask ourselves the question why. One relative to verse 1 where the word comes in, why, why hast thou forsaken me? And there's another question arises in the middle of verse 21. And we would like to meditate just a little on what the answer to those two questions are. Certainly, we are obliged again to the Holy Spirit for including through the vessel Peter, the lovely words, the sufferings of the Christ and the glory that shall follow. And the first 20 and a half verses are certainly on this line, the sufferings of the Christ. This is the evening of the seventh day of the week. If the Lord doesn't come for us tomorrow morning will be the first day of the week. The normal response of the committed Christian is to remember him, to remember their Lord and Savior in the breaking of bread. As we read these verses, we may well need to consider again, each of us as individuals, am I a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do I really believe that Christ died for my sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures? If I really believe that and if there is no moral reason which would prevent it, my normal response should be to gather with the Lord's people on the first day of the week and remember him in the breaking of bread. And when we do so, the way that we think, what we say, the way that we act will be governed very much by the way we have spent the previous week. And in particular, how we spend the Saturday evening. There could be no better way of spending the evening on the seventh day of any week, preparatory to the morning of the first day of the week, than in meditating on the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ in its many aspects. Now, we hope to consider one of these aspects this evening. We cannot dwell too long on the inspired heading, but we can come to this, can't we, the hind of the morning, that which can be seen in all its splendor when the night is passing and the morning about to break, or that which we consider on the positive side, the blessing that arises for those who have trusted Christ as Saviour, has only accrued because the dark night of the suffering of Christ has been endured. My God, my God, why, why hast thou forsaken me? Worth noting that in that perfect life on earth of the Lord Jesus, in the communion that he ever enjoyed, the way in which he addressed his prayers in the perfection of his manhood, in the closeness of that communion, was ever when stated to his Father as such, Father, Holy Father, Righteous Father, my Father, O Father, when we come to the cross, when he was carrying out that which he had been bidden to do for the first time, as an indication of his position before his God in holy manhood, he cries, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Now, I would just like to go down these verses, not a verse at a time, but a section at a time, to consider this, even a cursory reading of these opening verses, can it escape the fact, and we sang the hymn, which is a meditation upon it, the fact that he was absolutely alone, alone in his life, in the perfection of his humility and dependence, alone, unique, in the quality of his communion with his God, while here upon earth, unique in that display of practical righteousness on every occasion, and as we read the Old Testament books, and as we consider that one of the blessings promised to man who was faithful to God and dependent upon God, was that in time of need, crying out to God brought consolation, respite, relief, salvation. The psalmist, in his deep extremity, peeling into insignificance compared with that which it ultimately foretold, Christ upon the cross, but the psalmist envisages a situation, looking back at the history of the fathers of the nation, disobedient, failing, weak, unreliable, and yet, when they turned in a measure of contrition, a measure of dependence, and cried upon their God, they were heard. What must it have been like to the Lord Jesus, knowing that, that the history of that nation, littered with examples of unfaithfulness, and yet when they turned to their God, knowing that they would be heard, the Lord Jesus, in his omniscience, knowing that when his ultimate cry for deliverance would come, that there would be this about it, that the only one who deserved to be heard, for his faithfulness, would have to cry, why hast thou forsaken me? The fathers had been heard in their day, and now the one who exceeded and excelled their faithfulness and their obedience in every respect, was the only one who would not be heard, when he cried. The question arises, why? Well, we'll come to that. The next section tells us that knowing that he wasn't being heard, even though he deserved, as far as he himself was concerned, he deserved to be heard, that he remained submissive. In our own little way. We know, don't we, that if, where you work, where you study, where you live, the more righteous you are, the worse treatment you get, and the harder it is to submit to that before God and to accept that this is the way that God would have it. If in any little way we've known that in our own experience, how much in the ultimate, the Lord Jesus, crying upon his God, in whom he had trusted all his days upon earth, surrounded by the mockers, turning to the only one in whom relief might be found, to be found alone, forsaken, abandoned, alone, submissive, surrounded by mockers, and even worse, surrounded by enemies. If we look at verse 12, we'll see the graphic way in which these enemies begin to be spoken of. There are the bulls. There is the lion. There are the dogs. There is the assembly of the wicked. There is the lion's mouth. This figurative way of summing up all those that were against him, surrounding him at the cross, may be taken, may be understood, in a variety of ways. I suggest one. I'll be delighted to hear your suggestion. The first one, many bulls have come past me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me around. Bulls, powerful, majestic. About a year ago, I was staying with a farmer who breeds bulls. He was called to inspect one of the bulls. There was some defect, apparently, something that the farmhand wasn't very happy about, and the farmer was called to see it. And he invited me to accompany him, but when we got close, he said, I think it would be wise if you stay outside the stockade, and I readily agreed with that. He said, but watch what happens. He says, note, he said, when I get inside, he said, there's that powerful beast in front of me, and he says, the only way to approach it is to engage it by the eye, to look it full in the eye. And he says, you'll notice that it will return its baleful glare or gaze at me eye for eye, and he said, I will approach it steadily, without rushing, without any sudden movement. When I touch it, my touch will be gentle but firm, and he said, I will speak to it, and I will continue to touch it, I will continue to look at it in the eye, and he said, when I finished my inspection, he said, I will retreat backwards, and he said, I will keep looking at it, and he said, I will get over the fence continuing to look at it, being careful not to engage in any sudden movement. And he did. Some time after that, I was reading this verse, and I thought, if you're faced with one bull, you can do all that, you can look it straight in the eye, but if you're compassed about with bulls, if you're absolutely surrounded by them, you can only look at one at a time. What must it have been like for the Lord Jesus? Absolutely surrounded by enemies. Not one at a time, but all at the same time. The rulers of the Jews, the Gentile civil authorities, the military brigades, the common people, the traitors, those who are merely interested in a spectacle. I think perhaps, summing them all up, that these powerful bulls of Bashan might give us some little idea of the Lord Jesus, who in this situation speaks of himself as so lowly, so humiliated, I am a worm and no one. He speaks of dogs. We read very often of the dogs of the Gentiles. He speaks of the assembly of the wicked. Perhaps one way of describing the rulers of the Jews, the high priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, which term we select for which company is secondary. The primary thing is to consider that there, at the moment when he was bereft of comfort, bereft of support, alone, forsaken, there was time to reflect that all these round about, surrounding him, waiting to devour him if they possibly could. Very often in the scriptures, Satan is referred to as the lion waiting to devour all those who oppose him. One of the couplets always opposed Christ and Satan and here at that very moment, when in dependence upon God, seeking to do his will, was the climax of Satan's opposition to him. Well, may well be that there is just a slight colour in these terms and these beasts that are used of the enemies that surrounded him as strong bulls of Bashan. If there is any doubt as to the event which is referred to, verses 14 to 17, is a most graphic description of death by crucifixion. It is worthy of note, of course, that prophetically this was looking on to a time when there was an empire in charge of events which didn't come into existence and prominence until about 600 years after the psalm was written and only under the Roman regime was death by crucifixion the way of execution. And even then, and this is more telling to us, even then, upon those criminals, from the lowest social order, and even then for the most despicable of crimes, the detail is horrific. But even more than the physical detail is the consideration that comes into verse 15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, my tongue cleareth to my jaws, and thou, thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Now this brings us to one of the most necessary but one of the most difficult considerations when we meditate upon the cross of Calvary. Circumstantially, we have a record here of what men did to Christ at Calvary. The taking of him, the abusing of him physically, the decision that this is what they would do to him, the manner in which it was carried out. Circumstantially, it is a record of what men did to him. And yet, in that unique solitariness, the Lord Jesus attributes what is going on to the hand of God. It's what men did to him, but thou, say they, have brought me into the dust of death, thou hast brought me unto the dust of death. Now, it's here that we come to a very necessary meditation. Broadly speaking, we can distinguish when we are thinking of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ between what men did to him and what God did to him. And we need to keep clear in our minds this major distinction. What men did to him, he endured for righteousness sake. And God's answer to that will be the application of justice and ultimately the condemnation of the wicked on the basis of the death of Christ. When we consider what God did to him, we are caused to dwell upon the fact that when Jesus died at Calvary, he was suffering at the hands of God on account of sin. And as a result of that, the result of that will be the flow of the mercy of God and blessing for men. It's worth saying that again before we move on. That which Christ endured at the hands of men will be met by the justice of God and those who perpetrated it will be brought into condemnation. That which God did to Christ on account of sin results in the flow of the mercy of God and will result in blessing for men. Now this answers the first question why. Verse 1. Why hast thou forsaken me? It was on account of sin. Verse 3 gives a partial answer. Thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. God desires to dwell amongst the praises of his people. He desires a response from them to him. Before they can respond to him and be at home in his presence, they need to have their sins dealt with once and for all. Every claim of God as to sin must be fully answered. Propitiation is necessary. And as a result of propitiation being made by Christ in dying for sin, the mercy of God can freely flow and blessing result for man. Isn't this why? While when we first trust the Saviour we rejoice in the forgiveness of sins, as the days go by, we find increasing need to meditate on what was involved really substantially when Christ died upon the cross. And we come to this. We need to distinguish between what men did to him and what God did to him. Now, the paradox is this. The thing that is perhaps difficult to understand is this. It was at that very time when man did his worst at the cross of Calvary, it was that very time when God took the occasion to deal with him on account of sin. There was nothing in that spotless, pure, perfect life of Christ upon earth in the days of his flesh that could answer to God as to sin. His death was necessary. The death of Calvary. Not the death circumstantially, wicked hands taking him and crucifying and slaying him, but God taking the occasion then that his soul might be made an offering for sin. Now, as we read the psalm, we've got our answer to the first question why. God cannot look upon sin. God cannot tolerate sin. He is absolutely holy because of this. If praise is to flow to him, if there are to be those who are the redeemed of the Lord, it must needs be that there's this once and for all sacrifice for sin which Christ gave at Calvary. But having posed the question, we need to meditate now as to which kind of suffering pre-eminently the psalm takes us. Is it suffering at the hands of men or is it suffering at the hands of God? Now, I made a point of reading as far as the opening of verse 21 and not the rest of the psalm. But if we look at that, we'll see that in verse 22 there is a company brought to light who are termed the assembly, the congregation, at least a prefiguring of the assembly, the church of the living God, nearest and dearest to the heart of Christ. Verses 23 to 26, an account of the blessing that shall be enjoyed and the response that shall be given in and through and from the nation of Israel in the world to come. Verses 27 towards the end when we see the blessing in which some of the nations of the Gentiles shall be brought as a result of their attitude and activities towards the nation of Israel in their moment of deepest distress. But taking the three groups without even going into the detail, we can see that the result of the sufferings of the Christ in this way results in blessing, results in companies being brought to light which shall enjoy the presence of God and the privilege of responding to God in praise and therefore in confirmation of the suggestion that here we have a picture of what it meant to the Lord Jesus to suffer at the hands of God. Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. Now the first question why comes in verse 1. Why hast thou forsaken or abandoned me? The scripture has given us the answer because at that moment he was suffering on account of sin. But when we come to verse 21 perhaps we can read it in the way the more literal translations guide us. Save me from the lion's mouth. Thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. The cry for deliverance comes to a climax. And when it comes to a climax unlike the beginning of the psalm there is now an answer. Thou hast heard me. Why? If the first cry could not be answered why is the second cry answered? The first cry could not be answered immediately because God was taking the occasion to deal with our Lord Jesus Christ on account of sin. But for the same reason the second cry, the climactic cry save me from the lion's mouth is heard because the work had been done. Having been brought into death to deal with sin to deal with Satan to take our place to bring glory to God to answer every claim of God upon sin the answer is now possible because the depths have been plumbed. The death has been endured. Sin has been suffered for. And so the death of Christ is followed by the resurrection of Christ. Latter day theologians attack the death and all on the significance of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's not without note that they also attack the personal resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without it we couldn't repeat such sublime truths as he was delivered for our offenses he was raised again for our justification. Or from his point of view God raised him from the dead and gave him glory. The personal resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is vital to Christianity. And it is because the depths have been plumbed and his soul had been made an offering for sin that the work had been completed fully and to perfection that the answering cry can now come thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorn. I like the way the psalm ends. It shall come while a seed shall serve him it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he hath done this. It's another climax. Whatever the company of the blessed whichever company of those that have part in the first resurrection those of the nation of Israel brought into blessing those of the saved among the nations their cry is in absolute unison it's his work he did it it's his alone what other focal point can there be for the praise of any of the Lord's people than to be able to say he did it alone he bear the cross alone its grief sustained alone he shall bear the glory because alone he did the work if the Lord spares us till the morrow I trust that at least some of the things that we have been meditating upon tonight will condition our hearts and our minds and our response as we meet together to remember him. Let us sing together Psalm number 378 Lord Jesus, our Redeemer what pains, what sufferings saw were borne by thee in patience to save us evermore thy hands, thy feet, both wounded thy soul in offering made thy precious blood outpouring wherewith our peace was made for us thou wast forsaken for us made sin by God we think upon thine anguish thy pain beneath the rod we thank thee for thy sorrows thy suffering and thy woe though little, O Lord Jesus our hearts those depths can know. …

… In turn please to the book of Psalms, Psalm 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. It is with good reason that the book of Psalms is frequently termed the heart of the Bible. In it often we see the heart of man at full stretch. In them, in the Psalms, we have revealed to us the heart of God. This is plainly so because they detail for us the responses, the feelings, of those who here upon earth are experiencing difficulties, disappointment, disillusion. And in their present distress, very often it is evident that there is only God that they can turn to. Very often it is for this reason that we are brought to an extremity of soul, in order that the only true supply of strength and solace might be before us. And it is because of this we so frequently turn to the Psalms because they mirror or parallel our own experiences and we see in them things which strike a chord with the way we feel at any given moment. And in particular, it is in the midst of often painful experiences here upon earth that those who seek to be true to God and faithful to God in an adverse world learn lessons, learn more about themselves and learn more about God. And it is for this reason too that in the ultimate very often we are let into the secret of what it felt like for the Lord Jesus to be betrayed, forsaken, misunderstood, abused, misjudged, misrepresented and it is as we browse through the Psalms that we can have revealed to us the pure thoughts of Christ himself. Now, in looking at the Psalms which give us, perhaps we could sum up what we have said by saying they give us the fruit of experience in going through a variety of circumstances in company with God, that as we go through them we begin to see that really it is not just one book, it is an omnibus of five books in one. Bearing in mind that they formed originally part of the canon of Hebrew Scripture we needn't be surprised to find that like the five books of Moses the book of Psalms falls into five major sections. The first 41 Psalms correspond in content, in summary form they are very parallel to the first book of Moses, the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings. The second book of Psalms from 42 to 72 correspond very much with the book of Exodus the book which tells us about the people going out, being delivered from the tyranny of the oppressor and going out towards the wilderness. The third book of Psalms from Psalm 73 to 89 correspond with the book of Leviticus and they tell us very much about sanctuary experience in wilderness conditions what it's like to go into God, to draw near to God even while still in this world. And the fourth book of Psalms corresponding very much with the book of Numbers from Psalm 90 to Psalm 106 then the rest 107 to 150 following the pattern of the book of Deuteronomy. Now as to structure that becomes more plain the more often, the more regularly we read the Psalms. I was very much helped when I first began to read the Psalms when a mature Christian advised me that in line with the first five books of Moses the first book Genesis, the first book of Psalms is very much the seed plot of all God's major plans. All the major things that God has to teach us are shown in the first book of Psalms. The second book of Psalms like the book of Exodus is very much the Levite's guide, the major structure. The third book like Leviticus is very much the priest's guide. The book of Numbers the warrior's guide and the book of Deuteronomy the people's guide. Now having set that out as the structure closely is of course Psalm 1 is at the beginning of the first book of Psalms. And like the book of Genesis it gives us the beginnings of all that God has to show us. And if what we've said about the book of Psalms as a whole is true and I'm sure it is we will find the beginnings of an outline of what it means to be here in the world which hates God and is opposed to God and what it means to feel along with God, what it means to be distinct and separate from the world. And so we'll be looking a little at that. Something to look forward to in our private studies if we start looking at the first 41 Psalms, the first book of Psalms. We'll find that difficult days are described, difficult conditions, difficult circumstances and the intensity of the feeling of any godly person who is determined to be true to God whatever else is going on even if it means swimming against the tide. And we'll be looking for some features of this in Psalm 1. If we remember in the book of Genesis from the outset we get people like Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph who are evidently God's man in an evil day. And this is the kind of thing that comes through also in the first book of Psalms. Of course all the way through the scripture doesn't say man or woman. It's said, it's put in the male case but it's just as difficult for a woman to be set for God in an evil world. It's just as necessary for a woman to be here set for God and to be determined to be faithful to God as it is for a man. And so while we say that the scripture is plain that it tells us about the character of a man for God in an evil day it is just as plainly the moral character of a woman or a girl who is determined to be faithful to the God who has provided such a saviour as our Lord Jesus Christ. And so we come to Psalm 1. If we want to follow through God's comment on the life of those faithful men in the book of Genesis read God's summary of what he puts to their credit, puts to their account in Hebrews chapter 11. Now we come to Psalm 1. Now many of the Psalms have a heading. Unlike the other books in the Bible the headings of the Psalms are part of the inspired text. It's not an attempt at a summary by someone later on who's tried to be sympathetic with what is being said and very often, very close to the mark, in the book of Psalms it is part of the inspired text and therefore warrants greater merit, greater study than headings in any of the other books. Now Psalm 1 does not have a heading and for a very good reason. In all the other Psalms you have an opening statement in each Psalm. Even if there is an inspired heading to the Psalm the first verse is very often a summary of the content of the Psalm followed by an exposition of that which the first verse summarises. But when we come to the first Psalm we find that it's not like that, not quite and for this reason. The first Psalm in itself is a summary of the whole book of Psalms. It's also an introduction to the first book of Psalms, the first 41. It's also an introduction or a heading or a title to the first section of the first book of Psalms, the first eight Psalms. So whether you take the first eight Psalms, the first 41 or the whole of the 150, Psalm 1 is an introduction and a summary of all that God intends us to learn in the whole book of the Psalms. Now again by way of an introductory study into Psalm 1 there are several ways in which we can get help from Psalm 1 and many of the others. We can look at it as it was actually written by David, like most of the other Psalms, written by David and the experience that he gained of God and the knowledge he gained of himself and the knowledge of what is according to God in very difficult experiences in this life. That's looking at it actually. Then again and excuse the term, we can look at it empirically. In this sense it describes the sort of man, it describes the kind of man that God is looking for and speaking in a general way without identifying a particular specific person. That leads us on of course to say that while Psalm 1 is not specifically messianic, I'll come back to that, there's no doubt it's true that there is no person ever lived upon earth that exemplified the character that's described in Psalm 1 better or anywhere near as well as the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now that's a little different to saying that the Psalm is messianic. Some of the Psalms are evidently written with the intent that they describe in advance prophetically things that could only be true of the Lord Jesus Christ when he came into the world, when he lived in the world, when he went out of the world by way of Calvary, when he was raised by the glory of the Father, when he was set on high, his character as exalted, a Prince and a Saviour and his character as coming again to take up the reins of government. Now there are Psalms which specifically foretell exactly the Lord Jesus Christ in one of those offices or characters. But Psalm 1, I would again suggest, is not quite like that. It tells us of the kind of person that God is looking for in a godless, faithless world, exemplified more fully in Christ than in anyone else, but open to all those who here in this world set themselves for God and that is just a little different. Now we've looked then at the Psalm actually. Historically that is. We've looked at it in a general way empirically. We've looked at it morally in the sense that Christ is the one who lives it out more fully than anyone else ever will or ever could. But we can also look at it dispensationally. This present age will come to an end when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again for his own. He has said, I will come again and receive you unto myself. And when he does, at that very moment, when he descends from heaven with a shout, when the dead in Christ shall be raised and those alive in Christ shall be changed, at that moment this dispensation comes to an end and then for a few years after that, probably just a little more than seven years, there will be the opportunity for a small proportion of the nation of Israel to exhibit the same features that are listed in Psalm 1 as were seen perfectly in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ when he was here living the life of the perfect Jew. And of course when we touch on scriptures like this, we cannot fail to see that in this short period before the coming of the Lord, it's open to us as Christian believers to act morally in a way which lines up exactly with the things that are said in Psalm 1. Now having said that, I'd like to go back to the second way of looking at the psalm, listing for us the features, the moral character of one who is set for God in a difficult and disobedient world, particularly in the time when Christ the Son of God has been disowned and rejected. And so we look at Psalm 1. It's not a bad thing, you know, when we are really keen to get into the detail of a scripture. It's a good thing. Well, we're going to look at things negatively and positively. As an illustration of that, I might say in a negative way, it's not a bad thing to get a scripture in its context before you examine the detail. Positively, I'll say it is a good thing, a very good thing, to spend a little time, to stand back from the detail, see where it fits into the canon of scripture and then we'll get more sense from the text when we look at it, as we hope to do now. Now, verse 1 has a negative outline. Verse 2 has a positive emphasis. Now, that's fairly simply understood from the text. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly and does not stand in the way of sinners and does not sit in the seat of the scornful. Starts off by a reference to behaviour, the way that we live. The first thing that strikes me about this is the progress or regress of the movements. Someone is walking, they slow down and they stand motionless and then they sit. You will have heard the term, if you don't go forward, you will go back. It's the same kind of statement as this, isn't it? If those who are set for God are not intent on making progress, moral progress, spiritual progress, if you don't keep going, it won't be long before you stop movement and you're standing still. And it won't be long after that before you're no longer interested in making forward progress and you sit down and you're content where you are. In a special way, those who have no thought of God give evidence of this. Verse 1 is a summary of the ungodly. Blessed, talking about the man or the woman who's determined to live for God in a wicked world, the psalmist starts off by saying there's blessing in swimming against the tide. Don't be too worried if you find yourself being different to the people that you live beside or go to school with or work beside. There's something very much wrong if you find that you're a blessing for the godly, not walking in the counsel of the ungodly, not standing in the way of sinners, not sitting in the seat of the scornful. The counsel of the ungodly. When we counsel, we think over our plans and we decide how we are going to do things. The ungodly leave God out of their plans altogether. Now, may well be that due to embarrassment, due to convenience, due to the fact that it may be easier, it is ever so easy that the first movement towards the slippery slope of spiritual decline is just to walk along, to keep the company, to do things in the company of those who aren't believers. Oh, I wouldn't dream of doing the same as they do, but I might walk along with them, not really part of it, thinking myself quite different, but yet just going along with the tide. Now, the ungodly not only take counsel and make plans without God, but what they do in their occupations when they are standing about is the way of sinners. Now, when terms are put as simply and as starkly as this, perhaps it might make us think about the company that we keep. Well-known phrase, we get like the company we keep. That's why it's imperative for believers to keep good company, the company of other believers with whom you are like-minded. If not, if you walk along with the tide of the ungodly who counsel together without any thought of God in their hearts, wouldn't be long before we found ourselves standing in the way of sinners, those who are content with their lot, leaving God out of their plans and ultimately sitting down in the seat of the scornful in their ease, enjoying the life that they've got, not only leaving God out of their plans, but scorning those who do. Now, it's put in a very negative way, so it seems. Outwardly speaking, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. An old Bible word that fits verse 1 is to say that any who is determined to live a life which is according to God will live a life which is separate from the unbelieving world. The first movement in living a life which is according to God is living a separate existence as far as possible, certainly morally, from the life of the world that hates God. Now, if we turn, and I think it'll do us well to look at the verse, Romans chapter 12 and verse 2, the first phrase in Romans 12 verse 2, be not conformed to this world. Don't allow your life to take its outward shape or form from the character of the world which cast Christ out. Wouldn't have him as saviour and crucified him at Calvary. Some of us on Lord's Day afternoon were looking at other scriptures which spoke of the same kind of thing. Leviticus 11 speaks of that which is cleaned according to God being that which gives evidence of the cloven hoof, an animal or a kind of animal which every step that it takes shows a clear line of demarcation in the imprint of its foot or its hoof upon the earth. Now, this has its moral reflection and here it is in Psalm 1 that outwardly not going along with the tide, Romans 12 verse 2, first phrase, not being conformed to this world. Now, we don't want to dwell too long on the negative side, but it's often very necessary. If you look again at 2 Timothy chapters 1, 2 and 3, we'll just make a brief reference to them and move quickly on. The danger of going along with that which is evil. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 15, this thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. If you look in chapter 2, verse 17, their word will eat as doth a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus who concerning the truth of word saying that the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith of some. Chapter 3, verse 8, as Janes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Now, this is very much underlining the warning in Psalm 1, verse 1. If you put the statements that are said about the pairs of individuals in 2 Timothy 1, 2, 3, if you look up your Bible dictionary in concordance and see the meanings of the words that are used in the build-up of their names, you'll find that this is the message from 2 Timothy 1, 2, 3, message for Christians just before the coming of the Lord. Those who turn away from the truth before very long accept something which is not the truth and are ultimately found resisting the truth. In other words, by going along with the tide and saying, well, they're very nice people, does it really matter what they believe, when something vital is at stake, unless we go along positively with the truth, we'll find ourselves slipping away from it, accepting something which is not true and ultimately lining ourselves with those who are opposed to the truth. Follow that up in 2 Timothy 1, 2 and 3 and see how it matches with walking, standing and sitting in Psalm 1, verse 1. Let us move to the positive side in verse 2. But, oh, one of the grand buts of Scripture, but, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Evidently chewing the cud, delighting in the law of the Lord day and night. There is no substitute, is there, for regular, steady, imbibing, chewing over, meditating the truth of God as revealed in the Word of God, in the power of the Spirit of God, as that inner power to produce that which is according to God. Well, let's turn again to Romans 12. Again, verse 2, but this time the latter part of the verse. The first part, be not conformed to this world, your life should be different to the worldly people round about you, but be ye transformed by that inner power of the life which God has implanted by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove in a positive way what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things. Anything that's according to God must come from the inside, and because God has planted it there, and it will only come out in a godly walk if there is at the same time dissociation from evil and going along with that which is good. Well, we have to leave verses 1 and 2 there. Now, if verse 1 tells us about obvious external conduct which is easily seen in separation from that which is evil, if verse 2 tells us about that inner life which comes out positively in a life that is well pleasing to God as a result of devotion to God, we can see in verse 3 the result of dependence upon God. I'd like just to make a mental note, in verse 1, separation, verse 2, devotion, verse 3, dependence and the fruit of it. Now, your mind, of course, when we read verse 3, will go to Isaiah 5, speaking of the nation of Israel, how everything was done by divine arrangement, that God chose the choicest location and the choicest vine, and he planted it by his own divine arrangement, and by the way that he expected fruit he caused a vineyard and a wine press to be constructed with the expectation of fruit. We can think also of the last chapter in the Bible, which looks on to a time upon earth when there will be an adequate response to God for all the work that he has done in the souls of men in order that there might be that with which he is well pleased. And there we get the tree of life with 12 manners of fruit for every season. Now, with that kind of general scripture in mind, when we turn to verse 3, we find this, he, the godly person, man or woman, who has said plainly that he or she wants nothing to do with the ungodly world which crucified Christ, the godly person that draws his strength and every supply from God in meditating and in communion with his Lord day and night, we'll find that this is the one who is likened to a tree planted by the rivers of water. Like Isaiah 5 about the nation of Israel, here about the godly person in an ungodly world, we find that it doesn't just happen. A tree planted, there's intent, there's purpose, there's arrangement. It is done with specific intent. It is planted by the rivers of water. If you compare the various translations available, you will get words like rivers of water, brooks of water, streams of water, in every case running water, living water. If you compare the various scriptures that speak about water, where they are used symbolically, you'll find that where water, if you like static water, as a resource is referred to, it's usually speaking about the word of God. If the water that is referred to is living, running, bubbling, springing up, flowing, it's usually an indication of the work of the Spirit of God. Now, in line with that, there's no doubt that meditating upon the law of God as revealed in the scriptures can only be made good in our souls when it is in the power of the Spirit of God. The tree planted by the rivers or brooks of water, there is an ample supply of all that we need to live according to God in a contrary world in the canon of scripture. Do we believe that? It's useful, it's helpful, it's interesting to read other books, other things. But fundamentally, the plumb line, the lifeline of the godly person is that which is found in the word of God. Well, this is the way for fruitfulness. Dependence upon God as the sole supplier of all that's good for life results in this, bringing forth his fruit in his season. Fruit, again, as a general term, tells us what God is going to get out of it. Tells us that there's something for God in the weakest, most isolated, most insignificant as far as the world is concerned, the most insignificant believer in the world who sets themselves to live according to God. Now that's an encouragement, isn't it? Fruit for God in his season. In several of the parables, we find that there's this element comes in, the need for patience. Things that are worthwhile take time to develop. We know that in our lives. We know that in our families. We know that in our studies. We know that in our jobs. Things that are worthwhile take time to build up, to learn, to express, to bear fruit. And so it is, there is a season for sowing, there is a season for planting, there is a season for watering, a season for reaping, a season when there is fruit to be expected. One of the difficult things in seeking to be faithful to God is to do the right thing for the right reason, with the right motive in the heart, and to be able to refrain from being impatient. If we do the right thing in the right way for the right reason, we want immediate results. Well, God may grant us that. But usually, there is the addition of a waiting time, waiting God's season, not mine, before something is seen to bear fruit. Very often, we are told we have need of patience. Well, there is perhaps the suggestion here, the fruit in the season tells us that there is a need for what God is working to mature and come to fruition, rather than our setting our own timetable to it. Well, there is fruit in the season, the leaf does not wither. Remember, the Lord Jesus had to curse a fig tree, and the leaf was there, there was no fruit, it was withered, fit for nothing else but the burning, and the Lord Jesus had to give his comment on it, as he did for the nation of Israel in its then present condition, no fruit for God. Happy little word at the end of verse 3, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Read the blessing to the Nazarite in Numbers chapter 6. Read the happy little thing that is said about Gaius, mine host, in 3 John verse 2. It's a happy little prayer that John prays. He says, I pray that you might prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers. Very good. If the outstanding thing about someone that we know well is that they are enjoying prosperity of soul, and our prayer to God is that this might find a reflection in personal health too. Well, whatsoever he doeth shall prosper, the way to true prosperity. There isn't much time, and there isn't much need, perhaps, to dwell on the detail of verses 4 to 6. If we want the subheading for this, I suppose we could call it the character and doom of the ungodly. God gives his assessment of the godly, the kind of person that he is looking for in an ungodly world. Read Jude's epistle, and you'll get the sense of what it means to live in an ungodly world. And the world that's described in the epistle of Jude is a description of the world that we live in towards the end of God's ways upon earth. Well, verses 4, 5, and 6 then give a description of the end and the doom of the ungodly. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. A paradox, something very difficult to understand, is that at present the righteous always seem to suffer, the unrighteous always seem to prosper. Thank God it shall not always be so. We live in an upside-down world at the moment, but that grand verse, Acts 17, 31, tells us that God has appointed a day in which he will rule the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained, whereof he has given assurance unto all, in that God has raised him from the dead. God's world, with God's man, the man Christ Jesus, in ultimate charge, will be a righteous world where the righteous are honoured and the unrighteous will be judged. At the moment it's the other way around, because God's man, Christ, has been set aside and the ungodly are given the prime place. We shouldn't be surprised. David shouldn't have been surprised in his day. We cannot be surprised now. If those who seek to be true to Christ in an ungodly world seem to get the same kind of treatment that the Lord Jesus did in the days of his flesh. This is why it's a picture of the godly in an ungodly world and therefore best and most fully demonstrated in the life of Christ here upon earth. But the ungodly are like wheat and chaff. Remember what was said at the beginning of the Gospels? When the master comes, he will gather the wheat into his garner and the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire. Judgment. Judgment will be the ultimate portion of the ungodly, so why line yourself up with them at the present time? When the judgment does come, the final judgment, the ungodly will not be able to stand. You see, it goes back to verse 1. Standing in the way of sinners. Why stand? Why align yourself with the sinners in a sinful world? Because the sinners won't stand in the day of judgment. On the contrary, we who trust in Jesus as saviour, we have boldness in respect of the day of judgment. For as he is, so are we in this world completely clear of every call upon judgment. And then, just a little verse, verse 6, The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Yes, the ungodly will perish. The godly will be honoured. And in view of that, the godly man or woman is prepared, quite content, to leave things to God. After all, that's what happened to the Lord Jesus. There is a verse in Thessalonians which exhorts us to cultivate the same attitude as the Lord Jesus Christ. He's due to be honoured. He will be honoured. But he's content to wait until the Father says, this is the moment, this is the day. And we are exhorted to wait with the patient waiting of the Christ. In the addresses to the seven churches, a moment comes when much that bears the name of Christ is going along hand in glove with the world, the address to the church at Pergamos, but those who are looked at as overcomers, those who are determined, even in a minority, to be true to God, they are given a special blessing while they wait for everything to be put right. They are given the sense of the secret approval of the one to whom they are seeking to be true, put, in a very picturesque way, in the sign of approval, a white stone. Now, it seems to me that the last touch in this psalm says this to us, if you are set here for God, if you are determined to live for God, because in his wonderful mercy he has saved you, if you've been encouraged and allowed and empowered to put your faith in Christ as Saviour, he's coming for you soon, and while you wait for him, you can be content. In the minority, knowing that the time when things will be put right according to God will be at the moment that he has decreed, and the sense of his secret, private, personal approval to those who are godly in an ungodly world is the promise that is held out. Now, let us, as we look at other psalms from time to time, remember this basic lesson, which is true of the first book of psalms and the whole book of psalms, that while it may not seem so at the present time, it is a worthwhile thing to live here according to God until the time when he puts his man, the Lord Jesus Christ, in ultimate charge, when everything shall be seen in proper perspective. …

… Would you turn, please, to Psalm 84. Psalm 84 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee, Selah. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them, who, passing through the valley of Baker, make it a well. The rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob, Selah. Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalm 84 is located in the third book of Psalms, from 73 to 89, and therefore corresponds with the third book of Moses, Leviticus, the book of the sanctuary, the book of approach to God. And this is fairly readily traced through. Indeed, if you just turn back to Psalm 73, and we trace through some of the threads that demonstrate this, it can be easily checked out. Psalm 73, verse 17, I went into the sanctuary of God. 28, it is good for me to draw near to God. Psalm 74, end of verse 3, the sanctuary. Verse 7, thy sanctuary, the dwelling place of thy name. 75, verse 9, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. 76, verse 2, in Solom also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. 77, verse 13, thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. 78, verse 54, he brought them to the border of his sanctuary. 60, the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men. Verse 69, he built his sanctuary. Psalm 79, verse 1, thy holy temple. Verse 13, we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks forever. We will show forth thy praise to all generations. Psalm 80, verse 1, thou that dwellest between the cherubim. The first three verses really of Psalm 81, then in Psalm 82, the opening part, God standeth in the congregation of the mighty. 83, verse 12, the houses of God. 86, verse 9, all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. Verse 12, I will praise thee, O Lord my God. 87, verse 1, his foundation is in the holy mountains. 89, verse 14, the habitation of thy throne. Verse 20, my holy oil. Verse 35, I have sworn by my holiness, and so on. So we can see that the whole mood of this third book of Psalms relates to drawing near in a sense of the holiness of God and yet with that serenity of heart and soul that enables that welling up in praise and worship and thanksgiving. Now, in about the center of this third book then, we have Psalm 84. And again, the Psalm itself is replete with similar phrases. We shall be looking at some of the detail, but a cursory glance right at the outset shows in verse 1, thy tabernacles. Verse 2, the courts of the Lord. Verse 3, thine altars. Verse 4, thy house. Verse 10, thy courts. And again, the house of my God. Here then, we have a Psalm which tells us that it is possible and that it is God's intent that there should be those upon earth who are in right relationship with him, moving on to the moment when they shall ever be with him, but in the sense of all that he is and all that he has done for his glory and their blessing, that they can be found independent as they move through this world on their way to the house of God in the ultimate sense of the term and the kind of thought that go through their mind and give caliber and substance to the praise that they offer. Now, we read the heading as well as the Psalm. As always, in the Psalms, the heading is part of the inspired text and we need to consider the detail of this before we go down verse by verse. To the chief musician, it is consistent with its location in the third book of Psalms that the Psalm is said to concern the chief musician. Many individuals are referred to in the headings of the Psalms here and there, but this heading, this introduction to the chief musician is used more prolifically than any other heading. In well over 50, about 55 of the Psalms have this as their heading. No doubt, it is one of the major reasons why the book as a whole is called the book of Psalms, the book of praises, the book of response to God as a result of a sense of all that God is, as a result of passing through experiences of this life, pleasant and in many times painful, with a sense of the presence of God. The chief musician used more than any other heading. Carrying with it the thought, no doubt culled from the tabernacle system and the temple system, with this thought in mind, that there is one appointed by God not only as a conductor of the praises to gather the threads together, but the one who is the originator of the theme, the instructor of the singers, and the one who coordinates all the praise that arises to God. And something of this comes through in the heading of the chief musician. Now, while this is true in a general sense, and no doubt David and others throughout the Psalms were impressed by this again and again, it is when we take the prophetic aspect of the Psalms, in general and in particular, that we begin to get a sense that even in our day it is God's intent that the praises of his beloved people here upon earth, on our way home to him, should be filled with a sense that there is one who is both the inspiration of the music, the theme of the praise itself, the object of the worship, and the true minister of the sanctuary. And of course that is a phrase which is used specifically of our Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews chapter 8 and verse 2. So whether we take it as an indication in advance of conditions in the assembly, whether we take it as a picture of that which will surely be true amongst those who even in advance of the world to come in difficult days are given a present sense of the praise that can arise from those who are true to God as a result of their going through difficult times in company with the God who blesses them. We can see that there is force in each of these things. Going through this Psalm and the others which bear a similar or the same heading, there is always the sense that praise is only possible because a work has been done which has answered every claim of God and consequent upon that and subsequent to it in the sense of the completed work and the value to God of that work of redemption that praise can arise to him. Now we get that from this term to the chief musician. It also comes through in this next little word, get it. Of course most of us, myself included, have to rely on the scholarship of others. We have the word of God, we have the spirit, we have an unction from the Holy One, we have a discernment, a spiritual discretion, we have the mind of Christ, we can read and hear what others have said, we can use our spiritual judgement and we can get help. We can filter out that which is according to God, accept it, make use of it and if there is anything that we don't happy to receive, we put that to one side. Now those who demonstrated themselves to be spiritual as well as scholarly tell us that we can pursue two separate avenues when we think of this word, get it. There is no doubt that history records that there was a musical instrument by that or a similar name in the area round about Gath, a location that David and others knew in times of persecution and there is no doubt that David, the sweet psalmist of Israel and others knew what it was to have balm provided and supplied to their souls in difficult times as they played their musical instruments, as they chanted their thoughts aloud to their God and they went over their experiences and the wisdom that they had gained from those experiences even while they were on the run in times of persecution. There is no doubt also that the word also has a derivation connected with the wine presses of the same area, that there was wine produced as a result of the crushing of the grapes. What we can readily check is that the scriptures are consistent in telling us that it is God's desire that true joy should be experienced in the souls of those who know him. It is wine that make of glad the heart of man, the psalmist said in another psalm. The Lord Jesus, when he gave those eight signs that he was the son of God, the first sign that he gave in Cana of Galilee was that he turned the water into wine. Not the waters of judgment but the spiritual joy was that which he intended that his people should ever enjoy. And so we come again as often in the Psalms that there is no experience of life that our God allows us to go through. Whatever pressure is exerted upon us, there is none without the intent that we should learn something about ourselves and something about our God, which will allow us under pressure to develop the spiritual qualities that will be able to enter into the joy of the Lord, which will give us and furnish us with substance for praise in his presence. To the chief musician upon Gitte. A psalm for the sons of Korah. Who were these privileged people? What were their personal qualities? What had they done to deserve the favor of being found in the presence of God, participating in the service of praise? Scripture gives the answer. They didn't deserve it at all. They deserved nothing but condemnation and death. When we read Numbers 16, Numbers 26, we get the immediate impression that here were those who were rebels, opposed to the will of God and those whom God had appointed to serve him, rebelling in their day against the very idea that Moses and Aaron should officiate in the service of God because God had said that they should. A remarkable thing that Scripture records later in 1 Chronicles, that when the number of those who were privileged to be in the number counted as the people of God, there is a reference to the fact that there were children of Korah who had been preserved as a result of the mercy of God being showered upon them. And there they were taking their place in the praises of their God with the ever-present sense that they were there not because they deserved it, not because of any achievement of their own, but because in the mercy of God they had been preserved as an ever-present witness to the faithfulness of God to himself that he would ever preserve the reminder that none of us in any day or dispensation can be found praising our God, enjoying his presence and communion with him as a result of any works of righteousness that we have done. No doubt our thoughts inevitably go to Titus there. Yes, not by any works of righteousness have we been saved, but according to his wonderful mercy. Let us distinguish again as usual. Mercy delivers us from what we do deserve. Grace bestows upon us something we could never deserve. Well, we have been delivered from the judgment of God against our sins as a result of his wonderful mercy. Wherever this term, and it comes into several of the Psalms, there is an account of the mercy of God delivering those who are in desperate need, bringing them to himself in order that they might enjoy praising in his presence the sons of Korah. Well, having looked at the help that we can get from the heading of the psalm, we can move into the detail of the psalm and its sections with this thought in mind. If we've learned the lesson of the heading, yes, the Lord Jesus Christ is the true minister of the sanctuary, of the true tabernacle which God pitched and not man. It's also true, the same book of Hebrews records, that the one who became positionally a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, the true Benoni, is the one who is also deservedly crowned with glory and with honor, the true Benjamin. Sorrow entered into, honor bestowed, suffering because he was the only one good enough to take it upon himself. Honor and glory, the only one who so deserves it. And so we look at these twelve lovely verses. Now, if we want to give some little sections to them, they fall very readily into three sets of four verses each. We can look at the first four verses and we can see an indication of the privileges of the house of God. We can look at verses five to eight and we can see some indication of what it means to make progress in the things of God. Verses nine to twelve tell us what it is to be so dependent and to see what God is doing and to enjoy the sense of protection under the hand of God. Now, there's one very interesting parallel here among others. The order in which these three sections come are in the same order and they have a similar trend as we get in 1 John 2 verses 12 to the end of the chapter. We get an account there of the stages of advancement towards spiritual maturity that God intends that we make in our progress through the world. That being brought into the family, verse 12, 1 John 2, 12, your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. We are brought into the family of God when our sins are forgiven. After that, we are instructed that the fullest, richest stage of Christian maturity is likened to that of fathers in their families. After a little while, we are instructed that the health, strength, energy and vigour applicable to the young man's stage of life is something to enter into and go in for on the way to that stage of fuller maturity. But even those who are mere novices in Christ are looked upon as little children recipients of the instruction of God. Now, we could well align those up with these and say that verses 1 to 4 in delineating some of the privileges of the house of God give us some indication of the qualities and functions of the fathers. Verses 5 to 8 in this progress in the things of God some of the things that might be a parallel to the young men of 1 John 2. And the protection under the hand of God in verses 9 to 12 are things that even the little children spiritually speaking can ever enjoy. Well, and so we look at some of these details. How amiable, how pleasant are thy tabernacles O Lord of hosts. Some of us were looking last Saturday at Psalm 22. We were considering for a moment what is involved in the statement there. Thou art holy, thou that inhabitest the praises of thy people. The intent declared early in that Psalm that God's desire has ever been that he should be at home dwelling amongst his people and that they should be indulging in praises to him. And here we have a similar thought. How amiable are thy tabernacles O Lord of hosts. What a pleasant thing it is to be at home in the presence of God and that God can enjoy being at home in the midst of his people. Now we learned in Psalm 22 that if that were to be achieved and enjoyed it involved the abandonment of the perfect man, the holy, subject, dependent Son of God and we shall see certainly something of that coming through. It's certainly indicated in what we've considered the rebellious sons of Korah could only be involved in the praise of God as a result of the exercise of the mercy of God because the claims of God have been fully met and the mercy of God could freely flow. Now when we look down to verse 3 we can see that there is this indication here that the claims of God have been fully met. If in verse 1 the tabernacles are there if in verse 2 the courts of the Lord are available it's because that which is according to the altar of God the righteous, holy claims of God have been fully met. The authority and the majesty and the power and the omnipotence of God have been fully met as he's able to say, O Lord of hosts, my King, my God. We in our day can ever be thankful that because the claims of a holy God as to sin and sins have been fully met and his mercy has been lavished upon us that we can be found indulging in the privileges of the house of God. There is a longing indicated in verse 2 My heart, my flesh, crieth out for the living God. It is right and common that in the gospel we press upon the sinner that there is a longing in the soul that only God can fill and satisfy. Do we often enough remind ourselves, the saints of God, that there is a longing in every soul saint and sinner that only God can fully satisfy. Here we have it. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. We are used to agreeing together in 1 Peter 2 that the yearning for the sincere mental milk of the word of God is not only directed to the spiritual novice, the babe in Christ, it is a sober reflection on the only proper attitude and way of life for every believer. He says, as newborn babes, and it is the intent and it is our present need that we should have an ever ongoing longing that our souls should be satisfied and that the agency that he uses is his written living word in the power of the spirit. And here we have an indication here. My heart, my flesh, crieth out for the living God. As a newborn babe continues to cry out till he or she is provided for that for which he or she yearns, so it is with the one who is conscious of the blessing and the privileges of the house of God that the cry goes out and continues to go out until the longing, the craving is satisfied. Yea, the sparrow hath found in house the swallow her nest for herself. What do we learn from the Lord's own lips? Two sparrows sold for a farthing and five for two farthings. The relatively worthless sparrow available at giveaway prices sold by the pair or the five and yet even the one thrown in, the single solitary one, God is ever sensitive and yearning on his part that the mercy of God should be experienced and enjoyed by individuals who are of no account to the master builders of this world. The worthless sparrow, the restless swallow, ever flitting about, ever moving, ever on the wing here we have it, a home, a resting place is found for that which is contrary to its nature. Well, the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine altars. How severe the Lord Jesus ever was in those who abused the house of God of the day for commercial purposes. But however ready he was to greet, to meet, to endear himself to individuals who were in need and conscious of that need that they should feel at rest in his presence. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The restless swallow, find rest in the presence of God. You will see that there is a promise, there is a blessing available in each of these three sections. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house. There is blessing in being involved in the privileges of the house of God. The first four verses. And we'll see in the other sections too. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee. They will be ever praising thee. They will be constantly praising thee. A major occupation in the presence of God is to be occupied with his praises. Judging from the world's and the earthly point of view I have often heard people say Heaven is not attractive to me I would be bored with something going on and on and on whatever it would be. Of course, conditioned by our environment we can understand that there are those who are bored with the things of this earth, this world, this life. But the scriptures have as a thread right through the fact that God's intent and the joy of the saint is that God should be at home in their presence and there with him in order that they might be ever employed in the praises of their God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, they will be continually praising thee. Selah. We are justified in splitting the psalm as we do because at the end of verse 4 and the end of verse 8 we get this little expression Selah. Pause for meditation. Think about that. What do you think about that wonderful thing? This is something of the thread that comes through in this term Selah. Where does this pause after the consideration of the privileges of the house of God? The house of God in its fullest sense, I suppose, is that which lies at the end of the responsible pathway. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever using the language of the psalm. But we aren't there yet. We are on our way home. We are pilgrims on the way home. And so verses 5 to 8 consider the fact that while we are in the world there will be things that we experience in the world and from the world that won't be pleasant. But the secret all the way through and these are difficult phrases blessed is the man whose strength is in thee that's straightforward in whose heart are the ways of them. Now the language here seems to be reflexive. You can take it forwards, backwards whichever way you like and there's merit and blessing in it. It certainly comes through to me as both an underlying and an overriding principle in the verse. The thing that makes all the difference to the experiences of life is whether or not when we go through them it is with the desire and with the fulfillment of that desire that we are going through in the conscious sense that God is with us in them because we've brought him into the exercise consciously by faith. Now it's then that we get the full gain of the experiences through which we've been brought. It is fair comment, isn't it? That we may have many experiences in life without gaining experience. Gaining experience and the wisdom that comes from experience is very much different from merely having an abrogate of circumstances that we've learned nothing from. But here the psalmist and we can put ourselves in the situation that there are things to be learned about ourselves and about our God, the living God the one who has delivered us from so great a judgment by his wonderful mercy and this it is which is commented on in verse 5 who passing through the valley of baker the valley of tears not so much a geographical location a valley of tears make it aware the rain also filleth the pools. Some of the experiences of life make us really plumb the depths the depths of disappointment the depths of sorrow the depths of humiliation but there's strength there's sorrow there's joy to be drawn from such situations if we go through them in communion with our God and so the psalmist says here. He also says while we are going through the deep waters there are the refreshing rains even on the surface as we go through them that give us the assurance that there is that being provided daily which will be for our encouragement and rich reward and so we have the wells we have the pools whether it is the deep waters of deep trouble and the many angry tears at times it would seem as far as human experience is concerned we learn that in the relative shallowness of many day by day experiences if we've learned the great lesson from the deep sorrows and the much tears we begin then to learn the other lessons from apparently lesser experiences there is a hymn of christian experience not sung much but perhaps most of us have heard it at one time or another which considers all the deep troubles of life things we learn from that the rich joys at times that test us in a different way but there is a verse that says something like this and all the other days that make my life marked by no special joy or grief or strife the humdrum days the days that seem repetitive where nothing much seems to be going on perhaps there above all days we might be tempted to lose the sense that we need the company of the lord in such mundane circumstances yes we can see the need for his company in the great crises of life but let us learn from this in what may appear to us as shallow pools what may seem to be us to be light showers for the moment that there is that which we learn in the tears that need to be shed in such situations that joy can be learned in them well when we get to the last few verses 9 to 12 the experiences of life haven't made the psalmist change his mind i like the unfinished sentence a day in thy courts is better than a thousand he doesn't say where in this particular sentence does he he says a day in thy courts is better than a thousand anywhere else that you could imagine that's the voice of experience isn't it or that we might have the experience of communion with the lord that means that after years of experience of life and the things that come along to test and to try us at the end of the day we are just as convinced that there's no other way we would have lived our life there's none other than christ that we would put our faith in there's no other than the faith system of christianity into which we would cast our lot one of the greatest encouragement to me is that believers have no intention of changing their mind about trusting in the living god and his saviour jesus christ after 50, 60, 70, 80 years of the experiences of life than when they first trusted christ as saviour evidently the psalmist felt exactly like that behold oh god our shield yes there's protection under the hand of god i'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my god than to dwell in the tents of wickedness when i first trusted the lord i was greatly impressed by mature experienced christians who were fully deeply involved in the service of the lord able to do great things and having been brought into the people of god as a result of trusting the lord as saviour i'm sure this was my attitude at that time i'd be very happy sitting in the corner in the back seat not saying anything not doing anything just enjoying being there well of course we all need to do that the lord has things in mind for us that we can but hardly imagine when we first trust christ as our saviour but here the psalmist doesn't lose the sense of this i'd rather be a doorkeeper and of course that was a place of great privilege and honour it wasn't cringing in the corner in his case he'd rather be in the house of his god with the honour of that privilege than to dwell to be of some honour and place and force and respect in the tents of wickedness the lord god is his son and shield his son the source of all primary energy directly or indirectly or that we might have the sense in our souls that as paul could say my god shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by christ jesus no desire for any other source of supply no looking anywhere else for resources because he is the alone source of supply of all that is valuable his son and shield well whatever the energy god in his grace provides us with there will always be time when we need the sense of his protection over us we are never of ourselves sufficient as the apostles said we are not of ourselves sufficient our sufficiency is of god the lord will give grace and glory grace for the present glory for the future scripture says in more than one place he giveth grace to the lowly he giveth grace to the humble he will he will give grace and glory he shall crown his work by ushering us and all believers into the joy of his glorious presence and again he finishes as we must with the sense of blessing of those who trust in him privileges of the house of god bring their blessing verse 4 making progress in the things of god bring their blessing verse 5 blessed is the man whose strength is in thee an ever present sense of the protective hand of god as an umbrella over us brings blessing to the soul oh lord of hosts blessed is the man that trusteth in thee …

… Will you turn please to psalm 40. Psalm 40, verse 5. Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened. Burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it is written of me. I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. I'm not sure how long it will take to say what I have in mind, so perhaps others might bear that in mind as they listen. That all of us might pray that the evening as a whole will present something that the Lord has in mind for us. We've been singing and praying about that wonderful time when the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world by common convention, in order that time might be spent in thinking of the occasion and the significance of the occasion of the incoming of the Son of God into the world, it is commonly agreed that time is spent at what is called Christmas in thinking about when Jesus came into the world. It doesn't really bother me whether it was the 25th of December. It does bother me, and I think it's right, that some time should be occupied with thinking that Jesus did come into the world, it's an historical fact, and that we might ask ourselves the question why. I've heard it said there would have been no Calvary without Bethlehem. I think I can see what people mean by that. Unless Jesus had been born into the world a babe at Bethlehem, circumstantially, historically, he could not have lived that life and died that death at Calvary. As to spiritual priority, if pressed, I think I would be tempted to put it the other way around. Without Calvary, there would have been no Bethlehem. In other words, it was for the express purpose of dying at Calvary that the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world. Some of us have been looking at some of the Psalms during this past week. Here we have another one tonight. And it speaks in a very graphic, dramatic, poetic way of that very event. What was involved in Jesus coming into the world. If you look at verse 6, the phrase in the middle of the verse, mine ears hast thou opened, or mine ears hast thou digged, if you check very, very carefully, you'll find that that expression in itself speaks to the careful student about the incarnation, God manifested in flesh coming into the world. There is another phrase about the ear, Isaiah 50, mine ear hast thou opened morning by morning, which speaks of the life on earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then if you look back into Exodus 21, you'll find another time when the ear is referred to, the bored ear, and you'll find that that whole context is about someone whose love is expressed to the uttermost, the fullest, even unto death. Very often, when there are Old Testament writings which refer to the time on earth of the Lord Jesus Christ, it tells us he came into the world, he lived in the world, and then he died and left the world. Now, these things are deeply significant. If we are believers on our Lord Jesus Christ, we need to bear in mind what the scripture says. It's God's will that we should be saved. Amen. But it doesn't stop there. It says it is God's will that we should be saved and that we should come to a knowledge of the truth. In other words, while being saved is a most wonderful thing, to know that our sins are forgiven and we believe that Jesus died and rose again, but that having been brought into this wonderful blessing, God's intention is that we should make progress in the Christian life, in Christian truth, that we should mature so that we can be better fitted to understand what God is doing in the world and that we might be fully equipped to return to him in the praise and worship that is due and also that we might be in a better position to tell others about him, his beloved son. Now, this psalm tells us a lot about what it meant to God and to Jesus himself that Jesus came into the world. Now, I just want to do a little survey verse 6 and whether it's the rest of the meeting or part of the rest of the meeting to see how this worked out and how it's quoted in the New Testament. When Jesus came into the world, it was for many reasons. It was for the glory of God. It was in order that God's standards might be made plain in the perfect life of a man upon earth. It was in order that the sinfulness and worthlessness of mankind as a result of sin might be demonstrated. And it was in order that we might understand something of the wonderful love of God. Think of such words as what scripture tells us. He that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all. That for this particular purpose God sent his son into the world or again, the father sent the son to be the savior of the world. Now, many of these things were demonstrated in the life of Jesus upon earth but many of them only came to light only brought out into the open as a result of the death at Calvary of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is made plain in verse 6. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Now, I hope that none of us especially believers or unbelievers will switch off at the use of the word offering and say well you're getting into technical matters now this is far too hard for me I'm a simple soul I trust that we are all simple souls. But when we look at it we will find some wonderful things are said. I remember being first of all impressed puzzled and then eventually thrilled when I heard this kind of language used. Christ personally is the center of the universe of God and the death of Christ is the foundation of the universe of God. A grand statement sounds wonderful and it is but let us just boil it down to see what it says. God's thoughts God's ideas God's world in the fullest sense of the term God's universe has at it's very center at it's focal point the Lord Jesus Christ the son of God. We've all heard the cynic say and over the next month we'll hear it again and again I like Christmas but let's keep religion out of it. Now whether said in reality or in jest it's the kind of remark that people make. They don't like to be reminded that Christ the spotless pure holy sinless son of God is at the very center of Christmas he is the one that Christmas is all about. If you leave Christ out of Christmas you've lost the whole idea. It's not only true at Christmas it's true throughout the year. If you leave Christ out of the reckoning let us go further unless Christ is at the absolute center and the focal point of our lives and everything that we do we've missed the mark. Now that's a sobering thing. But the next statement is perhaps even more amazing. If Christ personally is the center of God's plans and God's thoughts none of them could have been brought into being and established apart from the death of Christ. Now it's when we start delving into scripture, our only authority on these things and we start thinking about this inquiring whether it is indeed fact that God's plans are based, have their foundation and have their basis and the treasure is all there because of the death of Christ that we start getting into deep waters indeed. But we have help in the scriptures and when we turn to verse 6 again these phrases come out. Now one thing is clear in the term sacrifice offering burnt offering sin offering even a cursory glance at Old Testament scriptures tell us that offerings and sacrifices are usually, not quite always they are usually connected with the death of an animal. Now it is not without significance that this psalm which tells us about the incoming into the world of the son of God is the psalm has its central thought based upon the fact that blessing that God wants to lavish upon us can only come in as a result of the death of a suitable offering. Now when we look further into it I will have to take a few short cuts tonight but I would offer you or challenge you to check these things for yourself and I'm sure you'll find that they have substance in scripture. Some of these words themselves are shorthand they are abbreviations in verse 6 when it says sacrifice it's an abbreviation for something that is detailed in the book of Leviticus called the peace offering when you get the next word offering it's an abbreviation for what the book of Leviticus calls the meal offering the term burnt offering is referred to expanded in detail in the same book and so is the term sin offering it tells me this while it's a wonderful thing to be able to sing man of sorrows what a name for the son of god who came ruined sinners to reclaim wonderful truth let us never diminish that. Seek to diminish that wonderful thing. If that was all there was to it it would be a wonderful gospel to preach but once we've been one for Christ. If you've never yet believed that Jesus died for your sins and was raised again that you might be sure that nothing remained to be done it would be a wonderful thing but what you would find is that being saved the holy spirit god's spirit indwelling within you would point you to scripture after scripture open out some of the many treasures that scripture has and you would see wonderful things you hadn't seen before. Now this psalm which tells us that Christ the son of god came into the world and came into the world that he might die at Calvary tells us that there are many facets many aspects many treasures many sides to this wonderful truth blessing that has been one for us many ways in which rays of the glory of god have been shown because Christ came into the world to die now just briefly let us look at these four major offerings four ways in which Christ is brought to light take them in the order in which they come the peace offering you will have noticed that many phrases in the bible many words are taken up in common english usage and a certain idea is attached to them even nowadays when very very few people read the bible for themselves there are certain phrases come in and are used in everyday speech for example wheels within wheels people use the term no idea where it comes from but it becomes part of the jargon if you like another term that is used is the term peace offering and the idea that most people seem to have is that if i tread on your corns physically or metaphorically i do something to hurt you or offend you and i know i am going to see you again on tuesday night i feel obliged to buy a box of chocolates on tuesday afternoon and you see me doing this you say oh yes he offended so and so on sunday night he bought this for a peace offering it would be nothing of the sort if at best it would be a trespass offering because i defended you i wanted to make reparation i wanted to do something to remove the barrier between us to remove the hurt the peace offering is something much better than that now this is a good thing to bring in first i am sure god has wonderful things to share god has wonderful things to say to you about the lord jesus christ all his beauties all his virtues all the wonderful things that are true of him that you cannot even begin to understand until you believed that he died to be your saviour it is as if you are standing outside a treasure store that someone gives you the key and said now there are some wonderful things in there for you but unless you use the key open the lock and go inside you will never believe how wonderful things are you may have heard about them you may have read about them but until you are inside there with them part of it you will never really understand them fully now christianity is like that those who are believers on our lord jesus christ have a wonderful advantage among many over unbelievers you know what it is to be an unbeliever you have trusted the saviour and now that you are inside there are things that you understand now you would never have dreamt of before if anyone here is not yet a christian the christians don't put themselves on the pedestal just the reverse but christians can say to you we know what it is like and we can tell you from experience there are wonderful things in christianity that you will never understand until you trust the lord for yourself now god wants us to share in these wonderful things, not only share with each other but to share with the lord jesus and to share in gods very presence and this is what the peace offering is all about god, christ other believers of all ages from all walks of life sharing together in what christ has done at calvary now that's a good one for a start god wants us to share just to go back to this box of chocolates a happier situation would be if i haven't seen you for a long time i see you tonight and then we say well we can't just meet and part in a few minutes lets have a night together on tuesday evening and if then on tuesday afternoon i buy a box of chocolates because i know you like a particular kind and then on tuesday night we sit down and enjoy them together we are then sharing together in something that we both enjoy and something where there is no barrier or cloud to the fellowship and relationship we have let us put out of our minds that a peace offering is to put right some wrong that it's to remove some barrier the peace offering says there are wonderful things which god and the lord jesus christ who is god wants to share with us let us share them all together now this psalm says jesus came into the world in order that he might die at calvary that we might share the fruits of that wonderful victory with him for that reason he came into the world for that reason he died for that reason he was raised from among the dead for that reason he's gone to heaven in order that as a risen savior he might share with us and we might share with him all these wonderful things the next one that's mentioned is a meal offering this is the only one of these four which does not refer to the death of our lord jesus christ what it does tell us about is the perfect life of the lord jesus if you go in for some bible searching and i hope you do you'll find it's rare indeed if ever that you'll find a place in the old testament where a meal offering is celebrated on it's own usually it's a burnt offering and a meal offering all together now we haven't come to the burnt offering yet we shall but what we can learn is this in simple terms then we'll go back to the type in the offerings you'll never fully understand the life of jesus unless you are in the good in the value of his death now that sounds like a conundrum it sounds like a paradox doesn't it something very difficult to understand but you see unless you know why jesus died unless you believed that he died for you unless you believed that god raised him from the dead that you might be sure that all of your sins are dealt with you cannot have the spirit gods holy spirit is given as a power to dwell inside those who trusted christ as saviour and only then can you read the gospels and see fully to understand the things that jesus did in his life have you ever puzzled over you believers why it is that you read things now in the gospels and you say well isn't that strange i've read that many times before but not until now did i see the secret that god was showing me it's because if you trusted christ as saviour you have the power inside you of the holy spirit to guide you into all truth now in that simple way we can understand only if you are in the good of the death of christ if you trusted him as saviour can you understand the sweetness and the variety of the things that god says in the gospels about that wonderful life upon earth the technical way of saying that is that the burnt offering precedes the meal offering in a meeting like this things need to be said in a way that the youngest present can understand but that's no reason at all why other things shouldn't be said that will tax the mind and the concentration of the most mature person present so check it out and see to your own satisfaction why it is the burnt offering and the meal offering in that order often come together well the sweetness of the sharing principle the fellowship and the peace offering the perfect life that demonstrated that only jesus was good enough to pay the price of sin in the peace offering and the meal offering the burnt offering there are greater issues involved in the gospel than your sins there are greater issues involved in the gospel than your blessing there are greater things involved in the gospel than us understanding what god is doing the greatest thing of all is that jesus came into the world to live that perfect life and to die at calvary in order that the will of god the plans of god the mind of god be brought into full effect now this is perhaps the highest aspect of the gospel message which we could never understand until we trust christ as saviour but the burnt offering if we study it tells us that the lord jesus came into this world that having lived that perfect life which is the answer to what the meal offering suggests that at the end of that perfect life his life was delivered up and god was one hundred percent satisfied with the sacrifice because jesus is perfect the will of god gods plans gods grand master design all based upon this that central to his course and the price that had to be paid was the offering of the one who in every way always did things which pleased the father the burnt offering now when that's been said and done i think i can see why god leaves this to the last one that's mentioned here you know when god gives a revelation he starts at his own end starts with things that satisfy him things which are for his pleasure and then when that is satisfied we find wonder of wonders things are said which mean that not only is god fully satisfied with all that's taken place but wonder of wonders we who deserve nothing but judgment because of our sins we find that we are brought into wonderful blessing and this last one the sin offering tells us just that gods plans brought finalized in the death of christ much blessing to share much glory to shine as a result of the death of christ these are all aspects of the full gospel story but then when that is all said and done not an afterthought but certainly secondary part of gods wonderful plan he himself being satisfied with the death of christ we find there's provision for you and i to be brought in but only because christ died for our sins some of us may be fearful might say in our minds if the preacher knew the kind of thoughts that go through my mind if the preacher knew the sort of things i've done in my life he wouldn't be saying that christ died for me we see gods master plan and the wonder of what he has done and is doing perhaps it opens our eyes to the fact that one of the wonderful things that he's done is to answer every claim that he has upon us because of our sins and that through the death of christ he has been fully satisfied with every claim that would otherwise be outstanding against us verse 7 says verse 8 says i delight to do thy will oh my god verse 7 says lo i come he did this was written a thousand years before it happened and yet it happened that which god had decreed took place jesus came into the world at bethlehem he lived the kind of perfect life that the meal offering describes he did everything all through his life that pleased the father as the burnt offering would indicate and then at the end of that life he died for our sins now in verse 7 it says lo i come in verse 8 it says i delight to do thy will oh my god now it is for this reason among others that when we talk about the offerings that we say this is the psalm of the burnt offering this psalm describes what it felt like to jesus to come into the world to be here for god for the pleasure of god for the glory of god that gods plans might be secured and that was a happy thing for jesus to come into the world to do and so he says prophetically i delight to do thy will oh my god turn now please to hebrews chapter 10 where these verses are quoted hebrews tells us much about the sacrificial system known in the nation of israel in the old testament and in verse 4 it says chapter 10 it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not but a body hast thou prepared me i will pause there really unless you have new testament justification for your favorite interpretation of old testament things you are on shaky ground but if you are careful and you look you will find that the new testament answers all the problems you really need to solve and what i have said so far up to now about psalm 40 is justified in the light of hebrews 10 its speaking hebrews says its speaking about the coming into the world of the son of god when he cometh into the world he saith and then there is this quotation from the verse we have been looking at in psalm 40 same words with a slight difference very often when new testament quotations are given of the old testament they are slightly different partly because they are quotations from the greek version of the old testament rather than the old testaments translation of the hebrew but often and its of greater significance that god by the holy spirit is putting the words and the quotation in such a way as not just to quote the words that were recorded but to explain and interpret what was really involved and so it is that where in the psalm itself it says mine ears hast thou digged the end of verse 5 puts that a body hast thou prepared me in other words that is the justification we have for saying that that expression mine ears hast thou digged was a poetic way of representing the fact that if gods will was to be brought about gods plan secured our blessing made available it was necessary for jesus to come into the world now again after further quotations and again all major offerings here the peace offering the meal offering the burnt offering the sin offering all referred to verse 7 then says lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will oh god oh you say the writer of the epistle to the hebrews wasn't good in his memory or his research he's missed a bit out the psalm the psalmist said I delight to do thy will oh my god the quotation doesn't quite say that it says I come to do thy will oh god if the holy spirit worked in the heart and mind of the one who wrote the book of hebrews and said now that's what you put in that's what you change and that's what you leave out god the author of the book must have known what he was doing now the reason is quite clear if we look at the epistle to the hebrews verse 4 where we began reading says it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins verse 17 says their sins and iniquities will I remember no more the main point under consideration in psalm 40 was god's master plan god's will god's pleasure god's purpose now the coming into the world of the lord jesus christ to do that was a delight to him wonderful thing that he was given the opportunity the privilege the honor of coming into the world a babe in bethlehem in order that he might live that lovely life and that as a result of the death that he would die of calvary but that the glory of god might be established and to do that was a delight to him but when we come to hebrews 10 it's a different matter it's a matter of sins a matter of going into the distance and darkness of calvary and all its woe and all its terror and to endure the wrath of god that your sins and mine might be fully dealt with that was so abhorrent to his holy soul that in anticipation of it in the garden of gethsemane he said father if it be possible let this cup pass from me not the cup of the pleasure of god and the glory of god the cup of wrath the cup of sorrow the cup of judgment the cup of condemnation which he endured that sin might be dealt with once and for all and that those who were sinners by nature and by practice might be brought into all the treasure that the peace offering and the burnt offering and the meal offering tells us about let us be impressed by the orderliness of scripture if we examine the detail of chapter 10 we'll find that god's will christ's work and the spirit's witness are all focusing upon this that this vital matter of dealing with sin the root and sins the fruit might be dealt with once and for all as a result of the lord jesus christ coming into the world and dying at calvary i've taken a little longer than i thought i would i trust that what has been said will be the blessing of us all whether believer or unbeliever at this stage …