God our strength and our salvation (Ps. 50, 60, 62)

… The letter I'm going to read, the Bible of Psalms, we read this morning, Psalm 50, and then later, Psalm 60 and 62. First, Psalm 50. Psalm 50 is the psalm of Asa. The mighty Lord, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down of the earth. Our Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall be gathered for him, it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call the heavens from above, and to the earth. He may judge his people. Here are my sins to get unto me, those who have made it come to me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge himself. Here are my people, and I will speak of Israel, and I will testify against thee. I am God, he is my God. I will not reproach thee for thy sacrifices, or thy long-burnt offerings will be continually before me. I will take a book, and at my house, more heath goats, and my foals. Every leech in the forest is mine, and the kettle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine at the fullness of it. Will I eat the flesh of foals, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God thanksgiving, and pay thy vow unto the most high. And call upon me when thou hast trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt join mine people. Now the wicked, God said, what hast thou to do to declare my statutes? Or thou shallest take my trouble to thine own house. See, thou hatest instruction, and castest my word behind thee. When thou saw'st a thief, thou hast had this with him, and hast been partaker of the doctrines. Thou givest thine own appeal, and thy tongue bringeth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother. Thou swallow'st thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence. Thou thoughtest thou ought to carry such a man as thyself. But I will approve thee, and set an order for thine absence. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I kill you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Whoso offereth praise, nor like me, and giveth order of his conversational right, will I show him the salvation of God. Now Psalm 16, verse 1. Psalm 16, verse 1. O God, thou hast cast us on. Thou scattered us, thou fiend'st peace. O turn thyself to us again. Thou hast made the earth to tremble, thou hast broken it. Human creatures are all shaken. Thou hast shown thy people hard things. Thou hast made us to drink the wine of asponsion. Thou hast given a banner for them to feel thee, and to make thee displayed because of the truth. That I could now go and be delivered. Say it with thy right hand, and hear it. God hath spoken in his holiness. I will rejoice. I will be thy shepherd, and reach out the band of suckers. Gilead is mine, Nasser is mine. Ephraim also has the strength of my head. Judah is my Lordgiver. Moabah is my washpot. O Edom hath cast out my shame. Philistia triumphs now because of me. Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? Who but thou, O God, which hast cast us off. And thou, O God, which didst not go out without our means. Give us health from trouble, for pain is the health of men. Through God we shall do valiantly. For he it is who will tread down our enemies. Psalm 62, verse 1. To him my soul waited upon God. From him cometh my salvation. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my defence. I shall not be plainly moved. How long will ye imagine this ship against a man? He shall be slain or what of him? As a bowing wall shall he be, and as a propping fence. They only consult to cast him down to his excellency. They delight in lies. They bless with their mouth. But they curse inwardly. My soul waited out only upon God. For my expectations from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He is my defence. I shall not be moved. For God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, ye people. Pour out your hearts for him. For God is a refuge for us. Surely men of low degree are vanity. And men of high degree are a dying. Related and balanced, they are altogether vital and vanity. Trust not on oppression. Become not vain in pottery. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. God has spoken once. Twice have I heard this. That power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy. For thou bendest to every man according to his work. I know this is a long and powerful thing to say, but it's always interesting to cut anything out of it, because each verse is so precious. And I'm just thinking of my expressions we had in the third verse. I remember my sister saying, we saw what was in the first and last verse of this hymn. And this particular verse you found very precious. Help us to cling to thee, our strength and our salvation. Help us to find in thee the one eternal truth. And this is something that I have seen in these three psalms that we read together. It's interesting that these were written under very difficult circumstances. It appears two of them are by David. One is the chief physician, one leading off. So the chief physicians are again with them. A son of David. The one before that was a meeter, or an instruction, or a precious thing, for David to teach when he spoke with Emma and Harry, and so on. This comes back from a successful battle against what we have in the past experienced in the beginning of this psalm, the first few verses. And he's thinking of what they've been through, what a difficult time it's been. But we find in each of these psalms a particular expression that we have to draw attention to. The other one we just noticed was mentioned a son of Asaph. Asaph was the chief of the sinners of David. We read about him in the Chronicles. The Chronicles where they were instructed to sing, and Asaph was the leader of his singers. He collected together, I spoke of the psalms of David and of others, and perhaps even to music. We see some of the tunes at the end of some of these psalms. And there was a son on particular occasions. What different psalms they are, how different is the character. The one thing I ask you what I tend to do, to get all the rest, that's one expression that comes in as you may think of. The first verse of Psalm 50, The mighty God in the Lord hath spoken. Psalm 60 verse 6, God hath spoken in his holiness. Psalm 62 verse 11, God hath spoken once. Asaph, I hope it is, the time has come to God. God hath spoken. This is really the whole subject. But the Bible, isn't it? The very first page of the Bible was very struck not many years ago at a printing exhibition at Earl's Court in London where I learned that a particular section of this in the gallery is printing of the Bible of man. It was very noticeable they had an enlarged page the first page of the first printed book certainly the first printed book of Europe which happened to be the Bible, the Latin Bible. Then we find the first spoken words of God. Two words, fiat lux were carried out into an enlarged version the big stele was looked at to a large mass dozens of words in old Gothic letters fiat lux may there be light. The first spoken words of God. So the very first page of that Bible was the first verses of the Bible of God speaking. What did he say? May there be light. Throughout the Bible we find God speaking. He spoke to Adam in the third chapter we find him speaking. In the third chapter we find him speaking to Adam. We find him speaking to Noah. We find him speaking to Moses. This is the subject for this psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the Lord Jehovah, hath spoken. The interesting thing about this first one is that he has spoken here out of Zion, but he has spoken not only to the heavens from above, but to the earth. He spoke to the heavens from above and to the earth that he may judge his people. God has spoken to the earth. Isn't it wonderful? Not only to the heavens but even in the first chapter of Genesis God spoke. We read this in the commentary of Psalm 33. He spoke and it was done. By the word of God the heavens were. But he spoke to the earth. There was the inhabitants of the earth. God spoke. It's very important, isn't it? Because we might have an excuse if it was not so to say, well, God is so far away and God has made so many worlds. Remember how it took Abraham to look at the stars and say, can you count them? No, you can't count the stars. People thought they could. One time they got the registered stars and there was God in there. And then somebody made a telescope and saw a lot more. And then they did a telescope and saw still more. And now they admit that the stars cannot be counted, the multitude. There are too many to count. And God made so many wonderful worlds. I should give you just one tiny speck of the universe called earth. But he is interested in that. And in the inhabitants he spoke to the earth that he may judge his people. It's very solid, isn't it? God's message to the earth is a message of judgment. You will tell me to sit down to hear the gospel of the grace of God as we preach today. Yes, it is. And yet this very gospel of God begins with his message that God is a holy God. God is a righteous God. God cannot tolerate sin. This is a very essential part of the gospel. We find in the Roman epistle, the epistle of the Romans, where the gospel is set forth, it's not ashamed of the gospel of God. He goes on to say, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Righteousness. What's that? Is that good news? That God is righteous and the world is guilty? He goes on to say, for therein is wrath revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. He goes on to say the whole world is guilty of God. Is this good news? Well, you sense all the good news when we go to the doctor. We may think something is wrong with us. He puts his finger on the spot straight away and says, yes, there is trouble. God's diagnosis is necessary if it's going to be cured. And so often people do not go to the doctor because they're afraid there's something wrong with them. They're afraid there's something wrong. They'll probably go, maybe too late, to put it right. What a good man he is. The doctor can put his finger on the spot and say, that is what is wrong. And prescribe medicines or whatever treatment is necessary to put it right. We must know why God speaks here. He's called to the heavens from above and to the earth, that he may judge. Later on in verse 6, the heavens will declare his righteousness, for God is judge himself. God doesn't entrust judgment to anyone else. God is judge himself. And we read there how God spoke to particularly Israel, the nation of Jerusalem and all the nations of the earth to reveal himself. He spoke to them. His voice was heard. You remember they entreated Moses that they would not hear his voice again. It was too terrible for him to endure that voice. God spoke. And I believe this is something you really ought to hear. The mighty God even the Lord has spoken. I believe this does refer in a certain way to Sinai. When God's voice was actually heard, there was a sound of thunder. So now the people entreated Moses, speak now to God. Speak to us. They want some of the clean men and gold because God's voice was too terrible for them to hear. And God's message too was too terrible for the world. And God spoke to the earth. After sin came into the world, God's message was too terrible for men to bear. And yet it was in the grace of God. One day we saw that this word that comes in here, the word we're singing about now here was salvation. In the Psalm 150, God speaks of his all-sufficiency. People, I suppose, all kinds, all races have sought to propitiate a deity. We know that even in countries where it seems they have no sense of right and wrong, they all now feel that there is some power that has to be propitiated. They have to bring some kind of gift to this god of theirs. And we've heard of the kitchen god in China stuck up in the kitchen. And it was rather embarrassing sometimes because he would see what went on in the kitchen. So he just put a little bit of sweet toad in this idol's mouth just to keep him sweet. And he would tell on. This is the idea that they have of God. God can be sweetened by a little sugar and spice and a few sacrifices. Sometimes human sacrifices, we know in many countries. God says here, If I were hungry, I would not tell thee. For the world is thine, and the woman's thine. Would I give a fresher fruit or drink a drunk milk? No, God doesn't want to do that. He will be answering him. God made it all in the first place. God made man and beast as we saw yesterday. God created man and beast in the world. He will be answering him. What can we offer to God? What have we got to offer? There's none of that in our hymns. What can we offer? He said here simply, Call upon thee in a day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt joy find me. God can say to me, and you can understand, it seems reasonable, I feel I'm in need. To call upon God, now that I'm in need. Now that I see that I'm in need, I feel mean to call upon God. God watches very first. God wants you to call upon him when you're in need. God expects you to call upon him when you're in need. The very factor of calling upon God when you're in need. Glory to God, it's not here. Call upon me in a day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glory find me. Because God is a saviour God. God doesn't want us to say our sins. God doesn't want to take up his strange work as a judgment. God doesn't want to judge you. He's not willing to let you perish. He wants to save. He wants people to call upon him in a day of trouble. He wants them to call upon him. It's not 100% but it's so beautiful that it doesn't keep on saying. All the men will turn to the Lord for his goodness. He's wonderful in the works of children and men. Then it speaks of those that call upon all the various characters and categories of men there. And they call upon the Lord in their distress and in their hurt and deliver them from all their fears. That's not God that's revealed in the Bible. This is a God who has spoken to the world. A God who wants us to call upon him in trouble. He doesn't want us to bear our own burdens. He wants to bend the cross. He is the mighty God. The Lord. The creator of all things. You can't give him anything. Even the praise that we utter. The voice that's been given us by God. The intelligence to know God has been given us by God. The very thoughts that we utter. The very ability, the very breath that we draw is all given to us by God. So we have nothing that we've not received. And so, the hardest thing I've always had to take is to accept something for which we cannot pay. It's just what God says. Call upon me in a day of trouble. I will deliver thee. And I shall glorify thee in the last verse. For thy son who sought praise glorified thee. And to him the Lord and his conversation of love. In other words, one day of Egypt, I will show the salvation of God. That's a lovely word. Salvation. The salvation of God. The expression comes several times in the scripture. The salvation of God. It's been the main message that I was given. And it seems a very difficult sort of message, but it was for the future day when the Messiah would come. It was 700 odd years in being fulfilled. And yet, we see in the Gospels, the quotation again, this chapter of Isaiah, it adds a little thing, it says all flesh shall see it. It says in Isaiah 40. But in the quotation he uses, it says all flesh shall see what? It. The salvation of God. Because it was revealed. All flesh will see it together. That's what it says in the Old Testament. But when it comes to those who are new, we see what and whom they have seen. Because it's not just something. Salvation is something, of course. Something very real. Very real thing to say to the individual. That's also a person. You think of Simeon who took the veil off his arms. I will get it down by serving a part in peace, according to my word. For when I shall be held by salvation. By salvation, this is what they do. God's salvation. That's what he's speaking of here. Do you know what this conversation is about? Should I show the salvation of God? So what God wants to give to each other is the very title of himself. I will show this blessed one who is the salvation of God. Because we cannot have salvation outside of Christ. The Old Gospel centers upon Christ. And this is the salvation of God, which you read in the Psalms. We read together. We saw there in Psalm 60 for example, God speaking. And just as we borrowed up the thought of the stone of the earth, in verse 2 of Psalm 60, we see the effect of it. The earth crumbled. It's broken. It was really something that was dangerous. God was shook the earth. The very speaking of God in Psalm 60, I was shook the earth. As God said in Haggai, there's no way those men shake the earth. You can shake the heavens as well. You've got to shake, shake and shake the heavens. Yes, and what's wrong? God has spoken and shaken the earth. But He's going to shake the heavens. He's going to shake the heavens. What a voice that is. The very heavens are going to be rolled up and put away like old diamonds. They're going to be put away. There's going to be a new heaven, a new earth where Christ is going to dwell. And this is the God which is revealed here in verse 6 of Psalm 60. God spoke in His holiness. In His holiness. As God spoke in His holiness. Psalm 22 that wonderful expression of the Lord Jesus possibly the very words He used on the cross, certainly some of them were. He says, but thou art holy. Thou that inheritest the treasures of Israel. But thou art holy. Thou knew it. So was the Lord Jesus. We're reading this morning, 17th John. The sanctity of the holiness. Holy Father. He said, Holy Father. To address His Father. The Holy Father. And we sang this in our hymns. No quotation from Psalms. The worship of the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The beauty of holiness. We think of the vision of Isaiah. We think of the living creatures in the fourth revelation. Holy. Holy. Holy is the Lord. Christ holy is the Lord. We must not forget the holiness of God. People don't like this word. It doesn't... so many words have another meaning. We speak of holiness of people who are too holy to live. People are too holy to live with. And holiness in the sense of being awkward and different. Well, there is a difference in that holiness. There's a difference of a positive holiness. A positive sanctity. Not having this negative. It's not only that we don't do this, we don't do that, we don't go with them, we don't listen to that doctrine. We don't do all so many things that other people do. It's not that at all. Holiness as we read in the First Application, as well as I know in the early books of the Bible, the holiness unto the Lord. The priests were consecrated to the Lord. Positive. Now set aside for God's service. That's holy. In the same wonderful way as God is holy and cannot bear unholy nature. So those I serve must be holy. That is saying internally brought to His use. We read under various vessels in the New Testament. We find there are certain inferior vessels that are used only in the kitchen. They never come upon the table for the Master. Others are clean vessels, fresh vessels, neat, for the Master's use. That is through holiness. God has spoken in His holiness. Holiness. Holiness here, we read of, which is, yes, for the people of God even, something that's quite beautiful, a holiness of God. Just think of David himself. He wrote this psalm and you must have thought at the time when he acted patiently, he acted sinfully. Times when he, for example, with the best of intentions, tried to bring the ark back but nothing comes away. And what would that have meant to me? God spoke in a very serious way. He had the foot on His hand to extend the ark. He was a bit dead. David fell on the water. He was displeased that day. He couldn't stand the thought of the holiness of God. Can we? And yet, this wonderful Holy God who has spoken in holiness, He says in verse 4 of this Psalm 16, God has given a banner to them that fear me which may be displayed because of the truth. God has given a banner to them that fear me. As though God says, look, you fear me. You obey my word. I'll give you a banner that may be seen. It may be seen by all because of the truth. And the point is, how can they be delivered? Salient with thy right hand and hear me. Salient. God speaks of delivering. The one who delivers. The one who leads us. In the last verses, give us help from trouble, for then is the help of man. Through God we shall be bountiful. Immediately we shall tread down our enemies. Our enemies. You're thinking here of the nations of the time we've mentioned here, the nations round about. God's able to give them victory over all these enemies. Then we'll experience this. Only God, He says, is able to give us victory over all these enemies. But over the great enemy of all, over Satan, God's able to give us the victory through the finished work of the Lord Jesus. By death, He died. Yes, this is a victory. God has spoken. God has spoken. The way we think, in the first chapter of Hebrew, that God has spoken. In times past, unto far through the prophets, He sent messenger after messenger. That's how it is when we read of the end of the book of Kings and Jeremiah. How God speaks there, having sent His messengers, rising up early and sending. God's got up early in the morning, especially to send a messenger to them. But it wouldn't happen. Again and again He sent His messengers, prophet after prophet. The Lord Jesus wrote this in the parable, didn't He? They sued some. They stoned others. They booted others and drove them out. Last of all, He sent His Son. Having one son as well as others, He sent Him in the divine Hebrew one. Having His last days opened by His Son. Really, very personal, His Son. It is God Himself who has come. Just as God is judge, so God too is a saviour. God, just as God is saviour, in the final revelation of life, the Lord Jesus Christ, we see there, God has spoken. And we think that's perfect by itself. We say God has spoken in holiness. Isn't it interesting that it's connected with rejoicing, it's connected with triumph, it's connected with help from trouble, it's connected with the envious of God. Holiness is involved with all these things. Holiness is not just something being pushed up into a corner. It's not something, someone being shut away in a monastery where nobody can see anything for what's being done. No! Holiness of God is an active holiness. We see this in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy One of God. Even the demons recognize Him. We know who they are. The Holy One of God. The Holy One. And yet just see how mighty a conqueror He was. Conquering, giving up the power of death, setting free His captives, those who would fear death for their last time suffered in bondage. The mighty victory He gave. Man is able to cope with sin and death. God is. And so through God we shall do valiantly. It is He who will clear down their enemies. And so this again is deliverance, salvation. This is what we found in Psalm 62 again, wasn't it? This we have this to give them another of His mighty men of song. The son of David. He's quite different in character from the others. His soul is waiting for God. Why? Because from Him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. We have to say it again because something has to be repeated. Let's say it again. God is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength. Yes. Verse 6 again. He only is my rock and my salvation. God has spoken. Verse 11. God has spoken once. Twice have I heard this, that thou art the only one to God. Maybe if we find here a reflection. God spoke once. In a way you see with the shining of light. A reflection. In two directions. God has spoken in the Old Testament. All these messages sent by God were focusing on one point. The coming of the Lord Jesus. The New Testament begins at that point and goes on shining back upon the coming of the Lord Jesus. The focal point in both cases is the Lord Himself. The one who came to be the salvation of God. So here again we find that God has spoken. God has spoken once. Yes or no? Do you think God has spoken this way? Do you think? Yes? There's one message. One gospel. One saviour. Now I've gone on to repeat this history. Moses in his rock there should have checked him. We can't do the plenty of numbers. He repeats and that the God told him to right back in the 17th of the 16th of Exodus by the very beginning of Exodus when they first came into the wilderness without water. God told him to smite a rock. He did it. He repeated it. And all those years afterwards when they were well on their way when they had learned much from the way of God and God had indeed learned very much to him. God said speak to the rock and it shall give you water. But he didn't. He didn't speak. He spoke it twice in his rock. He said must we give water? Must we give you water? And God didn't do that because Lord Jesus was not to die two or three times. By one offering he was perfected forever. His work was complete. God spoke once. What is the message? This. Power belongs to God. Not only power. We need a power in the power that Lord Jesus had. He conquered a strong man. He spoke of a strong man who keeps his goods. Stronger than he comes and delivers his captives and takes his goods. That was he. Stronger than the strong. Powerful. But he got power. He had power. Power to take again. Raised from the dead by the glory of God. He had that power. Not only power. The last verse of the Psalm 62 says also unto thee O Lord, love and mercy for thou lovest every man according to his work. There's one more we can say. In God is my salvation. He wants to reveal his salvation to us. He wants to make it known. His power and his mercy. If we look at power, the power of his voice shook the earth. We read in the same first chapter of Hebrews again that he maintains the worlds by the word of his power. Not Jesus. But not only power, but mercy too. All thanks to God. Mercy is undeserved. We don't deserve anything we have in God. We've rebelled against him. We've sinned against him. Many of us indeed are so ungrateful for God's wonderful gift. But mercy also belongs to God. He loves every man according to his work. Let's look at it again. Mercy. You can see how there was no need of the relation of mercy. But it is. One more thing. The day is coming when God is going to say, and the Lord is going to say to the one who has been faithful even a little. Well done. And yet all they have done, the very power to do it, is very great. To carry out their good work is only given by God. It's all of us. And yet, even that tax reward for our reward is our remuneration to a man according to his work. And the Lord, of course, has to see to it. So the Lord here below, when it's for him, we seek to hold fast to his hand and his word to know that they are coming when he will. And yet, that was a big of a mistake. Reward according to that which he has brought in us. God has spoken. He's spoken to the earth. He's spoken to the heavens. He's spoken once. Try and have faith. May the Lord bless my husband and you with power and mercy and unto God. …