You're listening to Key Life Fellowships pulpit ministry
podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we
learn from God's Word together. If you would like more
information regarding Key Life or to speak with one of our
pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com.
The Lord has given us that privilege in Himself to trust in
Him and to lean on His everlasting arms, and He's
promised in His Word that He will uphold us with His
righteous right hand. Anyone here thankful for that
this morning? What a great hymn to end our
time of singing praise to the Lord and prepare us to go into
looking at the Word of God because that hymn speaks of the
confidence that we have in Christ.
And I want to talk to you a lot this morning about confidence,
specifically confidence from God's Word.
As we continue looking in the 119th Psalm, as we have been
walking this journey for quite some time now, learning to live
life and light of God's Word. Today, what I want us to see and
what I believe that the psalmist properly outlines for us to see
is that we can truly walk in confidence from God's Word.
And we know this, we know in this world is that there are
some things that we just cannot put confidence in, right?
For example, the stock market. The stock market can rise or
fall based on things that. Are completely out of our
control. We can't put confidence in our
four O 1K because of that. How about the weather man?
We can't put a whole lot of confidence in the weather man,
can we? In fact, the weather man has has
cost me mini a fishing trip because the weather man said
that it was going to be windy and raining and lightning and
Thunder. And I said, you know what, I'm
just going to wait. I'll wait to another day.
And and you know what happened, just as it happened at my house
yesterday, the rain and the Thunder and the lightning never
came. And I know you got it here.
I didn't get it where I was, but we can't trust the weather man.
We can't put a whole lot of confidence in him.
In fact, we know this. He's the only man who can get it
wrong most of the time and still keep his job.
What about cell phones and Wi-Fi signal, right?
When you need that the most, that's when you have it the
least. We can't put confidence in these
things. Oh, at the risk of opening
Pandora's box, I'll close it very quickly after our I open
it. But.
We can't put a whole lot of confidence in politicians
closed. Not up for discussion, not here,
not now. But The thing is, we know that.
We've seen time and time again where they say one thing and
then they do the exact opposite of that when they claim to be a
part of one party and then they defect to the other party.
And so we can't really trust in the stock market, weatherman,
cell phones, Wi-Fi signal, weather, I mean politicians and
people. In general, myself included.
I, I can tell you this, you can't put your, your full
confidence in this guy because this guy's going to let you
down. And, and I'm not foolish enough
to think that I can put full confidence in you or any other
human being for that reason, because we're human beings and
we're flawed and, and at times we're going to let even those
people that we love the most down.
So in a world where it's difficult to have confidence in
many things, I want us to learn today that as believers, we can
have full confidence in the Word of God.
We can have full confidence in everything that the God has
declared in His Word, and we can fully trust every single one of
His promises, precepts, statutes, truths that He reveals
in Scripture. In fact, Isaiah understood this
one. He says in Isaiah 55 and verse
10. He says as the rain and the snow
come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering
the earth, and make it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed
for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes
out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty,
says the Lord, but will accomplish what I desire and
achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah had learned to have complete, and in fact is
communicating that complete trust that we should have
confidence that we should have from God's Word and in God's
word. And today as we pick up in the
119th Psalm with the Hebrew letter EIN, the 16th letter of
the Hebrew alphabet, followed by then those subsequent 8 verses,
we're going to see that the psalmist is going to teach us
about confidence from God's Word, what that confidence looks
like, how we can walk in that confidence and all the areas
that we can trust God in concerning His words.
Psalm 119, verse 121. Again under that Hebrew letter
9, it says I've done what is righteous and just do not leave
me to my oppressors. Ensure Your servants well-being.
Let not the arrogant oppress me. My eyes fail looking for Your
salvation, looking for Your righteous promise.
Deal with Your servant according to Your love and teach me your
decrees. I am Your servant.
Give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.
It is time for You to act. O Lord, Your law is being
broken, He says then in 127, because I love your commands
more than gold, more than pure gold, and because I consider all
your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
That it's kind of stemming from our message last week where we
learned what biblical hatred truly is, what a righteous
hatred looks like biblically. The Psalm is still holding to
that. Theme.
I hate every wrong path, including the paths that he is
prone to take. And so we see here as we examine
these 8 verses, we have much to learn about the confidence that
we can receive and that we can possess from God's Word.
Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
thank you for your word. Lord, we thank You that as your
word goes out, You were going to accomplish exactly what you
desire to accomplish through Your word.
Lord, we pray that Your will would be done.
We pray that your will would be done.
Not our will, not our desires, but that You would accomplish
exactly what you desire to accomplish this morning.
God, I pray as we learn more. From your word that we would
stand more confidently in the truths that we see in scripture,
That by doing so You would be glorified in our lives, and
others would see their need for Christ and that they would trust
Him. God, I pray for any lost soul
who may be here this morning. Lord, I ask.
That you are merciful and kind to God.
And in your kindness, Lord, you would lead them to repentance
this morning. That you would bring them to a
place of faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That you would graciously save them from their sin, from the
wrath that is to come upon the center.
And God will be careful to give you all the glory and all the
praise for it. And we pray all of these things
in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
So as the psalmist unfolds this section for us, he is focusing
on and walking in the confidence that he does have and that he
has gleaned from the Word of God.
And isn't it true that the Word of God does give us confidence?
In fact, many people when you preach the Word of God
unapologetically and boldly, they will accuse you of being
arrogant or sometimes even. Cocky in your approach.
I'm here today to tell you this. We need not apologize for the
fact that we trust in the Word of God to a degree that it gives
us great confidence. I am not here today standing
before you saying thus saith Kirk Hall.
What Kirk Hall says does not matter when we open the Word of
God. What we are proclaiming is thus
saith the Lord. So any confidence that you may
see come from me this morning, please know this.
That is confidence and that is trust fully in the Word of God,
which can be fully trusted. So the psalmist understands
this. He understands that we can truly
receive and walk in confidence from God's Word in many.
Areas of our life, and in fact, all areas of our life.
He starts with this one that that the word of God gives us
confidence in verse 121 God's defense he says I have done what
is righteous and just do not leave me to my oppressors.
Ensure your servants well-being. Let not the arrogant oppress me.
He is trusting here fully in the fact that God is going to defend
him against his unrighteous enemies.
And as we learn and study the Word of God, we can't help but
grow in our confidence that God always has and always will
defend the righteous. In fact, it is He who through
Christ has made you righteous. It is He who is making you
righteous, not only positionally, but practically in
your life as you live out the Christian faith.
And He has promised in His Word over and over and over again to
defend the righteous. We see it in the Psalms.
We see it all throughout Scripture.
We see it here today in the 119th Psalm that God has
promised to defend the righteous.
And the Word of God gives us great confidence in knowing
this, that God has truly promised to defend his people
who are right. That's good news for us, isn't
it? And a world who is seemingly
against the believer at every turn.
Have you noticed that everybody in our society can have rights
and be respected except the person who adheres to the Word
of God? When a person begins to adhere
to the word of God, the enemies arise from every direction,
don't they? If you haven't experienced.
This in your life, you're not living loudly enough, because
when we truly live out the word of God before the lives of the
Pagan, in the eyes of the Pagan, they will despise the light that
they see because they know nothing of darkness.
But in all of that, God has promised to defend His people,
the righteous. He's promised this in his word.
The psalmist understanding this and having confidence in it, He
says in Psalm 34 verse 15, the eyes of the Lord are on the
righteous. And his ears are attentive to
their cry. But the face of the Lord is
against those who do evil to blot out their name from the
earth. The righteous cry out, and the
Lord hears them. He delivers them from all their
troubles. That's for all the people who
think that God's on everyone's side.
He's not. Please make this known today.
He is on the side of righteousness because he is a
righteous and a holy God. Therefore he cannot side with
anything else. He will not ever defend the
unrighteous, but he has promised to always defend the righteous.
Just as we saw in our Scripture reading from Psalm 46 this
morning, we can trust in that. We can trust in the fact that He
is the defender. Of the righteous, Proverbs 2
verse 7 says he holds success in store for the upright.
He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards
the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful
ones. What confidence that we have
from that knowing this, that if I am in Christ and I am doing
and living what Christ has commanded me to do and live
according to His Word, empowered by His Spirit, that God is
defending me all the way. I am thankful that I have
learned this lesson in life because I, like many of you,
unfortunately used to think it was my job to defend myself even
when I was doing the righteous work of God.
For instance, when you. Do teach and preach the word of
God. You are going to have critics
and there are going to be people who say all sorts of ugly things
against you that are not true. And you know that they're not
true because you know your heart.
And God knows that they're not true because God knows your
heart. And I have learned, thankfully,
with years. I pray that you wouldn't wait as
long as I did to get this lesson.
I have learned that God is my defense, that He defends me even
when I don't know it. If I am walking in
righteousness, I can trust that He's a shield who Shields me
from the attacks of the enemy. The psalmist here.
Trusting in that confidently I I've done what is righteous and
just do not leave me to my oppressors.
He knew that the Lord was not going to abandon him to his
enemies. He says ensure your servants
well-being. Let not the arrogant oppress me.
He's the Lord I am trusting in you.
I have done what I am to do. I have walked in righteousness.
I have walked justly. Now I'm confident in you.
And what your word declares that you will be my defense.
Psalm 710. He says it like this.
My shield is God Most High who saves the upright in heart.
I pray today that you would examine yourself and ask
yourself that question. Am I upright in heart?
In the depths of my being is my desire to live a righteous life
before a holy God. For the believer, that will be
the depths of your heart. That will be your desire.
Maybe you're still growing to that point.
You're not yet there. That's OK.
We're all in this process, aren't we?
What is the desire of your heart?
Because that's what God knows. That's what God is concerned
with when our desire is righteousness, doing what is
right. We can trust in the promise of
the Word of God that He'll defend those who desire to do
what is right. Add an old man.
Tell me one time very simply, you can't go wrong doing right.
Isn't that true? You can't go wrong doing right.
Even if people say all sorts of evil things against you.
When you're doing right, God knows you're doing right.
You're doing what would please him to the best of your
knowledge, and God defends you. So we see that the psalmist is
walking in great confidence in God's defense because God has
promised to defend the righteous.
Not only that, God has proven to defend the righteous.
Oh, I love when we see promises in the Word of God that we can
cling to like we've already talked about it.
God being our defense, God being our shield, He being our refuge,
our ever have, our ever present help in our time of need.
But I also love to see when He proves himself to be faithful to
that which He has promised. We see it all throughout
Scripture and all throughout history.
The psalmist is confident in those things.
The fact that God has proven to defend the righteous.
You see examples like Noah, when the wicked and the unrighteous
of this world were destined to die in the deluge.
Noah, a righteous man who found. Favor in the eyes of the Lord,
He and his family were saved, and they were secured in the
ark. That God had instructed him to
build, Then God leading him there, placing him in that ark,
shutting and sealing the door for his safety and salvation
from the flood that would come. So God defends.
Those who are righteous, how about Abraham and Lot?
They're in Sodom and Gomorrah. And yes, Sodom and Gomorrah was
destroyed because of homosexuality, because we can
read the account. And what happened was this,
Contrary to what any liberal theologian wants to tell you,
what happened was this. Two angels were there and they
look like men, and the depraved men of Sodom desire to have
sexual relationships with them. That is homosexuality.
And God destroyed those cities because of that.
But in destroying those cities, what did he do?
He defended Abraham and Lot. And he took those who he
considered righteous, and he removed them from the equation.
Aren't you thankful when God defends you and removes you from
the equation? How about Moses and the
Israelites? At the red.
Sea that day, Speaking of how God is our defense, God parted
the seas of the Israelites and Moses.
All of His people could pass safely through on dry land.
And then when the Egyptians following them, pursuing them,
tried to do the exact same thing, what did the Lord do?
He closed the waters up. We know that it engulfed them
and killed them instantly. Why?
Because He was defending His righteous people.
So we see that God has always been, by example, the defender
of the righteous, proving that he does this constantly.
How about David, as he faced a little guy named Goliath, who
was no little guy at all, And David went out there and what
did he go out there clothed in? Not armor.
Saul's armor wouldn't fit him. He went out there clothed in the
righteousness of God. He went out there to stop a
blasphemer who was blaspheming his God and Father.
And we know that God defended him that day, just as He's
always done and as he continued to do in David's life.
Continued to defend him as Saul tried to take his life.
Oh, you remember the account? Saul hurling a spirit David.
Do you think for a second, Saul, being the warrior that he was,
did not know how to throw a spear accurately?
But someone intervened and defended the righteous.
We know that God intervenes and he defends.
The righteous. And so we see that God has
proven to defend the righteous over and over again.
He's promised in His word to defend the righteous, and we can
have full confidence in the fact that He will defend us just as
Daniel did when he was cast into the lion's den.
You know the story. He refused to stop praying.
He continued to pray because that's what he had always done.
He wasn't staging some kind of coup or rebellion.
He was just praying as commanded by God to pray that morning.
When others arrived, what did they take note of?
There was no harm done to Daniel, and the lions were still
hungry. What happened here?
Our faithful God intervened and defended His servant against the
lions and against the tyranny of his day.
Oh, and we need also to remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
the friends of Daniel. We know this.
And because they refused to bow to the golden image that
Nebuchadnezzar had made, they were thrown into the fiery
furnace that was heated 7 times hotter than usual.
Yet when all the onlookers took note, they saw something
interesting. That there is another there in
the furnace with them who looks like a son of God.
That's the only way they knew how to describe the preincarnate
Christ, that he doesn't look like it normal folk.
There's something powerful about Him.
There's something going on here. They're dancing in the fire.
They are celebrating the fact that nothing is happening to
these men. And even when they pulled them
from the fire, what did it say? Their clothes didn't even smell
burned. Why?
Because God is always there with His righteous people, defending
them. We see he's faithful to do that.
We can have great confidence. And then how can we have great
confidence? Because it's declared in his
word, through his promises, and through the proof that he gives,
through the defense that he has given to his people throughout
the ages. Aren't you thankful that you
serve the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego?
Aren't you thankful that you serve the God of Daniel?
Aren't you thankful that you serve the God of David and of
Moses? Aren't you thankful that you
serve the one true God through the Lord Jesus Christ?
Aren't you thankful for that this morning?
That you can have great confidence from God's Word, that
that same God who said he'll never leave you and he'll never
forsake you is defending you right now even without you
knowing it. So we can't have that confidence
from God's Word in regard to God's defense.
God always has, He always will be the defender of the
righteous. So if you err in life, err
toward righteousness, err toward holiness, and you'll find that
that is no error at all. Lean on the everlasting arms, as
we sang about a moment ago. Trust in His ability to defend
you and to uphold you. Secondly, we see this from this
text. The Word of God gives us
confidence in God's defense, but it also gives us confidence in
God's declarations. Look at verse 123.
He says, my eyes fell looking for your salvation, looking for
your righteous promise. He says, I'm waiting for the
salvation that you have promised to bring to me.
And then he says in verse 124, deal with your servant according
to your love, and teach me your decrees.
Here we have the psalmist again. Longing as he confidently trust
in God's promises according to his Word, he is looking intently
toward the salvation that God has promised that he will
receive. So what is he?
Doing He's longing for what has been declared, promised.
God has promised to save him. How many of you here today say,
yes, God has promised to save me in Christ Jesus?
Are you longing for that? Are your eyes fainting for that?
Do you look toward the eastern sky daily and say, Lord, and let
today be that day that you deliver the salvation that you
have promised to deliver to all who believe and trust in you?
Lord, let. Today be the day, the psalmist
here, he's trusting in God's declarations to save as if they
are today, he says. My eyes, they're growing tired
from looking for your salvation all the time.
You know what's upsetting about the church in America?
We don't look for His salvation all the time.
We think things like this. Lord, would you just delay so
that my children can graduate high school?
Would you just delay so that I can see them graduate college
and get married and have a fun? Would you just delay till I get
that promotion and that raise? Would you just delay so I can I
can retire and enjoy life? Yes.
We have no sense of confidence in that which God has promised
to those who has promised to save.
Lamentations chapter 3 says this verse 25.
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who
seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for
the salvation of the Lord. Are you waiting quietly for that
which you have been promised in Christ Jesus?
Because God has. Promised to bring salvation to
all who by faith trust in Him according to His Word.
You trust in that. You trust in Philippians 16.
Being confident is that he who began the good work and you will
carry it on to completion. Do you long for that?
The day you were glorified and you were in the presence of God
forever because of what Jesus Christ did for you at the cross,
Are you clinging to those promises?
Are you yearning for that day and longing for that day?
Because we ought to have confident trust, shouldn't we?
And everything that God has declared about salvation will
come to pass. He's made declarations that he
will save. You said, well, I already am
saved. You are positionally, but please
know that you have not seen the full fruition of salvation yet.
Until He returns, until you are glorified and can actually
really experience everything that He has promised you in
Christ Jesus. The sad part of the American
church is we don't long for that.
We're OK with living life in this world as long as we get to
go to heaven in the end. No, I am not OK until I see my
Savior face to face, until I see the scars in His hands and His
feet and I know He's the one who bled and who died for me.
He is the reason that I exist, the reason that I am forgiven,
the reason that I have eternal life.
That's what I'm longing for. That's confidence and salvation.
The psalmist, you're confident in that My eyes fell looking for
your salvation, looking for your righteous promise.
God has promised to bring salvation to all of us who trust
in Christ. In that manner, you can
confidently take that to the bank, and everything that he has
said about salvation that will be delivered to His people will
be delivered on that day. The Saints of old longed.
For this. Romans 822 We see this, even the
earth longs for this. It says, We know that the whole
creation has been groaning, as in the pains of childbirth,
right up until the present time. Why is creation groaning?
Because creation was made susceptible to sin.
When man fell in the garden. Creation fell with man, he says
in verse 23. Not only so, but we ourselves,
who have the first fruits of the Spirit, indwelling Holy Spirit
in US, guaranteeing the inheritance that he has promised
us, the eternal life that he has promised us, He said.
Those of us who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our.
Adoption, the sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
Anyone here eagerly awaiting the redemption of your body because
you can look at yourself, you can look at me.
We're we're not saved bodily yet we still have on corruptible.
But just like Paul, he said one day I shall put on
incorruptible. He knew that he would be
transformed as he said in the moment and in the twinkling of
an eye. Then he would be ushered into
the presence of God, where he would dwell forever.
What a promise are you longing for that are you resting?
In that Psalm 63 verse one says this.
It says you God are my God. Earnestly I seek you.
I thirst for you. My whole being longs for you in
a dry and parched land where there is no water.
Where are the Christians who are longing for the salvation that
He has promised, confidently knowing that He who has made
these promises to us is faithful yearning?
For that day. Hebrews 928 says this.
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many, and
he will appear a second time. Not to bear sin, but to bring
salvation to those who are waiting for him.
A church that is not waiting for him is not a church.
He is bringing salvation to those who are waiting for Him.
What is He talking about? Who are waiting for the promises
that He has made to glorify those who He has?
Justified and fellowshipping with them for all eternity.
What great confidence we can have when we dive into the Word
of God and we see God's declaration of these things,
knowing that one day we will be delivered from the filth and the
mess of this world. And because of God's Word, we
long for that longing to be delivered so that we can bow and
kiss the feet of the Savior who bled and who died for us.
Are there any believers who are longing for that?
Because all professing believers should they should be, they
should be like the apostle Paul in second Timothy chapter 4
where he says there in verse seven, I fought the good fight,
I finished the race, I've kept the faith.
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness with the
which of the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that
day, and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for
his appearing. What is he saying?
Those who have received imputed righteousness from Christ will
be longing for His appearing until the day that that
righteousness is filled, when that crown of righteousness is
placed on your head, and you can kindly take it off and lay it at
the feet of Jesus, thanking Him for the righteousness that He
gave for you. But the Word is where we find
confidence in God's declarations, His declaration to
save. This also speaks of His
declaration to sanctify. He says my eyes fell looking for
your salvation, looking for your righteous promises.
He then says, deal with your servant according to your love
and teach me your decrees. Isn't it true that as we wait
for those promises of ultimate salvation, there is something
else going on known as sanctification?
He is making us more like Christ.
He is conforming us to His image and so we have to trust
confidently in those promises that He has made us, that if we
are in Christ we will be sanctified and set apart for.
Christ Romans 622 says this. But now that you have been set
free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you
reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life.
So as we are waiting for the end result, eternal life.
We in the sanctification process are being led to holiness.
How? By the Word of God.
Jesus, we know in John 17 says sanctify them by truth.
Your Word is truth. And so we can have confidence in
God's declarations concerning salvation, but we can also have
confidence in His declaration to sanctify us, those declarations
concerning sanctification, that He who has begun this good work
in us will carry it unto completion.
We can go back to John 17 and we can read that high priestly
prayer there. Go ahead with me in your Bible,
turn to the Gospel of John, and let us read that together in
John 17 verse 19. Excuse me, verse 11.
We're going to read to 19. I love the sound of pages
turning. How about you guys?
I'll wait for you, he says in 11 I will remain in the world no
longer. But they are still in the world
Speaking of his followers. And I am coming to you, Holy
Father, Protect them by the power of your name.
Is he not the defender who protects us?
Of course, He is the name you gave me so that they may be one
as we are one. He's setting them apart.
They may be one as he and the Father are one.
What fellowship? What communion?
He says while I was with them, I protected them and kept them
safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the
one doomed to destruction so that scripture would be
fulfilled. He's saying Judas Iscariot's the
only one he's lost was scripture said he was going to be.
He goes on and he says this. I am coming to you now, but I
say these things while I'm still in the world, so that they may
have the full measure of my joy within them.
I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them, for
they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that
you protect them from the evil one.
They are not of the world even as I am not of it.
He says this in verse 17. Sanctify them by the truth.
Your word is truth as you sent me into the world.
I have sent them into the world for them.
I sanctify myself that they too may be truly sanctified.
May we see there what Christ did for us, setting himself apart by
going to the cross and bearing the sin and the wrath that
belong to us, so that we then could by God be set apart for
His. Glory.
And for his purposes God has declared to sanctify and to set
apart all those who trust in Christ.
And so the psalmist here saying, deal with your servant according
to your love, and teach me your decrees.
Aren't you glad that those of us who are in Christ, God deals
with us according to His love? There are many who think that
God will deal with everyone forever according to His love.
But I have news for all of you. The ungodly will be dealt the
indignation and the wrath of God for all eternity as we
experience His love according to His promises, just as we are
experiencing that now, as we are being sanctified by His Word.
Let us rest. And confidence in the things
that he has declared, his declarations to save and his
declaration to sanctify, knowing this, that one day, because he
has started this, the author and the perfector of my faith will
finish this rest in that with great confidence.
We move thirdly to psalmist next area for discussion, which is
the Word of God gives confidence not only in God's defense and
God's declaration, but also in God's discernment.
I like points like this because they're very helpful to the
preacher who likes to use alliteration.
God gave me the D for my alliteration here.
I don't have to think about it. I don't have to.
Consult at the source here, he says plainly, I am your servant.
Give me discernment. That I may understand your
statutes. You know what a privilege it is
to be able to trust confidently in God's discernment, His
insight, his wisdom that He gives from His Word.
If you've walked as God long enough and you've walked in His
Word long enough, you know the Word of God gives us that
insight and that discernment that we would otherwise not
have. So we just as a psalmist is
doing here, we should confidently trust in the
discernment that he gives us from His Word, the insight that
we received directly from the Scriptures, in fact.
Second Peter. Chapter one, verse 3, it says
this his divine power has given us everything we need for godly
life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own
glory and goodness. And where do we find the
everything's that we need? We find them in the pages of
Scripture. He.
Gives us this powerful insight, this powerful discernment in the
pages of His eternal Word. And so we see as we look at
God's discernment and how we can have full confidence in that as
we trust in the discernment from His Word.
Note some things here that the psalmist mentioned, and I want
you to write it down first. We see that it's supplied to
God's servants. God knows that the psalmist
belongs to him. But the psalmist reiterates
this. I am your what servant.
I belong to you. Now, news flash, everyone here,
You don't have to tell God in order for him to know something.
He's omniscient. He already knows all things.
What the psalmist is declaring is his right as a servant of God
because he knows that God's discernment is reserved for
those who truly belong to him, that this discernment is
supplied to God's servants and God's servants.
Alone because God's Word promises insight to those who
belong to God. Proverbs chapter 2 verse 6, it
says for the Lord, it gives wisdom from his mouth come
knowledge and understanding, all wisdom and knowledge and
understanding, true wisdom, knowledge and understanding that
which is from God and not from man or man's own intellect, his
own devices. It comes directly from God.
To his servants, in fact, James, in first chapter of the Epistle
of James in verse 5, what does he tell us to do?
He says if any of you lack wisdom, that's me.
How many of you here lack wisdom?
All of you, because he's talking about godly wisdom.
He says if any of you lack wisdom, you should do what?
Ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and
it will be given to you. Now when you ask God, here's
where you need to go and find it in the pages of scripture.
Why? Because it's God and His word,
as we saw in Proverbs 26, that gives us insight and knowledge
into the things of God. It doesn't work like this.
God, give me wisdom. And then you just stand there
staring at the wall and all of a sudden, sudden wisdoms going to
be imparted to you. No wisdom comes as you study the
Word of God, as you dive into the depths and the insight and
the knowledge of Scripture, as you glean wisdom from the all
wise, all knowing God. He supplies that to his
servants. And this insight is not for
everyone. That's why the psalmist declares
I am. Your servant.
It's reserved for only those who belong to God.
This insight is not understood. By everyone, but only those who
are are being directly taught by the Holy Spirit of God who lives
in you. That's why the psalmist declared
just a few weeks ago ago, I have more insight than all my
teachers. Why?
Because he was receiving direct insight from God as God led him
and as God taught him through. The Scriptures, So the psalmist
here standing in great confidence in God's discernment,
knowing that he will be supplied with all the discernment, all
the wisdom and all the insight that he needs from the Word of
God. Because he belongs to God and.
He also knew that those who do not belong to God do not have
access to these things. First Corinthians chapter 2
verse 14 you should know this. It says the person without the
Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit
of God, but considers them a foolishness.
And cannot understand them because they are discerned only
through the Spirit. What is he saying here?
Well, he's saying just this. We know that the the the word of
God breathed by the Spirit of God as he carried the men of old
along. Now if this is spiritual and its
birth, it remains spiritual for all eternity.
And the natural man can't understand the Word of God
without discernment from God. And the interesting thing is
that discernment from God comes from the Word of God, as the
Spirit of God gives you insight and wisdom concerning the very
things of God that flow. Off of these pages and you have
to understand that that those who are not servants of God
don't have inside on anything concerning God.
That's why we see them and they're walking around as if it
seems in total ignorance Yes, it is ignorance.
In fact, scripture says they're walking around in darkness and
you're walking around in the. Light.
What is light? Light is truth, and you were
brought to the truth. And how are you brought to the
truth? Through the preaching and
teaching of the Word of God. God use that to open your eyes
to see your darkness, exposing it with His light.
Now you understand those things because the Holy Spirit lives in
you, give you that direct insight and knowledge into the
things of God that you knew not of prior to your conversion.
In fact, Ephesians 4 says this about the lost verse 18.
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from
the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to
the hardening of their hearts. A person with a hard heart can't
understand the Word of God. That's why you must first be
regenerated where you receive a new heart.
That heart of stone is taken from you and it is replaced,
according to Ezekiel and the promise there, with that heart
of flesh. And then when that heart of
flesh is then transplanted into you, you can now understand the
things that are flowing from the pages of Scripture as the Holy
Spirit moves in. And He is that guide, and He is
that teacher in your life, that interpreter of the very Word of
God as you read it. And so we see that we can have
and should have great confidence in.
The word of. God in regard to God's
discernment, the insight that he does give us, Isaiah speaks of
this and Isaiah 11 verse two, he says the Spirit of the Lord will
rest on him, referencing Christ, the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit
of the knowledge and the fear of the Lord Spirit resting on
Christ, same Spirit living in US, the third person of the
triune Godhead and dwelling us so that we can then confidently
take the scriptures and we can confidently receive discernment
and insight and wisdom and knowledge from the word of God
as we learn and as we study it. But it's supplied to God's
servants, and it's supplied so that we can understand God's
Scriptures. He gives us wisdom from His Word
so that we can then understand greater wisdom from His Word.
Those of you who have walked with Christ long enough, you
know this. When one door is opened, you go
into another room and you learn all that is in that room.
And then when that is done, the Spirit takes you through another
place and you learn more. And we see that building block
after building block is produced.
As you grow in your understanding of the Word of
God, as you grow in your depth of insight and knowledge.
And the Scripture supplies that for us, and God has promised to
give us that insight that we need that insight for living
this Christian life. It's all found here in God's
Word where we can confidently rest in the discernment that he
gives us. Richard Sid said this.
He said those that care not for the Word are strangers to the
Spirit. And they that care not for the
Spirit never make a right use of the word.
What is he saying here? He's letting us know that yes,
Scripture supplies for us knowledge, but the indwelling
Spirit has to interpret and has to grow that knowledge in US.
And He is more than capable of doing that.
The sad and misfortune thing is, most Christians these days are
so carnal in their approach to everything.
They approach the Word of God through their flesh.
They want to understand this like they understand poetry.
They want to understand this like you understand.
Shakespeare. It is an entirely different
animal because the things of God are spiritually discerned, and
if the Holy Spirit does not live in you, dwelling in you, you
cannot understand the Word of God.
If you are a Christian and the Holy Spirit is indwelling you
and you are not yielding to him as you study the Word of God,
right, Because this should be our approach, not just Lord.
Let me check the box of reading Scripture today so that I can
feel like I did the right thing. But this Holy Spirit revealed to
me exactly what it is that You want to give me today in Your
Word, the insight and the discernment and the knowledge
and the wisdom that I need for today.
Thank you, Lord, for being faithful to doing that.
That's having confidence in God's discernment that the
Spirit lives in those who are in Christ and the Spirit lives in
those who are in Christ so that they can discern the Word of
God, the things of God. Have confidence in that.
Trust in that. God reveals wisdom to you from
His Scriptures as the Holy Spirit teaches you, as He guides
our steps. Aren't you thankful that He
guides our steps? Psalm 32, verse 8, He says, I
will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Well, I'm thankful that God never takes His eye off of me,
that He's always dwelling in me and that He's leading me and
He's instructing me and He's in and He's teaching me His word.
I can have confidence in that discernment.
I sit down week after week after week.
I open the Word of God and I say, Lord, I need Your help to
teach me what this says. Is that not what the psalmist
says? Give me discernment that I may
understand your statutes every week.
Lord, give me discernment that I may understand your statute.
Show me what it is that You want me to see so that I can teach
Your people the Word of God as a spirit in them confirms, Yes,
this is true. Follow after it guides your
steps. Psalm 25.
Verse four, he says, show me your ways, Lord, teach me your
paths, guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are my
God, my Savior. My hope is in you all day long.
Or as we know by now, Psalm 119, what does it say?
Your word is a lamp into my feet and a light into my fat path.
And Psalm 119 one O 5. Hopefully by now you've
memorized that in the series. And what light He gives to our
life, what insight, what wisdom that we glean from walking in
the Word of God, trusting in the Spirit to show us those things
that we need to know. He guides our steps through His
Word, empowered by His Spirit. Not only that, He governs our
lives as we fully and confidently trust in His
discernment. I'm thankful that He governs my
life. He knows what lies ahead and
through discernment from His Word, He is actively
participating in governing my life, leading my every step
along the way, governing, guiding, just as he says that he
will. Second Timothy chapter 3 Paul
speaking to Timothy says this in verse 16.
He says all scriptures God breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training and righteousness.
He is constantly by His Word, governing our lives as we study
the Word of God, teaching us, even rebuking us, correcting us,
and training us. We can have full confidence in
that. That is His desire as He's
molding and as He's shaping us into the image of Christ.
He's governing our lives just as Joshua prayed that the people
would understand when he said this and Joshua 1/8.
It's just keep this book of the law always on your lips.
Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it and then you will be prosperous and
successful. What was he saying?
Trust in the discernment from the Word of God to what govern
your life, to lead your life, to bring you success.
Not success as the world measure it, to bring you prosperity, not
as the world measures it, but success and prosperity in the
eyes of God. Trust in the Word.
Be confident in God's discernment.
The believer can have that great confidence from the Word of God.
You ever been in a situation where you didn't know what to
do? Anyone here?
Ever been there? All of us?
You know what the best thing to do when you don't know what to
do? Be overwhelmed with anxiety,
freak out, worry and fret. I've found that to be rather
productive in one's life. Those of you who are spiritually
discerning, you just picked up that I have the spiritual gift
of sarcasm. What I'm saying is this.
No, that shouldn't be how we react, should it?
No, you know what? We don't know what to do.
You know what we should do? We should seek advice from the
One who knows what to do in every situation and who governs
our lives through His Word. And we should go to His Word,
and we should say, Lord, I don't know what to do, but You know
what to do. Show me through Your Word.
Give me that discernment. Empower me with Your Spirit to
understand what it is that I'm seeing so that I can walk in
confidence. Trust in Your discernment from
Your Word. He says I'm your servant, give
me discernment that I may understand your statutes.
He didn't want to understand his statues then blatantly disobey
him. Psalmist wanted to do what was
right. He's proven that over and over
again. So we see the word of God gives
us confidence in God's discernment.
And lastly we see this, the word of God gives us confidence in
God's dealings. God is constantly dealing with
mankind, and He will eternally. Deal.
With mankind and we can be confident in these dealings.
Watch what he says here in 1/26 He said.
It's time for you to act O Lord, Your law is being broken because
I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold, and
because I consider all your precepts right.
I hate every wrong path the psalmist here is having.
Full confidence from God's Word that God will deal with mankind
exactly as He has declared. Please know He's not being
forceful here. He's not telling God what to do.
I can understand where you would think that when He says it is
time for you to act, O Lord, your laws being broken, like
he's telling God what it is that God needs to do.
And I hope everyone don't make that mistake.
You know what he's simply doing. He's simply understanding how
God deals with the unrighteous. He's looking around and he's
seeing wickedness and sin. He's seeing his oppressors.
He's seeing evil men trying to. Dismantle him.
And he says, OK, Lord, you have promised to deal with the
ungodly, and I know that you are going to do this, that you are
going to deal with the ungodly, exactly how you said.
That you will. He knows this with great
confidence, that God has promised to deal with the
ungodly and the unbelieving, that God has promised to execute
His justice on all wickedness and all evil and all unbelief.
How do we know this from the Word of God?
Has that changed? Has it been a race?
I know in the minds of the American church, perhaps it has.
But it hasn't been changed and it hasn't been erased.
God is still going to deal with the unbelieving, wicked,
unrepentant sinners of this world.
We can quickly look at all the things around us and we can
quickly get on the bandwagon. Oh, man, oh, this world's
falling apart around us. It is.
That's true, just like you said. But watch this.
He's going to deal with it all. He is going to deal with the
ungodly. God is going to execute justice
on them, eternally punishing all unrepentant lawbreakers.
I know, not popular in today's church culture, is it?
But it's still biblical. The Psalm is here, resting in
that. It's time for you to act.
Oh Lord, your law is being broken.
People are blatantly spitting in your face.
You know what he's saying, Lord, I know you're going to do
something about it. I know you're going to avenge
Your holy name. I know You're going to take care
of everything that You promised concerning the wicked and the
unrepentant. He's simply trusting in that.
He has confidence in that. Let me just tell you this, I
have confidence in this. Are you ready?
It's going to sound old fashioned.
It's going to even sound Hellfire and brimstone stonish.
I have confidence of this because the Word of God declares
it that all unrepentant, unbelieving sinners who do not
turn to Jesus Christ in this last lifetime will experience
the lake of fire, which is the second death for all eternity.
You will face the wrath and the judgment of God in hell.
Why? Because I think that's a fun
thing to believe in. No, because that's what
Scripture declares. Now will not go against the
Scripture for your comfort. I'll confidently stand there and
say that God has promised to deal with the ungodly, and He is
going to deal with the ungodly. And your only hope of escape is
to repent of your sin and to turn to Jesus Christ as your
Lord and Savior and to trust in Him according to the Word of God
and according to the true gospel that we see in Scriptures.
And in doing that, God then has mercy upon your soul.
He rescues you from that judgment that you deserve.
He adopts you into his Kingdom as a son and as a daughter.
You're welcomed into his family to commune with him.
Not just to commune with him spiritually speaking in this
lifetime, but to commune with Him for all eternity.
And so the world Word of God gives us great confidence in
God's dealings that He's promised to deal with the
ungodly. That would make things urgent
for us if we understood. That wouldn't it that loved one
who does not know Christ, we would be eager to tell them
about Christ. That total stranger does not
know Christ, We wouldn't make us eager to tell them about Christ.
Why is it he's the only hope that anyone has?
But you have to really believe that he's going to deal with the
ungodly, just as he's promised that he will, executing his
justice upon the wicked and the unbelieving, punishing them for
all. Eternity under his wrath and
judgement, you say? When, pastor, I don't like that
kind of preaching. You like unbiblical preaching,
my friend, and I can tell you this.
There's much of it to be had. There are lots of places that
you can go where they won't even touch the topic.
And I grieve for you if you have a desire to be there.
But since we are here at a place who preaches the full counsel of
the Word of God and who has confidence in the full counsel
of the Word of God, I will tell you this.
Just as the psalmist has declared, God will, as promised,
deal with thee ungodly. He will deal with him forever
and an eternal fire with a worm never dies, and the fire is
never quenched according to the words of Christ, Romans chapter
2, verse 5, for the unbeliever know this.
It says because of your stubbornness and your
unrepentant heart, you were storing up wrath against
yourself for the day of God's wrath when his righteous
judgment will be revealed. There's a warning for you in the
word of God, His dealings with unbelieving men.
He says right now, because you have not turned to Christ, you
are storing up for yourself wrath.
Every day that you spit in the face of God and you blasphemy
him with your life, you were storing up more and more wrath.
That will ultimately, unless God has mercy on your soul allowing
you to repent, and I pray that he will.
I pray that he does this very day because you're at his mercy
unless you do repent and believe in Christ.
Every day of your life is the storing of wrath for that moment
that you face God in judgment, and rightfully so.
Nahum chapter 1. Don't turn there because you
probably can't find it, but Nahum 1-2 says this.
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God.
The Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vinces wrath against
his enemies. This is for all of you who
thought God was just this teddy bear in the sky.
He's not a weak and he's not an impotent God.
He is a God who will deal with all the unbelieving justice he's
promised to do. Have confidence in that.
He goes on. He says the Lord is slow to
anger but great in power. Thank you.
Lord that you're slow to anger the great in power.
And the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind, in the storm clouds are the dust of
his feet. Oh, he'll not leave the guilty.
Unpunished. I know what the question is
next. Well, Kirk, are you saying that
you're not guilty? Absolutely.
I'm guilty, but I can claim not guilty.
And you know why I can claim not guilty.
I can claim not guilty because Jesus Christ more the guilt of
my sin on a cross 2000 years ago, where he bore the wrath of
God in the judgement of God in my stead, in my place.
And I can tell you this, I am a guilty man who can claim not
guilty. Why?
Because his righteousness was imputed to me.
My sin was imputed to him. He bore my sin.
I bear his righteousness now I'm thankful for that, that he who
knew no sin became sin, so that I might become the righteousness
of God. But those without Christ have no
hope. Those without Christ, you are
condemned already according to John chapter 3, in the words of
Jesus Christ. And unless you believe on the
Son of God and trust in him as your Lord and Savior, you will
face the promised judgment that will come upon all the wicked
and the unbelieving. The psalmist here understanding
that, confident in that, in God's dealings.
The dealings that are promised to the ungodly, but also this.
He's confident that God has promised to deliver the godly.
Aren't you? Thankful if you're in Christ,
that He has promised to deliver us from the judgement and the
wrath that we do rightfully deserve.
And He will do this eternally, rescuing those who believe the
Word of God in regard to Jesus Christ and submitting to Him,
truly surrendering to Him, denying yourself and taking up
your cross and following Him. His promise to deliver all who
obey the Word of God in regard to this repenting of their sin,
repenting of the evil in their life, Trusting in Christ, not
according to your opinion or pop culture, but believing in Jesus
Christ according to the very word of God.
Trusting in Him for who He is and how He says that we must
trust in Him. Proverbs 11 verse 21 says this.
Be sure of this. The wicked will not go
unpunished, but those who are righteous will go free.
Thank you Lord, that You have imputed righteousness to all of
us who by faith have trusted in Jesus.
Lord, I pray for those who have not.
Because when you read things in the Word like that, be sure of
this. You ought to go on and highlight
them and underline them. There's no way around it, he
says. Be sure of this.
The wicked will not go unpunished.
I'm thankful that God does not count me among the wicked
anymore, because I was once counted among the wicked.
Deserving of the wrath of God. But instead, because of Christ,
I'm forgiven and I'm cleansed. I'm now counted among the
righteous. I will forevermore be counted
among the righteous because of Jesus and what He did for me at
the cross. Can you say the same thing?
Because he's promised to deliver the godly.
He's promised to deal with the ungodly.
You have one of two. Sides of the fence to stand on,
don't you? You stand with the unbelieving
and the ungodly, and you are promised to face the judgment of
God. You stand on the opposite side
in Christ. And God has promised to deliver
you eternally, rescuing those who believe and who trust in
Jesus Christ according to God's holy word.
Oh, be warned, Sir. Be warned, ma'am, this morning
of what the word of God says, Psalm one, verse 5.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor
sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous.
But the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
There will be destruction for the wicked, and there will be
deliverance for the righteous. Paul says this in Romans 10.
He says in verse 11 as Scripture says, anyone who believes in him
will never be put to shame. But there is no difference
between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all,
and richly blesses all who call on him. 13 says, For everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
And why would we call upon the name of the Lord?
Because a preacher has just told you that those who do not trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and as their Savior
will face the promised destruction and judgment that
awaits the ungodly and the unbelieving in hell.
That same preacher has implored you this morning.
To have confidence in the promises of God, to deliver the
godly. And how can you be godly?
You can't be godly on your own. You've proven that there's
nothing righteous. No, not one.
No one seeks after him. The making of a godly man in the
making of a godly woman begins with God.
His grace extended to you in Christ, for it is by grace you
were saved through faith. It's not of yourself.
It's the gift of God, not of works so that no man can boast.
It is a work of God. And I pray for you this morning
that God do a work in your life even now, ushering you out of
the sight of darkness, ushering you into His marvelous light,
moving you to. Call.
Upon the name of the Lord, Because all who call upon the
name of the Lord will be saved. Surely He's moving in lives this
morning, calling you, drawing you, leading you to a place
where you in desperation see the judgment that awaits for you,
and you cry out to him for mercy and deliverance.
And know this, He is faithful to deliver all who call on him.
He's brought you to this point not so that you can get mad at
me, a preacher who still talks about hell, so that you can cry
out to him that he might rescue you and bring you.
Into eternal heaven, eternal life in Christ.
What great confidence we have in God's dealing with men.
I'm confident 100% God is going to deal with mankind one of two
ways. He's going to sentence the
unbelieving, the unrepentant to hell.
And he's going to welcome, welcome those who have
surrendered to Christ into his presence for all eternity
because they have been cleansed by the precious blood of the
Lamb. Which side of the fence are you
on? As we prepare to close this
morning, let us ask that question.
Let us ask. Ourselves many questions as we
contemplate and meditate on the word that we have seen this
morning. Believer, ask yourself this
question. Are you walking in the
confidence that comes from knowing knowing God's word?
Are you walking in that? Do you know enough of God's word
to be confident in it If not, herein lies the problem.
Those of us who. We devote ourselves to learning
the Word of God. We can rest assured of this,
that we can have confidence in God's defense that He is
defending the righteous all of the time, night and day, never
sleeping, never slumbering. We can confidently trust in His
declarations. Everything that He said will
come to pass, and everything that He said is true.
We can confidently trust in His discernment, the insight and the
knowledge that He gives us, the wisdom that does not come from
this world, that comes from God directly, and we can have
confidence in His dealings. Do you have that?
Are you walking in that? To the unbeliever who may have
slipped in this morning, God is going to deal with the
unrepentant sinners justly. And I wish I could paint a
different picture for you, but I can't and I won't.
And unless you repent, you will perish for all eternity under
the wrath and the judgment of God.
And we've seen that in His Word. Let me declare for you one last
time today. He will have mercy upon all and
deliver all who by faith trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord
and Savior. And I would encourage you with
all the strength that a man has to encourage another man to
encourage another woman. I would encourage you today
because tomorrow is never a guarantee and Scripture is very
clear that today is the day of salvation.
I would encourage you to today repent of your sin.
I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ crying out to Him to
rescue you and save you and to confidently know that according
to His Word, He will, just as He's promised.
Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
thank you so much for your word. Oh, the truth and the insight
and the depths of your knowledge.
Lord, thank you for giving us a glimpse into those things today,
but I pray that your Spirit move and hearts now that you would
through this message, encourage the believer leading them where
it is that you purchased them to be.
God, I pray for those who are here in an unbelieving state.
Lord, I pray that through the regenerative power of Your Holy
Spirit, even now You would quicken them to life, birth in
them faith and power to repent of their sin and turn from their
wickedness and turn to Christ, showering them with Your mercy
and Your grace, giving them the direction and the insight and
the wisdom to call on the name of Jesus and be saved this
morning. And we'll give you all the glory
for it. We pray these things in Christ
name, Amen. You've been listening to Key
Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast.
Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.