We're going to read together the Word of God in Psalm 84, the
Psalm 84, reading from verse one.
And the psalmist says how amiable or how lovely are thy
tabernacles, O Lord of hosts, My soul longeth, yeah, even
fainteth, for the courts of the Lord.
My heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God.
Yeah, this Sparrow hath found in house and the swallowing nest
for herself where she me lay her young, Even thine altars.
O Lord of hosts, my King and my God, blessed are they that dwell
in my house. They will be still praising
thee, Sealer. Blessed is the man whose
strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them who,
passing through the valley of Becca, make it a well.
The rein also filleth the pools. They go from strength to
strength. Everyone of them in Sion
appeareth before God. O Lord God of hosts, hear my
prayer, give, hear, O God of Jacob, Selah.
Behold our God, O God, our shield, and look upon the face
of thine anointed, for a day in thy courts is better than 1000.
I had rather be a door keeper in the House of my God than to
dwell in the tents of wickedness, for the Lord God is
a son 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. And we know the Lord will add
His own blessing to the public reading of His precious word.
We will open our Bibles once again in Psalm 84, Psalm 84, and
in verse 11, the psalmist tells us 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. And with the word of the Lord
before us, let us unite our hearts for a moment again in
prayer our love. We do know that thou hast hung
all the divine glory on thy well beloved Son.
We know, Lord, that Thou art the brightness of the Father's glory
and the express image of His person.
And so we pray, as we turn to Thy precious word, that our
hearts will be taken up with Thyself.
O Lord, reveal Thyself beyond the sacred page and help us to
learn more of Thee. Help us to walk before the Lord
unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God.
So pour out of Thy Spirit, give wisdom, give grace, whereby we
may serve thee acceptably, with reverence and with godly fear.
We ask it in the Saviour's name. Amen.
What a wonderful affection and regard David had for the temple
in Jerusalem. He had watched it with loving
eyes, and he had watched the words, finding rest and refuge
by the altars in the temple. David had known the blessedness
of dwelling within its precincts.
He had also known the bitterness of absence from it, so that he
longed, as we have read in this Psalm, he longed to be even a
doorkeeper in the House of God. So what was it that drew David's
heart to the temple? It was the Lord's presence
there. There he beheld the beauty of
the Lord, and there he sought the Lord's face in prayer.
It was not a superstitious regard for the place that made
it so special. It was a meeting place, the
place where David met with the Lord.
He speaks of the Lord in our text in glowing terms.
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.
It is so clear that the Lord was everything to David.
The Lord is still everything to His people today.
What tremendous words are these? Words full of cheer, of
encouragement and promise. There are three principal things
that we want to consider together from verse 11.
First of all, we come to the comparisons that David draws.
The Lord God is a sun and shield and when we think of the sun,
this is an impressive comparison.
What a word picture we have before us.
Consider the immensity of the sun and when we go back to
creation in Genesis 1 and the verse 16, here's what we read
concerning the sun. God made 2 great lights.
The greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule
the night, the greater light the sun.
This is an impressive comparison.
We think of the immensity of the sun.
The sun. It's shone on Adam walking in
the Garden of Eden. It stood still in the valley of
Angelon as Joshua was engaged in battle.
It shone on the dial of Ahas. It beat down on the head of
Jonah. It has shone for 6000 years and
it still shines undiminished. The Sun, we are told, is
95,000,000 miles from the Earth, whereas the Moon is 240,000
miles away. We know that man has travelled
to the moon, but the sun is far beyond his reach.
The Sun 900,000 miles in the amateur.
It can easily contain the earth a million times over.
Those statistics are mind boggling.
All the immensity of the sun. It's a fitting picture of the
Lord God who is infinite. The prophet Isaiah in Isaiah
chapter 24 and the verse 23. Isaiah 24, verse 23.
He says, Then the moon shall be confounded and the sun ashamed,
when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in
Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
The glory of the sun, in other words, will be as nothing
compared with the Lord's glory. The glory of the great King, and
only head of the Church is all surpassing.
So keep before you in this comparison the immensity, the
Infinity of God. The Lord, like the Son, abides
through endless years. The same in Isaiah chapter 44
and verse 8. The Lord gives this challenge.
Fear ye not, neither be afraid. Have not I told thee from that
time and have declared it? Ye are even my witnesses.
Is there a God beside me? Yeah.
There is no God I know not any. There is none like the Lord in
heaven above or in the earth beneath.
He is glorious in holiness. He is fearful in praise.
He's the God that doeth wonders. The immensity of the sun.
Then we should consider too, the illumination of the sun.
Can you imagine what the world would be like without the sun?
What a dark place if there were no bright rays from the greater
light. We know when the plague of
darkness fell on Egypt, such was its density.
No one could move but God's people.
Israel had light in their homes, in their dwellings.
You see, the Lord is the light of His people.
By His saving grace He has brought us out of our natural
sinful darkness into His marvellous light.
And with Psalm 27 and verse one, we can reiterate the Lord is my
light and my salvation with the same assurance as the hymn
writer we took and say, I look to Jesus and I found in Him my
star and my son. And in that light of life I'll
walk till travelling days are done.
The immensity and the illumination.
We also consider the impact of the sun through the dreary
winter months. Nature lies dormant, but in the
spring, what a difference. The deadness of winter is
replaced with life. All of nature comes alive.
It revives. No wonder the psalmist said in
Psalm 19 and verse 6 concerning the sun, there is nothing hid
from the heat thereof, Nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The common dandelion, when the sun goes down, it disappears for
the night. You cannot yellow flower, but in
the morning sun the dandelion revives.
It lifts up its head, and may the Lord visit His church as the
Son visits nature. We need to be revived, or we
must seek earnestly the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in the
reviving the quickening of our hearts.
Our prayers should be as in Psalm 85 and verse 6.
Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in
thee? Campbell Morgan, the great
preacher in Westminster Chapel in London.
And he said we cannot organise A revival, but we can set our
sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow
on his people once again. Or may we have the seals of our
life set to catch the wind of the Spirit.
The Lord God is a son, our text says.
And then we see the other part of the comparison.
The Lord God is a son and shield.
This defence of armour, consider its proximity a shield, it will
always be at hand. It's there between the warrior
and the danger that he faces. And so the Lord, our shield is
always at hand. We do not have to bring him from
afar. In Psalm 125 and the second
verse, we breed. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people.
From henceforth, even forever, the Lord will be at your hand,
believer as your shield every step of the way.
He will be your present help. We think of Abraham and the the
difficulties that he faced there in Genesis chapter 15 when verse
one says after these things. The word of the Lord came on to
Abraham in a vision saying after these things, after what things
we go, go into chapter 14 of Genesis.
Abraham fought with the 5 kings, and after that warfare, Abraham
was apprehensive that those 5 kings would come against him
once again. And so the Lord draws near to
his servant, saying, fear not Genesis 15 verse one, Fear not,
Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
Oh, just as the Lord knew how to meet with Abraham in his
extremity and in the hour of his need, so he will meet with us in
our need. He's our shield.
The proximity offered, the invincibility offered.
It's not a toy. It's not a plastic shield.
It's invincible against every thrust of the enemy.
In Ezekiel chapter 27 and verse 11, it's recorded of the
soldiers of Tyre that they hanged their Shields upon the
walls roundabout. In other words, those Shields
were hung up in public. The Shields were put on display.
They were emblems of the victories that those soldiers
had won. The Lord, our shield, his right
hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory, said the
psalmist. We remember when Joshua faced
Jericho with its stout walls. Wall to heaven it seemed.
It's defence seems so secure and sure unless Joshua faced it.
In Joshua chapter 5 and verse 14 there was a theophany, A
preincarnation appearance of the Lord to Joshua.
In verse 13 of chapter 5 in Joshua, it came to pass.
When he was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold, there stood a man over against him, with his sword
drawn in his hand. And Joshua went on to him, and
said, Art thou for us, art for our adversaries?
O, the Lord was at hand with Joshua as he faced Jericho.
The Lord was the one with the sword drawn in his hand.
He's the man of war. Or let us take the shield of
faith, and with it quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
May we be like those who have gone before, who have
experienced victories. May we see the gospel impacting
on our community. May we see the grim towers of
spiritual darkness and the ramparts of sin brought down.
And may we see again the cross holding sway in society.
May it be true of us as of Abraham, recorded there in
Romans chapter 4 verses 20 and 21.
He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was
strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that
what He had promised, he was able also to perform.
Oh, the comparisons that David draws.
The Lord God is a sun and shield.
And then the comfort that David derives, for he says the Lord
will give grace and glory. Grace is the favour, it's the
loving kindness, it's the blessing that flows into our
lives so undeservedly. Ruth was so overwhelmed by the
favour, the grace that Boaz demonstrated to her in Ruth
chapter 2 and verse 10. She fell on her face.
She bowed herself to the ground and said unto Boaz, Why have I
found grace in thy eyes, that thou should take knowledge of
me, saying I am a stranger? She saw herself so undeserving
of the grace, and the God of all grace promises to give it to us.
And how constant and continual is our need of the grace of God.
We are totally inadequate in the flesh when we think of the work
that has to be done, the race that has to be run, the warfare
that has to be accomplished. In all of these areas we need
grace to help. We need grace to help us in our
trials. The thorn in the flesh.
What a great trial. It presented to Paul three times
He prayed earnestly for its removal, and his prayer was
answered in this way in 2nd Corinthians 12 and verse 9.
The Lord answered Paul's prayer, saying, My grace is sufficient
for thee, and that word sufficient is key.
It has within it the thought that the supply will exactly
correspond need. And whatever the trial, whoever
great it may be, there's sufficient grace for you and I.
We need grace to help in our trials.
We need it in our temptations. Temptation is common to man
right from the Garden of Eden. There has been no exception,
exemption from temptation. We face temptation not only from
without, but also from within. Peter wrote to those believers
scattered abroad and in first Peter chapter 1 verses 5 and 6,
he can assure them that they are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time in
verse 6 wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season
if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations.
There were numerous temptations that these believers face and
you and I need prison. God said to to Abimelech
concerning Sarah in Genesis chapter 20 and verse six.
I withheld. I kept thee from sinning against
me. Or may we watch and pray and
seek grace to be kept from sinning against the Lord.
May we be kept amid temptations, snares.
We need grace to help in our trials, in our temptations, in
our tasks for the Lord. A great work lies to hand, a
work for which none of us is sufficient.
But God is able to make all grace abound toward us, so that
we always having all sufficiency and all things may abound to
every good work. One of the Puritans prayed,
Lord, please either lighten the load or strengthen my back.
O the Lord's grace is sufficient to strengthen our back, to bear
the load. He will give grace and glory.
He will give present glory. The Lord who is a Son will give
glory. There's a glory about the sun, a
little bit of broken glass when the sun beams directly dishes
with the brilliance out, shining many a diamond walking in the
light of Christ your light, your life will shine with a divine
glory. The Lord praying with the Father
in John 17 and verse 22. He can say the glory which thou
givest me, I have given them. I have given glory to my people.
In Zechariah chapter 8 and verse 23, there were those who took
hold of the skirt, the garment of him that was a Jew.
They took hold of the garment saying, We will go with you, for
we have heard that God is with you.
You see the Lord's people there, there was an attraction, there
was an A drawing power that drew others to them.
We read of Paul's experience among the churches in Galatia in
Galatians chapter 4 and verse 1314 and 15.
Paul says she know how through infirmity of the flesh I
preached the gospel unto you at the 1st, and my temptation,
which was in my flesh ye despised not nor rejected.
And then he says, You received me as an Angel of God, even as
Christ Jesus. And we read in verse 15 where
Paul says, I bear you record that if it had been possible,
you would have plucked out your own eyes and have given them to
me. Oh, they were drawn to Paul.
They would have done anything for Paul.
The glory of the Lord may it be seen in our lives, drawing
others to the Saviour. He will give glory, present
glory, He will give future glory.
When the days of this life are over, we will sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of heaven.
As soon as this earthly house is dissolved, we have a building of
God and house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
And of this glory that is ahead we can only have a faint
understanding until we hear the Lord's voice saying, Come and
see. Notice that grace and glory are
coupled together. Apart from saving grace, none
can see heaven's glory. Heaven would be as hell without
the renewing, regenerating grace of God.
Only saving grace can fit sinners for glory.
What about yourself? Are you saved by grace?
A Sinner saved by grace alone? Can you say it is well with my
soul? The last verse of Psalm 84 it
says blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Is your trust this morning? Is it fixed in Christ?
Is it truly well with your soul? Lastly, we see the confidence
David displays when he says the Lord will withhold no good thing
from them that walk uprightly what is truly good.
The Lord alone is the infallible judge.
The Lord is truly good and do us good.
The burdens and the buffetings of life, The Lord will turn them
around for His people's good. And at the end of the journey,
they will bless the hand that guided, the heart that planned
when throned, where glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land.
He will withhold no good thing from them that Noah's generation
was exceedingly wicked, a godless generation.
But it's recorded of Noah there in Genesis 6:00 and 9:00.
He was a just man, perfect in his generation.
He walked uprightly. The verse says Noah walked with
God while others walked with the devil.
Noah walked with God. All may you and I be as an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.
And when we walk with God, then He will give off His blessing.
He has all good things, all good gifts at His disposal.
He is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above all
that we can ask or think. So when may we see the arm of
the Lord revealed? May we see His Kingdom come, His
church built, the gates of hell not prevailing against it, His
name glorified and exalted far above all 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. May the Lord bless His word to
each of our hearts.