The Song of the Steadfast – Part 2 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

This is LeSaire Bradley, Jr., welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. The glory of God is declared by all in heaven above. The heavens show his hand me work, it's all the work of love. Oh, listen to the speech of day, the wisdom of the night. Both are a great and open book to teach God's power and might.

We'll be continuing today with the Song of the Steadfast. And if you would like to get this complete message on CD, request it when writing us at the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. But he ultimately came to this conclusion, the Lord is in his holy temple, God is able to run his own business, I may not understand it. I don't understand what he's doing, I don't understand why he's doing it that way, but he's God and he has a right to operate as he pleases, so let all the earth keep silence before him.

I'm not going to complain, I'm not going to reply, I'm going to close my mouth and bow in humble submission. We see that he is sovereign because he rules over all. He is sovereign in our trials. As it talks about the fact that he tests us, he tries us, there's a purpose in it. It's good to know that these trials do not come just because they arose out of nowhere. It's not a matter of being down on our luck as people will sometimes say.

You ever hear people talk like that? Oh, I've really been going through some rough times, I guess I'm really an unlucky person. Christians need to get that terminology out of their vocabulary. I'm not talking about luck or being unlucky, we're talking about a God of Providence working according to design and purpose in the lives of his people to teach them and train them and reveal more of himself to them. Job, as you know, was greatly afflicted.

Initially he said the right things. He went through some difficult days though where he had great questions and struggled and certainly that may reveal to us that God's people often will struggle. But after the Lord had come on the scene and spoken to him at great length, in Job chapter 42, he said in the second verse, I know that thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholding from thee.

Verse 5, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Job says through all of these trials, I've got a greater vision of God. I see his sovereign majesty and when we come to the book of James chapter 5, we are reminded to consider the patience of Job. Oh, when you look at some of that experience, you say, well, there were days he wasn't very patient, but as God summarizes the whole event, he said, consider the patience of Job, because Job did bow in submission and learned and said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. How good to know that God is at work in our adversities, that God is going to teach us in those deepest sorrows that we absolutely do not understand. We cannot see the purpose of them at the time, but we have to bow and say, Lord, thy will is best. The Apostle Paul speaks to that in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

In verse 8, he says, we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed, we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed. Have you felt sometimes that the troubles coming your way were just more than you could handle? Lord, I can't take it. This is too much. You sometimes say, Lord, why this trial?

Why at this time? This is the most difficult of times. The questions come. But here's a man who is troubled on every side, but he says, though persecuted, not forsaken, though cast down, not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. He saw the purpose of all of this, that the life of Jesus might be made manifest, that I might be conformed more to his image, bring honor to his name. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believe and therefore have I spoken, we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sake, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God, for which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perished, yet the inward man is renewed day by day, for our light affliction, which is birthed for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Oh, how wonderful to know that in those dark, challenging, troubled times, God is sovereign in the midst of them.

We are to trust when we don't understand. And then to see this wonderful declaration in this psalm of God's absolute sovereignty. The Lord is in his holy temple.

The Lord's throne is in heaven. We can't help but also speak that not only is he sovereign over all, not only is he sovereign in our trials, he is sovereign in the matter of salvation. And this is the one area where human nature tends to draw back and resist the thought that God is absolutely sovereign.

See, man likes to reason some system that would be compatible to his own instincts and his own thinking. To consider that God is a holy God, hates sin, is not obligated to save anybody, that God, according to his sovereign pleasure, has chosen a people, marks them out, sent his son Jesus Christ to redeem them, salvation is all of the Lord, is just the exact opposite of what man in his human nature is inclined to think. Let's look briefly at Romans chapter 9.

Verse 11 says, For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand. Now what's the subject matter here? The subject is election. Many times in an effort to circumvent what the text really teaches, somebody's talking about some other subject.

No, the subject is identified. He's talking about the doctrine of election. Not of works, but of him that calleth.

It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger as it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now the Holy Spirit obviously knew what the human response would be. The Holy Spirit of God in advance raises the question that no doubt we have heard raised many times. There may have been a time in your life that you raised the question yourself, and you've heard many others raise it.

If this be so, if God is sovereign in the election of a people, then that seems to be unfair. In other words, that doesn't seem to be right. So verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?

There's the question. The Holy Spirit inspires Paul to put it here. Now if he was talking about some other concept, then no one would consider that this would be unfair. What is it that appears to be unfair? From the human standpoint, from the standpoint of human reasoning, the fact that God loved Jacob and hated Esau seems to be unfair. That's what the Holy Spirit says man was going to perceive it to be.

But what's the answer? Is there unrighteousness with God? The answer is no. God forbid. For he saith, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Now there's no way in this world you can squeeze into that text the idea that man's salvation is based on his free will.

Heard a man say on the radio not long ago, caller had questioned this subject and obviously had a little more insight as to the truth of God's sovereignty than the talk show host. And the man said, well I think if you'll read Romans chapter 9 that'll straighten all this out for you. I thought if that man reads Romans chapter 9 he's not going to come to the same conclusion this man wants him to, because Romans chapter 9 is specific and clear to say it is not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. So the self-righteous man says, but look at all my good works, look what all I've done. Your righteousness is ours, filthy rags. Somebody says, but don't you think that this is a proposition that's being made?

It's an offer that's being made? What can one who is dead in trespasses and in sin do to respond to a proposition or an offer? This is a free gift, this is bestowed according to God's pleasure. God is sovereign.

I love the words of Charles Spurgeon when he speaks to this issue. It says, there is no doctrine more hated by the whirlings, no truth of which they have made such a football, as the great stupendous, but yet most certain doctrine of sovereignty of the infinite Jehovah. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne.

They will allow him to be in the workshop to fashion whirls and to make stars. Of course a lot of people object to that today, at least in Spurgeon today there were more who would concede that God was sovereign in creation. They will allow him to be in his almonry to dispense his alms and bestow his bounties. They will allow him to sustain the earth and to bear up the pillars thereof or light the lamps of heaven or rule the ways of the ever-moving ocean. But when God ascends his throne, his creatures then gnash their teeth. And when we proclaim an enthroned God and his right to do as he wills with his own to dispose of his creatures as he thinks well without consulting them in the matter, then it is that we are hissed. And then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on his throne is not the God they love.

They love him anywhere better than they do when he sits with his scepter in his hand and his crown upon his head. But it is God upon the throne that we love to preach. It is God upon his throne that we love to trust. Oh, how wonderful to believe in a sovereign God who is on his throne. That's what the psalmist said, God is on the throne. And then he also says concerning God that he sees all things.

Now if a person really believes that there is a God, that has to be disconcerting to someone who wants to ignore God's law, make their own choices, do things the way they want to do it, and ignore God completely. 2 Chronicles 16 verse 9 says that the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth. There's nothing hidden from him. God sees every action. He knows every thought. He knows your thoughts. He knows everything that you've done, everything that you would like to have done. He knows your motivations. He sees.

Think about it. The Lord sees all things. He trieth the righteous, but the wicked and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. His eyes behold, his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men. He is a judge of the rebellious, but a refuge for the trusting.

He sees all things. And then that fifth verse says that he hates the wicked. Oh somebody says, my God doesn't hate anybody. But this is what the God of the Bible says about himself. You don't have to try to make an excuse for God.

You don't have to try to make it look good, try to get somebody to approve of him. God is God whether anybody ever likes it or not. God in his holiness hates the wicked. Look at Psalm 7 verse 11, God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

God is angry with the wicked every day. So what about the love of God? Oh the love of God's marvelous and as you know you've heard me preach about it many a time. Spent entire sermon talking about the love of God.

We rejoice in the love of God. We know that apart from his love there would be no hope for any of us as fallen ruined sinners. But you don't appreciate the love of God until you understand that God is a God of wrath also. God is a God that will judge. And this says that God is angry with the wicked every day. Now let's look at another one and here's something that a lot of people have significant difficulty with.

Proverbs chapter 21 verse 4, and high look and a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin. Now if you were going down the highway and saw a successful farmer out there in the field and you could tell that somebody really cared for this farm things are in good order. You can tell that the fields have been attended to. You say well there's an industrious man. There's a man that's working hard. There's a successful man.

There's a man providing for his family. That's good. And then you turn to God's word and says the plowing of the wicked is sin. Now somebody may say well how can plowing be sin? Isn't it good to plow?

Yeah it is. I'm glad somebody plows so that when we go to the grocery we can have some something to nourish us. But here he's talking about plowing being a sin and notice that it's connected in the first part of this proverb with a high look and a proud heart so that the plowing of the wicked is equated to one who is proud, one who has a high look. In other words the proud look is equivalent to the wicked going about his daily chores. The wicked are godless individuals and a godless man is proud of his own self-sufficiency. The man may be plowing in the field and when the harvest comes he gathers it in and he may be like that man that Jesus described in the 12th chapter of the book of Luke that he says I've had such a harvest I need to tear down my barns and build greater barns. And we say well look God has prospered that man. Look at what a harvest he's been ever able to gather in but you remember that the Lord said thou fool this night thy souls will be required of thee. What's the problem with the wicked in his plowing? What's the problem with the wicked when it comes to the harvest? He sits back and says look what I've done.

Look at what a crop I've been able to bring in. He sees himself as being independent, self-sufficient. He has left God out of the picture and that's why his actions are sinful. That's why even the plowing which in and of itself is not sinful but the fact that he ignores God, the fact that the wicked leaves God out means that his actions are sinful. We look at Psalm 10 verse 4. The wicked through the pride of his countenance will not seek after God.

God is not in all his thoughts. So the fact that a man has ignored God leaves God out, his actions are sinful. Even what is esteemed to be worthy and acceptable by others and others may praise him for his success and it may be that after he's gathered in a great harvest he's charitable and helps other people.

So somebody says surely that must be right? Surely that man must be a child of God because nobody would be charitable unless they'd had an experience of grace. But the scriptures reveal that a person for a variety of reasons sometime out of nothing more than pride a desire to be recognized may do that which is acceptable in man's sight but they haven't had an experience of grace. They don't know the true and living God. They do not trust in Jesus Christ.

They're self-sufficient, they're proud and this applies not only to those that might be set in their concept that they can make it on their own and that they have willfully left God out. But what about making a practical application in our own life that anything that we do even if it seems good and worthy in itself if we have left God out we to that degree are behaving like the ungodly. How many times have we been guilty of that?

Here's something I need to be doing. Here's a worthy project and we embark upon it. We make our plans. We go after it and we haven't included God. We haven't prayed for His guidance and direction. We haven't prayed for His blessing. We haven't depended upon Him.

We've gone totally on our own. Some professing Christians today live as if God had no place in their life, maybe with the one exception to attend church periodically and acknowledge I do believe in God. But when they leave the place of worship God is basically forgotten. God is left out. Whatever your actions are, whatever your apparent successes may be, if God is left out remember that whatsoever is not a faith is sin.

Oh how that ought to call us to the place of wanting to walk daily by faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. The third thing that is viewed in this psalm we not only see the righteous we not only see God we see the wicked. The wicked shoot their arrows. Verse two, for lo the wicked bend their bow. They make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privilege shoot at the upright in heart.

The wicked despise the upright, the righteous, those that love God, those that fear God, those that seek to serve and to worship Him. In Psalm 64 and the second verse David says hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity who wet their tongues like a sword. I say when we read about them shooting their arrows you may think well that's talking about something that's literally out on the battlefield friends.

He says that some wet their tongue like a sword. The wicked can shoot their arrows when they are hurtful words. Bend their bows and shoot their arrows even bitter words that they may shoot in secret at the perfect.

Suddenly do they shoot at Him and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil matter. They commune of lying snares privately they say who shall see them. They search out iniquities.

They accomplish a diligent search both the inward thought and of every one of them and the heart is deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow suddenly shall they be wounded. Yes the wicked shoot their arrows whether literally in times of outward persecution or by shooting their arrows of hurtful harmful words. But ultimately it says the Lord will shoot at them with an arrow.

Yes they shoot at the wicked. Jesus said in John 15 and the 18th verse that since the world had hated Him they would hate His followers also. The wicked hate the true followers of Jesus Christ. You can see it in the world today that the thing which is hated most is the true message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Make any comment about many other issues and you may be called bigoted you may be challenged in some places you might be arrested for speaking inappropriately but a person can say basically whatever they want to say in Christia in condemnation of true Christianity and it's all accepted. It shows the wickedness and corruption of the human heart. But the psalmist says the wicked shall be punished their day of judgment is coming. It says in verse 6 upon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone and in horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup. Judgment is coming. God's going to rain fire and brimstone upon them. God's already done that. Genesis chapter 19 tells us about the fire and brimstone that God rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. God has proven that He's a God of judgment and there is coming a final judgment when the wicked shall suffer. Revelation chapter 21 in the eighth verse but the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and the murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death.

How is it with you today? Do you see the sovereign God that is depicted in this psalm? Do you see that in your human nature you too are wicked?

You are one who would perpetually leave God out. If you today have seen your need of God it is surely by His grace that you've been convicted and recognize that need. There's only one, only one way by which all of us fallen wicked sinners by nature can stand acceptable in God's sight through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

There's no other way. Have you seen your need for the Savior? Have you by faith embraced Him?

I pray that the Spirit of God will touch your heart today, convict you of your sin, bring you to see the Savior, and help you to realize that if God has so abundantly bestowed His saving grace upon you, you ought to gladly confess Him publicly and be ready to follow Him in baptism. We give you that opportunity as we stand to sing. Well I'm glad you've been with us for the program today. Hope it's been a blessing to you. We do depend on our listeners for support. If you'd like to make a donation online you can go to our website at BaptistBibleHour.org. Till we greet you next time, this is LaSara Bradley Jr. bidding you goodbye and may God bless you. Thank you.