Please stand, then, for the call to worship. From Hebrews 6, verses 19 to 20, the writer speaks about our great comfort, our hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. This hope we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Beloved of God, called to be saints, graced you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us pray together. Oh, Heavenly Father, how we thank you for your faith in us. You are truly the God of creation, the God of redemption and the sanctification of your people. We know we have such a sure comfort and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, even as an anchor of the soul, that he has gone ahead of us all the way into heaven and to the holiest of all places And he is that one who rules over heaven and earth for the good of his church. How we praise you for such blessings in this great high priest that we have who gave himself even at the cross for the redemption of sinners. We thank you, O Lord. We pray and ask for your blessings and help us to hear your word as we ought. Help me to proclaim it. Turn us away from our sins and lead us in your paths as your thankful children. We do praise you and ask for your continued blessings and help us to serve you gladly. May our worship be fitting in your sight, again, as we ask it all with the forgiveness of sins through trusting in Christ alone. And we ask it in his holy name. Amen. Glory be to the Father. and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen. And let's confess the true Christian faith with the words of the Apostles Creed saying I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only begotten Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hell and The third day he rose from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. You may be seated and let us turn to our first hymn, number 48, Oh Lord Most High With All My Heart. ♪ Come and walk again through my page ♪ ♪ And sing the praises of the Lamb ♪ ♪ Come, O Lord, and have mercy upon me ♪ ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? ♪ ♪ And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, ♪ to be rescued. O let me know, O let me know, that I can be rescued. ♪ Together as one. ♪ ♪ Together as one. ♪ ♪ Together as one. ♪ Well, the triune God, of course, does rule over heaven and earth through Christ on his throne, and he does what is good for his people. We can be thankful and be confident in that way as we trust in Jesus and all he has done for his followers. A New Testament reading today, I'll look at Hebrews 11, 1 through 7. Hebrews 11, starting at verse 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts. And through it, he being dead still speaks. By faith, Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken, he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. By faith, Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. Again, it's faith, faith, faith always. Only way we can be acceptable to God because he grants that. It's his grace, his unmerited favor in the Lord Jesus Christ that you and I must depend upon, of course, And then we are to show that faith in the Lord Jesus and how we live our lives. Great things we see done by believers throughout the scriptures, throughout all the testimonies there. And we know the Lord will provide for us as well. He has declared there will no longer be a worldwide flood as he promised after that one, but there will be the final judgment, even a judgment of fire upon this world to bring in the new heavens and earth. We long for that day, but may we serve the Lord gladly and pray that others may turn to Him before that final day does come with Christ's return as judge of all. Let's consider the Belgic Confession as well, part of Article 9, page 876. Again, before this we saw that the scriptures are to be the only rule of faith and practice and how God is one in essence yet distinguished in three persons, the triune God, the one true God, and now we read part of Article 9, the proof of the foregoing article of the trinity of persons in one God. All this we know as well from the testimonies of Holy Writ as from their operations and chiefly by those we feel in ourselves, The testimonies of the holy scriptures that teach us to believe this holy trinity are written in many places of the Old Testament, which are not so necessary to enumerate as to choose them out with discretion and judgment. In Genesis 1, 26, 27, God says, let us make man in our image after our likeness, et cetera. And God created man in his own image. Male and female, created he them. And Genesis 322, behold, the man has become as one of us. From this saying, let us make man in our image, it appears that there are more persons than one in the Godhead. And when he says God created, he signifies the unity. It is true he does not say how many persons there are, but that which appears to us somewhat obscure in the Old Testament is very plain in the New. For when our Lord was baptized in Jordan, the voice of the Father was heard saying, this is my beloved son. The son was seen in the water, and the Holy Spirit appeared in the shape of a dove. This form is also instituted by Christ in the baptism of all believers. Make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel thus addressed Mary, the mother of our Lord, the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. Wherefore, also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. Likewise, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all." And according to the Authorized Version, there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. Again, it is certainly the case that there is indication of the triune God in the Old Testament. It's not as clear as this article says. It's in the New, obviously. But all of these things, it is God who says that, let us make man. It is the God, not God and angels or whatever the, you know, one who doesn't believe in the Trinity might try to say. It is the almighty triune God who says these things. And the Holy Scriptures teach us this. And when it says these things are, we feel these things in ourselves, it means not some emotion, but what we are convinced of. Christians are convinced by the scriptures. God working by His Holy Spirit to give that faith. And so the Lord God is this one that we know, one God in three persons for all eternity. And, you know, obviously it's interesting as with the The formula of baptism, as Jesus said, baptize them into the name, a singular name, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And so there is this, the triune God, and you find it in the King James and New King James at the end of, in chapter 5 of 1 John, there are these three who bear witness, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. These three are one. Again, there is this one true God, no matter what anyone else in the world thinks, no matter what false religions deny that, we must have this one. And again, the all-important thing, always remember, if Christ is not God in the flesh, he could not have saved anyone. Only by the divine natures or catechism explained did he have the power to endure, to not break down, and to have the value that His death bearing hell on the cross did have and does have to redeem all God's elect. And so, praise be to the Lord. He is that triune God we must rely upon and are assured in through Jesus Christ. Well, because of Christ, of course, in His grace, the Heavenly Father does hear our worship as well. and the Holy Spirit enables it, so we are comforted by that and know that God will hear us when we come to Him in prayer as well, for the sake of Christ alone that He hears us. So let us join our time of prayer. Again, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we give you praise and honor. You are that God The only God that we must depend upon, you have always been, always will be, three persons co-eternal, co-essential of the same essence, the same beings. God is a spirit. And yes, as Jesus said, those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. And how we praise you for your great plan of redemption. Yes, your eternal plan that God the Son would come into this world, that he would take upon himself a true human nature, even through the miraculous conception in the Virgin Mary, and that Jesus is that one true God and man and one person, the only one who has ever, out of all the human race, obeyed you, O Father, in every thought, word, and deed, the only one who could bear the wrath of God, the eternity of hell that it was that he took upon himself on the cross in those hours. And so we praise you as we have confessed that, Christ descended into hell even as he bore that wrath there, and he accomplished it. And when he died, he said, it is finished. And so we are assured we have comfort when we rely upon him alone for the forgiveness of our sins, to have everlasting life, to have righteousness in your sight. And so we thank you, and we want to show ourselves to be more and more a thankful people. Yes. Oh, Father, guide us as families and individuals, as a congregation of the Lord, that we would bear witness to the Lord Jesus rightly and point others to him. We do pray for a great reawakening, a revival in our land and elsewhere. Yes, throughout the world may yet billions even more come to Christ before the final day when he will return as judge and bring in the new heaven and earth. And as we long for that, and we should and should pray for that day to come, We pray others would even be with us who are not now in repentance and faith. Again, we pray for your glory in all of these things above all. Be with us, our congregation, all our churches, and our mission works we're involved in as we think of those places, whether Philippines, Africa, elsewhere, other churches in Asia. May the people there be strong in faith and those who are persecuted Some even unto death, whether in Nigeria, India, elsewhere, Pakistan. And we just pray for your honor, oh Lord, that you would turn many to Christ and give comfort and growth in faith and numbers to your people. Be with us even in our own state and nation. We pray for your mercies with the elections coming up in a few weeks. We pray that godliness would be what wins out, oh Lord, according to your mercy. We certainly pray there will not be abortion in our state or anywhere else, really, in the ten states that it's being proposed to be in their state constitutions. Oh Lord, show your power and uphold the value of human life instead, even in the womb. We pray that people would come to their senses, even if they don't trust in you, that they would see the reality, the value of human life, that they would just know that, even because you work in the hearts of people to have this knowledge, even of your law and truth. We do pray for your glory, certainly protect us from other evils in our land, our state, even with recreational marijuana, that that would not be passed, that it would be defeated resoundingly, and all of these things, that you would receive the honor and the praise. Again, help us to hear your word, to be followers of it in gladness. We pray for your continued blessings for those who need your healing care and comfort. Be with each one according to your goodness. We do pray for those who have suffered with the hurricanes and we do pray that you will guide and protect and bring safety and certainly those who have grieved the loss of loved ones, hundreds of them. We pray that many more would be turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and see their need of that as We all are to do that when we know there are disasters and various things. All the consequences of the curse on sin, however it falls. We do pray for your direction, O Lord. Again, be with all the candidates as well, that they would have safety and direction from you. Do pray for Nilsons at this family. Pray Kyle would truly benefit from the rehab coming up. They'd be turned to you above all, repent of drinking too drunk in us and so forth. And we pray that you would be honored, O Lord, working in his life and in each one. Give them comfort and peace with my mom in the nursing home and guide and direct for her care and treatments and the future, whether it's there or back in assisted living. Yes, we do pray that you would show the victory, O Lord, and all of these things for your honor, for your praise. We have Providence Reformed at Lodi and Reverend Schlegel, bless your people there, and his ministry not only locally, but even when he helps to teach the Christians in Africa and elsewhere. Again, help us, here's your word, guide and direct us, we do pray for your glory and our good, as again we ask it, with the forgiveness of our sins, through Christ our Lord, in his holy name, amen. Let's turn then to hymn number 175, A Wonderful Savior is Jesus My Lord, as we stand to sing. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, A wonderful Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, Where rivers of pleasure I see. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, That shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand, and covers me there with His hand. The wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. He taketh my burden away. He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved. He giveth me strength as my day. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love and covers me there with His hand. And covers me there with His hands. With numberless blessings each moment He crowns, And filled with the fullness divine. I sing in my rapture, O Glory to God, For such a Redeemer as mine. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love and covers me there with His hand. and covers me there with His hand. When clothed in His brightness transported I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky. His perfect salvation, His wonderful love, I'll shout with the millions on high. Behindeth my soul in the cleft of the rock That shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths of His love, and covers me there with His hand. And covers me there with His hand. Sermon passage today is Psalm 18, one through 24. It is one of the longest Psalms in the Psalter, so I'm going to divide it into two sections. Psalm 18, starting at verse one, it is a Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord who spoke to the Lord with the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said, I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength and whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from my enemies. The pangs of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me. The snares of death confronted me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God. He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, even to His ears. Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also and came down with darkness under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub and flew. He flew upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place. His canopy around him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. From the brightness before him, his thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice. Hailstones and coals of fire, he sent out his arrows and scattered the foe. Lightnings in abundance, and he vanquished them. Then the channels of the sea were seen. The foundations of the world were uncovered. At your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils, he sent from above. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me. for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He also brought me out into a broad place. He delivered me because he delighted in me. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me for I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God for all his judgments were before me and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also blameless before him and I kept myself from my iniquity. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. Now, as it's been said, worldly men with victories here may sing songs of triumph to honor themselves. You know, even that old song, I did it my way. A song later in life would be such. And that song, it speaks directly, you know, of one who did not kneel, or in other words, did not pray or submit to God, but dependent on himself and his plans and his works. Not so with David here, obviously. He called himself, as God did, a servant of the Lord, even as Moses and Joshua were his special servants. Yes, they worked to bring the law of God and the promised land to Israel. With David as servant, the kingship began that foreshadowed the Messiah. And clearly all of this is a thanksgiving psalm for how the Lord was with and provided for David. It is, by the way, found in original context in 2 Samuel 22. I think it's plain it's later in David's lifetime. In any case, all believers are so reminded here of our great, great reasons for always giving thanks to the Lord our God. Yes, may we each rejoice in these reasons. First, refuge in God. Second, rescue by God. And third, righteousness from God. Well, from the introduction and content, I say it's evident that David looks back over a lifetime, a lifetime of the Lord's interventions to save him from death and praises God. He praises God for all those times. Yes, he had refuge in the God whom believers love. That's what he proclaimed. And that's absolutely, obviously, to be expected from the faithful, of course. This psalm reminds us of the Lord's work, not only for David, but all other believers. It, you know, it especially prophesies of Christ's coming and his work to save Gentiles as well as Jews forever. not just an earthly deliverance, but forever. And so all Christians have tremendous reason to love our God, the one true triune God. Oh, deliverances are recalled here from the years that David fled from King Saul, and later when David as king defeated enemy nations, And lastly, with the defeat of Absalom and his forces seeking his destruction. I think Saul is mentioned last in the introduction only as the Lord's grace to save stood out there for so long. Yes, no doubt years. Anyway, David starts, I will love you, O Lord, my strength. And the tenderness and intensity of his emotions even That's expressed with those original words. Again, as John Calvin said, there is no better way to serve God than to love him. And you and I know that is the first and great commandment as Jesus taught. And so with God as his refuge, verses one to three are a prelude, quote, where David professes his love for God as his deliverer, worthy of his praises. And yes, dear ones, you and I should only have to think a moment, just a moment of the Lord's worthiness in person and works to be moved with love for our God. He is truly the refuge for all who trust in him. He is that refuge through his means. Well, the descriptive terms of rock, fortress, deliverer, and stronghold, as used also in 1 Samuel chapters 22 to 26, can recall places that David hid, where he hid from Saul, and that the Lord was his refuge when he was so pursued. As David said, He, as it said of him, he relives and recalls all his escapes and his victories here. And you can see it later, we will see it, that the Lord God as his rock, his rock was the most important and repeated metaphor. And you can think what a rock meant. A large rock gave protection from desert wind and sun and heat in such a land. Also, high rocks enabled hiding from enemies, and they were a sure foundation against, say, mire and sand. As a psalmist wrote also in Psalm 40, verse 2 of the Lord, he brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. Well, then the words strength, shield, and horn of salvation can point to God's enabling David in military victories later, being his refuge. In any case, for all those reasons, he said, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised. Along with that, beloved said, if we never, if we never praise our God in prayer, then we are, as one wrote, just complaining in all our prayers. Just complaining if we really never praise Him for who He is and what He's already done for us. Yes, David prayed with praise and thanks and he was saved from his enemies again and again. That was the Lord's will for him. And you and I, of course, must depend on our God, whatever his will for us. Also, David was king of Israel at this point, and the whole psalm, though, you see, is in the singular with his personal experience. The Lord delighted in him, he said, delighted in him as a faithful man overall, not simply as representing Israel. Again, God was truly his refuge. and Christ our Lord. Yes, the God man is likewise so for all his followers. As Jesus said in Matthew 7 25, those who build on his sayings build on the rock and stand firm against rains, floods, wind and storm. But the warning he gave there as well as those who instead reject him cannot stand and their lives all they have built would be washed away as a house on the sand in a terrible torrent coming against it. Those who reject him cannot stand when God judges. But again, the encouragement to all who surrender to Jesus Christ is that this psalm testifies of our God's faithfulness, that he is our shelter, our stronghold, our foundation. And truly, then, how thankful You and I, beloved, should be when we have refuge in our God. Second, there is recalled here rescue, rescue by God. Verses 4 to 19 give poetic images of what God did for David time and again with rescue by his almighty power and judgment. Verses 4 to 6 stress it is not on The stress is not on the deadly persons opposing him, as we saw in Psalm 17, but on death itself, threatening him through those enemies. The pangs or chords of death surrounded him as if to pull him down, as if tentacles grasping around him, pulling him down to death. And yet the Almighty heard The Almighty heard David from his temple in heaven and answered him. And so in verse six, he said, I cried out to my God. He heard me. He says, my God, the sincerity of his faith and love is proclaimed there. Obviously, he is not a hypocrite in so-called prayers. Again, we know how many people will say, oh, I'll pray for that. I'll pray for you. even when they don't have a life of faith shown at all. So many people think, oh, God will hear me. God should hear me. Isn't that his job, as it were? And yet no one is heard, not a word, except to the grace of Christ. Why should God hear unrepentant condemned sinners? Well, It was not so with David. God was his personal God and his rescuer. In fact, for his sake, Israel would be blessed by the Lord and that foreshadowed all blessing for the church universal because of the greater son of David, our King Jesus. As portraying God's power to rescue David, verse 7 declares that the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken because he was angry. And yes, you can understand verses 7 to 15 mix allusions to God's manifestation at Sinai with the deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea and in vanquishing enemies in the land of Canaan. For God appeared in the pillar of fire and cloud. He divided the Red Sea for their sake, as up to verse 11 here especially. Hebrews 12, 18 and following add that Mount Sinai burned with fire, and there was blackness, gloom, and storm. And even Moses, as it was said, was exceedingly afraid and trembling. And he confessed that, according to the writer of Hebrews. Indeed, Exodus 19 records that the mountain was shaking with thick cloud, thunder, lightning, and then God's voice was heard. Talks about a trumpet blast. Well, then how much louder, I say, was God's voice. As in our verse 13, His almighty power was so shown miraculously Oh, today it may not be so obvious, but as one wrote, if we never had any storms as in the Southeast lately, we would just take it lightly that God is the author of nature and he must uphold it. His judgments in the curse on sin should call all people to repent and trust in Jesus. Yes, however those judgments come. And here, if smoke went up from his nostrils on David's behalf, that speaks of his anger against the enemies. You know, in a much lesser way, we exhale forcefully when very angry. Oh, truly, our God, as Moses declared in Deuteronomy 4.24, is a consuming fire. That is, he is jealous, it says there. Jealous to have his people serve him in truth with no false ideas or images of him. Yes, verse 9 here, he bowed the heavens also and came down or caused them to bend toward earth as it were as God approached in wrath to the wicked Again, we can think of literally low clouds, storms, and tornadoes should remind us of that. For the Lord does come down as he determines with judgment on hypocrites in the world and on any in Christ's church. Also here, the accompanying cherubs or can are the angels declared as guarding God's holiness time and again. You can see they were set to guard the Tree of Life in Genesis 3 after the fall. They were at the Holy of Holies, depicted at the temple, Exodus 25 and 26, and on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. And they were bearers of God's chariot throne in Ezekiel 1 and 10. Oh dear ones, all such divine power and judgment on behalf of his people, Implies what the great worth also of you of individual humans and mankind made in God's image a Great worth that he would so care for us and bring judgments as well as redemption And so on the other side clearly We can think how people wanting elective abortion oppose that value so horribly and oppose him and But for us, you and I must also beware of disdaining God's help and gifts in anything. Now, though David was a mere man, Almighty God came with his great power to save him from death and from Satan's power. For the floods of ungodliness, verse four, are literally floods of Belial or Satan often. And clearly, many wicked men sought to kill David. Applying that to us, again, Christ's almighty powers with his righteous life and sacrifice on the cross save believers from spiritual death, from Satan's control and hell. Therefore, let us warn those who do not trust in Jesus that he will certainly return as the judge of all mankind. Second Thessalonians 1.8 foretells that last day when Christ will be revealed, quote, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel. Those who don't repent and trust him. For the death and resurrection of Jesus is the only way of escape from condemnation for sin. We know it's by God's almighty power and judgment there. again at the cross and truly we must each have that rescue by God. We must have it as shown in history. Now verses 12 to 14 recall Israel's battles against the Canaanites as in Joshua 10, for then the Lord cast hailstones, hailstones on those enemies. I think that's one of the places it says some of those were a hundred pound hailstones. And there were other times when God thundered from heaven against their enemies and so confused them. Again you see what those things tied together here. No one should think of storms on earth as just natural things that have always been. Or with the curse they do not just come by chance by climate change or weather modification. God is sovereign, whatever secondary causes there are. And his wrath is to be feared rightly. Yes, we proclaim the gospel, that spiritual calm and peace with him is for Christians alone. Christians alone out of all mankind. Well, obviously the channels of the sea, seen in verse 15 and following, remembers the dividing of the Red Sea But David recalls the Lord drawing him out of many waters. That's a figure as if drowning, being overpowered by his foes. And David was delivered like Moses, as it were, whose name means drawn out of the water, Exodus 2. Well, whatever the particular situation, David could think how those threats were, as he said, in the day of his calamity. Perhaps you can remember there were so many times when he was nearly caught by Saul. But God intervened as when David was hidden in a cave unseen by Saul who entered it, or when Saul's forces were circling around David on one side of the same mountain And yet that evil king was called away. In any case, with all that personal history, David, quote, sees his perils and deliverance as no less crucial and miraculous than the past days for Israel. As Charles Spurgeon wrote, David considers that his own case exhibits the same glory of God. And so the God of Moses, Joshua, and the judges is his God, too. The Lord was his God by covenant and by his presence and power in past victories. And so as for you and me, fellow believers, let us remember the lessons of these rescues. As Matthew Henry wrote, God delivers his people out of troubles in due time and sustains us in such in the meantime. Of course, our deliverance will be to heaven to heaven in God's timing as it was for David and will be for all the faithful. Well, as one said, let us think of all the images here on such an enormous scale of God's appearing with his absolute power shown throughout history. And here it is used for rescue of one believer, one believer, a servant of God, by God's hand. Yes, as Christians, then we can have confidence in our covenant keeping Lord. And that, of course, is utterly opposed to the wicked who should dread his judgment and repent. After all, for his followers, Jesus endured our hell and our death. As foreshadowed in verse 19, he was brought out of the tomb to the broadest place. In other words, our Lord now rules in heaven over all the universe for the salvation of each one who trusts in him. He rescues us forever. Praise be, thanks be to our God. Lastly, all believers must give the Lord thanks for righteousness from God. David speaks really of the righteousness of all those with true faith in verses 20 to 24. That's also alluded to in verse 19 saying, he delivered me because he delighted in me. You know, as it is, as in all the Bible, righteousness from God only by his grace in Christ. Indeed, God's delight in David was not due to his merits, but God's mercy and goodwill. That quote becomes the primary thought of the song here. It's a song of grace, especially the saving grace of Jesus that you and I are to think of again. Yes, his power for eternal salvation. In verse 20, David wrote, the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. Well, certainly that means David did obey in taking up the kingship that was given to him freely without merit. He fulfilled that calling. He was not a rebel against Saul, as enemies claim. However, David's works were like ours, always, always imperfect. And God, the holy God, owes us nothing, nothing in ourselves. Yet he rewards, as it says, rewards his own gracious work in believers, and so counts our works as righteous." Again, as in Psalm 17, David writes of his righteousness with a, quote, a limited frame of reference. That is, he was counted by faith as righteous, and he wanted to serve the Lord God. He turned from sin in life, though imperfectly, not perfectly. In contrast to him and us, Jesus was here pointed ahead to. Our Lord could say it absolutely, that he was righteous in himself, having no sin at all. Still, brothers and sisters, the principle here you see is true, that God honors righteousness and he judges sin. David certainly did suffer in numerous ways after his sin with Bathsheba, for instance. And you and I and all people should realize that going our own way brings misery and destruction upon us. Though as written on the whole, David was a man after God's own heart, and he was greatly blessed, for he tried to serve God, and God was faithful to him throughout his long and prosperous rule over Israel. Truly with repentance and faith is one's continual path, the believer can say with Paul, as in 2 Timothy 4.8, that a crown of righteousness is laid up for me in heaven. How marvelous is the grace of our Lord. Yes, a crown of righteousness, let us say, let each one say it plainly as David knew it, that God is our righteousness only in the promised Savior whom we know is Jesus Christ. Yes, all true believers have righteousness from God for which to rejoice and thank him above all. And last, that righteousness will be bringing forth a thankful, faithful life. As in verse 21, every believer can say, I have kept the way of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. Well, how could David say that? Although he sinned greatly, he did not, did not show complete rejection of the Lord's ways. That's what he meant. Again, when he sinned, he repented afterward, even if that took some time. And so it was not a wicked departure from God or apostasy. He turned back to the Lord, as we must do, even day by day. In that manner, he showed righteousness from God, bringing forth a thankful, faithful life. And so overall, David had that, knowing how God's law directs us to deal with our fellow human beings and also with the Lord. He sought to follow the commandments, then he did not let iniquity lead him. Again, that's what's meant, verse 23, that he kept himself from his iniquity. Perhaps there he could recall a momentary thought, even to kill Saul as David's companions urged him to do at times. And like him in his fateful times, You and I must recall the Ten Commandments and our calling to resist Satan's assaults. Thereby we are to keep ourselves more so from our sins. Indeed, God's covenant of grace in what Jesus has done is the only way of redemption. And having it assured to us, we are to live in thankfulness to the Lord always. With that life, David said in verse 23 that he was blameless before him. That is, he sought to follow God's word in his times of persecution from Saul, from Absalom, and in the wars. Obviously, his great fall with Bathsheba and Uriah was the most striking failure of David. Failure to keep himself from sin. And so when he wrote of his righteousness and cleanness, It was not perfection in his life meant but sincerity that he turned back to the Lord when convicted of his sins. Therefore, beloved, in all of this, David's life so shows how we also needed the perfect saving King Jesus to live and die in our place and thereby all believers are counted righteous in him and we will inherit the reward of grace and perfection after this life. As for unbelievers, Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 32, 31, their rock is not like our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. As one wrote, atheists and others with false religion don't turn to such falsehood at the time of their death. As D.L. Moody said, they don't go down to their grave happily. And so, may any without the true faith in Jesus surrender to Him. Surrender to Him. And then as Christians, you know, we can look back on our lives as Deva did here. In spite of all our terrible sins, we know that God has never failed us. Never. He remains faithful even when we're faithless. Yes, all who repent and trust in Christ, may we all say, praise be to the rock of our salvation. Amen. Let us pray together. Oh, Heavenly Father, how we thank you indeed that you are our refuge through the Lord Jesus Christ and you rescue us from our sins, the ways we were eagerly going and the ways we still go so often. But you turn us back to you and we have righteousness only for the sake of Jesus. He is the one who obeyed perfectly and thought word and deed and gave himself at the cross to bear the wrath of God there. for all your chosen ones. May we show that reality in our lives, yes, that you make us new in the Lord. May we serve you gladly and be your witnesses, guide and direct us, and may many more be one to the Lord before that last day of judgment that is certainly coming. May we stand for truth at all times and serve you gladly, forgive our sins, cleanse us of all our unrighteousness, and lead us that we may have that assurance of being blameless in your sight to the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you and ask for this through his holy name. And now we do pray together as Christ taught us to say, our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. so Let's turn to our last hymn, 499, Rock of Ages Cleft for Me, as we stand to sing together. Rock of ages cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee. Let the water and the blood from Thy riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Cleanse me from its guilt and power. Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy love's demands. Could my zeal no respite know? Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone. Thou must save and Thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling. Naked come to Thee for dress, Helpless look to thee for grace, While I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Savior, or I die. While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyelids close in death, When I soar to worlds unknown, see thee on thy judgment throne. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. You receive the Lord's benediction. And of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.