In his name we pray. Amen. Good morning everyone, let's turn together to Psalm 40. As we continue there today and the things that I'm going to say today, I've said throughout the weeks already in this text and then next week I'm going to really focus on some personal examination. For us. as the temporal reality of verse 17. But as we've seen and as I've said, when David wrote this song, he was writing out of his own experience. He was crying out to the Lord, he was remembering to trust in the Lord, he was remembering to wait in the Lord. He was remembering the deliverance of the Lord. He knew that God alone through his promises and power would sustain him and overcome his enemies. And he had no idea, he had no idea that as he penned these words and as he sang them half naked in front of the assembly, that he would, yeah, you know David's story, right? That he would, that these words were inspired by God the Spirit to portray Jesus Christ. But we know that. How do we know that? Because we have the words of Christ. We have the gospel accounts. We have the writings of the apostles. I read Ephesians chapter four as we started our service this morning and we see that what Christ has done is accomplished redemption. He has established his covenant with his people and he has perfected it once and for all. And we await that marriage. We await that consummation. We await that intimacy. We await that glorification. But in the meantime, as he ascended into heaven, he said he was sending the spirit, the paraclete or the one that goes along the helper. He was sending the spirit that the spirit would testify of him. And in the testifying of him, he gave the church, the apostles, the pastors, the shepherds, the evangelists, the teachers, in order to equip the church to do the work of the ministry. And so there are two elements of living a Christian life when it comes to the assembly and when it comes to every day. And that is to continually remember and exult in the truth of Christ, who he is and what he accomplished for us. to worship Him in spirit and in truth, to praise Him for His glorious grace. As we recognize and remember that this is because of His eternal love for us, then in like manner we are to live out this life in love. toward others, with no exceptions, under no conditions. And the picture of the church doing that is made up of relationships within the home, the husband, and the wife, and the children, and everyone else who are even single people, but we're making a picture present for the sake of the glory of Christ in everything we do. And beloved, I'm telling you right now, we, as far as we've come as a people, in our understanding of the Christ-centeredness of all these things, we are still so far away that we don't even know what we're talking about. And yes, there is practical truth in and for the life of the believer in Psalm 40. And yes, that is what David was writing about. But God the Spirit was writing about Jesus Christ. And I've already said all the things that I'm going to say today, but I'm putting them all together in one message so that you can see it. Because there is a sense in which sometimes we are too heavy in one of the areas of our Christian growth and our Christian lives. We're either too heavy in pushing learning Christ into a system of theology, or we're too heavy in ignoring any teaching about Christ into a system of pragmatism. And when we do either in such an unbalanced way, we have forsaken the full counsel of God's Word. And so this is a trial for us every single day, isn't it? It's a trial for us to believe that God is our Deliverer, that Christ is sufficient, that the Word of God is sufficient, that there is ever going to be an out from these things that we experience, this life that we live. So it's real easy for us then to get into the little Christian-ese circles and to get into the little Christian-ese groups and to get into the little Christian-ese bumper sticker clubs. You know what I'm talking about. I don't know if there is one, so I'm not mocking any bumper sticker club, but I'm just saying, it's real easy to get into that mindset, or I'm just gonna do Christian things, and I mean, I'm one of them. I mean, I made these signs, I have scripture on my wall, nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we think that those things are developing us in a spiritual sense. That we're doing so many good things relating to Christian things that we are just living Christian lives. But we're not living Christian lives if we're not suffering. And working through suffering and knowing and being honest about who we are and realizing that we're not here to put a face on for somebody else. We're here to be honest about who we are. We're here to live life together, to answer needs as they come up. We're here to learn how to live effectively for the glory of God. So we come to this psalm today and the scripture will show us, as I was starting to say just then, the scripture will show us that there is a sense in which no matter how hard we try to learn and to live according to the gospel, there's really one power amongst us in our learning, and that is to be reminded of Christ. It is to be reminded of Christ every single moment. And sometimes it's easy for us to say, well, wait, wait a minute. There is some things that we need to know. There are. We're not going to forsake the learning of doing and being. But our rest comes not in the doing and the discipline. Our rest comes in the reminder of whose we are. and who He is. And that's where the apostles, when they say, it's a piece that surpasses all understanding. Well, tell me what you did. Tell me how you did it. Tell me how you made it. Tell me what worked for you. I'll rub the Jesus oil over here and sniff the Jesus powder up here and sprinkle the Jesus, you know, I mean, no, I don't know. I just looked at His face and I changed. I just looked at the cross and I'm happy. It's stupid, right? It's absurd. It's illogical. It's irrational. It's ignorant. Paul would say that. That what we preach is foolishness to the theologians. Foolishness to the disciplined. Foolishness to the religious. It's foolishness. No matter what I tell you Romans, no matter what I tell you Corinthians, no matter what I tell you Ephesians, no matter what I tell you Galatians, I'm telling you right now, you need to listen to what I say and by the way, what does he say? Anybody who doesn't say that they should adhere to what we tell them to do, count them not as a brother until they come around. But I'm telling you now, all that is for naught if you're not remembering the foolishness of the cross of Christ. And so now we can look at Psalm 40, although I've said everything already in the teaching over the last month or so, I'm going to say it again in one teaching. And I've broken it down to like four segments, Christological segments, and I don't like that. So I broke it down into like eight segments. And so last night about 9.30, I broke it down into 17 segments. Every verse, every verse of Psalm 40 is Christ. representing him and his work. So let's dive in. If I have time, I'm gonna give us an application in preparation for next Sunday. Psalm 40, verse one. And this may be quick. There's not a lot of exposition that needs it. It's just gonna be, here it is, this is who Christ is. It may be a 10-minute message, but it may be a 17-minute message, or it may be a two-parter. Who knows? We're just gonna go. absorb it and breathe it in. And beloved, those who are not listening to the sermon are missing Christ today. They're missing Christ, and thus they are missing the promise of God unto them by hearing Christ. I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. We know what David was saying. He had faith. He trusted. And this verse foreshadows the need for faith and to trust in God's deliverance, who is Jesus Christ. So this faith is about Christ. See, our faith isn't that that saves us. Christ saves us. Our faith is in the faithfulness of Christ. And it is a God-given gift. It is not something that we muster. It is not something that we grow. It is not something that we find inside of us or around us or with us. It is something that God grants us. How do we get it? Where is it found? In the hearing of Christ. So beloved, if there is ever a moment where you felt that your faith was waning, the best thing you can do is to not seek discipline. but to seek the gospel in its simplest form. Because the Spirit of God in you will testify to the Spirit of God teaching through His Word, and you will be at peace, and you won't be able to write an essay about it. Your joy will be full, and as Peter says in chapter 1, it may be inexpressible. What's going on with you? Oh, I don't know. I'm okay. In Luke chapter 18, Jesus teaches about the importance of persistent prayer and faith in God. Jesus had persistent prayer and faith in God the Father. And this God in whom we believe will bring justice and deliverance to his people. So we must cultivate faith. by looking at the faithfulness of Christ, by knowing that it is through Christ alone and in God's timing and purposes. Like we see that Pastor Trey has been teaching in Ephesians 1 for a long, long time. You know, God, after the counsel of his own will, Jesus says in John 3, as the spirit wishes, he blows. this new birth, this new idea, this spiritual awakening, this regeneration, this impossible divine work that every religion of the world has tried to understand and replicate. And yet we as believers in 2023 seem to push it down and stifle it. We're really, really good at getting the quick answer. We're really good at asking Google and Siri and chat AI and whoever else might give us a quick answer when it's written right here. Verse two. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. We know what David was in. We talked about the pits and the bogs. We talked about patiently waiting and the struggle that it was. Imagine the patient waiting and the faithfulness of Christ as He waited for the cross. And the cross being that pit. The despair, the death that He did not deserve in His body. The torment of His flesh. Have you ever been close to death? Have you ever thought you were going to die? I have. It is horrific. It is horrific. I can't imagine knowing crucifixion, knowing justice, knowing wrath, divine wrath was awaiting me and knowing what it was. See, our anxiety is fear about the future. Typically because we're listening to a script in our head that tells us lies about it, not the truth. Christ did not have anxiety about the cross because of an unknown script. He had absolute certainty of the cross and its severity. And he knew that the Father would rescue him out of the pit. In Acts 2, Peter talks about the death and the resurrection of Jesus, emphasizing that God raised him up, releasing him from the agony of death, from the pit of despair. So we as believers can take comfort knowing that Jesus Christ has conquered death. We ended our entire sermon last week on that issue. Jesus has conquered death, He's conquered sin, and we do have eternal life in Christ Jesus who has been raised out of the pit. And if Christ has been raised out of the pit of death, we too are alive. We too are alive. Beloved, if there's nothing that inspires you, that should. Verse 3, He put a new song into my mouth. a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." We know David sang about the goodness of the Lord. We know that we sing about the goodness of the Lord in prescription of Colossians 3 and other places in scripture, that we sing to one another and teach one another in our singing and praising and testimony about the goodness of God. But oh, beloved, this is more than just about what David This verse anticipates Jesus Christ walking the earth and spreading the good news. Speaking about the Father's work in redeeming His people through the one who He has sent. Claiming to be that very one. And this verse anticipates this gospel growth of the Christian faith. as Jesus taught, and taught, and taught, and then died, and then rose, and then ascended, and left the apostles here to teach, and teach, and teach. Here is the work that is greater than these. Isn't that amazing? It's funny how we get all quirky sometimes in certain circles, not just in our world, but in other countries as well, that I've seen people get all quirky, and they want to get so uber-spiritual, and they want to find ways of just tapping into the supernatural. You want to tap into the supernatural, listen to the gospel, read the Word of God, and then share the reality of what God is showing us. Take every opportunity to teach what God teaches you to others as it fits the occasion. We don't impose the Word of God on people. It's not the sword like that. In Acts 16, we see Paul and Silas. What did they do when they were arrested? I can't believe I'm arrested. No, they sang praises. They praised God. They praised God. I live in a surreal state most days. And I've been going through journals for about a year, old journals, high school journals, middle school journals. Yes, I have them. I keep everything. And I found an entry yesterday from August of 1990. Oh, so poetic. It was ridiculous. But I was bemoaning the attitude of life is a bed of roses type sentiment. There's something in there that struck me, though. As stupid and as foolish as I was in my ignorance, thinking I was wise, a sophomore, right? That's exactly the day. Yeah, I was a 10th grader. And I'm sitting there and I'm reading this. At the end of it all, I said something like this. No matter what life brings, it is a day-by-day journey to find your sufficiency and your identity, these are my words, in the person of Jesus Christ. No matter what. My God, I had a greater faith when I was a kid. You know why? Because my problems weren't that bad. I might have had a few girl problems, might have had a few truck problems, might have had a few dog problems, but that was about it. Money in the bank, food in my stomach, fit as a fiddle, you know, that kind of stuff. No problems. We can tell of the Lord. Christ tells of the Lord. Paul and Solace praised God in their suffering because they knew Christ is the song. And what was the outcome of that? What was that? Was it an explanation? Was it an apologetic defense? Was it a debate that Paul and Silas did? They just sit down with the jailers and say, hey guys, let me tell you. Let me put it up here on the whiteboard for you. Let me give you some evidence. No, they sang praises. And as they sang praises, they proclaimed the person of Christ in their praises. And God the Spirit regenerated the jailer. Evangelism is not a lesson on academics. It's the work of God to save His people. Blessed is the man, verse 4, who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after lying. You know how I preached that a couple of weeks ago. We don't find sort of what we're looking for, sort of what we're talking about a little bit today. We don't find these These alternative ways. We don't look to the world. We don't find wisdom in alternative ideas. We don't reject the gospel. And say, yeah, that's good, but we need this too. People who continually suppress the gospel, let me say this, let me check that. Believers who continually suppress the gospel because of their pain, or because of their disposition, find themselves in such isolation emotionally and mentally that the only thing they have at the end of the day is a supernatural work of God to impose upon them His presence and purpose and power. And then they're drawn back to the scripture, like Psalm 40 or Hebrews chapter 1 or whatever it may be for you. This verse, chapter four, I mean verse four, encourages trust in the Lord and warns against following the proud or those who believe in lies. But it also foreshadows the teachings of Jesus. The teachings of Jesus, when he taught in the world, he emphasized the importance of knowing God. Doesn't that what Jesus preaches in John 17? This is eternal life, verse three. that they know you, the one true God, and the one whom you have sent." This is Christ. Matthew 5, when Jesus is preaching, I believe the full painting of Christian living. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought of me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God. We must see our spiritual need. Christ saw his spiritual need in his humanity. It was to depend upon the faithfulness and the promises of the Father. He did not put his trust in other things. Look at his wilderness experience, his temptation. Had every opportunity to escape everything and to have this world and everything in it right here. Listen, everything in this world that we accomplish is in the face of eternity. I hadn't done that in a long time. It's a wake up call. Be careful to not lose sight. It's not about this. None of this stays. None of this matters. And none of it will be remembered. None of it. Remember that time I wrote that joke and everybody laughed and peed themselves? No. It's not important. It's like that ant that you didn't see walking into this building on the ground. Verse 5, you have multiplied Oh Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us, none can compare with you. I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. This verse highlights the innumerable deeds, the wonders, and the thoughts of God toward His people. And in doing so, it anticipates the prophetic promise of God's love and grace through Jesus Christ to His people. It talks and discusses and exposes the reality of the resurrection. When Jesus goes into town to raise Lazarus from the dead and all of the faithful there to see, all of his enemies there to ponder, what will he do? He'll make a fool of himself. And he says, Lazarus, come out. Unbind him and let him go. One of the most powerful phrases in John's gospel to me. Because it is what God does for us. He unbinds us and sets us free. This is a wondrous deed. This is Christ. God being rich in mercy, Paul talks about this in Ephesians 2, because of the great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in our sins and trespasses, He made us together, alive with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. And raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable, can't measure it, riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. has multiplied the wondrous deeds of God in perfection. This incredible grace and love for His people, this celebrates Christ. Beloved, we should be in awe of God's wonder and His deeds. We should be in awe of His thoughts toward us. We should be in awe of the fact that the God of creation purposed to reveal His essence by creating this world and the people in it. We are stained by fiction. We are stained by scripts that we think. We are stained in our worship by everything that the world has offered. And beloved, there is no escaping that. We are not going to be able to empty our mind of these things. We are stained in many areas, but at this point, we can stop for a minute and go, wow, I know that I'm not seeing this fully, but one day I will. But for now, I will breathe in the essence of God's glory and I will know that there is so much more that I will know. And until I get it all, In the incomprehensible way that I can't have it, I will tell of what I do know. Verse 6. In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. That's an easy one, right? We go to Hebrews chapter 10 and we saw that, we looked at that even, we spent some time on this. And we see that this is talking about Christ, that all of the shadows and types were not the real, right? It's like if you order a car or something, it's going to be a couple of months before they get it, and they give you a brochure. with the car on it. Or they give you a little model of your car. It's not the car. It's a depiction of the car. It's a representation of what the car will look like. It could even feel like it. It could be even like a 1 to 20 scale. You could open the doors and beep beep, beat the horns and stuff like that. It could be really interesting, but you're not driving it to Savannah. Because someone will take it from you. Or throw a brick through the window. It's not the real. The sacrificial system was never intended to serve any purpose except to point to the perfection of the death of Jesus Christ, the God-man. It was not bulls, it was not goats, it was not any of these things, it was not God saying you must do all this stuff and you must be all these things, you must have this heart and this affection. No, it is not the point. The point of it was to show the futility of we as human beings trying to appease God in any sense. through any act, through any act of worship, through any sacrifice, that there is nothing that satisfies God except absolute justice and justice can only come to me and to you through mercy and mercy is only possible when righteousness is upheld and righteousness is only upheld when Jesus Christ became human and lived a perfect life and loved the way we should have loved and then died an absolute perfect substitutionary death in our place. That's why it's called a good story. Beloved, that's why it's called a good story. Once and for all, a body. I hadn't even gotten to that yet. I'm ahead of myself. It's the next verse, right? God has opened my mouth. He's opened my eyes. He's opened my ears. This is Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews emphasizes this, that Jesus came to do the will of the Father. And in doing so, he abolished the picture of the sacrificial system. Because he himself is the perfect sacrifice. Beloved, Jesus is God's glory. We have seen His glory. Glory is the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus is the only way to know God. And what is it about Jesus that shows us everything we need to know about God? Is that Jesus, though He was God, though He was the creator of the world, though He was the most magnificent and is the most magnificent of all things and the head of all things, He sacrificed Himself. He became nothing. That is our mind, according to Ephesians. And to our Philippians. Paul's right. That is our mind. It's ours in Christ Jesus that we should live in the same way, should act in the same way. Beloved, we, even as Christians, are not grasping the reality of true love in this world. And I will say to you, and I've said this again, in comparison. This is a comparison. This is not a statement of absolute fact. But some people can't handle language that doesn't fit their echo. But there are ways in which unbelievers, I'm not gonna say it that way, I'm gonna be bold enough to say, I know more unbelievers who hate God, who love better than people who claim that they do. I know that, and it's anecdotal. You might say, well, you got a lot of bad folks. They're not bad people in the context of how they love the people around them. And if we know what the scripture says, they're no different than me. And that runs deep, church, and I hope you're ready. Buckle your seatbelts because my applied theology training is about to go into fifth gear. We must understand this. This is the love of God. We're to love one another. We're to love our neighbor. We're to love our enemies as Christ loved us. And I don't want us to stand here and go, oh, this feels so guilty. Okay, we are guilty, but we stand bold before the throne of grace and go, man, there's no condemnation. That's what the love of God does for us in this. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? Why? Verse 7, Psalm 40. Then I said, Behold, I have come, and in the scroll of the book it is written of me. This is so easy. This prophecy, this pointing to Christ, this foreshadows Jesus' arrival, the incarnation, Isaiah, Moses. I mean, look at it. I mean, Jesus himself talks about it in John chapter five. The Pharisees are like, well, you know, Abraham, and we're Abraham, and we're in Abraham, and we're, look at us, look how nicely we're dressed, and look how many Bible verses we know, you know, that old comic strip. Jesus says, you don't know Me, because you're not of Me. You're of your father, the devil. How could Jesus say that? He's God, He's omniscient, He knows them, He has the authority, and He's the only righteous person that's ever walked the earth. So He has the right to make that judgment. Most of the time, people who are hateful, This is a segue here. I mean, I'll segue. This is a side note here. I'll get back into this in a second. Most people are hateful. Do it in the name of Christ. Every piece, let me tell you this, and this is not an exaggeration, every piece of vitriol, disturbing, disastrous, horrible hate that has ever come into my life has come from people who sit in the chairs before me. Not you, but I mean, figuratively speaking, it's come from the church. And most of you that are shaking your heads, you're like, yeah, me too. And the town drunk or the town crackhead sees you on Monday. Hey, Brother James, how you doing, man? I'm destroyed. I'm so sorry. Let me give you a hug. I'm so sorry. Who did this to you? My deacons? Well, that's why I don't even go to church. Good for you. You see, True story. He wasn't a crackhead, but you get the point. Definitely wasn't somebody, anybody who wanted to sit next to them in church. I think the Apostle James had a lot to say about that. The scripture, Jesus says, you don't know me, because you can't hear me, you can't see me, because you're not of me. And they defaulted to Moses and Moses and Moses and Moses. And he said, you know what? If you were of my father, you would know me because Moses wrote of me. I'm written in the scroll. Beloved, we are poor and needy, but the Lord takes note of us. The Lord takes thought of us. Christ Jesus is the epitome of who God is. even in his humanity. This is why I'm not a fan of the Puritans, because they have ruined our society. Because if you step on a roach, it doesn't die, it just sort of squeezes out. And it spreads, and that's what's happened in evangelical culture. We've spread out the garbage. We've stepped on things, and we've stepped on people, and we've spread out the garbage. And Christ is the Redeemer of His people. Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in Luke chapter 4. One of my most favorite things to teach out of that particular gospel too. We've got to do it. Luke chapter 4, let's look at it. I told you this might be a two-parter. Verse 16, and Jesus came to Nazareth where He had been brought up. He went home. Hey, let's throw a parade for Jesus. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day and He stood up to read and the scroll from the prophet Isaiah was given to Him and He unrolled the scroll and He found the place where it was written and He read. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. That's good. He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives in recovering the sight of the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And he rolled up the scroll and he gave it back to the attendant and sat down and all the eyes of the synagogue were fixed on him. In verse 21 it says, And then he says to them, today in your hearing, this scripture has been fulfilled. He's saying, I am. This is me. And it begs us to go on verse 22, and all spoke well of him. Oh, this Jesus, he's from here. He's the blessing. He's going to give us what we want. He's going to give us what we desire. They marveled at his gracious words coming from his mouth, and they said, Is this not the son of Joseph? And he said to them, Doubtless, you will quote to me this proverb, physician, heal yourself. What have we heard at Capernaum? Do here in your own house as well. What happened at Capernaum? The healings and the things. And Jesus said to them, truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut for three years and six months. And a great famine came over the land and killed their husbands. And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath. in the land of Sidon to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman, the Syrian. Now see what's happening here? There's an obligation on the part of these Nazarenes, of these Nazareth people, these Jewish people. This is our Messiah. He owes us this affection. This is ours to claim. Have you ever heard people say that about God? You ever heard people say that about you? And the gospel accounts are full of these things where Jesus goes to His own. He goes to the temple and they throw Him out. The Pharisees run Him off and then He goes to Samaria. He goes to Sychar. And by the Spirit of God, all these wild, crazy, heathen, nasty, garbage people That you can't even walk on the same side of the street according to good godly custom. Jesus brings them to truth. Just like in Elisha's day, just like in Isaiah's day, the people who expected that their reward was owed to them did not get it. And when they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. It's what I'm talking about, the vitriol, just hatred. And beloved, it's not only in our churches, it's in our homes, it's in our communities, it's in our workplaces, it's in our government. And some of us are shielded from it just because of our ability to be shielded from it. Some of us are shielded from it because of our role in society. But the ones who aren't are suffering greatly. Jesus Christ is their deliverer and we as God's people must live as Christ lived. And they filled with wrath and they rose up and they drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill, the cliff, so that they may throw him down the cliff and kill him. And so Jesus, being divine, walks through their midst unseen. And where does he go? Back to Capernaum and heals a lot of people. That's the message. He didn't come for the religious, for the righteous, for the saved, for the healed, for the good. He came for the sick. He came to make Mary Magdalene the premier evangelist. Not John. It should have been John, right? John dared not take that from her. Could he have? He wrote it. He could have done what he wanted to. He exalts that occasion because that is gospel. We need to understand that the scriptures point to Christ. Even the instruction. It's not about earning our place, it's about seeing Christ, knowing John 17 3, knowing Christ, living Christ out. And it is a hard pill to swallow, beloved, when we start to see just the depths of the idolatry of our unlovingness and our selfishness. But we are not condemned. This pulpit is not a place to put you in a place of bondage. It is a place to set you free with joy. Verse 8, I delight to do your will, O my God, your law is within my heart. This foreshadows the perfect obedience of Jesus to the Father and his commitment to fulfilling the will of God, even unto death. Jesus states in John chapter 4, you know, what does he do? He's talking with the woman from Sychar. And she becomes the poster child of the love of God. She becomes the picture of true righteousness through redemption and mercy. And then his disciples come back and they're like, what is he talking to her for? Hey, we got some food. And Jesus says these amazing words. I have food that you don't know about. Remember that? Of course, the English ESV says, that you know not of. We don't talk like that. I have food that you don't know about. And of course, the evangelist is like, what food? In his mind, he dared not say it. He even writes that in. And Jesus continues and says, my food is to do the will of the one who sent me. I get my fullness from obeying my father. That's Psalm 40, verse 8. Verse 9, I've told of the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation. Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. This is the ministry of Jesus proclaiming the gospel of salvation to the coming of God's kingdom. We see it all through the gospel accounts. In Matthew 4, Jesus is all over Galilee, teaching and proclaiming the good news, just like he did there in Nazareth. healing people of diseases, showing His power, showing His love and showing His affection. And as believers, beloved, we should see Christ in that light. We should see that even when we're instructed to do likewise, it is because this is who Christ is. And Christ demonstrates the love of God by showing compassion to others through acts of service and most importantly and most powerfully to the sharing of the gospel. Verse 10, I've not hidden your deliverance within my heart. I've spoken of your faithfulness and of your salvation. I've not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. We saw how David did it. He talked about it. We see that we're told to talk about it. We see Peter telling the Jews in the dispersion to let people know about your hope. Sorry about that. To tell of your hope so that people can know what your hope is. Jesus' life, His teaching, His death, His resurrection, has made known the deliverance of God. Has made known of the faithfulness of God. Has made known of the salvation of God. It is not concealed. The faith is not something to be hidden. that certain types of people in society are privileged to. The faith is Christ, Jesus Christ. Paul talks about this in Romans 10, that believing comes through hearing the Word of God. Verse 11, as for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me. Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me. We know the context there. We know the application there for ourselves, that when we look at the folly of just looking at Christ It doesn't give us any real disciplinary things or practical things that we do. Just looking at Christ and knowing who He is and what He accomplished for us, seeing the gospel face to face in our souls by the Spirit, we find a joy that is often inexpressible. So we can cry out and say that God is not going to restrain mercy. David understood this, but Jesus is the epitome of this. He is the mercy seat. He is the place where God meets humanity. He is the sacrificial lamb. He is righteousness. And when Jesus, I've already read Ephesians 2, God being rich in mercy because of the great love, when Jesus was in the garden, When Jesus was facing the cross, He knew that God's mercy was His hope, that God's promise was His hope, that He was being made the mercy seat. What is the outcome of that for us? What are we to do with that? Are we to do something for God? No. Paul says it right in Ephesians 1. We're to praise him for his glorious grace. Take good inventory. God help me. I hate taking inventory in here. But when we reconcile that inventory with justice, we fail. When we reconcile that inventory with mercy, we live. Verse 12. This is where some people get a little flustered. Oh, this isn't about Jesus. Listen to what verse 12 says. For evils have encompassed me beyond number. Yeah. Evil controlled Christ's life by the purposes of God. pushed him to where he needed to be. That's the point. Evil people hurt God's people. That's the next part. My iniquities have overtaken me. I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head and my heart fails me. Now David spoke the truth there. And if I were to adopt that sentiment and tattoo that on my face, It could never be erased because it would forever be true. We also know David wrote likewise in Psalm 51, right? For my sins and iniquities are forever before me. Cleanse me, O God. Do not hide your face. Do not take your spirit from me. He took inventory, he knew. But how is this Christ? How is Christ seen here? Christ had no sin. He most certainly did not have sin. But all of our sin was placed upon him. personally. He who was sinless bore our sins so that we could become the righteousness of God. So while they were not His personally, they did not attain to His person, for those of you who know what I'm saying, ontologically. an experience, he was not guilty of any sin, but yet he did personally take them on himself. He put them on himself and he credited them to himself so they were his iniquities. as if they were His iniquities. And He died for those iniquities as if they were His iniquities, but they weren't. So the scales of justice and the laws and the courts of righteousness said these were not His sins, but we crucified Him for these sins, so these sins are forgiven, for He was worthy to die in place of these sins. So whose were they? They belonged to those, beloved, who are now free. We're now free. Verse 13, Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me, O Lord, make haste to help me. I believe this foreshadows the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Take this cup from me. He tells his disciples, please pray. Sit here and pray. And they've been up all night. They were tired. Your body gives up. You can't not sleep when you've stayed up a certain number of hours. It just happens. I hit you in the head, you can pass out. You stay up all night, you can go to sleep. This verse illustrates to me the prophecy of Jesus crying out to the Father, take this cup from me. You stay and stand watch and pray, please, I am in great despair. I am grieved in my soul. These are the words of Christ. But not my will but yours. Verses 14 and 15 depicts Christ in this way. Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt. Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, aha, aha, we got you, we count you. How many times does that happen in Christ's life? How many times does that happen in our lives as His people? You're a liar, you're a manipulator, people that tell you what you really believe and feel in your heart. what you really intended. These people don't know, but they love to destroy you, so they do it anyway. And it destroys us. It annihilates our confidence. It destroys our very being. And we are sinners. Imagine the angst and the frustration and the fear and the pain of being the righteousness of God, the Holy Anointed One, being the God on the earth. And being maligned and hated. being accused. They tried to kill Him in His own hometown. They tried to kill Him in Jerusalem. They tried to kill Him everywhere He went. They tried to kill Him in Damascus. They tried to kill Him in Capernaum. They did kill Him on the cross. But they were brought to dishonor when He rose from the dead. Paul talks about this in Philippians. God has exalted Jesus Christ. Though He was God, He did not take that, being God, something to be made known and manifested, but He became nothing, a slave, obedient, even unto death on a cross as a criminal. Therefore, God highly exalted Him and set Him above all things. There's nothing like the hero dying for the villain, the king dying for his enemies, the God dying for his rebellious creation, and then those who hate him one day seeing him back on the throne. Oh! You see the picture of Joseph. That's why I really want to go to Joseph after this. Get intimidated a little bit and then go back down. I want to teach the life of Joseph. I think it's important for us as a church to understand Christ through the eyes of Joseph. But Paul says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess on heaven and heaven and on earth and under the earth that Jesus Christ is Lord. Verse 16, but all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation say continually, great is the Lord. Jesus Christ is our salvation. He is our glory. He is our praise. And we see the marriage supper. Don't get it wrong, beloved. What is Jesus, the bridegroom, doing at the marriage supper? Serving His bride. Sharing His glory. Let that sink in for a minute. an expressible joy. 1 Peter 1. Though we go through trials, though we go through things that hurt, though we go through pain, our faith in Christ, if we listen, if we remind ourselves, if we hear this word this morning, it'll be inexpressible. Like I said earlier, we can't write an essay about why we're joyful, and the joy may feel like sorrow, but there is a sense of hope in the midst of it. because Christ is ultimate. And verse 17 in the final one, to which I will expound a lot next week. Told you 17 points. As for me, I'm poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, oh my God. This verse highlights the reliance of Jesus Christ on the Father. the totality of His ministry. Everywhere you go, in the Synoptics, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and in the Gospel of John, and with the expressions of Jesus throughout the apostolic writing and even the, you know, the church fathers, Polycarp and Clement and others who were mentored by the disciples, by the apostles, we see the expression of Jesus in all of these ways that He always put Himself in subjection to the Father's purposes. And so should we understand ourselves in light of Christ as our Savior, our Deliverer. The Lord takes thought of me by sending His Son into the world for me. Look, this is not maniacal. This is merciful. This is what heroes are made from. This is what stories of superheroes are made from. Go to Matthew 11, and then we're done. Matthew 11, starting in verse... Oh, I'm at Matthew 12, here we go. Matthew 11, starting in verse 25. At that time, Jesus declared speaking. I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Verse 28 is the key. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will, it's a promise, find rest for your souls. Because my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. That's the point of Psalm 40. I pray you see it. I pray you have it. Pray for me as I seek it too. Let's pray. Father, we are grateful that you are wonderful, amazing, loving, powerful. As we come to the end of this teaching, Lord, let it be clear that it is not me as some expert guru standing here with any sense. I am beyond sense at this point in my life. And we are to be in some way, like Paul, out of our minds. Let us hear and see the gospel in such a powerful way. that we can tell it to others. Now, we can't just say, the Lord is my deliverer. Father, I pray for us, for our individual households, and for the lives that we impact and touch, and for our minds as they go into so many things every single day, to think and to seek and to know and to understand. And Lord, there are things that we just are not going to grasp. But you have caused us to grasp your love and you have shown it in Christ. And Lord, there's so many deeper things that we could see in this text and others, but we thank you that you've given us this time that we might see it, that we might meditate on it, that we might know you more and more each day and that we might rejoice in it. Let our peace be expressed to those around us in loving kindness. And patience. Father, an openness to hear other people's pain. To meet other people's needs. To live as a picture of what Christ has done in redemption. In his name we pray. Amen.