Salvation and Protection in Him

[00:00:01] Lord God, our most merciful father, the one who loved us, the one who not only drew us to himself, but made it a sweet and wonderful thing to do. So you have made us for yourself. [00:00:13] We are only happy. We can only find our rest when we rest in you. Lord, you have given us your word as a guide that we may know how we are to live, that we may know who you are, and that we may know what you have done for us and what you promised to do for us both now and to the end of days. Lord, as we go now to your word this morning, I pray that your spirit would be with us, that your love, which drew us in at the first, would be with us all the more this morning, that we would grow deeper, not just in our understanding of who you are, but in our love for who you are. Lord, I pray that you would guide my words, that they may be true to the word, that they may be helpful for all of us. Lord, I pray that you would incline the hearts of every single one of us, that we may again more fully know and love all of who you are. It is in your son's name that we pray these things. Amen. [00:01:06] Hear now the word of God from psalm three. [00:01:12] O Lord, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in Goddesse. But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord. Save me, o my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people. Amen. Please be seated. [00:02:03] One of my favorite figures of the 20th century is a man by the name of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. And if you're not entirely sure how to spell that, don't worry. I think I misspelled it just about every time I was preparing my sermon this particular week. [00:02:18] Nonetheless, he has an absolutely incredible life story. [00:02:22] When he was younger, he served as a captain in the Red army for the Soviet Union, fighting against the Nazis in world War two. At the time, he was an avowed atheist. He was a committed Marxist. He believed in the humanist project of the Soviet Union, that they would be able to bring in the perfect society if they purged it of God. But because he had the gall to criticize that society for being anything other than perfect. Already he was thrown in prison. He spent over a decade there in some of the worst conditions imaginable. One thing that he recounts, he spent a couple of weeks in a cell that was only about two and a half feet by two and a half feet. It wasn't large enough for him to lay down in. He had to stand up and sleep and to learn how to do that. Many people, understandably, I think, went insane under these conditions. But for Solzhenitsyn, there was something outside of him that was able to sustain him. He thought back up on his earlier life. His parents were committed christians and had taught him to be a Christian. And though he did not know God, he came to know God while in this horrible, terrible place, this gulag archipelago, that he would later describe becoming a Christian. He would continue to criticize the Soviet Union. He would say that the nation had forgotten God, and that was why so many bad things were happening. And so he proudly and repeatedly criticized the very people who had thrown him in prison for over a decade. His work became very popular. It got much attention in the west as we looked towards the evils of the Soviet Union. At one point, he was invited to Stockholm so that he could accept a Nobel prize for literature. [00:04:03] And one might imagine that in Solzhenitsyn's case, he was very quick. He would be eager to get out of that country, the country that had imprisoned him, the country that had probably attempted to kill him a couple of times. [00:04:15] But in fact, he didn't go. He didn't go not because he was afraid something would happen, but he was afraid that he wouldn't be let back in. He was so committed to working with these people, these people that he thought God had called him to be a messenger against that. He refused to leave. Eventually, he was exiled, and he stayed outside of the Soviet Union for some 16 years. But when relaxation happened, when the thawing happened, reforms under Gorbachev, he was allowed back in, and he went back in, and he stayed in Russia until he passed away in 2008. He spent his whole life right in the belly of the beast, right between the jaws of the alligator, if you will, loudly and consistently criticizing the people who had thrown him in prison for a decade for doing the same thing. And so I wonder what sort of thing could convince a man not just to be able, not just to be willing to be there, but to be eager to be there. I believe Solzhenitsyn knew that God was with him, that God protected him as much in this terrible place as he would anywhere else. And so he was confident. He was able to say, like David here in this psalm, that though many thousands be about him, who would seek ill of him, God was with him. He was always in the presence of God. And he knew that God saves and protects his own. God saves and protects his own. I believe that is the main thing that we have to see here in the psalm this morning. God saves and protects his own. There are three things that I want us to draw from this as we consider that God saves and protects his own. The first is that since God saves and protects his own, therefore do not fear the accuser. As God saves and protects his own, do not fear the accuser. I neglected to mention in my reading just a moment ago that this is a psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son. This is a very important element. This is in fact part of the scriptures. It's not just our commentary on it. This is the word of the Lord that psalm three was written when David fled away from Absalom, his son. And so we have to consider in order to understand everything that David is saying here. What does it mean for him to be fleeing from Absalom? [00:06:37] Well, David confesses, how many are my foes? Many are rising against me. If we read those chapters in two, Samuel, where Absalom first rises up, its completely by surprise. Absalom and David had a difficult relationship. We'll get more into that in just a little bit. But there had been restoration. David had certainly forgiven Absalom. He had embraced him and kissed his son. And so there should have been a right relationship between the two of them. But Absalom conspired behind his father's back. He took upon himself the right to judge things that were happening in Jerusalem, to be a judge, adjudicating disputes between people when they would come to have those cases settled. So Absalom secretly builds up support for himself and all at once he rises up against David. And so David surely feels that there are numerous foes that have suddenly surrounded him, that are rising against him. Other translations say that they are camping around him, right, that he's almost surrounded. And surely he must feel that his foes are so numerous that he must flee Jerusalem. His foes are rising up so suddenly that those he thought were his friends are now on the side of Absalom and are, in fact seeking to kill David. [00:07:58] So he has numerous foes. He has many that rise against him. Listen to what he describes these foes as. Though this is very interesting, he says, many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. When he characterizes these foes, when he's talking about those who have surrounded him, who have forced him to flee from Jerusalem, who are seeking now to kill him, what his first thought is, the first way to describe them, is that they are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. [00:08:32] John Calvin points out that the little preposition here we have is of might be more to my soul. And maybe both of these foes are opposing David and saying of him. But they may also be attempting, and I think this is what our verse is driving at, to drive him to despair. They want to convince David that there is no salvation for him in God. They want to convince David that both physically, now temporally, he is going to die, that his God will not save him. But perhaps also they are trying to drive. In a further point, Absalom surely thinks that he is just in what he is doing. [00:09:14] If we go back again to second Samuel, what we see is that the whole reason why David and Absalom's relationship is disrupted in the first place is in part because of David's sin. [00:09:27] What had happened to disrupt the relationship between David and Absalom was that Absalom killed one of David's sons, Amnon. But Absalom didn't just kill because he felt like it. In fact, he was taking revenge. Surely it was rash. Surely it was also an unjust thing to do. But what had happened was Amnon had behaved in a very shameful way to his sister Tamar. And so, seeing that nothing was being done, Absalom took matters into his own hands and took vengeance for Tamar and struck down Amnon of his own accord. In fact, when David hears of this, there's a change in his heart. No longer is he afraid, no longer is he angry. When David hears why, we are told that David wants restoration with Absalom, that he hopes that he can be brought back to his son. Though his son had done wrong, he saw also that he had done wrong. He repented of it, and he hoped that the two of them could still be restored. In fact, their relationship was restored. Absalom eventually comes before David. He lays down David, kisses him, he embraces him. As we've just said, their relationship ought to have been restored. There was forgiveness, there was this confession. And so perhaps Absalom and those who follow him are really genuinely thinking we are the ones who are just because David does not execute justice. [00:10:51] But of course, this language, this accusation does not take into account what repentance, what restoration really looks like throughout the entirety of the scriptures. [00:11:02] For our Lord tells us that though we were guilty and that though we are people who had raised themselves up against God, if we confess, he is what? If we confess our sins, he is faithful and he is just to forgive us our sins. For if we have confessed, if we have thrown ourselves upon the mercy of God, if we have sought that restoration, surely he also seeks restoration. And so once restoration is established, it is only a thing of justice for the two to be made right again. [00:11:33] Because Christ has accepted our punishment, because God has reached out to us. If we respond back in faith, then it is just for God to, to accept us in his sight. [00:11:46] And so when there had been restoration between Absalom and David, when they had buried the hatchet, when they had forgiven each other's sins, you would hope, you would expect, you would know that rightly this was behind them, that the sins had been forgiven. [00:12:03] And yet they seek to accuse. They seek to bring down an accusation that David is yet still unjust. [00:12:14] This is the way that not just Absalom and his people behave, but also this is the way that we see the great enemy of God's people, the way that we see Satan behave. For Satan just means the accuser, he's nothing other than someone who will stand before you, stand in your conscience and say that though you have confessed, though you have gone to God, though you have ardently and diligently sought his help, perhaps you are too far gone from God. Perhaps the sins that you have committed are too great, that God could not reach out to you. Perhaps the sins that you continue to commit, even though you claim to be a Christian, are a sign that you never knew God, that he never knew you, and that, in fact, you should just give this whole thing up. This is what we are shown in the book of Zechariah, chapter three. There's this fascinating scene where the high priest appears in the court of God and Satan, the accuser stands there and makes accusations against the high priest. And what's remarkable is that as he's accusing the high priest, in fact, there is a sense in which the high priest is not able, he's not worthy to stand before God. Because what we find out is that the high priest is standing there covered in filthy robes. [00:13:31] But what happens is the angel of the Lord comes forward and we are told that sins are purified, that those filthy clothes are removed, and that indeed, righteousness is put on that clean clothes are put on worthy of a high priest, so that when we go to God, though the accusation of sin is absolutely true, God takes the prerogative towards us. He protects us from indeed the consequences of our own actions. He holds back his judgment, and he makes us worthy to stand in his sight. There is still salvation in God because he takes the prerogative, and indeed he takes the prerogative to respond to the accuser's claim and to protect us from ourselves. For though we may see in this, there are many different things that God protects us from, surely he must first protect us from our own sinful hearts. For we are born in opposition to God. We are born without any hope of loving God of our own accord. [00:14:37] But it is God who must draw near to us. It is God who silences the mouth of the accuser, who says to him, the Lord rebuke you. [00:14:46] And so we see that carried out in these next couple of verses. We see how David describes not just those who are against him him, but the way that God, almost one to one, responds to each of these things. You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. There are many foes, but the Lord is a shield. The Lord is one who does not just protect, but one who protects by taking blows. [00:15:20] Surely it is God's son himself, Christ, who is himself, God, who took on the blows of our sin. For us he is now the Lord is our glory, the lifter of our head. There may be many who are conspiring against us, who surround us, who rise against us and seek to triumph over us. But the Lord will lift our heads, for it is in him that we are able to be glorified. It is he who glories in us, and we who glory in him. And look to verse four also I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill David may be fleeing Jerusalem. He may be running away from the temple of God, and his foes may be saying, there is no salvation for him in God. But what though he be driven out of the city, though many say things against him? If he cries to the Lord, then the Lord is faithful to answer from his holy hill. Wherever David may be, wherever difficulties he may be facing, the Lord is there to answer him from his holy hill. For salvation has been given to David by God, and so we should not fear the accuser. [00:16:37] Oftentimes when we think of God, when we think of who God the Father is and who God the Son is and who God the Holy Spirit is. We can imagine for ourselves that God is the accuser. We can imagine that God the Father is a just judge who is waiting for the right opportunity to bring down crashing upon us the weight of all of our sins. We imagine that he is a just judge who is looking down on a sinful and broken people and who would really like to punish us except for this false protection that has just been put up before us, that prevents God from really seeing us the way that we are. We imagine that when Christ covers us, there is just this thin veneer that has been put over us that makes it look like we're good. But in reality, we're still the same sinner that we were before. [00:17:28] But God the Father is no accuser. In fact, he is the one who started the whole mission. It was he who loved us. It was he who chose us before the foundations of the world. It is he who sent Christ to save us from our sins. Does our lord not tell us that he does not come to do his own will, but the will of the one who sent him? [00:17:49] Christ is only here because the father, because the one who is the judge loved you from the beginning. He has chosen you. If you are his people, there is nothing that he will not do to bring you to him. He will send his own son to die for a guilty people who deserved nothing other than his displeasure, simply because he loved him. And for those of us who accept Christ, we've just read in the scriptures that it is by his wounds we are healed. He carries away, he bears off our afflictions, our sins, everything that had made us unworthy to stand before God the father is placed on him. It is true of us no more. We are now a new creation. [00:18:35] And so when we are accused, it is not the father who accuses us. When we are convinced that our sin is too great, that God could not possibly want a relationship with us, it is not God who is saying that to us. [00:18:51] When we feel the weight of our sin, when we feel that God even has left us in our sin, when God has left us to be targets of his displeasure, this should not give us despair. All it should do is make us run even faster to God. [00:19:07] For if he drew us to himself, then he loves us. And his love is consistent. For God does not change. And so if you feel the weight of your sin, if you think, how is it possible that I could be a Christian when I continue to do this, when I continue to speak to my family, this way, when I continue to behave this way, when I continue to do those things that I hate, how could it still be that God loves me? [00:19:33] Don't sit there in it and think that it might be possible that God has left you, that God does not love you. Only run back to him, faster. For your father is delighted when his children turn from what is wicked, when they seek to do what is good, when they confess all of their sins to him. For indeed, God saves and protects his own. God saves and protects his own. Therefore, we do not fear the accuser, and therefore also do not fear providence. Second thing that we see that we ought not fear this morning is that we do not fear providence. [00:20:12] Let's look especially to verses five and six. David says, I lay down and slept, and I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who set themselves against me. All around, we have spoken already about how God has loved us, about God has called us to himself, about how God has gone to great expense to take away our sins. And we must remember that that same God who went to such a great measure to save us and to make us his own for the very first time, is also the same God who orders the entire universe. There is nothing that is outside of his providential grasp. [00:20:56] There's no maverick molecule. We're told right, there is no part of this creation that is outside of God's ordering. And we know that God is for us. So if God is for us and he orders the creation, then whatever is happening in this creation must be a part of his plan, it must be a part of his control. [00:21:18] David makes this observation by, I think, appealing to a very simple truth. I lay down and slept. I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. David is not just in a period of war, but in a period of perhaps what we might call a shadow war. Every one of his enemies is revealing themselves, but perhaps there's another enemy behind a corner. Surely every waking moment you would be tense, wouldn't you, if there were so many people seeking to kill you? And yet David makes a simple observation. A third of the day, he is completely vulnerable. He lays down and he sleeps. When you sleep, your eyes are closed, you are unarmed, you are unarmored, you cannot watch around for yourself. If the people standing out watch for you go in to kill you, that's it. [00:22:12] Surely the only thing that could allow David to fall asleep and to wake back up again is because the Lord is sustaining him. [00:22:22] But while God's protection is very visible at this brief moment. In this particular moment of obvious vulnerability, we see also that the Lord continues to sustain us at all times. It is this conviction that allows David to sleep, not just to lie down in his bedev and be anxious. It is also this conviction that allows him to not be afraid. When many thousands of peoples have set themselves against him all around, he knows that he is vulnerable, that it is only the Lord who sustains him. And so there is no moment where God is not sustaining David less than any other. He understands, as surely as Solzhenitsyn did, that God could take him at any moment. God could take him walking through Moscow. God could take him hiding away in the middle of nowhere. Because everything is ordered according to God's providence. Everything is ordered according to God's timing. And if God is for us, then it should be comfort to us that whatever happens, whatever enemy is against us, they can do nothing except what God has told, what God has said. [00:23:34] If God protects us always, we ought not fear tens of thousands. Indeed, when we think about it, when we recognize how powerless we are over the major milestones of our own lives, we might understand that it is not to us that providence is given. It is unto the Lord that providence is given. For surely none of us chose the day of his birth. None of us chose any of the health difficulties that we have had over the course of our lives. None of us chose. None of us will choose the time that we will die, though, unless the Lord comes back quickly, we all have a time that we will die. None of us can be confident of when that is. And furthermore, none of us can set that time for ourselves. It is God alone who determines such things. It is all set apart from our control. And indeed, it is not just true of our own lives, it is true of all of providence. God has set everything in his will, cannot be overturned. There is nothing that man can do in opposing God, that he has not foreseen from all eternity, that he has not even incorporated into his plan. [00:24:41] And when we think of that plan, when we think of how God has ordered things, oftentimes we fall again into this thought process, that it is all done perhaps for the greatest good, that it is all done in light of his higher glory, and surely it is all done for his higher glory. But what do the scriptures tell us? Scriptures tell us that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. The scriptures don't end with all things work together for good. They could have. That would have been a good plan. If all things work together for the highest, the ultimate good, surely we could praise God for it. But we are told more than that. We are told that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to God's purpose, that whatever is happening in Providence, whether it be obvious to you that you are vulnerable, whether tens of thousands have surrounded themselves against you, or whether you are sitting in the most peaceful time you could possibly imagine, it is the Lord who sustains you. It is the Lord who is seeking your good in that moment. [00:25:45] And so, brothers and sisters, we should live our lives free from fear of Providence. [00:25:53] Oftentimes, when great things happen, when we look down the possibility of our society that is overturning God's law, a society that hates God, that hates God's messengers more and more, and we fear for ourselves and we fear for our children, we can understand that there are anxieties, and surely we should seek to live in a peaceable society, in a society that loves God and his law. But if indeed the society turns away from God, if indeed it is a harsh turn, that one that would seek to persecute christians, God is working all things for our good. And it is good that we think of that even now, even when we are not staring down the reality of suffering for Christ, that we understand that we prepare ourselves to be ready for that day where we are indeed called to suffer greatly for Christ. [00:26:46] Because if we understand it now, if we incorporate it into ourselves now, if we know and we think and we meditate upon the way that God's providence is for every one of us, then when that time of suffering comes, we will be all the more ready to face it. [00:27:02] So also, when we look down the realities of death, as that comes for all of us, remember that it is an opponent. The Lord tells us that it is not a thing that is supposed to be here in this world, but the death is really the last great opponent. Brothers and sisters, if you are killed for the gospel, you win for you are then in the presence of your lord. There is nothing that they can do to you that will not bring you closer to God. [00:27:33] And when we consider our death, even on our own, even by natural terms, surely this also is just the last moment, the last opponent, before we make it to God. [00:27:45] I love this image that's in the end of pilgrim's progress, where we followed Christian along a great many difficulties and journeys. And we can see now the celestial city that's just across the river. But he understands that in order to get to the celestial city, he first has to pass through the river. And his guide tells him that only two have ever made it across, that it is Elijah and Enoch, that all of us must pass through death in order to come to God's kingdom. But death has lost its sting by Christ's victory. There is nothing death can do that will not again bring us closer to the Lord who loves us, who called us, who has ordered all things together for our good. So because God saves and protects his own, do not fear the accuser, and do not fear providence. [00:28:40] A third point that we want to see this evening. Do not fear the accuser, do not fear providence. Finally, do not fear any opposition, for the Lord is sovereign even over opposition. Let's look again to verses seven and eight. [00:28:55] Arise, O Lord. Save me, o my God, for you strike all my enemies on the cheek. You break the teeth. The wicked salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on his people. When we read this psalm, that language of breaking the teeth might stand out to us. That is remarkably violent, potent language. It makes us a little bit uncomfortable. What does it mean for God to break the teeth of the wicked? Well, I think there's two things that are being drawn attention to. It's not just that God is punishing people justly, that God is bringing judgment upon his enemies, though that's certainly a part of what's going on here. What is it in particular about their teeth? [00:29:37] Well, if we look earlier, what are those foes doing? The foes are saying to David, there is no salvation for him and God. And so when God strikes them on the mouth, when he breaks their teeth, he is preventing them from doing the very thing they had just done. He is preventing them from continuing to bring David to despair. He is stopping them. He is removing their power. He is, if you will, taking the bite out of what they have. When he breaks the teeth of the wicked, he has removed all ultimate power from them. God has removed the enemy's force. [00:30:14] We spoke just a little bit about how death was the last great opponent. Indeed, now the greatest power that our enemies have is to send you to the perfect peace of our Lord. Surely that is in one sense breaking the teeth of the wicked. [00:30:29] And in another sense, when we are surrounded on all sides, the Lord continues to be with us, for his spirit has been promised to be with us. [00:30:38] Our Lord has told us that he will be with us even unto the end of the age. And though he is not right now physically with us, surely his spirit is with us. His spirit is there as a comforter, as an urger that he would bring us comfort even when there is no reasonable reason for it, even when we don't have anything in this life that would be able to bring us comfort, God provides a peace that passes understanding. [00:31:07] Indeed, David brings attention to this great comfort. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be on your people, he says. [00:31:18] Salvation belongs to the Lord. And if we know and if we understand that, if God is for his people, if we know and we understand that God has brought his people to themselves at great cost, that God has ordered everything for the good of his people, then when we hear those words, salvation belongs to the Lord, we don't just hear that God has that divine prerogative. We don't just hear that he is sovereignty, but we hear a sweetness in it. [00:31:46] For it is God who has chosen us. It is God who has brought us to himself. And when we say that salvation belongs to the Lord and not to us, it is a comfort because we are a people who would turn away from the Lord were it not for him. But salvation does not belong to us. Salvation belongs to the Lord. He has defeated sin. He is now over, and he is broken the teeth of the accuser. He has sought our good. He has shown us that everything that happens in Providence would only ever be for our good. And Christ now reigns as king. Our shorter catechism tells us that the first thing he does is that he subdues us to himself, but that he rules over us, he defends us, and that he restrains and conquers all of his and our enemies. For if we are gods, if we are one of his people, and if we align ourselves to his will and we understand that salvation belongs to the Lord, then the only people who are our enemies are God's enemies. Again, if we are aligned to who God is, then God's enemies and our enemies are one and the same. And we know that God breaks the teeth of the wicked, that he will bring judgment upon those who seek nothing but to hurt his people and to insult God. [00:33:08] And so when we look at this psalm, when we consider who God is and who God is for his people, we should understand. And if we are not in Christ, we should be anxious. [00:33:20] We should recognize that because salvation belongs to the Lord, we cannot hope to deliver ourselves, not just in this life, when many people stand up against us, when tens of thousands surround us, surely we should not have an earthly hope if we were outside of God. But if we look also to what happens at death, what happens after death, how can there be any triumph if we are not God's own and so if you this morning do not know who Christ is, if you have not claimed him as your own Lord, if you have not claimed him as your savior, this psalm should not be a comfort to you. Yet you should look at this and you should be anxious that you have set yourself against God, that you look to others and say that there is no salvation for them, because God's judgment will come, surely not just in this life, but in the life to come. [00:34:11] But, brothers and sisters, Christ's gift is open to all. And if we accept him as our Lord, if we confess the name of Christ and believe that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. [00:34:25] For salvation belongs to the Lord. And if he has chosen you, if he has brought you to yourself, and if you respond in faith, you are true, truly his. And so we can believe that the Lord is reigning even now, even when we look out and we see a world that we barely recognize, when we are afraid what people in our job will say if they find out the truth of who we are, if we even see injustice that happens within the church, where we see God's own people falling into sin and we are inclined to despair, we should recognize that God reigns still, that God's salvation is coming to his people, and that indeed God's blessing will be upon his people. Let's pray. [00:35:13] Lord God, we thank you, for you are mighty to save. [00:35:17] You have not left us to ourselves, but you have given us a way out. And indeed, by your spirit, you have empowered us to know who you are. Lord, I pray that we would believe that you are with us always, even unto the end of the age. Lord, I pray that we would incorporate that into our person, that we would not be afraid when many thousands surround us, when many rise up against us, when many accuse us and say that there is no hope of salvation for us in the Lord, help us to understand that it is not our own actions but yours that have saved us. [00:35:49] Lord, I pray that you would give us comfort, that you would give us perfect peace, for indeed, you do keep us in perfect peace. [00:35:56] Lord, we thank you for your gifts. It is in your son's name that we pray these things. Amen.