If you came to me after the service, telling me that you had a desperate need for $100.00, there is a very good chance that I would give it to you. In the bank at this moment, I have an extra $100.00, and I could give it to you tomorrow. But then let’s say that next Wednesday you came to me with the same request. I might be a little less excited about giving you that money. But if you convinced me that it was once again important, I probably would do it. However, if you kept coming to me and repeatedly asking for that $100.00, I would be less and less likely to help with each passing week. And what is the likelihood I would or could give you that money a year from now, or give you $1000.00?
Just because I might be a blessing to you today, doesn’t mean I could be the same blessing another day. And there might be a lot of reasons: You may not be able to convince me that your need is genuine the next time. And I might not be feeling quite as generous next week as I do today. Or it might simply be that I don’t have any money on that next occasion.
Based upon the blessing I have been to you in the past, you might hope or expect me to be a blessing at some time in the future, but that might not be the case. Or I could tell you that I am a rich, generous, self-sacrificing person, but those words don’t necessarily mean that I am. And even if I wanted to help you, it might be that despite all my good intentions my wife already took my last $20.
But is there any reason why the Lord couldn’t be the same blessing tomorrow that He was yesterday? None! First, He has unlimited resources and $100,000 to Him is less than a penny to any of us. No matter how much He might give to one person, it hasn’t dropped the reservoir of His blessings a single millimeter. Third, since He doesn’t have feelings like human beings, His emotions do not fluctuate up and down. And fourth, He knows exactly what your needs are, so that you don’t have to convince Him in same the way that you might have to convince me.
These sorts of things may lie in the background of this Psalm. We will skim through this rather quickly this evening, because it is so self-explanatory. It is also an easy Psalm to read because it seems to mesh with the heart of the saint – as if we were a pair of perfectly designed gears.
“The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!”
I find it nearly impossible to prepare my messages, without relating them to my own heart and condition. God’s poet, David, does the same thing. So it is up to us to highlight the word “king” and insert whatever word would be most appropriate for us: “The SAINT shall joy in thy strength, O Lord.” This housewife… this student…. this humble servant…. this tax payer…. this tax collector…. Lord, I shall continue to rejoice in thy omnipotence and salvation.
Do we have any right to apply this verse to salvation from sin? Sure, we do. I can’t say for sure it was spiritual salvation David was thinking about, but neither can I say that it wasn’t. One of the ways in which we foolish creatures prove our foolishness is in the way put our joy in little things while we forget the big blessings. We’re like a child who is given the expensive present, but he is more interested in the box in which it came. There is no greater blessing than the deliverance we have from our sins through the grace of God. One of the reasons we don’t recognize or appreciate that fact is because we have yet to smell the fire and brimstone. We cannot comprehend how horrible our sins are in the sight of the holy God. We can’t even extrapolate well enough to see what our earthly lives would be like if the Lord had not given us His grace when He did. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit, David said, “I shall joy and greatly rejoice in your salvation, Lord.”
“Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.”
The preacher should never encourage towards mediocrity, compromise and plebeian, common standards. David was not the perfect example of the perfect man; he was a sinner saved by grace. But that didn’t mean that he didn’t try to raise the bar when it came to teaching God’s truth. I’m sure David did not have his every wish granted and his every prayer answered with a divine “yes.” But while in subjection to the Lord, when he prayed, God NEVER withheld His blessing. When David’s heart was put into the hand of the Lord, the Lord gave him his heart’s request.
As I look at my life, I see myself concentrating far to much in determining what MY needs and desires are. But it is a mistake when we focus primarily on our desires and requests rather than on the Lord. Analyze your prayer life: If it is more about your needs than it is about God and the blessings He’s already given you, then we’re not going to be able to say: “Thou hast given me my heart’s desire, and hast not withholden my requests.”
“For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.”
One of the things which should really impress us is the Lord’s ability to meet our needs before we know we have those needs. How many times have we walked into a problem, and realized that the Lord gave us the solution to this problem the day before? I won’t say it happens all the time, most of the time or even 25% of the time. But it happens just enough that we should be really impressed. Lord, “Thou PREVENTEST me with the blessings of goodness” – your blessings and goodness so very often precede me into my problems.
And David could say, “You have given me a position of honor and importance beyond my wildest dreams.” You and I might not be able to talk about golden crowns – at least not yet. But was David talking about his position as a king over Israel? Or could he have been making prophetical mention of the future coronation of all the saints of God? Maybe the next verse answers that question.
“He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days FOR EVER AND EVER.”
How could David be thinking of mere earthly life here? First, this was obviously written before the end of his life. When all was said and done, he lived an average number of years. But then the reference to living “forever and ever,” certainly takes us to a different kind of life.
“His (the king’s) glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.” What is your greatest possession, remembering you possess nothing which hasn’t been given to you? There may be lots of reasonable answers, but your first ought to be your salvation in Christ. And again, if we knew FROM what it was we have been saved, and UNTO what we have been saved, there would never be any question about the answer to that question. But because we are so near-sighted and silly we usually give less than perfect answers.
“Thou hast made him most blessed for ever.” Where did David get this concept of eternity? This “for ever” is the 145th Biblical occurrence with another 145 to go. I didn’t count the references to “eternity” and other similar terms. These words didn’t begin in the gospels, and they didn’t begin with David. They began in Genesis and before we get to Psalms only Judges, Ruth and Esther lack references to “for ever and ever.” So where did David get this idea? He got it from the Lord. It is Biblical, theological and very, very important. David’s blessings, and yours and mine as saints of God, began in eternity past and will continue into the far reaches of eternity future.
“Thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.” What makes this statement important is that it reminds us to lift our eyes from the golden streets of Heaven to the eternal King of Heaven. Heaven is paradise because there is found the face of the Lord, the smile of God, the blessed countenance of the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. I don’t know about you, but I have no real interest in golden streets and pearly gates. They are curiosities, and I’m sure that I will be properly impressed when I see them, but if Heaven is paved with granite and there are no gates at all, the saint will be just as joyful. What we should really be seeking in Heaven is the countenance and face of the Saviour.
“For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.”
Perhaps from verse 7 through the rest of the Psalm David is thinking of practical, earthly blessings. There is certainly nothing wrong with that, and we could join him in applying God’s blessings to our day-to-day lives. But we could also continue to apply some of the rest of this Psalm to spiritual things. I’m not sure that David was thinking about the eternal nature of his soul’s salvation, but we could certainly preach a sermon about that subject from this verse. For example, there is that wonderful word “mercy” which Paul directly relates to our salvation. And certainly eternal security is a part of what the Lord has done for our soul. That may not be David’s first theme, but then….
“Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.” Notice that David talks about his security amidst the LORD’S enemies. The Lord will reveal, expose and bring down His enemies. And in the process, we are further blessed.
“Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.” Do I detect a faint whiff of brimstone in the air as I read this verse? It doesn’t have to be, because David could be speaking allegorically about God’s earthly judgment of the wicked.
“Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.” This is referring to the children of the ungodly and wicked. Moses spoke about the wrath of God falling on the children of the wicked to the third and fourth generation.
“For they intended evil against thee:
they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.”
Despite the fact that no sinner has strength sufficient to hurt the omnipotent God, they often try. They make their plans; pass their legislations; link their arms and utter their blasphemies. They join Lucifer in his plans to wrest the throne of God away from Jehovah. But they are not able to carry out their mischievous devisings. Doesn’t the word “mischievous” suggest foolish pranks and childish antics? In comparison to the power and authority of the Omnipotent One, the attacks of the wicked are less than mosquito bites.
“Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.” I saw an advertisement for a movie in which two armies were facing one another. One, or both of those armies had so many archers that as the battle began so many arrows were fired that the sun was momentarily blotted out. I’m sure that the effect was created with computer graphics. But assuming that such things have really occurred, can you imagine how terrifying that would be? To have a dozen arrows striking every square foot of ground for hundreds of square yards? Could you have a shield big enough or strong enough to protect you from that? It certainly wouldn’t be wise to turn one’s back in a situation like that. But Jehovah will make His enemies to do just that.
“Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.”
As is often said, the Lord has no need of you and me, for any reason whatsoever. He doesn’t need to save us; He doesn’t need our worship or praise. And He certainly doesn’t need our muscle or ability. He will be glorified and exalted through His own strength.
David begins this Psalm by referring to some of the Lord’s past blessings. And then he looks toward the future, and implies that what the Lord has done He will continue to do. And he also says, “What I have done in praising your Name, I will continue to do.” “Be thou exalted, LORD, so will we sing and praise thy power.”