Series:
Psalms
Title:
Confidence over Vain Counsel
Text:
Psalm 11: 1-7
Date:
September 13, 2012
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Psalm 11: 1: «To the chief Musician, A Psalm
of David.» In the LORD put I my trust:
This is
the theme of Psalm 11. In the LORD put I
my trust. There are three things we see
in this Psalm. First, those with
God-given faith heed one Counselor—Christ our Counselor. Any counsel that goes against the word of the
Lord is vain counsel. Secondly, the
certainty of our confidence is because “thy God reigneth!” (Is 52: 7) Thirdly,
the believers triumph over all our enemies is certain because of Christ—though
we are “accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through HIM that loved us.” (Rom 8: 36-37) These are the
three things we will focus on in our text tonight in Psalm 11.
Divisions:
1) Vain Counsel; 2) The Believer’s Confidence; 3) Why Triumph is Certain
Title:
Confidence over Vain Counsel
Proposition:
Heed no other counsel but Christ for those who believe on Christ till the end shall
triumph by Christ.
I. THE VAIN COUNSEL
Psalm 11: 1: In the LORD put I my trust: how
say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
The
time this counsel was given to David is difficult to determine because many
times he was urged to flee Saul and even in the day when his son Absalom was
rebelling. And many times David
fled. But David fled in faith. So David seems to be making sure those who
counseled him understood that his trust was in the LORD even when he fled. David appears to be asking, “How is it—what
is your reason, or your motive—for telling me to flee.” He intimates that their
counsel was for vain for two reasons.
First, if the reason they gave him this counsel was
for or because of the craftiness of his
enemies then it was vain. Is this the
reason you tell me to flee—because:
Psalm 11: 2: For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready
their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in
heart.
Secondly,
if it was that since the foundations of law and justice appeared broken up by
Saul’s wicked rule that they felt it was useless to do anything else but flee
then it was vain. Are you throwing up
your hands in defeat, saying…
Psalm 11: 3: If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
Applications: Saul
was wicked. His government was
unrighteous. He was pursuing David intent on killing him. But it was not in unbelief that David was
fleeing. He did flee, but he did so
trusting the Lord. (David had to flee in
order not to die so that he might take the throne later as king over Israel and
establish righteousness. Christ had to
die in order to establish righteousness and take the throne as king over
spiritual Israel.)
We live
in a day where it appears the foundations are destroyed. What can the believer—the sinner made
righteous in Christ—what can he do when it appears that the foundations of just
government in the land is broken up? We can trust the Lord Jesus Christ!
Our enemies are wicked. Their arrows are described as “the fiery
darts of the wicked.”
Our enemies operate “privily”—wolves in sheeps
clothing are described as those “who came in privily to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage. (Gal 2: 4)
False teachers work privily, as Peter says, “there shall be false
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Pet
2: 1) But
brethren, the foundations—the government of Christ our King, our Head—standeth
sure.
What
are all these things to the man whose trust is in God alone? The fearful, doubting, unbelieving heart may
ask, "What can the righteous do?" But the answer of faith is "What
can we not do?" True faith, faith
which trusts in God, erases the word “impossible” from our vocabulary.
Mark 10: 27:…With men it is impossible, but no
with God: for with God all things are possible.
Philippians 4: 13: I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
So any
counsel that would turn us from trusting the LORD—God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit—is vain counsel.
II. GOD OUR SAVIOR IS THE BELIEVER’S
CONFIDENCE
First, the believer’s confidence is the
constant presence of God—Psalm 11: 4: The Lord is in his holy temple.
Many
said to David, “Flee as a bird to your mountain?”—many times David did have to
flee—but he makes sure they understand God is with him wherever he goes—v4: The Lord is in his holy temple
The
believer is the Lord’s holy temple—having been born of the Spirit of God—the
believer is the temple in which Christ dwells—whereever the persecuted believer
goes—v4: v4: The Lord is in his holy
temple—Christ in you the hope of glory.
His
church is the Lord’s holy temple. David fled
Saul’s persecution, David had a host of the Lord’s people travelling with him—the
Lord’s people is his church, not the stone in which we gather—where his people
are is where the Lord is.
2 Corinthians 6: 16:…ye are the temple of the living God;
as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people.
When
this earth melts with a fervent heat—and all false refuge—all earthly mountains
are dissolved--our LORD will still be in his holy temple. So our refuge is not
any earthly mountain--
Proverbs 18: 10: The name of the LORD is a strong
tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Secondly, the believer’s confidence is that
our LORD is absolutely sovereign. Psalm 11: 4:… the LORD’s throne is in heaven.
Carnal
sight says, “lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon
the string,”—faith answers, v4:…“the
LORD’S throne is in heaven.” Let the
enemy bend his bow; let the enemy shoot his arrows. Faith rests in the LORD who
rules our enemies and their arrows. He can turn the enemy and the arrow
another way, and cause it to miss the mark.
Psalm 115: 3: But our God is in the
heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Psalm 2: 1: Why do the heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD,
and against his anointed, saying, 3
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall
laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Thirdly, the believer’s confidence is the
omniscenice—the all-knowing--of our God. While
those looking at the enemy say “but the enemy works in secret, they privily
shoot at the upright in heart.” Faith
says, v4: “his eyes behold, his eyelids
try, the children of men.”
Brethren,
our sovereign, all-knowing King is not ignorant of what is going on, nor is He
a mere spectator. He knows the motives
of every actor in the scene. He rules over all.
Jeremiah 23:24: Can any hide himself in secret places
that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith
the LORD.
Psalm 66:7: He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes
behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.
Fourthly,
the believer’s confidence is that we have the heart of our Savior in all our
affairs. Note these words of feeling—“hateth” and “loveth.” Psalm
11: 5: The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth
violence his soul HATEH. 6: Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and
brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. 7:
For the righteous LORD LOVETH righteousness; his countenance doth behold the
upright.
Has an
enemy come upon you believer? It is not
by accident—the LORD trieth the
righteous. By doing so, the LORD expresses
his love to his child. By suffering Saul
to come upon David, the LORD caused David to flee to the LORD. David would be the king—God was sending him
to kings school. He was teaching David
that no matter how the LORD exalted him and entrusted him with his saints—David
was to look nowhere else but the Lord our King and our Savior.
And the
LORD is not making the wicked do something they do not want to do. Saul was doing exactly what he wanted to do
in persecuting David. Vengeance belongs
to the LORD. He will recompense the
wicked—v5: the wicked and him that
loveth violence his soul hateth. 6: Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire
and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
Psalm
76: 10: Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain.
Application: Therefore, brethren, if the LORD suffers the wicked to
go great lengths in persecuting and distressing us, it is not to weaken, but to
strengthen our confidence in the LORD. The
LORD made that lesson effectual in David’s heart. He always does. David said to
those who advised him to flee that “In
the LORD put I my trust.” Though David fled—he had several opportunities to
destroy Saul—but David trusted the Lord. David trusted that the foundations—the government—is on Christ’s shoulder—our sure
Foundation. And David’s confidence through the whole trial was: 4: The LORD is in his holy temple, the
LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of
men—his own children and the wicked—the Lord will uphold his children.
III. LET’S SEE WHY OUR TRIUMPH IS CERTAIN.
Psalm 11: 7: For the righteous LORD LOVETH
righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
The
truly Upright One is Jesus Christ, God’s own Son. Our Mediator. He is the Righteous one. The
LORD beholds Christ and he beholds all his elect in Christ. (Mark 8)
David is a type of Christ.
·
David faced many of the trials we face, Christ
faced every trial we face.
·
David, like you and I, often stumbled in the
trial, Christ never did—he shall not
fail.
·
David was hunted by wicked men—Christ was
hunted by wicked men.
·
David was given advice to flee and David
fled—Christ was given the same advice but he never fled.
First,
when Christ spoke of going to the cross, Peter told him to flee to the
mountains as they did David.
Mark 8: 31: And he began to teach them, that the Son of
man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the
chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32:
And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
33: But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter,
saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of
God, but the things that be of men.
Luke 4: 8: Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
He said this because in perfect faithfulness, in perfect
love, Christ as the Representative Man was establishing righteousness for his
people—Our faith is faulty, our service to God is faulty, but God receives our
worship and service as perfect because Christ worshipped and served God and his
Father perfectly.
Secondly,
the Upright One did the same in another place when warned by the Pharisees.
Luke 13: 31: The same day there came certain of the
Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill
thee. 32: And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out
devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be
perfected. 33: Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day
following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
The
great sanhedrim only sat at Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem is where they tried and judged and slaughtered the prophets. The Lord said, “I am not alarmed at Herod’s
threats. I have two more days of work to
do. On the third day I will be here in
Jerusalem where I am to die. My life is safe until I arrive at Jerusalem. Go
and tell him, therefore, that I fear him not. I shall work here as long as it
is proper, and shall then go up to Jerusalem to die.” That is where David received his faith, that
is the one in whom David trusted.
Findally, on the cross the Lord was mocked. When David’s enemies spoke, they reviled him
when they said, “Flee as a bird to your mountain.” It was like Christ’s enemies
when he bore our sin on the cross.
Matthew
27: 39: And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40 And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple,
and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God,
come down from the cross. [Flee as a bird to your mountain] 41: Likewise also
the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42: He
saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now
come down from the cross, and we will believe him. [Flee as a bird to your
mountain] 43 He trusted in God; let him
deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. [Flee
as a bird to your mountain.]
Yet,
Christ Jesus the Upright One, trusted God, no less when his enemies reviled
him. God turned his back in justice—darkness covered the earth—Christ yelled,
“It is finished.”
Luke
23: 46: And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
The veil in the temple rent in two:
·
Perfection of holiness
·
Perfection of righteousness
·
Complete atonement made for every elect child
of God
All by the holy faith and love of the Upright
One Jesus Christ the Lord our Righteousness.
Now Christ is King on his Throne and our
Foundations Are Sure.
David
was suffering the attack of wicked Saul that God might make him King over
Israel. Christ the Upright One suffered
the attack of Satan and wicked hands and is now King of kings and Lord of lords
over his spiritual Israel.
Acts 2: 23: Him, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain: 24: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of
death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. 25: For
David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he
is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue
was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27: Because thou wilt not
leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption. 28: Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me
full of joy with thy countenance.
So in our
text in Psalm 11, in the face of his enemies, David looked to Christ, and said,
“In the LORD put I my trust.” The government is on his shoulder—it is not
possible that the foundations shall be
destroyed! The mountain I flee to is v4:
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes
behold. David said this is all my
hope and all my salvation, v7: For the
righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Let’s
go home with this: However great our enemies be; whomever
counsels us to put far from us this trust, resist every whisper of retreat and
cleave to the Lord our Righteousness by faith. Remember the LORD’s faithfulness to
David--Christ set David on a throne over Israel over all his enemies and David
is now with him in glory. And Christ promises us…
Revelation
3: 21: To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as
I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Amen!