Series: Psalm
Title: The Faith of Christ
Text: Psalm 27: 1-14
Date: March 05, 2017
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Psalm 27: 1: « A Psalm of David. »
David penned this; David experienced this—like you and I experience this as God’s child. But these are the words of Christ. I am persuaded from what he says in this Psalm that this was the heart-prayer of our Substitute during the three hours of darkness on the cross, when he was surrounded by enemies and forsaken of God.
In the last two verses, he tells us this was a time when he was suffering death. He had fainted unless he had believing the LORD God. He believed the LORD God’s promise that after the work of the cross was finished, after carried our sins to the land not inhabited as our scapegoat, the he would see the LORD Jehovah in the land of the living by the resurrection from the dead.
Psalm 27: 13: I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Christ Jesus is the one typified in the scapegoat who bore away the sins of his people to a land not inhabited. So as he suffered separation on the cross, for a long time as he hung in darkness, he communed with his own heart, telling himself this most important lesson which we all must learn as believers.
Psalm 27: 14: Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
How can this Psalm be the Lord Jesus Christ depending so entirely on the Jehovah? Christ Jesus is the Son of God. He is equal with God. But when he took flesh, he took the form of a servant. (Php 2)
What is a servant of God? Adam was the first representative man. Adam was in the form of servant. His responsibility was to submit to God and depend upon God for all things. But he sinned and therefore we all died in Adam.
Christ is the last Adam representing his people. When he took the form of a servant his responsibility was the same. As a servant Christ had to submit to God and depend upon God for all things. But Christ was obedient even unto the death of the cross. And that is the death our Lord was suffering as his heart spake these words, “[I had fainted,] unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
Brethren, this Psalm shows us “the faith of Christ” as he hung on the cross. This is “the faith of Christ” by which the believer is justified.
Galatians 2: 16: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
This is the faith of Christ by which we live. Christ lives in us. By his faithfulness to us, we are kept believing and by him our faith is sustained.
Galatians 2: 20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
So let’s go through Psalm 27 and let me point out a few things concerning the faith of Christ by which we are justified. Then we will try to look at our faith is sustained by this faith of Christ working effectually in us.
NO CONFIDENCE BUT THE LORD
Psalm 27: 1: The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2: When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3: Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
The faith of Christ was in no other confidence but the LORD Jehovah. As he hung there in those three hours of darkness, all was dark, thick darkness. To any eye but the eye of faith it looked like he had perished. It looked like he had no strength to bear up under the wrath of God. Yet Christ said, “The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
It does not matter if my lot is dark, my surroundings are dark, if I can only see darkness. My light is not any of those things—“The LORD [is] my light.” It does not matter if the natural eye sees me perishing or if it appears to me that I am perishing—“the LORD is my salvation.” It does not matter if the flesh is weak—“the LORD [is] the strength of my life.”
The Lord Jesus remembered what his LORD Jehovah had just done for him, “When the wicked, [even] mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.” After Gethsemane, when the host of enemies came to arrest him, “As soon then as he had said unto them, I am [he,] they went backward, and fell to the ground.” (Jn 18: 6)
So when our Substitute looked at his present condition on the cross he said, “Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident—“The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”
This is the perfect faith of Christ which honored and exalted the LORD Jehovah as he bore our sin and judgement in total darkness on the cross.
The past two days have been very dark and lonesome for me. God has been so far away and my enemies so near. There has been no relief anywhere I turn. I never experienced this. Yet, in the midst of it—strangely, I have had an abiding confidence—not in myself, not in anyone or anything around. It’s all dark, no salvation in my flesh or anything around me, my flesh is utterly weak. But my confidence has been, “The LORD [is] my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD [is] the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this [will] I [be] confident.”
Someone might say, “You must have strong faith!” No. Our faith and confidence in Christ is sustained one way—“the life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” The very same “faith of Christ” by which we are justified which we see in this Psalm as he hung on the cross is the faith of Christ by which we are sanctified and our faith is sustained. He had no confidence but the LORD and he makes us have no confidence but him.
NO DESIRE BUT THE LORD
Psalm 27: 4: One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. 5: For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6: And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
The faith of Christ desired and sought for uninterrupted communion with the LORD Jehovah even when he was temporarily denied that communion on the cross. He said,“One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.”
The very reason the Son of God was made flesh for us was to secure for his people everlasting, eternal communion with God. But to accomplish that he had to satisfy the justice of God. In order to satisfy justice he had to bear our sins. When our sins were found on him, God had to turn his back on him in justice.
When our Substitute hung in darkness cut off from God in justice “believing he would once again see the goodness of God in the land of the living”, he had that perfect faith while seeing only the wrath of God as he bore sins of his people to the land not inhabited. (Ps 27: 13; Le 16: 22)
But the perfect faith of Christ believed without wavering, reminding himself of the Father’s covenant promise, “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.” God the Father promised to raise him as the glorified GodMan when he finished the work. While he suffered separation from God to accomplish it, he never ceased believing the promise of God toward him.
He not only desired that communion, he said, “that will I seek after.” He sought it by going to the cross bearing the sins of his people to glorify God and justify his people from our sins. He sought that communion by believing perfectly that he would very presently have the Father’s help just as God promised in eternity—“And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.”
At last, God honored the pure faith of our Redeemer by lifting him up above all his enemies.
Ephesians 1: 21: Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Brethren, when we feel cut off, we are never cut off because Christ perfected obedience and put away our sins forever. He says, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” But how often we would forsake him if left to ourselves. Why don’t we? “Christ liveth in me and the life I now live I live by the faith of Christ who loved me and gave himself for me.” It is by Christ faithfully working in us and sustaining our faith by his perfect fidelity that he makes us desire and seek after one thing—Christ himself!
The first hour he entered and convinced us of our sins. We were like the rich, young, ruler. We thought we had kept the law from our youth up. We were good, we thought! Then Christ spoke into our hearts and said, “One thing thou lackest. Sell all you have and give it to the poor and follow me—then you shall have riches in heaven in me!” (Mk 10: 21) He made us sorrowful when he made us see we were covetous and had never kept the law. We were covetous for the glory that goes to him for being the one law-keeper of his people. We were covetous for our works and our riches to be praised. But by the faith of Christ working in us, he made us cry out at last, “One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. He will hide me in Christ and lift me up above all mine enemies in him.”
Then after he first gave us sight, our former religious companions and so-called friends called Christ an imposter. We would have surely perished in unbelief. But by the faith of Christ sustaining us, he made us cry out like the blind man, “One thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. One thing I desire and one thing I will seek after, to dwell in Christ all my days!”(Jn 9: 25)
So many times since we have become “cumbered about much serving”. When we become bitter and say, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister and my brethren have left me to serve alone? bid them therefore that they help me.” Oh, how our tender Savior remains faithful to us, speaking in our heart, “Clay, Clay thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: come now, chose that good part, which shall not be taken away from you.” (Lu 10: 40-42) From his faith to our faith, he makes us cry out, “One [thing] have I desired and that will I seek after, to dwell always in my Lord Jesus Christ!”
Foolishly, we sometimes look back at our past and become downcast by our unfaithfulness. But the faith of Christ never wavers toward us. He turns us again and brings us cry out, “I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the one mark for the one prize because one thing have I desired and that will I seek after, the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Php 3: 13-14)
From the first hour, every hour, till the last hour, it is the faith of Christ to keep us ever turned to him in faith, saying in our hearts, “One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. He will hide me in Christ and lift me up above all mine enemies in him.”
NO CRY BUT TO THE LORD
Psalm 27: 7: Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8: When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. 9: Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10: When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. 11: Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12: Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.
The faith of Christ never ceased calling on the LORD Jehovah even when the only answer he received was the silence of divine judgment. “Hear, O LORD, [when] I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.”
God’s perfect servant could cry his own perfect obedience to the Father and expect the Father to answer him because of it, “[When thou saidst,] Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. [Now, o Father] Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation….Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, [open heaven and raise me up] because of mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: [to perish forever] for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty.”
When he cried “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?” he then vindicated God’s justice for forsaking him. He said, “But thou [art] holy, O God.” “But I [am] a worm and no man.” (Ps 22: 1, 3, 6) In Psalm 27, Christ did the same. He vindicated God for forsaking him. Christ declared the just judgment of God and the faithfulness of God, by saying, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.”
Two things are declared here.
He declared the faithfulness of God. Even while forsaken in divine judgement, our Redeemer glorified the LORD Jehovah as the only faithful one. Even those who brought him up and cared for him all his days on earth were not as faithful as God to him.
Also, he declared the just judgment of God. He said, “When my father and mother forsake me.” I realize Joseph was not his real father. But Joseph loved him. I expect Joseph and Mary were among the last ones to stop looking to that cross as the son they loved hung there. By the time they left him for dead, it was a long time. But Christ had to hang on that cross until at last justice was satisfied. Christ declared that when everyone who loved him most had forsaken him, when divine justice was satisfied, then the Lord will take him up! Because God is just! His law must be honored! Justice must be satisfied.
When you and I complain over our light affliction, Christ comes again and reminds us, “When your mother and father forsake you, then I will raise you up.” When at last he makes us see he is the Faithful One, when at last he makes us see he is the Just One, then he will raise us up. And once again we will cry by his faithfulness—“One thing I desire and will seek after, Christ my Lord!”
By the faith of Christ, he makes us his witnesses after our chastening. So I will tell you what Christ taught me, these past few days, “[I had fainted|, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. By his faithfulness Christ taught me this, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Amen!