Title: The Response of the Perfect
Text: Ps 64:1-10
Date: May
Place: SGBC, NJ
As we read Ps 64:
1-10 hear Christ praying to the Father while in this earth as the GodMan,
Mediator.
Hear my voice, O God,
in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2: Hide me from the
secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
3: Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot
their arrows, even bitter words: 4: That they may shoot in secret at the
perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. 5: They encourage
themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily;
they say, Who shall see them? 6: They search out iniquities; they accomplish a
diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them,
and the heart, is deep.
7: But God shall shoot at them with
an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. 8: So they shall make their own
tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. 9: And all
men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely
consider of his doing. 10: The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall
trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.
Subject: The Response of the Perfect
Proposition: When our Lord Jesus was attacked by his enemies, he
committed all to God the Father and we will see what God did and does for those
who commit all to Christ.
Divisions: 1) Christ’s description of his enemies 2) The response
of the Perfect 3) What God does for those who commit it all to him
CHRIST DESCRIBES HIS
ENEMIES
Psalm 64: 2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the
wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: 3: Who whet their
tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows,
even bitter words: 4: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do
they shoot at him, and fear not. 5: They encourage themselves in an evil
matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? 6:
They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought
of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.
John 8: 44: Ye are
of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him.
All are not children of the devil. There is a remnant who God chose in Christ by
free and sovereign grace before the foundation of the world. We come forth sons of God. But all sinners enter this world walking “according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience.” (Eph 2:2)
Christ speaks of “the
insurrection of the workers of iniquity.” Insurrection is a violent uprising
against authority. It was a tumult which
is a loud confused noise. They wanted
others hating the one they hated. Therefore,
they stirred up insurrection against the Prince of Life.
Bitter words were their weapons, “Who whet
their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even
bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they
shoot at him, and fear not.” Spiritually
dead sinners have no fear of God before their eyes, no fear of Christ as God. Therefore, they tried to surprise God in
human flesh and take him unawares. How foolish!
Spiritually dead sinners commune with each other
encouraging each other in ways to work evil against Christ, “They encourage
themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say,
Who shall see them?” They emboldened one another in the evil plotting
against Christ, convincing one another their schemes would work. Most of Christ’s enemies hate each other but
they commune in harmony on the one subject of rejecting Christ. They were conceited in their efforts,
thinking they were taking Christ by surprise and he would not see. But God our Savior knows the thoughts and
intents of the heart. Here he is
describing their hearts and intentions.
Spiritually dead sinners search diligently to find ways
to commit iniquity against God, “They search out iniquities; they accomplish
a diligent search.” But they
only accomplish it if it is the will of God for his glory and the good of his
saints, as it was with Christ our Redeemer.
Psalm 76:10 Surely
the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Here is the problem.
It is the sinner’s evil heart, “both the inward thought of every one of
them, and the heart, is deep.” Brethren, unless the Spirit of God irresistibly,
graciously create in us a new heart, that is the enmity against God in every
carnal mind.
Jeremiah 17: 9: The
heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it?
Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and
defile the man.
Ecclesiastes 9:3 [God
says through Solomon]…the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness
is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
What madness would it reveal for a person on life support
to try everything he could to destroy the life support machine! Christ’s enemies (you and I when dead in
sins) were seeking to destroy the all-knowing, all-powerful Prince of Life who
gives and sustains even our natural life.
That is the utter madness of our sin-nature.
God is the only one who can reveal to us the depravity of
our hearts. Only God’s irresistible
grace can save a sinner from himself, from his hatred of God. That is why salvation must all be of God’s
grace. Knowing this about ourselves
should help us when other sinners revile us. It should help us do as Christ did.
THE RESPONSE OF THE PERFECT
Psalm 64: 1: Hear my
voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. 2: Hide me
from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of
iniquity:
What was the response of the Perfect? How did the perfect Lord Jesus respond to his
enemies? He committed himself to the
Father. God give us grace to respond the
same.
We see Christ’s
condescension here: Christ is God! He could have summoned more than twelve
legions of angels to his defense. But as
the representative of God’s elect, the Son of God took flesh and became entirely
dependent upon God his Father. This is
Christ THE PERFECT. This is perfect
submission, perfect faith and fidelity, perfect holiness, and righteousness. This is the perfection of every true believer,
Christ THE PERFECT.
Notice, what he did not do. When he was reviled, he reviled not again. It would not have been perfect submission or
faith or holiness to the Father to revile again.
None of us likes for someone to malign our character and
reputation. And we do not want the
things they say to be true. But you and
I are sinners. If someone misses us with
one accusation, they can get it right with another—we are sinners! But this is Jesus Christ the Perfect—in him
is no sin—he said, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” He had a character and reputation worth
defending. Yet, when he was reviled, he
did not revile again. May God help us to
remember: if our Perfect Savior did not revile again then let us, the imperfect,
learn not to revile again.
But what the response of THE PERFECT? He committed himself to God who judges
righteously. Look at his three requests:
“Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer.”
He used his tongue for the best purpose—he committed himself to
God his Father. He said not simply hear
my prayer but hear my voice in my prayer. Brethren, we never want to pray to be seen of
men or even to be seen of God; we do not want to be heard for our much
speaking. The Pharisee’s stand on street corners and make long prayers for
those reasons. We want God to hear our
voice: the earnestness, the hunger, the need, our utter dependence upon the
Father.
Since our Perfect Substitute is our Intercessor, most
importantly, we want God to hear Christ’s Voice. His is THE VOICE—“Thy watchmen shall lift
up the voice, with THE VOICE together shall they sing.” If all you hear is my voice preaching, even
if I lift up my voice in agreement with every preacher on earth, it will do you
no good. But Christ said, “my people
shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that
doth speak: behold, it is I….Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with THE
VOICE together shall they sing.”
The same is true of prayer. If all God hears is my voice then I am in
trouble. But Christ is THE VOICE that
makes our preaching and our prayer effectual. When we pray we want Christ to intercede
saying, “Hear MY Voice, O God, in [their] prayer.” He is our Advocate
with the Father.
1 John 2: 1:…if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: [THE PERFECT] 2: And he is the propitiation
for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of [his elect
throughout the world]
Two, Christ the Perfect committed all to the Father by
asking God, “Preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.” He asked God
to preserve him, not only from the enemy, but from the disquieting fear they caused;
fear has torment. Again, we see
our Lord’s humanity in this. He was
touched with the same feeling of our infirmities, yet without sin. He had a fear of the enemy even as we. When
the Jews sought his life he walked no more in Judea till near the time. In that we see that our Redeemer was really a
Man, the same as he was really God. Why
is that important? As a Man he
could fulfill the law for us; bear our sins; bleed and die! As God everything he accomplished for his
people was in power and eternal! Plus,
he can comfort us!
Hebrews 2: 17: Wherefore in all things it behoved him to
be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people. 18: For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted.
When we fear, we are tempted to take matters into our own
hands. But he submitted perfectly in
perfect faith to the Father—“preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.” Doing so, he worked out perfect Faith for his
people so that Jesus Christ the Perfect
is the Author and Finisher of our faith.
But understand, he never asked to be preserved from the
cross. He came to lay down his life in
place of his people to declare God just and Justifier. But he trusted the Father to preserve his
life from the fear of the enemy until that appointed hour came
Brethren, we have many enemies and all seek to devour us;
and we fear the fiery darts of the wicked.
But let us always follow our Substitute and commit the preservation of
our life—spiritual and natural—to Christ even as he did to the Father. We preach and believe perseverance of the
saints by the preserving power of our God, so let us act like it.
1 Peter 1:5: Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
The third petition our Savior made was “Hide me from
the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of
iniquity.” God hid him from the
counsel itself as well as from the wicked who counseled. God hid him from the noisome trouble as
well as the workers of iniquity who caused it. No man was able to lay hand on our
Redeemer until the time appointed by God. The same will be true of his people. But in all three requests note, Christ did
not revile but committed himself to the Father.
1 Peter 2: 19: For
this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief,
suffering wrongfully. 20: For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted
for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and
suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21: For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22: Who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth: 23: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not
again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously: 24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on
the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose
stripes ye were healed. 25: For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now
returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Some believer is hearing this right now and you are
saying I have failed at this. So have I
and so have your brethren. But God forgives
for Christ’s sake and God gives more grace.
Christ grows us in grace and knowledge of him by letting us fail then
making us learn from our failures so that the next time, by his grace and
power, we commit all to Christ as he did to the Father.
WHAT GOD DOES FOR THE COMMITTED
Psalm 64: 7: But God
shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. 8: So
they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them
shall flee away. 9: And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God;
for they shall wisely consider of his doing. 10: The righteous shall be glad in
the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.
What did God do for
Christ and what does God do for his people for the sake of Christ when we
commit all to him?
One, God defends
us. God dealt with Christ’s enemies and
God shall deal with ours—"But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall
upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.” Remember, those four
judgments of God—famine, pestilence, war and wild beasts? They are described in scripture as God’s
arrow and Gods’ sword (Eze 5:16,17 Ps 91:5,6 De 32:41,42) God shall deal with our enemies: we do not
have to fight them. God will make their
own tongue fall upon themselves. So
commit it to God and trust God to deal with our enemies.
Psalm 7: 10: My
defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. 11: God judgeth
the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. 12: If he
turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13: He
hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows
against the persecutors.
Two, God shall bring glory to himself. He used the trial of Christ’s enemies to
bring honor to himself—"And all men shall fear, and shall declare the
work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.” Men did to our Substitute only that which
God before ordained—and we are still declaring the work of God over 2000 years
later. Christ conquered the devil for
his people—the devil and his seed thought they were overcoming our Savior—but the
only thing they did was wound our Savior’s heal while our Savior utterly
crushed the devil’s head and conquered all our enemies. He conquered putting away the sin of his
people, he brought in everlasting righteousness for his people and he made
reconciliation between God and his people.
Christ conquered death for his people—Christ said if you believe on him
then right now you have eternal life; you shall never see death. And by God’s grace Christ conquers our
sin-nature—making us wise so that we consider his doing and we fear God. Brethren, knowing God conquered our greatest
enemies will he not conquer all workers of iniquity who come up against us?
Romans 8: 31: What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? 32: He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us
all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33: Who shall
lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
34: Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us. [shall the enemy separate us from God in Christ] 35:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36: As
it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. 37: Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us.
Three, God shall make his people glad. For you who are righteous in Christ, upright
in heart by Christ dwelling in your new hearts, this shall be the sure end
after God has dealt with our enemies—"The righteous shall be
glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall
glory.” We glory in the same one we
are made glad in, the same one we trust in—that is in the Lord of glory!
Brethren, I say this
with reverence, was Christ disappointed for committing himself to God our
Father? Then being made righteous in Christ and upright in heart by the
indwelling of Christ neither shall we. Let
us end by reading Ps 37. In every trial
and at all times, do this. If you detect
I am being overcome by my sin-nature then remind me to do this. This is our salvation in every trial and at
all times.
Psalm 37: 5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in
him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6: And he shall bring forth thy
righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
AMEN