The Lord On His Throne

Well, church, please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to Psalm chapter 11.

Psalms 11 · chapter mention

Psalm chapter 11. We're continuing our summer series through the Psalms this morning,

Psalms 11 · chapter mention

and we've made our way to the 11th chapter.

If you didn't bring your own Bible, that's okay.

We have Bibles there in the seat backs and the chairs in front of you,

and you're welcome to use those this morning.

But we always do encourage you, if you would, have your Bibles open.

I want you to see it with your own eyes on the pages of God's Word.

So Psalm chapter 11, and when you've found it, let's stand in honor of God's Word this morning.

Psalms 11 · chapter mention

To the choir master of David, in the Lord I take refuge.

How can you say to my soul, flee like a bird to your mountain?

For behold, the wicked bend the bow.

They have fitted their arrow to the string, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

The Lord is in His holy temple.

The Lord's throne is in heaven.

His eyes see.

His eyelids test the children of man.

The Lord tests the righteous, but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Let Him rain coals on the wicked.

Fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

For the Lord is righteous.

He loves righteous deeds.

The upright shall behold His face.

Let's pray once more.

Lord, we pray now that you would speak clearly to us.

Draw us to Christ this morning.

Remind us of the truths of your Word and of your reign and of your power.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Amen.

Like most kids, when I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do was to watch cartoons.

After a nice stressful week doing whatever it is a kid likes to do, Saturday morning would come around

and I would pull up with a bowl of cereal and a pillow or two, lay out and be excited to watch my Saturday morning cartoons.

And many of you, I'm sure, are familiar with the Sylvester and Tweety cartoons.

This is black and white cat, Sylvester, who was trying and always failing,

but always trying his best to get his hands on this little yellow bird named Tweety.

In every episode of Sylvester and Tweety, Sylvester, he was coming up with all sorts of new ideas,

new ways to get his hands on Tweety.

His intention was to get Tweety Bird and slide him in between two pieces of white bread and have Tweety for lunch.

But usually, Tweety would either outsmart him or outrun him.

He would find some way to avoid getting caught.

But every now and then, a third character would appear.

Hector the Bulldog.

Hector the Bulldog.

He was on Tweety's side.

And so when Hector the Bulldog showed up, well, guess what?

Tweety Bird, he didn't have to run.

He didn't have to fly.

When Hector was there, Tweety got a whole lot more confident.

Why?

Because Hector was there to make certain that Sylvester did not do a thing to harm Tweety.

Now, when I was a kid watching Sylvester and Tweety, I knew I was watching high-quality television, right?

But what I did not know at the time was that watching this show was actually preparing my heart to better understand the message of Psalm chapter 11.

Psalms 11 · chapter mention

Because what we see here in Psalm chapter 11 is, yet again, the wicked are attacking.

Psalms 11 · chapter mention

Yet again, the wicked are coming up with another scheme to try and get their hands on King David.

They want to do him harm.

But in Psalm 11, instead of running, instead of flying away like a bird to the mountains, David stands firm.

Not because the threat is small, not because he is strong, but because he knows, he understands, he believes.

The Lord is on his side.

This morning, what I want us to do is I want to see two reasons why the righteous should not fear the threats of the wicked.

This is going to be our outline this morning.

Two reasons why the righteous should not fear the threats of the wicked.

Reason number one.

First, we do not fear because the Lord is our refuge.

Point number one.

We do not fear because the Lord is our refuge.

Well, apparently, again, the wicked are at it again.

And it's as if David is either remembering or maybe he's imagining a conversation with somebody else who is filling David in on the threats against him.

And this unknown advisor is telling David how he thinks he ought to react to the threats of the wicked.

And so he says, David, my advice to you is to run.

My advice to you is to flee, to run away, go hide.

Why?

Because what these wicked men are planning is an attack against David that is dangerous, destructive, and devastating to the king.

And we're going to see all of this here in the psalm.

He says that their attack is dangerous for King David.

He says, verse 2, the wicked bend the bow.

They have fitted their arrow to the string.

This is an image of a mighty hunter with a bow and an arrow.

And the bow is bent, which means that arrow is ready to fly.

They are intending to do some damage.

They've set the arrow and they're taking aim.

And to this counselor's perspective, compared to the strength of the wicked, David is like a little bird.

He's flying helplessly.

He's being hunted by the wicked.

He's in danger.

The wicked are armed and they're ready to attack.

But not only are they dangerous, these wicked men are also destructive.

They have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart.

Their intention is to destroy.

It says they do their work in the dark.

And we hear that language of darkness.

Our minds ought to go to this connotation of wickedness and evil.

These are dark, evil deeds.

They attack in the dark.

Their ways are dark.

They are children of darkness attacking the children of light.

Our boys recently got a bow and arrow.

I have a friend who thought it would be a good idea for three boys to play with a bow and arrow.

So we have a few ground rules.

For one, before that string is pulled and before that bow is bent,

everybody else is now standing behind the person with a bow and arrow.

Right?

That's common sense.

But also, this isn't even a rule.

It's also common sense.

At least I think it should be.

We don't go shoot the bow and arrow at night.

Why?

Because you have no idea where that arrow is going to fly.

You let it go.

You don't know if it's going to hit the church.

You don't know if it's going to hit a power line.

You don't know if it's going to hit the house.

You don't know what damage is going to do.

Well, here David says,

The wicked shoot in the dark.

It's as if they can't even fully see clearly where they're aiming or who they're shooting

or what damage is being done.

They just let the arrows fly.

And this is reckless and destructive behavior.

And ultimately, this counselor says that David needs to run because these attacks,

if they land, if they're successful in what they're doing,

these attacks are going to be devastating for King David.

He asks this question in verse 3.

He says,

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Now, we don't know exactly what they were aiming at, what the attack was,

but we know that their intention was to completely destroy the foundations of the righteous.

So this could be an assault on David's character,

trying to undermine the confidence of the people in King David.

It could be an assault on the throne itself, trying to take away the throne.

Whatever it was, their aim, their intention,

was to deal a devastating blow to the very foundations of the righteous.

And this counselor says,

If they succeed, if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?

It's hopeless for you, David.

You are better off to run away.

Get out of there.

Flee to the mountains.

Save yourself.

Run from the threats of the wicked.

From his perspective, the wicked are unbeatable.

David's in a losing position.

The righteous cannot win.

Sometimes it feels like that, doesn't it?

The world that we live in, it feels that way.

It feels like wicked people and all the forces of evil.

It feels at times like their strength is insurmountable,

is unconquerable, is unbeatable.

And so all the righteous people, all that they have to do,

is hide.

Run away.

Flee.

But look how David responds.

Verse 1.

In the Lord I take refuge.

How can you say to my soul,

flee like a bird to your mountain?

The Lord is my refuge.

David is not unaware of the danger.

He's no fool.

He sees the strength of the wicked,

but he looks it in the eye.

And he says,

I'm not going anywhere.

I'm not going anywhere.

Why?

Because I'm strong?

Because I'm capable?

Because the threat is small?

Because the threat is insignificant?

No.

Because the Lord is my refuge.

This is similar to what Psalm 46 says.

You can flip there if you'd like,

or mark it for later.

One of my favorite Psalms,

Psalm 46,

says,

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore,

we will not fear,

though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved

into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

I mean,

just picture that scene.

Imagine it in your mind.

The earth is shaking.

The whole earth is giving way.

The mountains are crumbling.

The waters are raging.

The mountains are moving

into the heart of the sea.

This is a picture of chaos and destruction

all over the entire globe,

but in the midst of it,

the psalmist says,

we won't fear.

Why?

Because God is our refuge.

This is the secret to Christian boldness.

You want to know what it means to be bold?

You want to know why Christians are bold

in the face of danger?

Would you like to grow in boldness?

Here's the secret.

Okay?

Here's the secret.

Christians are bold in the face of the wicked

because we take refuge in the Lord.

Something you should know about Christians

is that Christians are bold.

We don't run away from hard things.

Often, in fact, Christians are known to run to hard things.

Not recklessly like the wicked,

but confidently and boldly.

We don't just run and flee at the first sight of danger

to go make our lives more comfortable and more safe.

Christians are bold,

even against the strongest attacks of the enemy,

not because we're strong,

not because the attacks are small,

but because we believe God is strong.

God is capable.

God is powerful.

And we take refuge in Him.

This is the secret.

We're just saying,

a mighty fortress is our God.

Did we sing it?

A mighty fortress is our God,

a bulwark never failing,

our helper.

He amidst the flood of mortal ills prevailing.

You know, King David

knew this better than anybody, didn't he?

This is the same man who,

as a young man,

as a child,

stood before Goliath,

a seemingly insurmountable, wicked man,

an undefeatable Philistine,

almost 10 feet tall,

stood in front of him

with nothing but a sling and a couple of stones,

and faced him,

looked him dead in the eye,

and said,

we're not going anywhere.

And to those who looked,

they had to wonder,

what is the secret to David's boldness?

Well, listen, he said,

you come to me with a sword,

and a spear,

and a javelin,

but I come to you

in the name of the Lord of hosts,

the God of the armies of Israel,

whom you have defied.

His secret was that he took refuge

in the Lord.

I shared the story last week

with you of the three missionaries

who were murdered in Haiti.

One minute,

they're coming out of the church building,

ministering to children.

The very next minute,

they're captured by a gang,

and robbed,

and beaten,

and eventually shot

from the eyes of the world.

This looks like foolishness,

but we know better.

They weren't oblivious

to the dangers around them.

They went there fully aware

that this exact scenario

was a possible ending

to their time in Haiti.

So why did they go?

They went,

because to them,

the threats of wicked men

did not outweigh

the presence and the power of God,

and the call of God

on their life.

They took refuge in the Lord.

They believed the promise of Christ.

Whoever desires to save his life

will lose it.

Whoever loses his life for my sake

will find it.

They believed the word of Hebrews 13, 6.

He has said,

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

So we can confidently say,

the Lord is my helper.

I will not fear.

What can man do to me?

This is the secret

of Christian boldness.

The righteous are bold

in the face of danger

because we take refuge

in the Lord.

So the question for us then,

do you share that boldness?

Do you share this boldness?

If you find yourself

looking out at the world

as wicked as it is,

if you find yourself trembling

or fearful,

if you find yourself

feeling afraid

of what might happen,

what others might do to you,

what others might say about you

or to you,

if you go and speak

the name of Christ,

if you find yourself fearful,

the secret to boldness.

It's not your strength.

Take refuge in the Lord.

Now,

it's easy to say,

isn't it?

But you might be wondering,

well,

what is it about the Lord

that makes him

such a place of safety?

What is it about the Lord

that makes him a refuge

for those who rely on him

and trust in him?

Well,

we see this answer

in our second point

this morning's second.

We do not fear

because the Lord

is our righteous ruler.

We do not fear

because the Lord

is our righteous ruler.

David,

he's confident,

he's bold

because of where God is

and who God is.

You see that?

Where is he?

The Lord is in his holy temple.

The Lord's throne

is in heaven.

He's reigning in heaven.

David's confidence

is that God is king

over all the earth.

He's reigning from his holy throne

up in heaven.

He's reigning and ruling

over all things.

And even more than this,

this sovereign king

who's reigning over all things

has taken it upon himself

to make promises to David.

You remember,

God has anointed David king.

David was God's choice.

God's anointed king.

God had raised him up

to be his anointed ruler

over his people.

And God,

the king,

had promised David,

2 Samuel 7,

that from his own line

would come another king

who would reign forever,

whose kingdom would have no end.

God himself,

the king,

the sovereign king,

out of his own initiative,

had linked himself up to David.

By God's grace,

David's good and God's glory

are now intertwined.

They're bound up together.

And so because of this,

David knows,

listen to this,

because David is God's anointed king,

David knew that all of his enemies

ultimately were God's enemies.

David knew that any threat against him,

any work against his life,

any opposition to him

is ultimately threats against the Lord.

And so he entrusts himself to the Lord

to deal with it.

Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

You remember Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

Psalm 1 and 2.

They set the stage

for the whole rest of the book of Psalms

and asked this question.

Why do the nations rage

and the peoples plot in vain?

The kings of the earth set themselves

and the rulers take counsel together

against the Lord and his...

What?

Help me.

And his anointed saying,

let us burst their bonds apart

and cast their cords away from us.

What's God's response to this?

Verse 4.

Psalm chapter 2.

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

He who sits in the heavens

laughs.

The Lord holds them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath

and terrify them in his fury,

saying,

as for me,

I have set my king on Zion,

my holy hill.

And do you remember how it ends?

Verse 10.

It says,

Now therefore, O kings,

be wise.

Be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear

and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son,

lest He be angry

and you perish in the way,

for His wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.

David,

the anointed king.

He rests in the sovereign reign of God

and the promises that He has made.

David's throne is under attack,

but he rests in the truth

that God's,

the Lord's throne is in heaven,

unbothered by the threats of man.

David also knows

that just because the Lord is in heaven,

just because He's up there

reigning and ruling,

that doesn't mean that He's unaware

of what's going on here on earth.

Quite the opposite.

In fact,

because God is completely sovereign

over everyone and everything,

because of the unique vantage point

that He alone has

from His throne in heaven,

He is totally aware

of what happens

in every corner of His domain.

David knows that

the Lord is on His throne

and He sees the righteous

under attack.

The Lord is on His throne

and He sees the wicked

bringing the attack

on the righteous.

Because of who He is,

a righteous king,

David finds boldness

and comfort.

He says in verse 4,

the Lord's eyes,

His eyes see.

His eyelids test

the children of man.

And He sees David

and his struggle

and He sees the wicked

and their threats.

As we saw last week

from chapter 10,

it may not always seem

like the Lord sees

what's going on here

in this world,

but we trust the Lord

does see

and the Lord

will take it

into His own hands.

The wicked can't even see

the impact

of their arrows

shooting in the dark,

but the Lord

is far more aware

of the damage they do

even more than they are.

and the Lord

has two very different

responses

to the righteous

and to the wicked.

Verse 5,

look there with me.

He says,

the Lord

tests the righteous,

but His soul

hates the wicked

and the one

who loves violence.

David knows that

for the righteous,

for the righteous,

trials like this

are simply tests.

The Lord tests

the righteous,

he says in verse 5.

If you are a Christian,

if you are suffering

some trial,

if you're enduring

some pain

or some persecution

or some hardship,

we rejoice

to know that

because God is king

and God is good,

that He's a righteous ruler,

that what man means

for evil,

God means

for good.

The wicked want

to destroy you,

but God intends

to refine you.

We've seen

enough

of God's word

at this point

to know God

never,

ever,

ever,

ever,

ever promises

that His people

will not receive threats,

will not be hated,

will not endure

violence

or suffering.

He doesn't promise us

that we won't be

dragged away

from our church

when we go serve Him

in Haiti,

but He promises

that He has good purpose

in every trial

that His people face.

Hebrews 12,

Hebrews 12:6

verse 6,

the Lord disciplines

the one He loves

and chastises every son

whom He receives

like a good father.

He disciplines us

for our good

that we may share

in His holiness.

So James,

it tells us

to count it all joy,

my brothers,

when you meet trials

of various kinds

for you know

that the testing

of your faith

produces steadfastness.

We can endure

threats

and temptation

and trials

of all kinds

with boldness

and with joy

because we know

that in the end

the Lord means it

for His glory

and for our good.

What does Romans 8 say?

All things work together

for good

for those who love God

and are called

according to His purpose,

but for the wicked

and for those

who do not know the Lord.

For the wicked,

on the other hand,

the end result

is very different.

We need to understand this.

Look again there

to verse 5

one more time.

He says,

the Lord tests

the righteous

but His soul

hates

the wicked

and the one

who loves

violence.

His soul

hates

the wicked.

We don't like

that language,

do we?

This is uncomfortable

language,

isn't it?

This is hard

for us to understand.

We're not comfortable

with this sort of talk.

The Lord hates

the wicked

and in some ways

if we're not careful,

we can find ourselves

explaining it away.

Well,

God doesn't really

hate the wicked.

That's not true

or the God

that I love,

He worshiped,

the God that I worship

loves everyone

the same.

He doesn't hate

anyone.

He loves everybody

equally

and I understand

the impulse

to say those things

but I want to offer

just a word of caution.

We have to be careful

that we don't explain away

what God's word

clearly says,

verse 5,

or that we don't

explain it away

where we make ourselves

seem more compassionate

and more kind

than God Himself.

If that were possible,

it's not.

So how do we think

about this?

Well,

in one sense,

yes,

in a general way,

the Lord does show

love to everyone.

He extends common grace

to everyone.

The sun shines

on the righteous

and the unrighteous

alike.

The wicked

and the righteous

both experience joy

and happiness

and eat good food

and enjoy all sorts

of pleasures

in this life.

These are all

good gifts

of God

to everyone.

He has a sort

of general love

for all of His creatures

and in another

all-important sense,

all of the incredible

riches

of God's love

are extended

to all wicked men

in Christ.

God so loved

the world

that He gave His Son.

That's an act of love.

God shows His love

for us

and that while we were

still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Romans 5a,

that's an act of love.

In the gospel,

we see a wide invitation

for wicked men,

for sinners,

to enter into

the love of God

through Jesus Christ.

But at the same time,

in a way that

we don't quite understand,

partly because

it makes us

uncomfortable

to try and understand it,

verse 5 says,

God has hatred

in His soul

for the wicked

and the one

who loves violence.

This is not

an emotional response

on God's part.

It is

positional.

Positional.

The wicked,

those who are

in sin,

are positionally

under the wrath

of God.

They are

positionally

objects

of His wrath.

There are only

two types of people

in the world.

The Psalms

make this very clear

to us.

There's the wicked

and there's

the righteous.

We are none of us,

50-50.

None of us

are a composite.

We are either

positionally wicked

or we are

positionally righteous.

There is no

middle ground.

Those who are

beloved of God

and those who are

hated

of God.

The righteous

are loved by God.

The wicked

are hated by God.

Jacob,

I loved.

Esau,

I hated.

The righteous

are destined

for eternal life

in Christ.

The wicked

are destined

for eternal destruction

away from the

presence of the

Lord.

God is in a

position of

favor and love

towards the

righteous.

And God is in a

position of

wrath and

destruction

towards the

unrighteous.

He is for the

righteous.

He is against

the unrighteous.

This is

uncomfortable.

But unless we

get this,

we'll never

understand why

David can pray

the way he does.

Verse 6,

Let him rain

coals on the

wicked.

Fire and

sulfur and

scorching wind

shall be the

portion of

their cup.

How can he say

something so

cruel?

Again,

he prays like

this because he

knows his

enemies are

God's enemies.

So he prays

the wrath of

God against

his enemies.

Here's the

thing.

David deeply

believed

something about

God that

we tend

to struggle

to understand.

David took

comfort in

God's

holiness.

His holiness.

Where is

he?

He is

reigning in

heaven, but

also who

is he?

Verse 7,

The Lord

is righteous.

And what

does he

love?

He loves

righteous

deeds.

He

is

righteous.

He

hates the

wicked and

those who

love evil.

Psalm 97,

it says,

righteousness and

justice are the

foundation of

his throne.

This is who

he is.

He is holy.

Holy.

That's a word

that we are

familiar with.

We hear it

often.

We sing,

holy, holy,

holy, holy,

holy,

Lord God

almighty.

But I think

it's also a

concept that

we struggle to

fully understand.

So here's a

definition.

Richard Lentz

says,

the holiness of

God refers to

the absolute

moral purity

of God

and the

absolute

moral distance

between God

and his human

creatures.

Let me say

that again.

Richard Lentz

definition of

holiness.

The holiness

of God

refers to

the absolute

moral purity

of God

and the

absolute

moral distance

between God

and his

human creatures.

1 John 1

5 says,

God is light

in him.

There is no

darkness

at all.

This is

absolute,

total,

perfect

purity.

God is

holy.

In the second

part of Mr.

Lentz's

definition,

we are not.

There's a

distance

here.

It's

impossible to

bridge this

gap.

God is

holy,

holy,

holy,

holy,

holy,

and we

are not.

We can't

even fully

comprehend

holiness

because there's

nothing in

our life

or experience

that comes

close to

God's purity.

And so what

happens is you

and I,

we evaluate

things on a

scale of

good,

better,

best.

I'm not as

bad as this

guy,

or the thing

I did is not

as bad as

what she

did.

But if we

understand that

God is

holy,

we have to

understand that

God is not

on the scale

and God does

not judge on

the scale.

God is

holy and the

standard,

the rubric

by which he

evaluates everyone

and everything

is not on a

scale of good,

better,

best.

He judges

everyone and

everything by

his own

standard of

perfect

holiness.

holiness.

If this

judgment on

the wicked

seems harsh

to us,

it's probably

because in

some way we've

either minimized

our wickedness

or we've

minimized his

holiness.

Possibly both.

What we need to

understand is that

God is king,

that God is

holy,

that God is

against the

wicked,

and that all

of us

naturally

left to

ourselves

are wicked.

And we read

these Psalms and

we hear about the

righteous and we

hear about the

wicked.

We have to

understand that

naturally left to

ourselves,

we are not

the righteous.

We are the

wicked.

wicked.

Every one of

us has raged

against the

Lord and his

anointed.

It doesn't

matter if

you're a

convict,

a criminal,

or if you've

simply disobeyed

your parents

even one

time.

R.C.

Sproul in his

book,

The Holiness

of God,

that ought to

be,

by the way,

required reading

for every

Christian.

He says that

every sin,

every sin,

is an act of

cosmic treason,

a futile attempt

to dethrone God

in his

sovereign

authority.

How do you

think God

the king will

handle that

sort of

rebellion?

We have to

understand that

the punishment

fits the

crime,

right?

We understand

that.

The punishment

fits the

crime.

The punishment

correlates not

just to the

severity of our

crime, but

also to the

significance of

the one we

have offended.

Think about

it.

If you kick

your brother,

that doesn't

happen in my

house or

anybody else's

house, I'm

sure.

You kick

your brother,

you get in

trouble.

You kick

your mom,

you ought to

get in more

trouble.

Not because the

action is

different, but

because the

recipient of

the action is

more significant.

If you

somehow walk

up to the

president and

have access to

the president and

you kick the

president, guess

what?

You're going to

get in a lot

of trouble.

And what do

you think will

happen if you

spit in the

face of the

king of kings

who created you

for his glory,

who's given you

every opportunity

to repent and

to turn to him

with love and

adoration and

honor and

worship as he

deserves, that

you have spurned

the one who is

worthy of all

honor and praise

and chosen instead

to worship and

serve yourself?

So what then

is our hope?

How in the

world does this

give us any

confidence?

How in the

world do we

make certain that

we are not

under his

hatred but in

his love?

Well, this is

where we'll

close church.

The righteous

are fearless,

not because of

our strength,

not because the

threat against us

is small,

but because we

take refuge in

Jesus Christ,

who is our

righteous ruler.

King Jesus

is the true

anointed king.

Jesus Christ is

the true

eternal ruler

of all of

God's people.

Jesus Christ

is the

righteous man,

none other.

Jesus Christ

is the

promised son

of David,

who like

David,

faced wicked

accusations and

threats against

his life,

but who did

not run from

his accusers,

who went to

a familiar

place to pray,

knowing he

would be

betrayed,

who like a

lamb before

his shears was

silent as he

made his way

to the cross.

Why?

To make

wicked

people

righteous

in the

sight of

God.

By his

own life,

death,

and resurrection.

Christ the

King is the

true righteous

ruler of all,

and we,

the wicked,

are made

righteous by

faith in

him.

The only way

you can read

this psalm

and put

yourself in

the category

of righteous

is if you

are counted

righteous in

him.

There is no

other way.

The gospel

is the

unthinkable

good news

that God

made his

beloved son

the object

of his

hatred

so that

wicked people

like us

might become

the objects

of his

love.

love.

We ought to

marvel at

this,

church.

We ought

not say,

I deserve

to be

loved by

God.

You don't.

You and I

deserve the

wrath of

God.

But by his

grace alone,

he has loved

us in

Christ

and has

rescued us

from this

domain of

darkness

by his

own blood

and he

has adopted

us into

his own

family,

brought us

into his

love as

his own

sons and

daughters

and given

us an

unshakable

rock solid

hope that

transforms every

circumstance we

face in this

life.

What can

the wicked

do to

you in

Christ?

Christ.

If God is

for us,

who can be

against us?

The devil

and all of

hell cannot

take you

away from

the reign

and rule

of Christ.

This is

good news

for us,

church.

If you

have not

yet submitted

yourself to

the Lord

and repented

of your sin,

all of us are

guilty.

If you've not

yet repented

of your sin

and bent the

knee and

bowed your

heart to

King Jesus,

what stops

you from

doing so

now?

And if

you have

trusted in

this good

and holy

King,

listen to

this,

the blessing

of his

reign in

your life

is not

just escape

from danger,

as wonderful

as that is,

it's the

gift of

an unbelievable,

unshakable

hope that

no threat,

no danger,

no trial,

no enemy

can ever

take away

from you.

And this

is where

David closes

this psalm.

Look there.

The Lord

is righteous.

He loves

righteous deeds.

And the

upright

shall behold

his face.

The righteous

have nothing

to fear.

We have

nothing to

lose.

And we

have all

of eternity

beholding the

glory of God

to look forward

to.

does that

not make

you bold

in this

life,

church?

So I'll

close again

as we did

last week

with this

vision of

our future

hope.

When the

Lord returns

from Revelation

21 and

22,

when the

Lord returns,

Revelation

Revelation 21:27

21 verse

27 says,

nothing unclean

will ever enter

it,

nor anyone

who does

what is

detestable

or false,

no wicked

person,

no wicked

thing,

no threat,

no danger,

but only

those who

are written

in the

Lamb's

book of

life.

Chapter 22

verse 3,

no longer

will there

be anything

accursed,

but the

throne of

God and

of the

Lamb will

be in it,

and His

servants will

worship Him.

They will

see His

face,

and His

name will

be on

their foreheads,

and night

will be no

more.

They will

need no

light of

lamp or

sun,

for the

Lord God

will be

their

light,

and they

will reign

forever

and ever.

Let's

pray.

Lord,

what a

gift,

what a

gift to

know that

we who

are wicked

might be

cleansed,

freed from

our wickedness,

forgiven

fully,

not by our

strength,

but by your

grace,

God,

and adopted

as your

sons and

daughters,

and given

this unshakable

hope of a

future,

looking into

your face

and worshiping

you for the

rest of

eternity.

We praise

you,

God,

for the

gospel.

We praise

you,

God,

for the

life and

death and

resurrection

of Christ.

We praise

you,

God,

that you

are a

good and

a just

and a

holy God,

and you

will accomplish

all your

purposes.

Jesus,

we thank

you and

we praise

you for

all this

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.