Salvation Belongs to the Lord

It's been a blessing to study the Psalms in depth. Psalm 1, Psalm 2, now Psalm 3.

And Psalm 3 is the first Psalm that has a superscription.

So it gives us information inspired by the Holy Spirit.

It's not just the publisher adding it in. And that's significant.

And also in Psalm 3, we hear the Hebrew word that translators said it's best just to leave an English transliteration of it in there.

Selah. So you're going to see that word three times in Psalm 3.

Selah shows up 74 times in the Old Testament.

It's most likely a reflective pause to meditate on the words that you just heard, possibly also a musical interlude.

In verse 7 of Psalm 3, we hear some very violent language.

David describes the Lord as giving a knockout hook to the jaw of the enemies and breaking the teeth of the enemies.

The Roman Church, by the Pope's authority, and what one Roman Catholic theologian called an act of magisterial barbarism,

has eliminated individual phrases and verses from certain Psalms in order to soften the hard language.

True Christians will protest this.

Censoring God's word is unnecessary and unacceptable.

Amen.

We don't put ourselves over God's word as if we are more sophisticated and more civilized.

We are not more wise than the Holy Spirit.

We put ourselves under all of God's word.

Every last word, every challenging, poetic picture, and every gruesome, historic fact.

It's our duty as Christians.

The Holy Spirit breathed it out.

The Holy Spirit indwells us.

So it's our duty to discover how the Psalms of enmity, Psalms that speak violence against the enemy,

can help us so that in a world of violence in which we must live for a while, we will not despair or be broken.

Do you agree with that?

This is from a theologian who has wrestled with much of this hard content of the Psalms.

I got this recommendation through the International Reformed Baptist Seminary.

It's very helpful to me as well.

So as I read all of Psalm 3, every word, know that this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, insufficient word.

It's God's very own word for his people.

When I'm done reading, I'll say this is the word of the Lord will respond with thanks be to God.

Psalm 3.

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom, his son.

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?

Many are they that rise up against me.

Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God.

Selah.

But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.

Selah.

I laid down and slept.

I awakened, for the Lord sustained me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God.

For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone.

Thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation belongeth unto the Lord.

Thy blessing is upon thy people.

Selah.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

The grass withers.

The flower fades.

The word of the Lord endures forever.

Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, salvation belongs to the Lord.

Verse 8, the last verse of Psalm 3, comes to this powerful conclusion, which then shows you David's final state after all he's been through up to that moment.

And he declares salvation belongs to the Lord.

I want to simply try to open up that theme through each one of these verses.

I have four gleanings.

I believe the Holy Spirit left nourishment for us.

We're going to glean it now to the best of our ability.

First gleaning.

King David deserved to be hated, not saved.

King David deserved to be hated, not saved.

We're told in the superscription that this is a Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom, his son.

This is the first Psalm attributed to David.

The first two serve as the intro or the prologue to the entire Psalter.

There are 73 of the 150 Psalms that are attributed to David.

And it doesn't start with David receiving the promise, the Davidic covenant or even being exalted in any way.

The first Psalm attributed to David sets the tone for everything of good that God would speak through David.

And it's with David at the, I believe, the lowest point of his entire life.

Psalm 3 presents us a David who's older, who's unpopular.

He is an embarrassment to his family and to the whole nation.

He is a disappointing failure.

I'm going to try to prove why this is from the context.

And in this moment, David looks at the world around him.

He looks at his enemies.

And he hears these accusations.

Verse one, Lord, how they are increased that trouble me.

He says, Lord, how many are my foes?

Many are they that rise up against me.

Verse two, many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God.

They say God will not deliver him.

Now, one way in which I believe we need to learn from the Psalms is that often what's happening physically is a reflection of what's happening spiritually.

And this is we may think that we're so sophisticated.

We've got mind, body.

So I'll figure it out all separate.

No, what's going on physically often is a reflection of the spiritual state as well.

But then there is hope because God can reverse that cycle.

He can heal the soul, the inner man, though the circumstances all stay just as bad.

I think that's what happens here.

They look at David's outward situation and they say, look at what they say in verse two.

There is no help for him in God, but they're looking to his soul.

They say the soul of this man is helpless.

This is not the type of soul that should have any hope that God would save him.

Not just talking physically or his kingdom.

We're talking about his soul spiritually.

Well, why is this the case?

We know this is when David was being chased by Absalom.

So even though this is a really short psalm, most of my study has been in 2 Samuel chapters 12 through 18, which give a rich, complex background to what's going on.

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

Let me try to give you a three line summary.

Back in earlier in the second Samuel, David had lusted with his eyes.

He had abused his power.

He had committed adultery.

Then he murdered an innocent man.

He brought God's judgment upon the nation.

He neglected then ruling as the king over the nation.

One of his daughters, Princess Tamar, was abused.

Tamar was Absalom's sister.

So by the time we get to 2 Samuel 12 through 18, David has been a lousy dad.

He has kept concubines for himself in the palace.

He has lost all moral authority to rule as king.

And one of his sons, plus one of his generals, they have had enough.

There is a massive vacuum of power.

And Absalom feels like the nation deserves a better king.

I'm siding with Absalom on that conclusion.

David deserved to be hated, not saved.

The nation deserves a better king.

So this is what Absalom does, which is not to seek the Lord's will and study God's law and put himself under the law and let the Holy Spirit anoint whoever God would.

But what Absalom does is takes matters into his own hands.

My dad would not give justice for my sister.

We're going to take justice in my own hands.

And Joab starts to do the same.

You see, it was really with David where the division between the northern tribes and the southern tribes begins to happen.

Everything that plays out in the disastrous history of national Israel can really be put all the blame of that on David.

Look how Absalom does this.

In 2 Samuel chapter 15, Absalom, we're told he would start acting like a king.

2 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

He got 50 chariots to go in front of him.

He's parading around.

And as those travelers from the northern tribes would come down to Judah seeking justice, Absalom was the one who wanted to give them what his dad couldn't do.

Absalom would say,

Oh, that I were judge in the land.

Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me and I would give him justice.

Absalom did to all who came to Judah.

He gave that anyone who came to the king asking for judgment.

That's how he treated them.

And he would he would show them honor.

He would show them respect.

He would listen carefully.

And so Absalom stole the hearts of all Israel, we're told.

Well, you can see then how the tide turns against David in a mighty way.

The entire nation of Israel is now the enemy of David.

It's no longer the Philistines or the Edomites or all these other nations.

It's Israel that is his enemy.

They looked at him and said,

This is a pathetic king.

He is an embarrassment.

Why should our holy, just, righteous God save this man's soul?

You tell me why.

Now, I identify more with David.

Do you and I deserve salvation from this holy and just God?

Is my heart more pure than David's?

There's no way.

My conclusion on the first two verses is this.

You won't want God's salvation.

You won't want God's grace until you know your sin.

You won't be able to know that salvation belongs to the Lord until first the Lord makes you know the depth of your sin.

And David knew this.

If God decreed to save a sinner such as he in his lowest point, then salvation must belong to the Lord alone.

He declares this truth later.

Psalm 68.

Salvation is really an expression of God's essence of who God is.

Psalm 68 says God is a God of salvation.

That's who God is.

So, King David, do you agree with me?

He deserved to be hated, not saved, by his own merit.

Second gleaning, the Lord lifted David's head so he would cry in prayer.

The Lord first lifts his head.

Notice the order that is given in verses 3 and 4.

Then David cries out in prayer.

See, in verses 1 and 2, David's eyes are on his enemies.

They're on all those who accuse him.

But then a shift happens in verses 3 and 4.

His eyes now go to the holy hill.

His eyes are off of himself and his sin, and they're off of his accusers.

His eyes are on the holy hill.

Verse 3.

But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Verse 4.

For I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.

Selah.

David's popularity had shriveled up like a dry, hard raisin.

He had been rejected by his closest advisors, by the noblemen, by the army.

And he had caused this nation now to be divided.

He had made all the people weep, we're told in 2 Samuel.

And even his family and his most loyal supporters, as few as they were by this point,

they had to flee Jerusalem with David.

They had to abandon their homes and run away as refugees.

David was inglorious.

But he says, the Lord is my glory.

I have no glory to show for myself.

But look at verse 3.

The Lord, my glory.

See, David, he leaves things in the hands of God.

Absalom wanted to take power for himself, take it into his own hands,

and win over the hearts of the nation.

We read in 2 Samuel that

whoever the ark of the Lord was with, that represented the favor of God.

It represented God being on their side.

David said, when I'm going to run away from Jerusalem because there's been this great insurrection,

a coup d'etat, I'm leaving, but I'm leaving the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem.

I'm not presuming upon God.

It could be that at this moment, God has removed his favor, his blessing.

He's no longer on my side.

I've lost it.

And David surrendered that to the Lord.

He fled.

We read that the Levites carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem, and they remained there.

So picture the little Levites.

Levites, you know, they're ready to defend, and they're here representing the presence of God

with whoever would be the next king on the hill in Jerusalem.

We read that David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives,

weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered.

And all the people who were with him, they went weeping along with David, with their heads covered.

Do you see this sad sight?

A disgraced king walking away, almost self-banishing, self-exiling him, you know, his own rule.

We're leaving.

If Absalom takes the throne, may the ark of the Lord be with him.

May the favor of God be on whoever the next king would be.

This is the point in which David is reflecting, the Lord is my glory.

I have none of my own.

When David went to one town, he was stoned.

They did not want him there.

They said, get out of here.

They started throwing stones at David and those with him.

And David can say, the Lord is my shield.

He was rejected by Israel.

He was so low.

He says, it had to be the Lord to lift up my head.

Only after the Lord lifts up David's head can he cry out like we read in verse four.

He cried out then unto the Lord with his voice.

God is the lifter of his head.

And because it was God by his compassion and patience and kindness that lifted David's head in that lowest moment.

When he does cry out to the Lord, he knows the Lord hears him because it was the Lord who lifted his eyes back on God's kingdom.

He knows God heard me out of his holy hill, Selah.

God is his glory.

God is his shield.

God is the lifter of David's head.

So when Satan attacks you, remember Christ is your shield.

When Satan accuses you, makes you feel down, makes you know you cannot look at the holy God without him striking you dead for your sin.

Know that it is Christ, your shield, who lifts your head so you will look to the holy God once again.

Take your eyes off of your accusers, off of your enemies, off of the world.

Take your eyes off of yourself.

Look to the holy hill.

Look to God's glory.

After God lifted David's head, he looked to God and cried out unto the Lord for salvation because salvation must come from the Lord.

He is a God of salvation.

The third gleaning is that the Lord sustained David and defeated his fears.

That's what we read in verses five and six.

Verse five.

I laid me down and slept.

I awaked for the Lord sustained me.

David is so weak physically.

He needs to rest his body.

He needs to let his mind get a new start the next day.

He needs sleep in order to keep going.

Remember, the body and soul are intertwined.

His body physically, the kingdom, it's falling apart.

It's crumbling.

And his soul is fainting within him.

He needs rest.

Some have observed that there are times in life that our soul is living inside of our body on this earth.

So there are times in life where the most sanctifying work you can do is to lay down and sleep.

Your body needs to recharge.

It needs to recover.

That's how God built us.

And he did that.

He keeps us so humble, doesn't he?

What's the best way to prepare your soul for eternity with God?

There are times where your body, your mind are so depleted you need to lay down and sleep.

And when you do that, remember, your eyes are not on yourself or your circumstances, but instead it's like the hymn.

You ask that God will be your vision.

Oh, Lord of my heart, not be all else to me, save that thou art.

Thou my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence, my sight.

And notice how God delivers that.

He says, the Lord sustained me.

And when he wakes up, he says in verse six, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people.

Says though they assail me on every side, they have set themselves against me round about.

David, this accused sinner, this disgraced man, he can rest knowing that he belongs to God by grace alone.

His salvation is out of his hands.

He is so helpless.

But it is God who makes him be able to lay down and sleep.

We don't know what David was reflecting on, but we do know that this language echoes God's promise.

And we know that that's a biblical principle.

You take what God has promised in his word and you meditate on the promises of God and find comfort for your soul.

Listen to the language of Leviticus 26, verse six and see how similar this sounds.

If this is the promise for God's people as they're about to dwell in the land in Leviticus,

God says, I will grant peace in the land and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.

Now, David's testimony in verse six, I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people having laid down.

God is a God who will make peace for the land according to his promise, even if it's not for David and his kingdom.

So this rejected soul, this cursed embarrassment, he can wake up to a new day that God made.

And he can say, God sustains even a man like me because salvation is of the Lord.

Now, David's outward circumstances have not changed overnight.

Nothing happened.

They are not improved the next day.

His situation externally is no better.

But inwardly, David is no longer paralyzed by fear.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and his mercies, they never come to an end.

They are new every morning.

Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord.

So David rests in the Lord, his life, whatever is left of his life at this point,

knowing that he belongs to the Lord, body and soul, that his salvation belongs to the Lord.

The fourth gleaning is that the victory, the power, the salvation and the blessing for God's people,

they belong to the Lord alone.

This is his conclusion of verses seven and eight.

David prays just as he woke up, liberated from those fears.

He woke up and he said, arise, O Lord, save me, O my God.

But then he recounts God's work in the past.

In the past tense, he says, thou hast smitten.

You have struck all mine enemies upon the jawbone and you have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

One commentator pointed out how often these psalms of petition,

where he's asking God to rise up and act on his behalf,

they frequently cite the words of the enemies, the wicked,

in order to give especially vivid picture of the brutality coming at them.

And by citing what was what was coming at the psalmist,

it turns it on its head back at them by the strength of the Lord.

And this is graphic language describing God's power over the enemies.

Another commentator said the psalms confront us with a world full of enmity and violence.

And those who prayed these psalms, they screamed out their terrors.

In the psalms, they struggle against their fears and against the pictures of their enemies that arise out of those fears.

The psalms of enmity are a way of robbing the aggressive images of the enemy of any real power.

Dave is describing the enemies as beasts of prey that are coming to devour him and attack him using their teeth as their weapons.

And he declares that God has robbed the enemies of any real power.

He's broken their teeth.

They cannot bite him.

There was one other man who declared that salvation belongs to the Lord.

And it was at his lowest point.

Where did you hear that last?

Do you remember Jonah, the prophet Jonah?

In the pit of the ocean, in the belly of this big fish.

Zero hope of helping himself or saving himself.

And he declares salvation is of the Lord.

That's the picture.

Peter, David at his lowest point.

Jonah at his lowest point.

But yet, there's hope in God and who God is.

See, 2 Samuel 7, we were given this promise that the scepter will not depart from David's house.

And David, at this point, he likely has no idea how this is going to happen.

Maybe it will be Absalom.

He's deferring to the Lord.

This is God's story with Israel, not his.

In Psalm 2, we read how God said,

I have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.

He will inherit the nations.

These are the promises that God has set forth for Israel.

We don't know how it's going to happen through David at this point.

But David knows one thing, and that's verse 8.

He knows that salvation belongs to the Lord alone.

From the Lord comes deliverance.

Thy blessing is on thy people.

Whose people are they?

They're the Lord's people.

And whose blessing is it to give?

It's the blessing of the Lord alone.

Remember that principle from Psalms 1 and 2?

As goes the king, so goes the kingdom.

David is confessing, I deserve nothing.

Therefore, I have nothing I can give the people.

I cannot bless them.

And if it's true that as goes me as the king, as I go, so goes God's people.

Then I want to detach myself from that.

Let someone else be the king.

David said, these are your people, God.

And if there's going to be blessing, it must come from you or your king, not me.

We need to trust that God keeps his promises to you, just like he kept his promises through David to his people in Israel.

Not because of David's merit.

Not because of my merit or your merit.

But because of God's character.

Because of who God is.

Your salvation depends on God alone.

Like David, we need to look to the king on his holy hill.

We need to declare his victory, his salvation, and his blessings.

We need to declare whenever we share the gospel, salvation is of God alone.

When you tell your testimony, you should say, this is how God saved me.

That's the biblical way to tell about your salvation.

How do you know God saved you?

I know because I have to give God all the glory.

It was God who saved me because of who he is.

Not because of any merit on my part.

Well, those are the four gleanings from these verses of Psalm 3.

But now I need to also draw three contrasts.

We need to contrast King David with the great king.

Who Jesus came to the Pharisees, confronted them, and said,

Explain this psalm to me.

How can it be David's son and also David's Lord?

See, the promises are there through David.

Through the Davidic line.

But how will that happen?

And Jesus, taking on the flesh for three years of ministry.

He pulls back the divine counsel.

He pulls back the decree of God and reveals.

This is how God stays true to his covenant promises.

My first contrast is this.

King Jesus deserves worship, but instead was hated.

Verse 1.

Jesus could pray this.

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me?

Many are they that rise up against me.

In Matthew 27, 22.

Pilate asks,

What shall I do then with Jesus, who is called the Messiah?

And they answered him,

Crucify him.

Pilate says,

Why?

What crime has he committed?

Pilate asked,

But they shouted all the louder,

Crucify him.

Jesus deserves worship,

but instead was hated.

Jesus could pray like verse 2.

There, many there be,

would say of my soul,

there is no help for him and God.

God will not deliver him.

In Luke 23, 25,

the people stood watching Jesus on the cross.

And the rulers even sneered at him.

They said,

He saved others.

Let him save himself.

If he is God's Messiah,

the chosen one.

See, David's son and David's Lord,

Jesus Christ,

identified with sinners,

such as me,

such as you,

and such as David,

to save you by grace alone,

because salvation is his.

David was sinful.

Christ is sinless.

David was a man of blood.

Christ is the prince of peace.

David was powerless.

And Christ is all powerful.

David could not save himself.

God saved him.

And Christ could save himself.

But he did not.

He did not call the angels down

to get him off the cross.

David deserved punishment,

but he lived by God's grace.

And Christ,

the giver of life,

he died that you and I

might be saved from our sin,

that we could live with him forevermore,

because he is a God of salvation.

That's why we declare Christ exalted

is our song.

The man of sorrows,

mocked and tried,

bore the judgment for our wrongs,

for our sins was crucified.

And the second contrast is that King Jesus,

he set aside his glory.

He made his body a shield.

He let his head drop

in order to save his enemies.

We're told in John that God tabernacled on earth.

The prince of heaven from the holy hill,

Mount Zion in heaven,

he came down to earth

and he marched up the Mount of Calvary instead.

And he fulfilled and transformed

the hill of Jerusalem.

In verse three of Psalm three,

we read thou Lord,

and we can read it back now

in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

You became a shield for me,

my glory,

the lifter of my head,

because salvation belongs to the Lord.

Come,

oh,

sinner,

we sing,

come rejoice.

Mercy fills this place of scorn,

for he dies to save his enemies,

that all who draw near may know his peace.

Come,

oh,

sinner,

come rejoice.

Through the death of Christ,

death is destroyed.

The spirit shielded his glory

in his incarnation.

And Jesus,

through his entire life,

remained sinless until the very end.

And the spirit lifted his head with power.

And Jesus cried out in a loud voice,

like verse four,

I cried out unto the Lord with my voice,

and he heard me out of his holy hill.

In Romans 5.10,

we read that,

for while we were enemies,

we were reconciled to God

by the death of his son,

much more.

Now that we are reconciled,

shall we be saved by his life?

And what was it that our Lord cried out

from the cross?

With his final breaths,

as we sing,

hear the love of his refrain.

He cried out,

Father,

please forgive them,

my enemies,

as he bears the bitter weight

of guilt and condemnation.

Jesus Christ willingly laid down his life.

Verse five,

I laid down and slept,

and I awakened,

so that Jesus would take up his life again.

The Lord kept his soul.

The Lord sustained his body

from seeing decay,

so that he would be in his glorified state

and his resurrection.

The third contrast

is that salvation

and blessing for God's people

come from the hand of King Jesus.

John Gill pointed out

that when Christ was engaged

with all the powers of darkness,

with the sorrows of death,

compassed him about,

yet he failed not.

That's the end of his quote.

Well,

we read in Psalm 3,

Psalms 3:6

verse 6,

through the gospel of King Jesus,

that if Jesus is your king,

you need not be afraid

of ten thousands

of people on every side

that have set themselves

against him.

Why does God save sinners?

Why does God do it?

This is one of the five solas

of the Reformation,

Soli Deo Gloria.

We get this doctrine

from many places.

An important one is

Isaiah 48, verse 9,

Isaiah 48:9

which says,

For my name's sake,

I defer my anger.

For the sake of my praise,

I restrain it for you,

that I may not cut you off.

Why?

God says,

For my sake,

for my own sake,

I do it.

For how should my name be profaned?

My glory,

I will not give to another.

For my sake,

I will not give to another.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Salvation and blessing

for God's people

come from the hand

of King Jesus.

As goes the king,

so goes his kingdom.

Do you see this being played out now?

Not by elevating a man like David,

by pushing David as low as could be

to elevate Jesus Christ,

the true king.

David knew

that he could not bless the nation,

but the Lord's gracious blessing

is upon his people

from the hand of King Jesus.

David did not plan his own salvation.

He didn't escape and mastermind

this great military thing.

He'd done that plenty of times.

That's not what he chooses to do here.

He knows salvation must come from the Lord.

David did not accomplish his own salvation,

and David did not apply it to the nation

to bless them by his might.

From the hand of King Jesus,

we see that it was the Lord

all along who planned

the salvation of his people

from eternity past

in the covenant of redemption.

It was the Lord

who accomplished God's salvation

of sinners on the cross,

and it is the same Lord

who applies that salvation

by the power of the Holy Spirit

to regenerate,

to lift up the head

of those who are spiritually dead

so they will behold Jesus

as the king on his holy hill

through whom all blessings

come to his people.

It's through King Jesus

that we have peace on earth

like the hymn we sing at Christmas

and mercy mild,

God and sinners reconciled.

That's why we call now

for ourselves,

for all the nations,

joyful all ye nations,

rise,

join the triumph of the skies,

glory to the king.

Soli Deo Gloria.

God's salvation and blessings

come from the hand of King Jesus.

Salvation belongs to the Lord alone.

He is a God of salvation.

That's what he does.

I've been praying

that you would simply grasp that truth,

not just with your mind,

but for your life,

for your soul,

for your conscience,

that salvation,

your salvation,

it belongs to the Lord.

He brought salvation

from David's broken line

to fulfill his prophecies

for Christ to save you.

In Luke chapter 1, verse 67,

Luke 1:67

John the Baptist's dad,

the high priest Zechariah,

listen to what he said.

Blessed be the Lord,

God of Israel,

for he has visited

and redeemed his people.

He has raised up

a horn of salvation

for us

in the house

of his servant David.

And as he spoke

by the mouth

of his holy prophets

from old,

so he has done.

Salvation belongs

to the Lord.

He sits on the throne

of his holy hill,

the kingdom of heaven,

and from that throne

he descended.

He came to save you.

He did what David

could only long

to have been able to do.

There's no better illustration

for what God did

in sending his son

to save you

than from this context itself.

In 2 Samuel chapter 18,

2 Samuel 18 · chapter mention

Absalom dies.

And then we read

that the king

was much moved

and went up to the chamber

over the gate

and wept.

And as he went,

thus he said,

O my son Absalom,

my son,

my son Absalom.

Listen to what David says.

Would God that I

had died for thee,

O Absalom,

my son,

my son.

Do you see?

David could only long

to go back

and die in the place

of his enemy,

his son Absalom,

to save him

that he could live

by David dying.

And what David

could only long to do,

God has done.

He came down

and he took on flesh

and he died

in the place

of sinners

who were once

his enemies

so that they could live

and receive

all the blessings

that he got for them,

the blessings of heaven

from the hand

of King Jesus.

He did it.

Salvation belongs

to the Lord.

When Satan tempts you,

then your tempter

becomes your accuser

and you see your ugliness.

Ask the Lord

to lift your head.

In Luke 1,

that same prophet,

Zechariah,

he said,

that we should be saved

from our enemies.

That's why he sent his son,

that we,

being delivered

from the hand

of our enemies,

might serve him

with fear.

God saves you

by his glory alone.

Why?

That you will serve him

with fear.

That you will not be puffed up

and think you're above the law.

He saves you

that you will belong

to his kingdom

and that he will rule

over you,

his people.

Salvation belongs

to the Lord.

We're called to serve him

now with fear

in this present evil age.

By doing that,

he is preparing your soul

to worship him

in the age to come

and for all eternity.

That's what Ralph read for us

in Revelation 7.

Did you catch

that same refrain?

I'll read the section here.

A great multitude

in heaven

that no one could number

from every nation,

from all tribes

and peoples

and languages,

standing before the throne

and before the Lamb,

clothed in white robes

with palm branches,

in their hands,

a sign of victory.

They cried out

with a loud voice,

Salvation belongs

to our God

who sits on the throne

and to the Lamb.

And all the angels

were standing

around the throne

and around the elders

and the four living creatures

and they all fell

on their faces

before the throne

and worshipped God.

God is a God

of salvation.

Behold him.

Cry out to him.

Rest in him.

Rise up with him

and receive the riches

of heaven

from his hand.

Salvation belongs

to the Lord.

Amen.

Let's pray.

From Philippians 127.

Lord, by your power,

make our manner of life

to be worthy

of the gospel of Christ.

Make us stand firm

in one spirit

with one mind,

striving side by side

for the faith

of the gospel.

Make us no longer

frightened.

Make us certain

of our salvation

and that from God.

Make us see

that we are saved

for the sake

of Christ.

and make us

not only believe

in him

but also

to be ready

to suffer

for his namesake

we ask.

Amen.

Take a moment

to reflect

on the long gospel

that you've heard

preached from Psalm 3.

Amen.

Amen.

chten

Listen.