Psalm 85: 2. Sin Detested! Psalm 85:4-8

Text: “For we know that the law is Spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would (do), that do I not; but what I hate (sin), that I do…O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…”

Romans 7:14-25.

Good morning, sin-detesting Christian!  Being a ‘sin-detesting Christian’ does NOT mean that you and I are stuffed full of self-righteousness, like some most definitely are today; magnifying the failings and faults of others, while ignoring our own sinful natures.  No! It primarily applies to our own committed sins, even after we are so graciously saved by the precious shed Blood of our Saviour, Jesus Christ! 

Being genuinely saved, does not make the saved person sinless!  Our old Adamic nature is totally depraved, and as so, has the potential to commit every vile sin in the book!  Furthermore, the old nature that we, as genuine Christians have; shall ALWAYS be prone to commit sin, until the body is separated from the soul/spirit by death, and we receive glorified Spiritual bodies that shall never sin again.  Fact.

Detesting our own sinfulness and failings – even when others do not see our faults – is what defines the depth of honesty, integrity, and commitment we have in Christ Jesus.  Christ Jesus, through the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, makes us to utterly detest the continued presence of any degree of sin in our Christian lives.  We become, by His grace, ‘sin-detesting Christians’.

Look again at the apostle Paul’s depth of Christian honesty there in Romans Chapter 7.; and again, at the Psalmist’s sincere consciousness of personal and National sin in Psalm 85.

The human will cannot, and will not, turn from inherent sin within our old nature, Romans 8 and verse 7 clearly teaches us this fact.   We are totally depraved, even after we are saved, having an Adamic nature, inherited from our fallen progenitor, Adam, which always desires to commit sin!

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”      (Romans 8:7-8)

After you and I are Spiritually regenerated, born-again, God the Holy Ghost lives within us; we become the temple of God.  There is immediate conflict between God the Spirit living within us, and our old Adamic, sin-prone nature.  The battle is a continuous one within us.

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  So then with the mind I serve the law of God; but with my flesh the law of sin.”  (Romans 7:22-25)

Detesting any sin committed through the inherited weakness of our flesh, the apostle assures himself (and us) that he belongs to Christ Jesus, and the grief God the Holy Spirit feels when you and I sin, further proves that we have moved from sin’s death unto true Spiritual life in Christ.  We become, by God’s grace alone, ‘sin-detesting Christians’.

Verse 4. “Turn us, O God of our Salvation. Conversion is the dawn of Salvation. To turn a heart to God is as difficult as to make the world revolve upon its axis.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 360)

By the doctrine of Progressive Sanctification (seeking to be progressively cleansed from our daily sins), we show that we are indeed, ‘sin-detesting Christians’.  We have been taught that we serve a thrice Holy Lord God Who cannot abide sin, and must punish it.  Therefore, we seek to be obedient to our Holy Lord God by confession and forsaking of our sins, progressively.  We cannot enjoy close fellowship with such a Holy Lord God, if we are not seeking to walk in the light with Him.  This demands continual, and progressive sanctification from our sins reference our daily state – in our standing in Christ, we have been covered from all sins forever. 

This is State and Standing theology reference the doctrine of Sanctification. (See the Christian Doctrines section on Sanctification on my website www.ulsterchristians.org )

Just as the apostle Paul cries out for deliverance from his sinful nature in Romans Chapter 7, the Psalmist cries out with a similar sin-detesting desire here in Psalm 85.

Verse 6. “Wilt Thou not revive us again… When genuine Christian believers become conscious of having sinned against the Living God – in word, thought, or deed – we feel the pangs of Spiritual defeat, Spiritual failing; Spiritual separation in our state between our sinful selves and our pure and Holy Lord God.  Scriptures call this grief of God the Spirit.

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”  (Ephesians 4:29-30)

Verse 6. “Revive us again. Men in distress never waste words.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 360)

When the Lord God saves thee and me, we become ‘sin-detesting Christians’ who, from the time of our Spiritual regeneration, seek to fellowship with the One Who saved us, and to do so, requires of us continual detestation of all sin, and especially sin committed by ourselves.  We cannot get close to One Who detests all sin, without becoming ‘sin-detesting Christians’.

The prophet Amos put it this way: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3)

Verse 8. “I will hear what God the Lord will speak. Show me the professing ‘Christian’ who has no desire to read his/her Bible, and I will show you someone that is not a true Christian at all.  If we love someone, we shall always desire to be in close communion with them.  We 21^st Century Christians do so by becoming ‘sin-detesting Christians’, who are continually found with open KJV Bibles, communing in harmony with our Lord God.

Verse 8. “He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints. The Lord Jesus Christ creates us as SAINTS, not some high church, or religious system. Therefore, the Prince of all peace, Jesus the risen Christ, speaks Eternal peace to us, ‘His people’, for whom He has suffered to pay the full penalty of our sins, died the death He alone could die for us; and forever keeps us securely in His Divine hand.  This is another reason why we must become ‘sin-detesting Christians’ – for it was OUR SINS that took Christ Jesus to that cruel Cross.

Thought: “Let us not turn again to folly”, but to full worship of our Holy Lord God. All sin must be detested by us, shunned, and repented from.

Psalm 85: Sins forgiven – Sin Detested! 1. Sins Forgiven! Psalm 85:1-3

Text: “Lord, Thou hast been favourable unto Thy land: Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people; Thou hast covered all their sin. Thou hast taken away all Thy wrath: Thou hast turned Thyself from the fierceness of Thine anger.”

Psalm 85:1-3.

Good morning, pardoned Christian!  By God’s Sovereign grace, you and the author have been gloriously pardoned from all sin – our Adamic sin, sin inherited within our old nature from Adam/Eve; and all the sins we have ever, or shall ever commit against our Holy Lord God of just wrath against all sin.  Hallelujah!  We are pardoned from the guilt and shame of our vile, disobedient and inherited, sins; and shall never ever be punished for our committing them.   Thank you, dear and Holy Lord God!  Amen. In Christ Jesus, we are forgiven.

“And the Blood (of Christ Jesus) shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the Blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt (Egypt is always a type of the world in Scriptures).” (Exodus 12:13)

“Blessed is he/she whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (by the Blood of the Lamb, Christ Jesus).” (Psalm 32:1)

Old Testament TYPES (the use of typology, earthly illustrations of Heavenly concepts) are all fully enacted in New Testament actions.  Christ came not to abolish the Law of God, He came to fulfil it, every jot and tittle.

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  For verily I say unto you, Till Heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”  (Matthew 5:17-18)

Verse 1. “Lord, Thou hast been favourable unto Thy land: Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.”  God’s favour, or it could be interpreted as His grace, has been shown in the most profound sense, by the sending forth of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to take the sins of His elect upon Himself, go to that cruel Cross at Calvary, suffer, bleed and die the death that He alone could die – and all for to provide full Atonement for ‘His people’, and save us from the penalties and punishments for our sins.  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour! He has come the first time to do what the Lord God told Joseph he would do.

“And she (Mary) shall bring forth a son, and thou (Joseph) shalt call His Name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21) (Not ALL people, but His people!)

“…Behold (look, and fully understand) the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

I hear some poor wretch say: “But, Dr McClinton, surely some of my sins are so vile and so blatantly deserving of God’s wrath, and Hell, and the Lake of Fire to follow – surely SOME of my sins will not be forgiven?”

To this sincere question I simply quote God’s written Word on the matter of forgiveness, and God’s Word puts an end to all questioning hearts. (Psalm 85:2)

Verse 2. “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people; Thou hast covered ALL their sins.”  Often and often again had He done this, pausing to pardon even when His sword was bared to punish.  Who is a pardoning God like Thee, O Jehovah? Who is so slow to anger, so ready to forgive? Every believer in Jesus enjoys the blessing of pardoned sin, and he/she should regard this priceless boon as the pledge of all other needed mercies.” (C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, page 360)

Verse 3. “Thou hast taken away ALL Thy wrath: Thou hast turned Thyself from the fierceness of Thine anger. When the Lord God, in Eternity, elects a sinner to give to His Son, Jesus Christ, to save in time – He causes ALL His wrath that that sinner deserved and continues to deserve to receive, to be taken away.  The shed and sinless Blood of His dear Son, Jesus Christ, the price of the elect sinner’s ransom, is all that the loving and Holy Father sees when He looks upon us as His redeemed people.  What grace!  What love! What a Father!  What a Saviour we have, in Christ Jesus!  Hallelujah! Thanks be to God for His grace! (John 6:37)

“That in the ages to come (right now) He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works (good deeds, good living), lest any man/woman should boast.” (Ephesians 2:7-9)

“Thou hast borne, or carried away, the iniquity. An allusion (type) to the ceremony of the scape-goat.” (Adam Clarke, 1760-1832)

“Thou hast covered ALL their sin. When God is said to cover sin, He does so, not as one would cover a sore with a plaster, thereby merely hiding it only; but He covers it with a plaster that effectually cures and removes it altogether.” (Robert Bellarmine, 1542-1621)

If the Living Lord God Almighty, Jehovah, Creator of all things, be likened unto an Atomic Reactor unto which no human being can approach, without burning up in an instant.  Then, the precious shed Blood of the Living Lord Jesus Christ might be likened unto the thick lead suit of protection, by which redeemed sinners might approach our Father’s throne, without utterly consuming away. Genuine saved sinners are covered by Christ’s sinless Blood.

“Wherefore we, receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:28-29)

The Lord Jesus Christ, by the offering of His own sinless Blood, has entered into the Holy Place in Heaven on your behalf and on mine – IF we are born again, Bible-believing Christians.  His once-for-all-time sin offering for us, covers ‘His people’, and pays the just penalty for our vile sins.  We are FORGIVEN in Him. He is our Eternal insurance policy!

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own Blood He entered in once into the Holy Place having obtained Eternal redemption for us.” (Hebrews 9:12)

Thought: “Therefore (an Eternal conclusion) if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed (or are continually passing) away; behold, all things are become (or are continually becoming) new.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17) Glory to the Lamb!

Psalm 84: ‘The Pearl of Psalms’ Psalm 84:1-12

Text: “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will be still praising Thee. Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.”

Psalm 84:4-5.

          “Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy Presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.”

Psalm 16:11.

Good morning, delivered Christian!  Your heart and mine rejoice at the very thought of that glorious day when God the Spirit ‘quickened’ our spirits, breathed regenerative breath into our sin-dead souls; and made us to come alive in Christ Jesus.  Hallelujah!  What Spiritual deliverance!  Hallelujah! What a Saviour we have in Christ Jesus!  Hallelujah! What Sovereign grace God our Father has bestowed upon us who were most definitely on our way to a Christ-rejecter’s Hell.  Hallelujah!  We have been set Eternally FREE!

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…If the Son (Jesus Christ) therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed.”  (John 8:32-36)

Through the full Atonement Sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary’s Cross, our vile sins – ALL our vile sins – have been atoned for: the price of our guilt and sin has been fully paid; the Eternal punishment you and I justly deserved has been suffered for us by our Lord; the Eternal death our sin demanded has been dismissed by the death of Christ Jesus; we are fully justified (just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned) by Christ’s resurrection from the dead – and we are forever FREE.  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour! What an Eternal deliverance we have!

“Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

In all aspects of our sinful state, our weaknesses, our faults and daily failings – we are delivered by the precious shed Blood of our Holy Lord Jesus Christ.  This is a true deliverance from all that pertains to the Fall of Adam/Eve into sinful disobedience in Eden’s Garden, and all the catalogue of sins you and I have committed before and after we have been saved.  All our sins are nailed to Christ’s Cross, and we are forever free.

Our Living Lord Jesus does not perform half, or part, miracles. We are delivered completely.  In our Standing in Christ Jesus – we cannot sin. Sin is under His Blood.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”  (Romans 8:1-2)

We who have been born-again of God’s Spirit, through and in Christ Jesus, are delivered from the household of Satan, and graciously placed within the House of God.  We are free.

Verse 1. “How amiable are Thy tabernacles. Here the Gospel trumpet is blown, and its joyful sound echoed forth, and songs of love and grace are sung by all believers; besides, what makes these tabernacles still more lovely are the Presence of God here, so that they are no other than the House of God, the gate of Heaven; the provisions that are here made and the company that is here enjoyed.” (John Gill, 1697-1771)

Verse 2. “My heart and my flesh crieth out for the Living God. Many today, in this 21^st Century, are crying out, but not for ‘the Living God’!  Many cry out for meetings in a church-building, but that is not what the Psalmist is crying out for.  No!  The Psalmist is crying out for ‘the Living God’; for full fellowship with the Living Lord Jesus, not for yet another half-hearted, half-baked, half-committed gathering of professing Christians, who too often seem more interested in who has the biggest church hat, or the strictest sour-grape religious face; or the highest number of church-attendances.  This is not Spiritual desire for God’s Presence, this is merely ‘playing church’; this is more legalistic ritual than true close fellowship with our thrice Holy Lord God, Jehovah.  Genuine Christians are delivered from all of that pomp and religious ceremony. We are longing for continued fellowship with God.

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.”      (Psalm 42:1)

We sinners have been brought into God’s House by grace, through God-given faith in Christ, and in His Sacrifice for our sins at the Cross – this is the real House, not some building made with sinner’s hands.  It is Christ Who is Lord of God’s House, not some fellow-sinner with a dog-collar of religion around his neck, taking the Lord’s Name of ‘Reverend’ in vain!

“He (the Lord God) sent redemption unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant forever: Holy and REVEREND is His Name.” (Psalm 111:9)

“Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him/her guiltless that taketh His Name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)

For the genuine Spiritually regenerate soul – EVERY PLACE IS A PLACE OF WORSHIP. In beds of sickness, we worship; locked in prison cells, we worship; castaway on a desert island, we are in a place of worship. How? Because we live in God’s House!  We worship God in Spirit and in Truth.  Real Spiritual Truth IS the Lord Jesus Christ!

“Jesus saith unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6)

Verse 4. “Blessed are they that DWELL in Thy House: they will be still praising Thee.  Blessed is the man/woman whose strength is in Thee (not in some religious building); in whose heart are the ways of them.”  You and I do not ‘dwell’ in church-buildings, we simply go there to gather together to worship, which I am certainly not condemning, but merely pointing out that true worship does not vitally require a building, a congregation, or a Pastor.  True worship is a continual desire, wherever a believer is at any given moment; and always a personally desired privilege of being Christ’s Blood-bought people.

Verse 7. “They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.” Can you and I imagine ‘every one of them in Zion’ fitting into a church-building? No! It is the ‘…appearing before God…’ that denotes true worship, seeking God’s Holy Presence in order to worship and adore Him with a thankful, humble, and reverent heart. Anywhere!

Verse 12. “Blessed (blessed with many blessings) is the man/woman that trusteth in Thee. The true Christian faith is, at all times, a personal commitment to Christ, it cannot be undertaken, or practiced, as a mere, ‘signed up member’ of any organised religious group.

Psalm 84, ‘The Pearl of Psalms’, exhorts us to dwell continually in the true House of God.

Thought: “As having hearts full of Heaven, and consciences full of comfort. There cannot but be music in the temple of the Holy Ghost.” (John Trapp 1601-1699)