3. The Praise in David’s Prayers Psalm 86:9-13

Text: “All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify Thy Name. For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone.”

Psalm 86:9.

Good morning, thankful Christian!  When another mere mortal is asked by you to do some task, and they do it – it is customary and reasonably good manners for you and I to thank that person for their service to us.

Praying to the Living Lord God Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and earth and all things, and receiving our petitions from His Omnipotent and Holy hand really should be inspiration to give Him all the praise, and all the thanksgiving we can possibly give.  This is what makes us truly ‘thankful Christians’.  Praise be to the Lord!

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O may soul, and forget not all (or any) of His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.”  (Psalm 103:1-5)

Verse 9. “All nations…shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and glorify Thy Name. When nations worship and obey the great and only Lord God, Jehovah: all is well with that nation.  When nations decline from Christian faith, and not only allow dust to gather on its Bibles, but actively seek to pervert and disobey the Law of the Lord God – they cannot be blessed by that same Lord God Almighty. Observable fact!

The Western nations have abandoned the Commandments of the Lord God Jehovah – and are, therefore, under His fiery judgement.  A Holy Lord God cannot bless sin!

Verse 10. “Thou art God alone. Alone wast Thou God before Thy creatures were; alone in Godhead still art Thou now that Thou hast given life to throngs of beings; alone forever shalt Thou be, for none can ever rival Thee.  True religion makes no compromises; it does not admit Baal or Dagon to be a god; it is exclusive and monopolizing, claiming for Jehovah nothing less than all. The vaunted liberality of certain professors of modern thought is not to be cultivated by believers in truth.  “Philosophic breadth” aims at building a Pantheon and piles a Pandemonium; it is not for us to be helpers in such an evil work.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 364)

The First Commandment is: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)

“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)

Truly thankful Christians seek at all times to worship the Lord God in the revealed truth of His own God-breathed Word.  There is no such liberty given of God to worship Him in any other manner. God’s truth is a pure joy to all those whom the Spirit of God has quickened to know Christ in a ‘born again’ Spiritual experience.  Taking God at His own Word is a number one necessity for all who are elect of the Father, given to the Son; and quickened by God the Holy Ghost. Faith, God’s gift to His elect souls, enables true believers to receive the purity of God’s truth, and to be at all times truly thankful to Him for such an Eternal blessing.

“Sanctify them (the elect, genuine Christians) through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth.”     (John 17:17)

“The entrance of Thy Words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalm 19:7-8)

There is nothing as satisfying to the Spiritually regenerated heart than seeking to teach others the Bible truths which God the Spirit teaches us.  If there exists no real soul’s desire to read and study and hear God’s truths revealed in our written KJV Bibles – it is wise to doubt one’s very Salvation. God’s Word brings Spiritual life to us, as we lie in Spiritual death, like the ‘valley of dried bones’ in Ezekiel’s vision. (Ezekiel 37:1-10)

“So I prophesied (spoke God’s Word) as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone…”(Ezekiel 37:7)

You and I receive faith to believe, God’s gift to ‘His people’, when we hear/read the inspired Word of the Lord God Jehovah.  We cannot ever be saved without hearing the Gospel of Christ, and Him Crucified for our sins.

We can never be Eternally found, if we never realise that we are, in fact, Eternally lost in sin and guilt before our Holy Lord God.

“So then faith cometh by hearing (reading), and hearing by the Word of God.”          (Romans 10:17)

After being so graciously delivered from the guilt, shame, and Eternal punishment for our vile sins against the Lord God – should it be any wonder that our profoundly thankful hearts continue to love God’s Word, and study to show ourselves approved in its teachings?

Verse 11. “Teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth. If the Lord God has saved us by Spiritual regeneration (born again); we shall always thereafter seek to know how He would have us live our lives for Christ Jesus – we are thankful to be taught how to walk in God’s truth. When we seek to walk in His truth, we are assured of God’s constant Presence, and "…in His Presence is fulness of joy, at His right hand there are pleasures for ever more." (Psalm 16:11)

Verse 12. “I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with ALL my heart.  When my heart is one, I will give Thee all of it.  Praise should never be rendered with less than all our heart, and soul, and strength, or it will be both unreal and unacceptable.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 364)

Verse 13. “And Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest Hell.  There are some alive now who can use this language unfeignedly, and he who pens these lines most humbly confesses that he is one.  Left to myself to indulge my passions, to rush onward with my natural vehemence, and defy the Lord with recklessness of levity, what a candidate for the lowest abyss should I have made myself by this time.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 365.)

Thought: The author of this Bible Lesson was saved in cell nine, H Block 6, of the maximum-security Maze Prison, Northern Ireland, in 1979 – believe me, I am a most grateful and thankful Christian.  “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…”

2. The Faith of David’s Prayers Psalm 86:6-8

Text: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he/she that cometh to God must believe that He is (actually exists), and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”

Hebrews 11:6.

Good morning, faith-filled Christian!  By God’s Sovereign grace alone, He has saved us.  He has, by His grace and love for us, ‘His people’, granted us His Divine gift of real faith: the ability given to naturally sinful mankind with which we might believe (trust) God’s Word, come in faith to Christ, the Living Word; and be forgiven of all sin; washed in Christ’s precious Blood, and be partakers of Eternal life in Him. 

This is saving faith, the gift of God to us.  Without God’s Divine gift of this saving faith – not one soul could ever be saved.  We have God’s own Word on this Spiritual and Scriptural fact.

“For by grace are ye saved through FAITH; and that (faith) not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works (anything you or I could ever do), lest any man should boast.  For we are His workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained (predestinated) that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

The lie often told from pulpits today is that God has CREATED you and me. Nonsense! You and I are NOT Created beings!  The Lord God Created the earth; the angels; and Adam. He Created all the original animals, and Adam alone was Created “…in His own image, in the image of God, Created He him.” – a three-part creature, consisting of body, soul, and spirit, just as God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He Created Eve from the rib of Adam.

“And God said, Let US (three-Personed God) make man in our image, after our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26) The Lord God Created Adam, and then Eve from Adam. Biblical fact.

Adam/Eve fell from grace through disobedience in Eden’s Garden – they sinned against the command of God NOT to eat of the tree of good and evil, and as a result, died Spiritually speaking, and according to the warning of the Lord God that they would immediately die (Spiritually). 

“And the Lord God commanded the man (Adam), saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely DIE.”  (Genesis 2:16-17)

All humankind BORN after that fall from God’s grace, are BORN (as opposed to Created) in the fallen image of Adam/Eve and with a totally DEAD SPIRIT, unable to even understand the things of God. Check this out now for yourselves, beloved readers.

“And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son IN HIS OWN LIKENESS (fallen, dead in trespasses and sin), AFTER HIS IMAGE; and called his name Seth.” (Genesis 5:3)

“But the natural man (BORN in Adam’s image) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him/her: neither can he/she know them, because they are Spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

“That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”  (1 Corinthians 2:5)

Dear Reader: IF you believe what you have just read without doubting its truth: YOU are a ‘faith-filled Christian’. The Lord is encouraging you that, what you truly believe is from Him, and not from some stranger with a keyboard and a computer.  You are filled with God’s gift of faith, that you might indeed believe (trust) and receive God’s truth, from His Word.  Hallelujah!  Thank you, dear Lord God, for genuine Christian faith. David prayed in faith.

Verse 6. “Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. Here are repetitions, but not vain repetitions. When a child cries, it repeats the same note, but it is equally in earnest every time, and so was it with the suppliant here.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 364)

David had the Divine gift of faith from God, exercised it in fervent prayer, and therefore pleased God, as our Bible text for today teaches us: “…Without faith it is impossible to please Him…” (Hebrews 11:6) God rewards us when we pray to Him in true believing faith.

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

Verse 7. “In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou will answer. There can be no reason for praying if there be no expectation of the Lord’s answering. Who would make a conscience of pleading with the winds or find a solace in supplicating the waves? The mercy seat is a mockery if there be no hearing nor answering. David, as the following verses show, believed the Lord to be a living and potent God, and indeed to be “God Alone”, and it was on that account that he resolved in every hour of trouble to call upon Him” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 364)

Today, in this increasingly antichristian world, you and I shall have trouble after trouble – as the would hurtles towards Hell, and wallows in Sodomy and vile sin. Calling upon the Living Lord God for His help, guidance, direction and protection, is as necessary today as breathing to all who would unashamedly and publicly serve the risen Christ Jesus. Fact.

It is vain to call in prayer or worship to ‘good luck charms’, dead man-made ‘saints’; Mary, so-called ‘queen of heaven’ – or any would be Protestant prelate or Pope. A useless practice.

Verse 8. “Among the gods (small g) there is none like unto Thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto Thy works. What have the false gods ever made or unmade? What miracles have they wrought? When did they divide a sea or march through a wilderness scattering bread from the skies? O Jehovah, in Thy Person and in Thy works, Thou art as far above all gods as the Heavens are above the nethermost abyss.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 364)

“Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness o any thing that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.”         (Exodus 20:3-6)

‘Faith-filled Christians’, by God’s Sovereign grace alone, are filled with faith to both believe and receive God’s instructions; God’s love and grace; God’s every-day blessings – and to raise up our highest thanksgiving and praise to Him for such merciful care and love from Him.

Thought: “Among the gods there is none like unto Thee, O Lord.” Glory! Glory!

Psalm 86: “A Prayer of David” 1. The Plea of David Psalm 86:1-5

Text: “Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me: for I am poor and needy.  Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O Thou my God, save Thy servant that trusteth (trusts, and continues to trust) in Thee.”

Psalm 86:1-2.

Good morning, prayerful Christian!  When we say we love someone, it naturally follows that we desire deeply to be in the presence of that person continually – to share that love with them; to give and receive love with them; to admire, share fellowship, and adore the person we love.

Should this not also be true when we say we love the Lord God Who has saved us by bearing our vile sins upon His sinless Self; hanging with our sins attached to Him on a cruel Roman Cross; suffering the penal sufferings that you and I justly deserved for our sins against God and our fellow man; and redeeming us by the shedding of His own sinless Blood to grant us a covering for the disgrace of our sins?  I think we should be in constant worship and adoration of, and with, this wonderful Saviour Lord, and to constantly seek to be near Him.

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7)

Our love for Christ is proven by the personal desire we have to worship Him in prayerful fellowship, and share such Spiritual love constantly.  Have you got this deep desire?  David had, and expresses his love for the Lord prayerfully in Psalm 86.

“Title: “A Prayer of David”.  We have here one of the five Psalms entitled Tephillahs, or prayers. This Psalm consists of praise as well as prayer, but it is in all parts so directly addressed to God that it is most fitly called “a prayer”.  A prayer is none the less but all the more a prayer because veins of praise run through it. This Psalm would seem to have been specially known as David’s prayer; even as the Ninetieth is “the prayer of Moses”. (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 363)

In the opening verses of Psalm 86, we find David making a heartfelt plea to the Living Lord God Whom He loves and seeks to serve.  What an example this should be for you and me, as redeemed Christians.  Too often we neglect the place and the position of prayer to God.  Too often we seek our worldly comforts, the arm-chair and, perhaps, a television programme, instead of settling our minds on the Lord God in prayer, and praising Him for all He is and has provided for us as ‘His people’. (Matthew 1:21)

“But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”  (Philippians 4:19)

Verse 1. “Bow down Thine ear, O Lord, hear me. In condescension to my littleness, and in pity to my weakness, “bow down Thine ear, O Lord.”  When our prayers are lowly by reason of our humility, or feeble by reason of our sickness, or without wing by reason of our despondency, the Lord will bow down to them, the infinitely exalted Jehovah will have respect unto them.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 363)

Verse 1. “…For I am poor and needy. Poverty of Spirituality is infinitely worse than scarcity of temporal provision. Some think themselves self-sufficient if their bank accounts are healthy; or the crop in their field is in full bloom, or church-career prospering. However, we do well to assess all things in Spiritual mode, for many today who think they are rich, are known as debtors in the eyes of our all-knowing Lord God.  It is, perhaps, time for us all to weigh ourselves in His balance, and make sure we are actually ‘in the faith’ at all!

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove (test) your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”  (2 Corinthians 13:5)

“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17)

If ever ‘the church’, international and universal, needed to make personal and National pleas to the Lord God – for forgiveness, cleansing, and restoration to Bible-believing Christianity, it is NOW.

Being ‘politically correct’, seeking to ‘offend no one’; is NOT Bible-believing Christianity.  Dead religion can never save a soul from our sin.  God’s Word is truth!

Earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints, is what God requires of us, ‘His people’.  Repent, so-called ‘progressive Christian’!  (Jude 3)

Many today have ‘progressed’ right out of the genuine Protestant Christianity under which many of them have been formally ordained, taking the vows of The Westminster Confession of Faith. Many today reading this urgent Christian message, do not even know what the Westminster Confession of Faith is!  The world’s views have crept into ‘the church’, as predicted in the Book of Jude – and woe betide those be-frocked charlatans with split fish-mouthed hats of ‘the established churches’ who have opened the door to all sorts of sodomy, perversion, and doctrinal error, and sin in the name of the ‘politically correct’ god of Hell!

“For there are certain men/women crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 4)

Verse 3. “Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily. When God the Spirit indwells a true Christian believer, He cannot abide any sin committed, and we feel profoundly, the grief of our indwelling Holy Lord God.  No conviction of sin – no Salvation!

“And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30)

Genuine conversion to Christ always produces a deep inner grief when we sin, fact. This brings forth, therefore, a deep longing to be recleansed in our daily state, forgiven by the Lord, and that besetting sin forsaken. The evidence of our Spiritual condition, brings forth a sincere plea to God for restoration: “For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive…” (V.5)

Thought: David’s prayer should inspire and inform our personal prayers to the Lord. There are none as ‘poor and needy’ as professing Christians today.  Time to get real!

3. Sin Cleansed – Joy Abounds! Psalm 85:9-13

Text: “Surely His Salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land.  Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.  Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from Heaven.”

Psalm 85:9-11.

Good morning, Sin-cleansed Christian!  I know you by the joy glowing from your face, as, even in times of temporal trouble, it also glows from mine.  Why do our faces glow with Spiritual joy?  Because we are indeed, ‘Sin-cleansed Christians’!  Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord!

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”  (Psalm 103:1-5

The soul that professes to have been redeemed by the Lord God, yet fails to give Him a full measure of open praise – needs to revisit the entire concept of Eternal Salvation in Christ!  There is no such person as a thankless, praise-less Christian!  Selah (now think on this!).

Back-slidden Christian: tarry not at the pig’s trough of sin – return to the joy of the Lord.

Verse 9. “Surely His Salvation is nigh them that fear Him. If to seeking sinners Salvation is nigh, it is assuredly very nigh to those who have once enjoyed it and have lost its present enjoyment by their folly; they have but to turn unto the Lord, and they shall enjoy it again.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 361)

Sinners who have never been permitted entrance into the full Presence of the Living Lord God Jehovah, literally, do not know what they are missing, never having had that joy and peace. Those that have tasted sugar, but never pure honey, know nothing of the supreme difference in quality and sweetness.  Those who live in the night cannot fully appreciate the wonder of the morning sun, or smell the freshness of the grassy fields at break of day.

However, having once experienced in all fullness such beauty and blessings – such experiences must always be sorely missed if taken away.

There is no one to be pitied and prayed for more than the genuine backsliding Christian who has allowed the sin, and lust, and greed of their old nature to lure them out of full fellowship with the Lord Who has redeemed their never-dying souls from sin.  King David knew the depth of such loss, when he sinned, wilfully, against the Living Lord God.  He cried out:

“Cast me not away from Thy Presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy Salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.” (Psalm 51:11-12)

Genuine repentance from our sin, is our passport to a renewed joy in God’s Presence.

Verse 10. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. This happens when unsaved sinners, or backslidden Christians, sincerely repent, turn away from, our sin and cast ourselves on the Eternal mercies of our Holy, yet loving Lord God.

Here is what the faithful Matthew Henry (1662-1714) has to say on this matter:

“(1) When in every congress mercy and truth meet, in every embrace righteousness and peace kiss, and common honesty is indeed common, then glory dwells in a land, as the sin of reigning dishonesty is a reproach to any people.

(2.) Of the return of God's favour, and the continuance of it, thereupon. When a people return to God and adhere to him in a way of duty, he will return to them and abide with them in a way of mercy. So, some understand this, man's truth and God's mercy, man's righteousness and God's peace, meet together. If God find us true to him, to one another, to ourselves, we shall find him merciful. If we make conscience of righteousness, we shall have the comfort of peace. If truth spring out of the earth, that is (as Dr. Hammond expounds it), out of the hearts of men, the proper soil for it to grow in, righteousness (that is, God's mercy) shall look down from heaven, as the sun does upon the world when it sheds its influences on the productions of the earth and cherishes them.

(3.) Of the harmony of the divine attributes in the Messiah's undertaking. In him who is both our salvation and our glory mercy and truth have met together; God's mercy and truth, and his righteousness and peace, have kissed each other; that is, the great affair of our salvation is so well contrived, so well concerted, that God may have mercy upon poor sinners, and be at peace with them, without any wrong to his truth and righteousness. He is true to the threatening, and just in his government, and yet pardons sinners and takes them into covenant with himself. Christ, as Mediator, brings heaven and earth together again, which sin had set at variance; through him truth springs out of the earth, that truth which God desires in the inward part, and then righteousness looks down from heaven; for God is just, and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus. Or it may denote that in the kingdom of the Messiah these graces shall flourish and prevail and have a universal command.”  (Matthew Henry 1662-1714, in Mathew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible)

Verse 10. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.  These four Divine attributes parted at the fall of Adam and met again at the birth of Christ.” (George Horne,1730-1792)

When the Lord Jesus Christ made His Atonement for our sins, at Calvary’s Cross – it was a full and complete Atonement (at-one-ment), between a thrice Holy Lord God and the elected souls of sinful mankind.  For the redeemed, born again, Christian – all is Eternally well.

“It was good for Joseph that he was a captive; good for Naaman that he was a leper; good for Bartimaeus that he was blind, and for David that he was in trouble.  Bradford thanked God more for his prison than for parlour or pleasure. All things are for the best unto the faithful, and so God’s mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (John Boys, 1560-1643)

Genuine, soundly saved backsliding Christians all testify of the pure peace, joy, and blessings experienced – when once they quit their backsliding, confessed and forsook their besetting sins; and were gloriously restored to full fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

“…Return unto Me, and I will return unto you, said the Lord of Hosts…” (Malachi 3:7)

Verse 13. “Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us IN THE WAY of His steps. Full joy of heart, soul, and mind, is found only IN Christ Jesus.

 He is THE WAY, the truth, and the life – no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Joy abounds in Christ alone.

Thought: Psalm 85: Sins forgiven and detested, equals full joy restored in Christ.

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)