Psalm 87: The Church has One Foundation! Psalm 87:1-7

Text: “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 3:10-11.

Good morning, wise faith-building Christian! The Lord God in His Sovereign grace to your soul and to mine has ‘quickened’ us, made us Spiritually alive who were Spiritually dead; breathed Spiritual life into our dead spirits, by His Holy Spirit; granted us faith to believe; and repentance from all our sins; and recreated us ‘…new creatures in Christ…’.

“And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou knowest.  Again He said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. Thus sayeth the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.”  (Read Ezekiel 37:1-10)

“And you hath He quickened (made alive), who were dead in trespasses and sins…Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).” (Ephesians 2:1;5)

The Foundation of our Salvation was, is, and shall always remain: Christ, and Him Crucified for our sins.  We have no Saviour but the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have no Eternal security outside of His full Atonement Sacrifice at Calvary’s Cross.  We are nothing without Christ in our lives, and we can never be redeemed from sin by anything other than His precious and sinless Blood, shed to cover us from all our vile sins and trespasses against our Holy Father God. 

Jesus Christ, God the Son, is the only Foundation for Eternal Salvation. Fact.

“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)

“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 1. “His foundation is in the holy mountains.  Not on the sand of carnal policy, nor in the morass of human kingdoms, has the Lord founded His church, but on His own power and Godhead, which are pledged for the establishment of His beloved church, which is to Him the chief of all His works.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, page 366)

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”             (1 Corinthians 3:11)

The sure Foundation of all we born again, Bible-believing, Christians are and can ever be is based on the solid Rock of God the Son, the risen Lord Jesus Christ.  All else outside Him is mere ‘churchianity’ and dead religion. 

Our faith is built on nothing less, than Christ and His full righteousness; His full Atonement (at-one-ment) Sacrifice on that cruel Cross; and upon His fully proven bodily resurrection from the dead.  Up from the grave He arose! Hallelujah! Victory in Christ Jesus, our sure Foundation Rock!

Jesus said: “Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”  (Luke 6:47-48)

"The Church's One Foundation" is a Christian hymn written in 1866 by Samuel John Stone. This hymn describes the church's relationship to its "foundation" being Jesus Christ. The church is represented as the collective Christian fellowship of the earth as it is wholly united by its saviour, the son of God.”  (Godtube online) 

1 The church's one Foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is His new creation,
by water and the Word;
from heav'n He came and sought her
to be His holy bride;
with His own blood He bought her,
and for her life He died.

2 Elect from ev'ry nation,
yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation,
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy Name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with ev'ry grace endued.

3 Tho' with a scornful wonder,
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song… (More verses)

Do our Spiritually regenerate hearts (entire essence) not melt with love for Christ when we sing such a clear and doctrinally sound hymn? Praise God for our ONE FOUNDATION!

“God, Who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His Person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He (Jesus Christ) had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)  Lord Jesus, we worship Thee alone!

Thought: True Christian faith is built on one Foundation – Jesus the risen Christ!

4. The Persistence of David’s Prayers Psalm 86:14-17

Text: “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. God shall hear, and afflict them, even He tha abideth of old. Selah (now think on this). Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.”

Psalm 55:17-19.

Good morning, persevering Christian!  Because you and I seek to persevere in the faith ‘…once delivered unto the saints…’, as instructed by the Lord in our KJV Bibles – we incur the persistent wrath of God’s enemies – the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Therefore, we learn to be most persistent in earnest prayer to the Living Lord God – for we desperately need His help, protection, and strength to contend for our faith day by dangerous day.

Needs must! Because our enemies are never idle in their schemes against us, and against the Almighty Lord God Who has chosen us to be ‘soldiers’ in His ‘exceedingly great army’ of redeemed souls – our need of His help, guidance, strength, and direction is continual and ongoing day by day. If our needs are continual, then our prayers to God are a persistent must.

A prayerless Christian is no Christian at all!  Persecution and hindrance and opposition to genuine Christian practice and faith is promised to all who would dare to stand for the risen Christ Jesus. Fact! This is full on Spiritual war. Come right now and help in the daily Battle!

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.” (2 Timothy 3:12-14)

Let us look now at some of David’s enemies are what they were up to at that particular time of his life – for these enemies of David’s soul, continue to plague true Christians today.

Verse 14. “O God, the proud are risen against me.  Pride in the heart of natural, unregenerate men and women, fosters immediate opposition to our Holy Lord God of wrath against all disobedience and sin. Pride and unbelief sent Christ to the Cross to die.

Plain Bible Teaching, Online, Comments:

“We Have No King But Caesar”: Pilate knew that the trial of Jesus was unique. Jesus explained to him that His kingdom was “not of this world” (John 18:36). Pilate then recognized that Jesus claimed to be a king (John 18:37), even though the Jews rejected Him as their king (John 18:33-35). But the Jews’ rejection of Jesus was more than just a refusal to support Him as a king; they wanted to kill Him (John 18:31) even though Pilate was able to find “no guilt in Him” (John 18:38; 19:4-6).

“Then Pilate became “even more afraid” when the Jews told him that Jesus “made Himself out to be the Son of God” (John 19:7-8). How much of this Pilate believed is immaterial. The fact is that the events transpiring with the claims and charges being made were producing a volatile situation. So, Pilate “made efforts to release Him” (John 19:12), but the Jews would not let him do it. Pilate then made one final effort to defuse the situation and allow the innocent Jesus to be released.

“Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth house. And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold, your King!’ So, they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’ So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified” (John 19:14-16).

“This case was not about some random insurrectionist. There was much more to this than Pilate could have imagined at the start. But in the end, the Jews – influenced by their leaders (Matthew 27:20) – very clearly and boldly repudiated Jesus and demanded His crucifixion. Why was this so significant? It has to do with what they rejected, and what they chose to focus on instead.

“What Did They Reject? First and foremost, the Jews rejected Jesus. This point may seem too obvious to be worth mentioning, but it is important. They rejected Jesus even though Pilate found Him to be innocent (John 18:38; 19:4, 6). Peter wrote that Jesus “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). They accused Him of blasphemy because “He made Himself out to be the Son of God” (John 19:7). This was in spite of the fact that Jesus performed undeniable miracles. A blind man who was healed by Jesus even pointed out this fact: “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him” (John 9:31). He then correctly said, “If this man were not of God, He could do nothing” (John 9:33). Jesus was unquestionably the sinless Son of God. Yet the Jews rejected Him and called for His crucifixion.

“In addition to rejecting the Son, the Jews also rejected God the Father. If Jesus were a blasphemer and a wicked man, they could have rejected Him and called on Pilate to punish Him. But they did not just do this. They went a step further. They said, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). Their forefathers were guilty of rejecting God when they called for a human king to rule over them (1 Samuel 8:6-7). “God was [their] king” (1 Samuel 12:12), but they wanted to be “like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:20) instead of being God’s chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:6). However, by this time, the Jews were to recognize the authority of the Roman rulers. Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s”; but they were to also render “to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Allegiance to human rulers was fine to a point (Acts 5:29). But Jesus said, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). By saying they had no king but Caesar, they were rejecting God who was over the civil authorities (John 19:11).

“Finally, the Jews rejected the word of God. They claimed to be “disciples of Moses” (John 9:28). Yet Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46). Paul would later describe the Law of Moses as a “tutor to lead us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24). Yet they rejected this testimony, choosing rather to hold onto their own false beliefs.” (Plain Bible Teaching, Online)

It therefore follows that such ungodly oppositions are also levelled at those of us that have received God’s Sovereign grace in Salvation, and you and I need to pray persistently for the Lord God’s help to overcome such proud, antichristian rebels daily. Let us now pray.

Thought: Verse 17. “Show me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because Thou, Lord, hast holpen (helped) me, and comforted me.”

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…”