9/1/19 - Psalm 40 - "A New Song"

[0:00] Let's go ahead and get started by just first reading through Psalm 40. If you have the Pew Bible, it's on page 468. In the ESV, it's titled, My Help and My Deliverer, and it reads, To the choir master, a psalm of David. I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock. Making my steps secure, he put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

[0:32] Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie. You have multiplied, O Lord, my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us. None can compare with you.

[0:48] I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. In sacrifice and offering, you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering, you have not required. Then I said, Behold, I have come in the scroll of the book it is written of me.

[1:07] I delight to do your will, O my God. Your law is within my heart. I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation. Behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord.

[1:19] I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

[1:30] As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me. Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me, for evil has encompassed me beyond number. My iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart fails me.

[1:46] Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether, who seek to snatch away my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor, who delight in my hurt. Let those be appalled because of their shame, who say to me, Aha, aha. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. May those who love your salvation say continually, Great is the Lord. As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought from me.

[2:16] You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O my God. So let's pray before we look at this text in more detail. Father, thank you for this morning, this time to worship you through the study of your word.

[2:32] I pray that you would reveal the truth of your word to us and help us to grow in our knowledge and love of you. Lord, that it would be edifying and that it would teach us more of the truth of your character, of your faithfulness, your steadfast love. Lord, that we would grow in our love for you, your salvation, and of delighting in your salvation. Pray this in your name. Amen.

[3:00] So the first thing I want to note with this psalm is its structure. And so if you've been with us in this study of psalm for a while, you have probably heard the term chiasm, right? It is a literary structure that was often used in the psalms and in Hebrew literature to focus a text towards a specific point. And so the structure works by focusing us in through a series of verses to a point, and then it works its way back out. And so this psalm is actually structured as a chiasm.

[3:32] And so the first point, verses 1 through 3, speaks on fruitful waiting. And then verses 4 through 5 are a reflection on the Lord's past goodness. And then we see an emphasis in verses 6 through 12, and we see the psalmist pray a profession of obedience, of testifying, and faith in the Lord's mercy. And this is where the psalm is emphasized. And then we work our way back out. We see a prayer in verses 13 through 16, a prayer for the Lord's future goodness, and then a prayer of patiently waiting on the Lord's future goodness in verses 17. And so the structure should draw our focus on verses 6 through 12, and the importance of obedience over whole sacrifice and sin offering.

[4:32] And then reflecting on the tone of this psalm, we see a prayer of thanksgiving, of obedience, and a prayer for deliverance. So since there are 17 verses, I decided to break it up into three main points, right? A good Baptist sermon with three points. So the first point, point one, wait for the Lord and trust in his goodness, will be verses 1 through 5. Point two, will be hear and obey the will of the Lord, verses 6 through 12. And then point three, we will reflect on this prayer for deliverance and patience in the waiting, on verses 13 through 17.

[5:11] So the first point, as I said, is on waiting for the Lord, first in verse 1 through 3, and then trusting in his goodness. So let's look again at verses 1 through 6 and reflect on this prayer of thanksgiving. So just reading verses 1 through 3 for right now.

[5:28] I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock. Making my steps secure, he put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to the Lord. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

[5:47] And so the psalmist, David, as he writes this, he is reflecting on his past wait for the Lord in a situation that he likens to being in a pit, a pit filled with mud, and he's sinking. And so there's no way he can get a foothold and climb out of this pit, right? And so he's doomed to die in this pit unless he's rescued from some outside force. And so here in verse 1 we see, I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. And so I really like this word here, inclined, because it's sort of like giving our full attention and listening carefully, as when like we hear the sound of a baby crying in another room, and we intently listen, right? And the Lord is intently listening to the cry of David. And then he's reaching down and pulling him out of this pit, right? He put a new song in his mouth and he set him on a rock and made his steps secure. So there was no way he could climb out of this pit on his own. But the Lord rescued him, right? He lifted him up from the miry bog. Under the weight and curse of his sin, he was imprisoned, like Jeremiah in the cistern of

[7:06] Malachiah, we see in Jeremiah 38 verses 6 through 12. He was thrown into this pit by the king. He was sinking into the mud and there was no foothold, no way for him to climb out. But he was rescued by someone letting a rope down. And this is similar. The Lord rescued the psalmist from this pit.

[7:26] And then he says, seeing his rescue, many will fear they will have a reverence for the Lord. Seeing how he was rescued, they will put their trust in the Lord.

[7:39] The rescue from death in the pit will be an encouragement to many, right? So although he was near to death in this pit, seeing him rescued will be an encouragement and turn many to the Lord.

[7:51] So let's look next at verses 4 through 5 and see this profession to proclaim the wondrous deeds of the Lord. In verse 4 it reads, blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie. You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us. None can compare with you. I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. Those who take refuge in the Lord, we are blessed to take refuge in the Lord.

[8:25] Those who turn towards the Lord as an object of our faith and confidence, we are blessed. We see in 1 Peter verses 1, 8 through 9, though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. And also in Romans 5 verses 1 through 2, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through him we have also obtained access by faith into the grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope and the glory of God. And so the rock that we stand on that gives us a sure footing is our faith in Christ. Those who turn aside from falsehood, who resist the proud, we are blessed. We hate the work of those who fall away. We do not set our eyes on anything worthless. We are told to beware those whose heart is turning away from the Lord. In Proverbs 12, 2, we see, a good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns. So the Lord, he has multiplied his wondrous deeds and his thoughts toward us. And I love this word thoughts, to think that the Lord, his thoughts are toward us, his children, right? We, like the psalmist, like David, we should recount all his wondrous deeds.

[10:06] We should be overwhelmed by praising the wondrous deeds that he has done. We should give thanks to the Lord. As he says, who is like the Lord? Who is majestic in holiness? Who does such glorious deeds and wonders for their children? How great are his works? How deep are his thoughts? The Lord, his thoughts are not our thoughts. His thoughts are precious and vast. How is it then that his thoughts are toward us?

[10:33] As we read earlier in Psalm 33, 14, from where he sits enthroned, he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth. We see that the thoughts or the deliberations of the mind of the Lord are toward us, toward his children. He's thoughtful of his children, and he chooses to do wondrous deeds towards us.

[10:53] And we see the whole scripture filled with these wondrous deeds from Adam and Eve, through Noah, through Abraham, through David, and finally through Christ. And so the psalmist, he's moved to proclaim the righteous acts of the Lord, of his salvation. And to say that the number of his righteous deeds, they're beyond number, right? David, he can't count them. He later on uses an expression like they're beyond the number of hairs on his head, beyond the sands of the sea. In each case of suffering and in victory, those who trust in the Lord are one with the Lord, one with his sufferings and with his victory.

[11:33] Right? So the second point I want to look at is verses 6 through 12. And in here we see a vow. The psalmist prays a vow of obedience, a vow to testify, and a prayer in his suffering. So let's look first at verses 6 through 8. And we'll note a shift in the narrative of this psalm. So in verse 6 we see, in sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, behold, I have come in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your will. Oh my God, your love is within my heart. Right?

[12:22] So we see here that the Lord does not delight in continuous sacrifice and sin offering. And in the ESV, it says sacrifice and sin offering. But in the CSB, it says whole sacrifice. And so it's important to see this distinction because if we think back about the law, Israel was commanded to perform whole animal sacrifices and sin offerings. But if we really reflect on the law, these offerings offerings were never mandated. They were given by God's grace as a necessity due to sin.

[13:01] These sin offerings had to be performed as an atonement. But had they perfectly obeyed the law, these offerings were never necessary. They were actually a gift of God's grace.

[13:13] And so this solution was not permanent. And it, unfortunately, it could never fulfill the righteous requirement of the law of Moses. Right? Something greater was necessary, as we'll see in a few minutes in Romans 8. Someone greater than David and the priest was required. This continual sacrificing to the Lord, it could not fulfill the law. It couldn't fulfill the demands of God's justice and his righteousness. And as we'll see, only Christ could fulfill these demands.

[13:49] God's justice through the offering of the body of Christ was the only way to fulfill these demands. And so here in verse 6, we see this statement, you have given me an open ear. Right? And this statement means that the Lord has given the psalmist an open ear to know and obey the will of the Lord. Right? Some of the commentaries think of, like, when you give yourself as a servant to the Lord, they would put your ear on the doorpost and drive an awl through it. Right? And in making that hole in your ear, you were dedicating yourself to that person. You had chosen to remain a servant for the remainder of your life.

[14:26] But here, open ear is thought to mean an ear that is open to the heart. So the word of God is revealed to the heart. And David, the psalmist, is able to know the word of the God. That it is not continual sacrifice for sin that God desires, but an obedient heart. And we can see this in Hebrews 10.

[14:51] We'll look at in a second. The Lord has given the psalmist an open ear to know and obey the will of the Lord. The Father does not require burnt offering or sin offering, except as a temporary atonement for sin.

[15:04] In Proverbs 21.3, we see, to do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. And also, we may think of the words of Samuel to Saul in 1 Samuel 15.22, when Saul took the sacrifice into his own hands in hope of rescue from the impending defeat by the Philistines, he did not wait for Samuel to come and perform the sacrifice. He took it into his own hands.

[15:34] And this was sin. And Samuel confronted him, rebuked him, and said in 1 Samuel 15.22, has the Lord his great delight in burnt offering and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?

[15:46] Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. As the psalmist here proclaims, I delight to do your will, O God, your law is within my heart. Right? So the psalmist knows what the Lord is truly after, is a heart that obeys his will. And so, this is where we also see a shift in the narrative if we look at verses 6 through 8. At first, read through, we've interpreted this psalm as being the words of David. Right? But if we look at it closely, and we look at the cross-references to the New Testament, we see that this is actually quoted in the New Testament. And also, in verse 7, it says, the scroll of the book. Right? In verse 7, the scroll of the book. And this is in reference to the law of Moses. At this time in David's life, the scripture was the five books of Moses, or the Pentateuch. And this is what he's referring to. But what we'll notice is, if we've read the Pentateuch, it doesn't refer or give us a promise of David's coming. It gives us a promise of Christ's coming.

[17:02] Right? And so, David here, he's not talking about himself when he says in the scroll of the book, it is written of me. He's talking about someone else. And so, if we look at the New Testament, in Luke chapter 22-37, Christ says, For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, and he was numbered with the transgressors, for what is written about me has its fulfillment. And then, later on in 24-44, he says, Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses, Oop, did my audio cut out? No.

[17:44] In the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the Psalms, must be fulfilled. Right? And so, Christ is saying that the Psalms, the law of Moses, and the prophets, they speak of him. They foretell of Christ. And so, looking at verses 6-8, they're actually quoted in Hebrews 10, verses 5-10. And we can read them quoted by the author of Hebrews.

[18:11] If you want to turn there, it reads in verse 5, Those are offered according to the law.

[18:43] Then he added, Behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first, in order to establish the second. And by that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all.

[18:58] Right? And if we look through the New Testament, we'll see, nowhere does Jesus utter these words in the four Gospels. And so, this quote is actually referencing directly Psalm 40 as the words of Christ, as if it were him who spoke them.

[19:16] Right? And this leads many commentators, such as Spurgeon and Jameson, to agree that Psalm 40, either this section or the entirety of it, are a prophecy of the words of Christ.

[19:28] That Christ, these were his words, and they're recorded by the psalmist as a prophecy. Christ said in Psalm 40 and in Hebrews 10, And so Christ, he knows the Lord values obedience far more than offering.

[20:02] And more than that, he knows he's the only one who can fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. He's the only one who can be perfectly obedient.

[20:14] And so we rejoice knowing Christ has come. Right? Christ has come. He realized that sacrifice and offering would never be sufficient. And so he said, Not my will be done, but yours.

[20:29] How precious the words Christ alone could accomplish the will of the Father. He delighted to obey the law of the Lord and the will of God.

[20:45] So looking at verses 9 through 10, we see the psalmist, and also now we realize we see Jesus, was faithful to do the will of the Lord, to proclaim the great news of salvation to all.

[20:59] In verse 9 he says, I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation. Behold, I have not restrained my lips as you know, O Lord.

[21:10] I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart. I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

[21:20] The psalmist and Christ told the great news of deliverance in the congregation. Right? David, if we look in Psalm 22, verse 25, he says, From you comes my praise in the great congregation.

[21:36] My vows I will perform before those who fear the Lord. And again, David says in verse 119, 13, With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.

[21:49] And we see the same from Christ. He was faithful to do the will of the Father and to declare the great news of deliverance. In John 5, 30, he said, I can do nothing on my own.

[22:01] As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. Right? And so the next thing my mind jumps to is John 3, 16, which we all know and love.

[22:13] Right? For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. He never restrained his lips from speaking the great news of salvation.

[22:28] He preached it, the good news of the gospel, with his life. He lived out the gospel. He didn't hide his deliverance. He spoke freely of his faithfulness and salvation.

[22:40] He does not conceal the steadfast love or faithfulness from the great congregation. And he will not withhold his salvation. He plainly told of God's plan for deliverance.

[22:51] He told of God's faithfulness and salvation. And then a quote from Spurgeon. He says, God, faithful to his own character, law, and threatenings, and yet saving sinners is a peculiar revelation of the gospel.

[23:08] God, faithful to the saved ones evermore, is the joy of the followers of Christ. Right? And so God was faithful, as we see in this sermon.

[23:20] His love was steadfast. His patience was great. And through Christ, he accomplished his will. So turning to verses 11 through 12, we see a declaration from Christ.

[23:34] A declaration of faith in the Lord's mercies to preserve despite great trials. And he says, As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me.

[23:45] Your steadfast love and faithfulness will ever preserve me. For evils have encompassed me beyond number. My iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see.

[23:55] They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart fails me. And so, again, we may think that these are the words of David during one of the trials where he's running for his life.

[24:08] But another interpretation would be that these are the words of Christ as he's facing the cross. These are his thoughts as he's facing the cross. The Lord will not restrain his mercy.

[24:21] His steadfast love and faithfulness preserve. Although evil is encompassed without number, the psalmist is overtaken by his iniquities. Iniquities could also be translated here, afflictions, meaning he's afflicted.

[24:35] These afflictions have taken hold of him to the point where he can no longer see. He's exhausted from suffering. His sight has been dimmed. The afflictions are beyond number, right?

[24:47] He compares them to the hairs of his head. He can't count them. They're beyond number. And his heart fails, and his soul faints. And so this gives us an insight into the mind of Christ as he faced the cross.

[25:02] And so the last point I want to make in point three is a prayer for deliverance and patience in the waiting. So let's look for right now at verse 13 through 15 and see this cry for deliverance.

[25:19] In verse 13 it reads, Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life. Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.

[25:32] Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, Aha! Aha! Here we see a cry. Please, Lord, deliver me. A cry for mercy that the Lord would deliver him and that he would be quick to help him.

[25:46] Make haste. My soul faints. Death is near. Lord, disappoint the plans of the wicked and put to shame those who would take my life. Turn back the tithes of the enemy and dishonor those who would find delight in my suffering.

[26:02] Let those who rejoice at my suffering be appalled as a consequence of their shame. Let those who seek to destroy the Lord be disappointed. As in Genesis 3.15, the enemy's head will be crushed as promised.

[26:19] Those who try to shame the Lord will be put to shame. And so if we reflect back now on verses 11 through 12 and 13 through 15 and think about Christ as he faced crucifixion, as he faced the cross, we can gain an insight from this and an understanding of the suffering Christ faced.

[26:42] He's suffering to the point where his heart faints. He feels faint. He is so tormented, he's sweating drops of blood. In Matthew 26.38, he says, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death.

[27:00] However, even in this, he finds comfort in the steadfast love and faithfulness of the Lord who will preserve him. He was facing the cross and cried for mercy, his steadfast love and faithfulness to preserve him.

[27:16] Jesus was surrounded by evils without number and all of our sins, the sins of the world were upon him. They had overtaken him. The weight of our sin beyond number.

[27:27] And we can see another insight into his heart in Luke 22 verses 39 through 46. And we see in verse 40 or 39, he came out and went as was his custom to the Mount of Olives and the disciples followed him.

[27:45] And when he had come to the place, he said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me.

[27:58] Nevertheless, not my will be done, but yours be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

[28:13] And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow. And he said to them, Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

[28:27] And so here we see Jesus, both fully man and fully God, in a battle between his flesh and his obedience to the Father. He prayed fervently.

[28:40] He reflected, as we saw, on the past faithfulness of the Lord when he faced trials in the wilderness. He knew the Lord's faithfulness in his flesh and in his heart because he was the Son.

[28:54] And he submitted to the Father and delighted to obey the Father. He delighted to testify in his faithfulness. And he prays for the Lord's goodness as he faces betrayal, humiliation, and crucifixion.

[29:08] He was bearing the weight of our sin and shame, the wrath of God. He cried for help. He patiently waits for the Lord, knowing he's always faithful.

[29:19] So finally, in verse 16 and 17, we see a prayer that all who seek the Lord would rejoice and be glad, followed by a prayer for deliverance. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.

[29:35] May those who love your salvation say continually, great is the Lord. As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer. Do not delay, O God.

[29:48] Let those who seek the Lord rejoice and be satisfied in him. May we love his salvation and continually say, great is the Lord. May we delight in his salvation and also in the salvation of others.

[30:02] As it says, may those who love your salvation say continually, great is the Lord. This doesn't mean great is the Lord because of my salvation. It means great is the Lord because of his salvation.

[30:13] The magnitude of it is beyond number. The Lord is a blessing on those who seek him. We are to have a grateful delight in salvation and to continually tell of his greatness.

[30:30] In Hebrews 5, 7 through 9, we read of Christ. In the day of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayer and supplication with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his reverence.

[30:45] Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered and being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.

[30:57] Christ himself learned obedience through his suffering and we too learn obedience through the sufferings of this life. He cried out, I am poor and needy, however the Lord thinks of me.

[31:12] In 1 Peter 5, 7, cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. He is my help and my deliverer. O God, do not delay in rescuing me. My soul faints.

[31:23] And finally, closing his prayer, he appeals to the Lord not to delay because he is in agony. Going back to our points, we saw a prayer of patience, a prayer of waiting.

[31:38] He reflected on the past faithfulness of the Lord. He submitted and surrendered. He obeyed the will of the Lord and now he is reminded of the Lord's faithfulness, of his steadfast love and he is able to wait in this season of suffering knowing the Lord will be faithful to deliver again.

[32:00] So in conclusion, I want to talk about a sacrificial dedication to the Lord and how this applies to us. And so as we read through this, we can see that Christ's suffering is our example in his deliverance, our encouragement.

[32:19] I like the passage in 1 Peter 4, verses 1 through 11. I'm just going to read verses 1 through 2 and then part of verse 11 right now, but it says, Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking.

[32:38] For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to bring, or to him, belong glory and dominion forever.

[32:57] Amen. And so following the example set for us by Christ, we should have a commitment to obey the will of the Lord. We too were drowning in the pit of our sorrow.

[33:11] We were consumed by sin before we had Christ. There was no rescue. We were drowning in the mud. There was no foothold. And yet the Lord reached down.

[33:23] He inclined his ear to us and he pulled us out of the pit and set us on the rock, our Redeemer. We were incapable of escaping. However, we have seen and feared the Lord.

[33:34] In him we put our faith and our love. We are blessed by his strength. We resist the proud. We do not follow lies. It is by the Spirit that we are able to resist the proud and not to follow lies.

[33:48] The Lord has continued to multiply his wondrous deeds of salvation toward us, his children. The Lord intercedes for us so that we may resist the temptations of this life and follow after him.

[34:03] And so I want to read a little bit more from Hebrews chapter 7. If we look at verse 22 it says, This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. Skipping down to 27 he says, He has no need like those high priests to offer sacrifice daily.

[34:19] First for his own sins and then for those of the people. Since he did this once for all when he offered up himself for the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests but the word of the oath which came later than the law appoints a son who has been made perfect forever.

[34:36] So Christ was the final atoning sacrifice for our sin and we should be moved to proclaim the wondrous salvation that he has gifted us. Our testimony, sharing our testimony of his faithfulness, it brings glory to him, the Father.

[34:51] And the Lord no longer requires of us burnt offering, he no longer requires sin offering because the law of Moses, the requirements, the righteousness of God have been fulfilled. And from my favorite verse in Romans 8-3 we see, God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

[35:26] And more than that, he's opened our ears so that we can hear and obey. He's given us his spirit so that we can know the will of the Lord. We see in Romans 8 a little bit further down in verses 26-30, likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know what to pray for as we ought but the spirit himself intercedes with us groanings too deep for words and he who searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose for those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and those whom he predestined he also called and those whom he called he also justified and those who he justified he also glorified.

[36:28] And Christ humbled himself he became obedient to death and he called us to obedience by the power of his spirit. in Philippians 2 verse 4 through 11 it says let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interest of others have the mind among yourself which is yours in Christ Jesus who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.

[37:25] And so we like the psalmist and like Christ we should be moved to sing to tell to testify of the good news with the lives that we live. It should ever be on our tongue right?

[37:36] Our tongue in Hebrew is our glory and our tongue is how we give glory to God. If his law is on our heart we know his will and we testify of it with our tongue we bring glory to him.

[37:53] So anytime we see the word tongue in the psalms or anytime we see our glory it is meant that we are to bring glory to him through what we speak and so we should speak of his faithfulness and his salvation and also of his steadfast love.

[38:10] He will not restrain his mercy from us. He preserves us even when evils beyond number surround. Although the weight of sin and shame overtake us they blind us and they bring us near to death the Lord is pleased to deliver us.

[38:26] He will put to shame and destroy the plans of the enemy. He will crush the head of the snake. He will ruin his plans and bring to shame and dishonor any who would hurt his children. And so all who seek him rejoice and be glad love the righteousness the salvation and continually testify as the psalmist great is the Lord.

[38:47] Although we are poor and needy in this life the Lord thinks of us he intercedes for us he is our deliverer he will not delay in rescuing us. how great the thought that the creator thinks of us his children he takes time to send wondrous deeds to rescue us from our shame.

[39:10] Let's pray. for prayer.