August23_2023_psalm71

The speaker is grateful for the day and acknowledges God's sovereignty. They ask God to transform them through worship and the Holy Spirit. They then discuss Psalm 71, emphasizing the importance of trusting in God's righteousness and finding refuge in Him. They also mention the need to escape from shame and confusion and rely on God for deliverance. The speaker encourages themselves and others to dwell in the secret place with God, finding shelter and strength in Him. They conclude by asking God to rescue them from the wicked and unrighteous. August 23rd, 2023. Treasures in Christ. Psalm 71. Jehovah, Natsal, Palat, our Lord God who delivers and rescues me. Psalm 71, 2. Deliver me in your righteousness and cause me to escape. Bow down your ear to me and save me. Oh, Heavenly Father, we're just so grateful for this day. We're grateful that you chose to keep us through the night and bring us into this new day. We're grateful that you're sovereign over all things, that you are the King of kings and Lord of lords. There is none above you. We know with that, Father God, comes reverent fear and awe as well, because you are the very master and commander of all things. And the way that we show you that we have reverent fear and awe, Father God, is when we bring our lives to you as holy living sacrifices, which is pleasing to you so that you can transform us into the likeness of your Son and our very Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the very gatekeeper, the very one with the keys that allow us into the kingdom. We thank you for the Holy Spirit of power that's given to us because of the ascension of our Lord and Savior to your right hand to intercede on our behalf. We now have the power in us. We are the very temple. So we thank you for leading us in the way today. And I pray, Father God, as this is read today, the Holy Spirit will speak to me and anyone else who might listen to it along the way in spirit and with the truth together. That way we can be transformed by it. We won't be just one half. We'll be the whole process. Because you said those who worship you must worship you in spirit and in truth. And that's what you're looking for. So transform us today, Father God, by this word today. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, I was encouraged when I got to this. You know, it's been an amazing couple of weeks with this new job. You know, being able to sit down and do a devotion tonight was an amazing opportunity. You know, I don't want to be abrasive to my roommate. And not that he might not mind. I don't know. I guess I could ask. But I was just like, you know, he said he had to go run somewhere tonight. And I thought, what a great opportunity. We're just going to take a look at Psalm 71 and see what God has to say. So we're going to start at verse 1. Psalm 71, 1. We see already the Lord is mentioned. So we already know this is the operation of faith. This is our following God's leading, the leading of the Holy Spirit, the direction that's given to us by Jesus Christ. And it's a confidence we have to have in it. The trust, hope, and confidence has to be in that. And Lord is reflective of our operating procedures, like we're being given direction. So there's an action. And that's where faith comes into play. And it's a refuge that we have to take. You know, we have to understand there's things that are going to come against us as we walk in the kingdom. And I think he's given us two ideas, two major ideas in the body of Christ that are going to want to thwart us in operating in this place. And we already know, for example, if we're operating and God says, do this, and we're obedient to God, there will be those that will try to shame us in the deal. And, you know, they'll try to come against us for doing what's right. And then there's also confusion that's going to be thrown in. So these are the things that the evil one can use to try to pull us out of this place. But what David is saying here is so beautiful. Never let me be put to shame or confusion. So when it comes against him, he's going to stay bunkered down, even though it doesn't look like he won't get the shame and there won't be confusion thrown in. Why are you doing that? Why are you just trusting the Lord? Why aren't you doing this? Why aren't you doing that? We should do everything we can do. And God only helps those that help themselves. And all this other confusion that's thrown in to just being obedient, trusting and confidently taking refuge in the Lord. So David's encouraging himself. He's giving himself, he's showing us sacrificial worship to start with, because that's how we have to be to operate in this place where God is Lord. And we're trusting, confidently put our, he's our refuge. Then now we're walking in faith. We're trusting in him and we're trusting that he will come and thwart those things that in the flesh appear as though they're going to come against us. The shame, the confusion in these things. David's just being a realist here. He's not, he's not trying to sugarcoat nothing. He goes on to say, deliver me in your righteousness. This is a, this is a beautiful verse. I didn't even pre-read past it because when I got to it, it's such a beautiful verse. And I do like the Amplified Classic in the way that it says this. Deliver, but we have to see what he's saying here. Deliver me in your righteousness. See, it's the righteousness of Christ that brings deliverance for all our shortcomings and shortfalls. That's how it operates. I mean, there's no two ways about it. It's not how good we are. Of course not. And it's not a fact that, yeah, you know, like I said, it's not how good we are. Basically, it's not how perfect we can be. It's how perfect he was. And the righteousness of Christ is given to his children when we walk in obedient faith that we see in verse one, we qualify for this righteousness. And this brings us deliverance because in the process of repentance, when we come back to the Lord in this place, we're covered with the righteousness of Christ. And that's where the deliverance is sourced from. Because if we didn't have the covering of Christ on us, the repentance, you know, it would be almost like we'd have to do a new crucifix, you know, new crucifying every time we come back. Every time we make a mistake, every time we go off course, every time we have a mishap or a mistake. But he's preaching gospel here. This is the gospel here. This is the good news gospel, that it's the righteousness of Christ that saves us. It's the righteousness of Christ that delivers us. And I love it says, and cause me to escape. Now, escape is an indicator that there's a need to do this, because back in, if we go back to verse one, we see what's coming in all around us. It wants us to go out of faith and get out of the secret place. This is the whole purpose of the evil one is to bring us out of this place. And it's just, he's just reminding us here, if we stay bunker down, we're qualified, even if we can't see it in the flesh in there, it looks like shame and confusion and all this stuff is coming at us. God will bring deliverance and cause us to escape from these fleshly concerns and fears and worries or whatever you call them. But there's always that reliance on God. Davis shows us in standing operating procedures is if we get outside of relying on God, but trusting and confident and taking refuge in him, then we're not operating in faith and none of this actually applies. And he's going to reaffirm that and where he's at. And the fact that he needs God for everything and all of this is that he says, bow down your ear to me and save me. Just the fact that, you know, and it's implication that he's, he's God is drawing near. Why? Because we're drawing near to him. And this is the place of salvation. I love it. David's given us the standard operating procedures. He says, be to me a rock of refuge in which to dwell. Now that's an interesting perspective because we think of a rock. It's not something you would dwell in side of it, but because the rock is actually a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the rock and the unmovable unshakable rock. And this is where he's taking his refuge that any dwelling in the secret place, you know, he's doing all of these things. He's shown us the standard, standard operating procedures. And he's just encouraging himself right here. Just as a reminder that God is the rock that he needs, the strength, the protection, the high ground and everything that he needs. But I like the way he used the word in because it's in relationship that we are, you know, we use the term on the rock. Okay. But it's in relationship with the rock is where we find our refuge and where we need to be dwelling. That's where the secret place is. And a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually resort. So we're getting the shelter, we're getting the stronghold, and it's a continuous thing. It's not a once a week thing. It's not a two or three times a week thing. It's a place we have to dwell. Now, it doesn't require any formalities or any sort of mechanical things that we're doing. This is not. It's a spiritual thing. It's inside of our heart. It's where is our heart? And then we see that our actions in our faith as we walk in faith will follow suit. It says, let me just read it all together. Be to me a rock of refuge in which to dwell and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually resort, which you have appointed to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. So then he just sums it up. This is the place of salvation. This is what he's saying. God appointed the relationship as the place of salvation. This is, it's not just a decision we make. It's a life that we live. And when we make mistakes, we go back to verse two. We got deliverance from those mistakes and mishaps. And gives us the place of escape. You know, I like the New Testament one says, submit yourself unto the powerful hand of God. That's in the secret place. And resist the devil, and he will flee from you when we're being tempted. And this is the place of escape. See, he gives us a place of escape. He never leaves us out there just floundering around. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful passage, really. Rescue me, O God, out of the hand of the wicked. This is what's coming against him. It's a reflection. David is not sugarcoating nothing. Out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man. This is what is trying to pull him away. And he needs, and his own flesh will take him at times. And that's why the righteousness is needed. And he needs that rescue. He needs that escape. You know, if we think we're this Pollyanna way, where we're just never going to do anything wrong, and never have any issues, never struggle. We're there, we're good, we're in. Then we sold ourselves a bill of goods. We don't see that in the writings in the scripture. We just don't see it. I can't add it to it. But I can look at what the scripture says, and I can see what the Holy Spirit's telling me. That in this place of dwelling, when we're in relationship to God, but to get in that place, sometimes requires rescuing from the hands, when we're transferring to the flesh, rescuing from the hands of the wicked. In the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man. So this is what it seems in the flesh. This is what's going on. This is what it actually is in the flesh, because we know the devil's purpose is to try to draw us out. So it's like somebody grabbing us, trying to pull us out. And so the grasp is there, so the pull is there, the temptation is there. But we need God's rescue. And that's why he says, Oh my God. And that's like the kingdom edict. When you see God mentioned, he's talking about the ruling authority of the kingdom. For you are my hope, and this is what our job is. This is what we can do. For you are my hope. We have to put our hope. And this darn thing, it just keeps shutting off. I'm not sure exactly why it does this, but that's okay. We see him. He's accepting God's timing, and he's just pleading out to God as he's drawing near to God. This is drawing near to the sovereignty of the kingdom, because that's his shelter. That's his place of safety. He says, verse 13, Let them be put to shame and consumed, who are adversaries to my life. Let them be covered with reproach, scorn, and dishonor, who seek and require my hurt. Okay, great. Let them fall to their own devices. That's great. Because remember, they were throwing shame and confusion and all that in there earlier. And that's what he's saying. But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of your... but I will hope. Again, he just reiterates where we need to be, where our hope needs to be, and it needs to be continuous. It can't be just spotty once or twice a week or whatever. It's got to be continuous. And of course, with him fulfilling his promise, the praise will come forth yet more and more. It just makes so much sense. My mouth shall tell of your righteous acts and of your deeds of salvation all the day long. For their number is more than I know. So, we've got to understand, if you don't have a mouth, you can still do this. So, because when God is acting in our life, everyone around us sees it, right? And it's coming forth. Now, I like the way he says, my mouth shall tell, because what comes from the heart comes through the mouth, right? So, we're seeing a heart transformation here. A heart, God acting on our behalf in our heart. It's not a superficial relationship. It's an intimate relationship that's at a heart level. And it's the righteousness of Christ that's putting to death the deeds of the flesh when we turn in repentance. This is what he's talking about. And this is the very salvation of our lives. Not only is it the salvation of our lives as God gets to sanctify us along the process, but it's also our eternal salvation that comes in this relationship. It's beautiful. All the day long, for their number is more than I know. Obviously, we can't get our mind around the salvation and goodness of God and all that he does in our lives as he's working things out in us. This is why I know he's not saying we have to literally go tell everyone all the things God is doing, because he just said there are more than he knows. So, how can he literally go tell them? But his life will reflect them, and a mouth is simply symbolism of it taking place at the heart level, in the inner person. And it's a beautiful symbolism that he's using. And we know our mind can't get around the goodness of God. There's no possible way. A beautiful way to wrap that verse up. Verse 16, I will come in the strength and with the mighty axe of the Lord God. So, now we're back to the leader and the overall sovereign power. We're seeing the mighty axe. What is he talking about, the mighty axe? The sanctification process. Why? Because that's what God is doing. He's sanctifying us, transforming us into the likeness of Christ. These are his mighty axe. And in so doing, we're getting deliverance. We're getting salvation. Now, of course, we have it eternally, but we're getting it now. We're getting deliverance now. We're getting protection now. We're getting all of these things now as we operate in the secret place. These are the mighty axe of the Lord God. So, the leader, authority, and the sovereignty. And we see it all here in one. So, from these mighty axe comes our fulfilled promises, and that becomes the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. See, and that's what he's saying here. I will come in the strength. That's the joy of the Lord, right? And in the fullness of joy is, you know, in the presence of God is the fullness of joy. That's the words I was looking for. And so, it's not something he's bringing. David's not bringing the strength. He's not doing any of this. This is what God's doing in him. And as the promises are fulfilled, he's filled with the joy of the Lord, and that is his strength that he's talking about. The mighty axe is the transforming power of God and the protective in all of these things to give us the escape, to give us the protection, to give us the direction, to give us everything that he gives us for life and godliness, which is the leadership and the sovereignty mentioned here. And he goes, I will mention and praise your righteousness. Again, that's a reflection of David's unrighteousness and the fact that the mighty axe of God cover him with the righteousness of Christ in the process of repentance. When we come back and our mistake, mishap, and all of these things, we come back to God, the righteousness of Christ is covering us, and the promises are fulfilled, and so there's praise, and there's testimony now to what God is doing. Even yours alone, and it's his alone, and that's a reminder. It's his alone. This is all God. This is not us. Oh, God, you have taught me. It's not how good we can do Christianese. That's not this at all. They can't find that in the scriptures. Oh, God, you have taught me from my youth. Now, faith, I'm going to back up, because faith without works is dead. But God gives us the faith, and then he gives us the direction to walk in it. So, I mean, we're still getting everything from him. Oh, God, you have taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared your wondrous works. That's his life has declared the wondrous works. Not his mouth. It's not just about, well, because if you've got no mouth or you're mute, you can't be disqualified from doing this. So we have to get out into the spirit and truth here. If we just look at the truth, then we can get all, oh, we've got to declare audibly. No, our life will declare. If we start declaring, we're going to start to block and hinder the glory of God showing through us, because we're trying to set the table. Let God set the table, and his glory shine through us, and his wondrous works and mighty acts in our life will come forth and declare who it is. We don't, you know, and I know it's so easy to, oh, we've got to go. No, that's not it. Yes, even when I am old and gray-headed, oh God, forsake me not. But keep me alive until I have declared your mighty strength to this generation and your might and power to all that are to come. And again, he's not talking about talking. He's talking about keep him alive long enough so God can transform him enough and his mighty, wondrous works can be, can pour forth through him so others can see. And that's the glory of God coming through, right? And, of course, he has to be honoring him and in obedience to him and trusting him, lean on, reliant on his hope and faith and confidence in God and all of these things that are required. And so he's just illustrating here that let me live a long time so that they can see more of your mighty, wondrous works in my life. Your righteousness also, oh God, is very high, reaching to the heavens. You who have done great things, oh God, who is like you or who is your equal? And now I love the way he does this because he brings the righteousness of Christ and he elevates it beyond comprehension. And that's a beautiful thing. The righteousness of Christ cannot be, our mishaps and mistakes cannot override the righteousness of Christ when we're operating in repentance, in relationship with God. His righteousness, his death on the cross is greater than every sin we ever will have or will do. And he's an amazing God like that. And he's just putting it, showing us to put it out of grasp of our understanding. That's what he's doing there. Talking about that reaching the heavens and all of these things. And giving, again, all direction to God because it's God who's done them. These great things now, we had mighty acts and wondrous works and we have great things that God is doing in our lives. Verse 20, you who have shown us all troubles, great and sore, will quicken us again and bring us up again from the depths of the earth. See, this is that place of repentance, that turning point, where God brings us discipline to give us the turning point to bring us back into relationship and let the transforming work happen. This is a beautiful thing. And again, God's doing it all. And you who have, you know, troubles and great and troubles great and all troubles great and sore will quicken us again. That's going to make us more transformed, more sanctified, more set apart, more transformed in the likeness of Christ. This is what he's talking about, this quickening. And it gives us this building up, the living stone building that is happening as we're built into the bride of Christ. It's a beautiful symbolism. It brings us up because, again, God doesn't just discipline, whoop us. I say whooping a lot, but God doesn't whoop me just to whoop me. He's whooping me, disciplining me to teach me, to give me the turning point so that I can come into relationship and be transformed in the process so that his wondrous works and mighty acts can pour forth and proclaim the goodness of God. Verse 21. Increase my greatness, my honor, and turn and comfort me. Now, that's an interesting twist because as we submit ourselves under the powerful hand of God in due time, he will lift us up. Now, I love the way he says this because greatness is implying a lifting, right? But the honor is implying an obedience. So what does that mean? That's discipleship he's talking about right there. As he increases the exaltation that God does in him because he's being transformed by God, then it's not just, oh yeah, bow down to me. It's so that they will be obedient to what they see, the transforming work that they see. That's what honor reflects is an obedience. So I love this beautiful symbolism that when God exalts us in due time, that will, and he's asking to be honored so that others will disciple from that. That's beautiful. And it says, increase my greatness, my honor, and turn and comfort me because in the process, right, there is some suffering, afflictions, as God likes to call them, troubles, great and sore, right? So we know all of these. This is part of the disciplining process. And so they will also see that in the discipling and be encouraged to put their hope, trust in God. He goes in verse 22 to say, I will also praise you with the heart, even your truth and faithfulness. And again, heart, you know, we don't need to go buy hearts. He's just expounding on the outward expression of the goodness of God as he's doing this sanctifying work in us. That's a beautiful thing. And not only that, but for generations to come because he's talking about discipleship there too. So he says, verse 22, I will also praise you with the heart, even your truth and faithfulness. Your truth and your faithfulness. O my God, unto you will I sing praises with the liar, O holy one of Israel. That's the fulfilled promise. And I want to go back because if we look at this holy one, we're thinking about Jesus now, of the fulfilled promise, the promise of the salvation, the holy one, the one with the keys to the kingdom. This is the faithfulness of God. And Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. So he's talking about Jesus Christ here. And again, it's fulfilled promises. God is faithful. Even when we're unfaithful, he is faithful. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful verse. Verse 23, my lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises to you and my inner being which you have redeemed. You see, the lips again is a reflection, is a symbolism to reflect what's coming from the inner being, which he goes on to say, which is the part that's been redeemed. At the end of the day, now he's talking about the ultimacy of what God's doing. He's been redeemed into the body of Christ, redeemed into the kingdom of God, redeemed into eternal relationship with the Father and Jesus and the Holy Ghost forever. This is a redemption. This is a redemption. We're sealed until the day of redemption where God will actually call us into that new kingdom we have coming, which will have no more pain, sorrow, and suffering. But we are being transformed in the process. And so in the inner person, as we saw, we just read earlier, well, we read here, we're on 23. And so the promises are being fulfilled. And so we're being filled with the joy of the Lord. And that is pouring forth as praise. Because at the end of the day, it's the redemption of our soul that is the, you know, that's the big one. I mean, it's all good and big now because we're being transformed in all of these things. And now others can be discipled in this. And, you know, there's a lot of wonderful things here. But the redemption, ultimate redemption of our soul even is just amazing. The inner being, right? Verse 24, My tongue also shall talk of your righteousness all the day long. And again, that's a reflection to David's mistakes. When he's talking about righteousness, he's talking about his mistakes being covered by the righteousness of God all the day long. Any mistake he makes, for they are put to shame, for they are confounded who seek and demand my hurt. And see, when we make mistakes, isn't that when people want to throw us under the bus? Isn't that when we see people coming at us sideways? The minute we make, especially, you know, they're in relationship with God. They're always praying. They're always trying to encourage me in God. And look, they're up against it, and this is taking place. They made this mistake. They went off the cliff right here. And we're in that process of being in that redemption process where God is delivering and giving us the escape and doing all this. And they come. They just seem to come sideways at us. And he's just saying, but his heart is going to pour forth an expression of the righteousness of God all day long because of all the mistakes he's going to make along the way. And it says, for they are put to shame, for they are confounded who seek and demand my hurt. And again, they're going to fall by their own devices. And that's just how God operates. He is the avenger, the recompenser. He does all of these things. What a beautiful passage about the standing and operating procedures in the body of Christ. And it is a true reminder that Psalm 71 is a treasure in Christ, our very Lord and Savior, and a true treasure in heaven. And that God is Jehovah, not Saul, Palah, our Lord God who delivers and rescues us. Oh, Heavenly Father, we're just so grateful for this truth today. What an amazing truth that you are the one who delivers us and rescues us. So we have the deliverance from our own idiocracy, and we have the rescuing from those things that want to come sideways at us when we're bunkered down in a secret place. So I pray for the body of Christ today that they'll just stay right in that very place. Stay bunkered down. Stay in that secret place while you're transforming them so that that will pour forth out of them, and your glory will go forth, and others will be discipled in the process. And what a beautiful truth this is today, Father God. I pray that we'll be transformed by it, and rivers of living water will pour forth from us. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen.