19 Psalms 91-100 - Pastor Chuck Smith - C2000 Series

so let's turn to Psalm 91 that we might begin our Bible study this evening Psalm 91 brings up the question of just where are you living there is a place that you might live that is surely the most glorious place to live in all the world he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty there is a place that you and I can live in Christ Jesus a place of glorious safety a place of glorious peace of joy where I experience God's power and God's protection God's goodness I will say of the Lord he is my refuge my fortress my god in him will I trust for surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the Fowler and from the noisome pestilence now in days gone by bird trapping was quite an art without guns to shoot your quail or your dove or your ducks you'd have to trap them and so the traps that were set for the birds were called the snares of the Fowler he'd trapped your various game fowl in different types of traps when you're bringing this over to a spiritual connotation Satan has set a lot of traps for us and in a spiritual connotation here the Fowler is actually Satan and you're the one that he's seeking to trap but surely he will deliver you from every snare that Satan may set for you surely he will deliver you from the snare of the Fowler and from the noisome pestilence for he shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust his truth shall be thy shield and buckler in the New Testament in the book of Ephesians we are told concerning putting on the full armor of God here in the Old Testament we find the armor of the Lord his truth is a shield to us a buckler thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday a Thousand shall fall at thy sight ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked now because going back he that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High because you have made the Lord which is my refuge even the most high your habitation or your place of dwelling if you will but just dwell in him there shall no evil befall thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling for he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways they shall bear thee up in their hands lest thou dash thy foot against a stone now when Jesus was being tempted by Satan Satan quoted this particular passage of scripture to him as he took him up to the pinnacle of the temple and he suggested that he jump off for Satan said it is risen he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in thy ways to bear thee up lest at any time you dash your foot against the stone so why don't you jump see if the angels will hold you up and Jesus said it is written again thou shalt not tempt or test the LORD thy God you are not to put yourself deliberately in a place of Jeopardy just to test the Scriptures it is tragic that every once in a while we read how down in the mountains of Kentucky the cult that is down there that handles rattlesnakes because it says and they say if they take up serpents they shall not harm them or they test their faith every once in a while by drinking strychnine but that is not what God means in Mark's Gospel when he said did they drink any deadly thing it shall not harm them God never intended for us to just go around and test our faith by deliberately putting ourselves in jeopardy if they cultish people down there would only read the full body of scripture rather than taking isolated verses they would never follow they would never fall into those kind of unscriptural practices God has promised that his angels will have charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways in the book of Hebrews talking of angels that said are they not all ministering spirits who have been sent forth to minister unto you who are heirs of salvation now there is a vast number of heavenly hosts that are known as angels these angels have different rankings categories there are cherubim a special class of angels there is a mention in the scripture of Archangels which seem to be the highest form of angelic being Michael being an arcane Joel it is also thought that Gabriel is an archangel though I do not know that the scripture gives to him that title but angels of great authority and power then there are angels that would seem that rank under them in authority the New Testament does rank the heavenly beings as principalities powers mites dominions Thrones and authorities various rankings of the angelic beings it's more or less like saying lieutenants and sergeants and corporals and privates as far as they're having rankings in the angelic realm just when the angels were created is not specified in the scriptures but the angels were created as servants of God and their duty is that of serving the Lord and of serving those who are following after the Lord he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy way to bear thee up lest at any time you would dash your foot against a stone angels seem to be spirits that are capable of taking on a bodily form in the Old Testament many times we find the angels taking on a human form in the New Testament we also file in the Angels taking on human form when Peter was imprisoned the angel came to him and said put your shoes on and follow me Peter tight on his sandals and followed the angels as the prison doors opened of their own accord until the angel let him out into the street and then the angel left him and suddenly Peter woke up to the fact that he was free he thought he was having a vision but all of his sudden these feels the chill night air and he says wow it's not a vision I'm actually out of that place you know and so he headed for the place where the church was meeting and praying for him Paul the Apostle spoke about last night an angel of the Lord stood by me and he assured me that though the ship is going to be destroyed there will be no loss of life and and he spoke about how the angel had visited him and ministered to him of course we read of the angels ministering to Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and we are told in Hebrews that we ought to be careful to entertain strangers for it's very possible that you might be entertaining angels without knowing it now there has been a book written recently concerning angels on assignment and though I do not doubt that angels do visit can visit yet there are certain aspects to that book that I find very troubling I don't want to be guilty of of limiting God or judging another man's experiences except as they measure up to the Scriptures and let the scripture judge and there are certain things that the angel Gabriel supposedly told pastor buck that I do not feel are scriptural and thus I have to question in my own mind the validity of the story I think the pastor buck was a very dear man of God a true servant of the Lord I do not know but what may be in his latter years because of his heart problems that he wasn't getting enough oxygen to the brain I do not know but as I say I have to question a part of the story of the visitation of the angels no the angels were created by God they are a created being of God and it would seem and will not seem it is true that they were created with a free will just as you have been created with a free will and one of the angels exercised his will against God and in the 14th chapter of Isaiah we read how that Satan in exercising his will against God exalting himself over against God declaring that he would be like God was cast forth the fallen angel there is a hint in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation that one-third of the Angels went with Satan when he rebelled against the Lord the Dragon cast forth out of heaven and with his tail he drew a third part of the stars and the word stars is a word that is often used for angels we do know that there are evil spirits in the world under Satan's guidance and control as well as the good spirits the angels of God that are obedient to their first estate yet there are angels which kept not their first estate which are reserved in Chains awaiting the day of judgment just what are the full characteristics and all of angels we do not know it would appear that before the flood the angels were coming down and involving themselves in physical relationships with with women so that Giants were born and these could be the angels to which the scripture refers those which kept not their first estate and are now being reserved in the chains awaiting the day of judgment I am convinced that there are angels that God is assigned to watch over us I've never seen to my knowledge an angel outside of my wife I would be less than honest if I would say I wouldn't like to see an angel I think it would be a very exciting experience I think it'd be quite exciting to to meet an angel and to know that they were an angel you know and and to well I'd like to meet the angel that's supposed to be guarding me I'd like to know where he was a few times now let me tell you something there have been some times when I knew he was there there were times when there was no way I could have gotten out of it unless the angel of the Lord just had his hand upon my life or upon my car and all and there are times when I know that the only thing that kept me was the angel of the Lord I've had some very interesting experiences where I'm sure the angel of the Lord was involved in in keeping me from things where I was innocently being drawn into some very dangerous areas where the angel of the Lord intervened in a marvelous way to keep me from getting into some real trouble when I was in high school here in Santa Ana I saw my dream car on South Main Street Smitty mufflers foglights dual spots Buick skirts little three-window for 36 Ford coupe oh man black was that thing beautiful I lusted after that car and I had a buddy that I was running around with at the time and I had half the money and we were going to go into a partnership on a car it would never would have worked but we were gonna you know you you you want something bad enough you dream always get it and he had a 36 Ford but it was you know one of those longer kind of things it just wasn't a pretty one so he said well my dad lives up in Glendale and I have at my dad's house some adding machines and typewriters and I can sell him for enough to get my half for the car let's go up to my dad's house so we went by and saw my mom and I said you know we're gonna go up and spend the night in Glendale and at his dad's house I'll be home tomorrow and so we took off in his car for Glendale that time Firestone Boulevard was the way into Los Angeles the three lane highway and during the war gas rationing and just very few cars on the road at night you can't living here now you can't believe how it was then we were way out in the country there born apart when the motor died on his car and so we pushed pop the clutch anything else try to get thing going push it for oh I guess four or five blocks and there was a little gas station that was there and so he said I think it's the coil that's I mean I think it's the condenser or something and he didn't know anything about mechanics but anyhow we went into this service station an old man in there and he had a big mean police dog and he was very friendly and didn't have any you know parts or anything so we were tired of pushing and so we decided we'd turn the car around headed back towards Santa Ana and then we wait for a car to come along and we flying it and asked him we tell me were having a hard time getting it started where they give us a shove we figured we just leave it in neutral let him shove so they got tired and then we wait for the next car to come and then we were way out in the country and there's no way to get home so we were sitting there talking and all talking about how you know we get this car you know and all this kind of stuff and all excited about you know the prospects of buying this hot little Ford and so after a while five minutes or so a car was coming down the road and so he jumped out so he could flag the car and just album you know I just slipped over to the driver's side and I hit the starter once more and the thing fired up so he ran around and got in on the passenger side as well you got to go on let's go so we took off for Santa Ana got back to Lee's drive-in up there on Manchester and stopped and got a Coke and hamburger saw a bunch of kids from high school so we started on then down to my house and as we turned off on Flower Street we were getting near Santa Clara and he said hey your parents aren't expecting you home I said nope he said my dad doesn't know we're coming he said so why don't we just turn around and go back up to Glendale because doesn't matter what time we get to my dad's house you know your mom's not expecting you home and you know I said why not so he started to pull a u-turn there on santa clara and the car died again and simultaneously three tires blew out just pop pop pop I mean we were dead I lived up on North Broadway at the time so we just walked down to my house and got on my bike and I rode him on my bike over to his house and got home and before we could go up to Glendale again we had sort of parted company and given up on the little Ford idea and does it pass about a year later there was a knock on our door and I answered it and the guy introduced himself and showed me a ID and he said I'm with the FBI I'd like to talk to you I said sure so what do you know about some typewriters up in Glendale adding machines I said well all I know is that I was headed up there one night to get some with this fellow and I said but we had car trouble and we never made it he said you can thank your lucky stars you had car trouble and he stole him from some government place and felony and so forth then when he told me the story I said well I'm not going to thank my lucky stars I'm going to thank my angel and suddenly I got a picture that angel holding the coils and getting a shock stopping that stupid car you know then popping the tires as he left just to make sure we wouldn't go anywhere I'm convinced you can't you can't convince me others I'm convinced the angel of the Lord was watching over me interesting thing when I got back in the house at home my mom was out in the living room praying he's a tall son and so glad to see you came home died she said I was really worried about the trip I just didn't feel right about it and I just been praying for you of course I didn't know at that time I said well thanks mom you know but I didn't know at that time the full story but all I am certain that there when we get to heaven we're gonna learn a lot of things that we were spared from and maybe at the time we looked at it as as bad luck or misfortune or oh man you know and yet God was watching over God was keeping us he shall give his angels charge over thee to bear thee up in their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone for thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet now we have a change of voice in verse 14 in the change of voice we have God's response now the psalmist has been declaring the advantages and the blessings of living in a certain place in the secret place of the Most High making God your dwelling place now God respond to that whole idea and God says because he has set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him I will set him on high because he hath known my name he shall call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him with long life will i satisfy him and show him my salvation God's glorious response to that person who is dwelling in the secret place of the Most High because you've set your love upon God God said this is what I'm gonna do for you deliver you set you on high I will answer you I will be with you in trouble I will deliver and honor you praise the Lord Psalm 92 is a sum for the Sabbath day it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name almost high to show forth i loving-kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night it's just a good thing to praise the Lord in song to just show forth the loving kindness of God every morning start the day with a song every evening end the day with a song the faithfulness of God Lord you've watched over me you've kept me all through the day upon an instrument of ten strings upon the psaltery upon the harp for the solemn sound for thou Lord has made me glad through thy work I will triumph in the works of thy hands o Lord how great are thy works and thy thoughts are very deep a brutish man does not know knee does a fool understand this but when the wicked spring as the grass and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish it is that they shall be destroyed forever my father for years was a sales engineer for the southern counties gas company when we were growing up in Ventura in life in the home of a Salesman during the Depression years was feast or famine dad had a lot of sales good commissions we had you know we had we fee sit when the sales weren't so good then it was tight around the house but fortunately my dad was a super salesman and the Lord really blessed him in his sales and he was a super salesman for the gas company but also for the Lord he was a super witness for Jesus Christ always witnessing wherever you go to sell a refrigerator stove or whatever he'd always leave a witness for the Lord he was coming towards the end of the month and he had it had any sales that month and he'd been up in Ojai trying to close the deal and it didn't close and he was riding home in the car and not knowing really what to do because where are we gonna get the money for the month's bills and so forth because there will be no Commission just the salary this month and he couldn't live on the salary and my father was a very emotional type person he was capable of great highs and great lows and he was very low at this point very depressed and he was looking out in the field and he saw the cows out there just eating the grass and he said they looked so contented like they didn't have a worry in the world they must have been carnation cows but he said that he said to the Lord Lord it isn't fair here I am your child I'm your servant and I'm so worried and so upset because I don't know how I'm going to be paying my bills and look at those dumb cows out there so peaceful so contented eating the grass and the whole field is full of green grass they've got all that they could ever want and yet Here I am I don't know how I'm gonna pay my bills Lord it isn't fair that I should have to worry when I'm your child and those cows can have it so good they don't have a worry in the world and the Lord spoke to them and said yes but they don't have any future and you have a future with me the psalmist here declares the brutish man doesn't know nor does the fool consider understand this that when the wicked spring forth is the grass when those workers of iniquity flourish they're going to be destroyed forever don't be envious of them foolish to be envious of them because they're going to get wiped out and so it is great folly to envy the wicked so many times we I think are guilty of that we look at the wicked meaning Lord you know they seem to have everything they want and Here I am trying to serve you and you know I've got all these problems and all we don't take into consideration the end results what the future holds that they shall be destroyed forever but Thou O Lord art Most High forevermore for lo your enemies o Lord for lo thine enemies Shall Perish all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered but my horn shalt thou exalt like the Horn of the unicorn and be anointed with fresh oil the enemies of the Lord they're gonna perish the workers of iniquity they'll be scattered but Lord you'll exalt me my eye shall see my desire upon my enemies and my ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me the righteous shall flourish like a palm tree he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon when my dad got back to the office in Ventura there were some people there looking at a stove he went up to him and he said you know I began to point out the feature they said we want it and he signed him up for the stove embrace and some people came in bought a refrigerator and before the day was over he had enough sales to provide great Commission's you know for that month and God just really took care of his in a very beautiful way my father won the award several years running of the most outstanding salesman in the United States for the serval corporation won many awards that in fact we he had a very interesting experience he was out in the minors Oaks area had just signed up a customer for a new stove refrigerator and furnace and then started witnessing to the guy and the guy was real antagonistic to the Christian witness and got so mad he began to curse my dad he said let me have the contract back and he ripped up the contract and he said I don't know how the gas company can afford to hire fools men that talked to people about Jesus Christ and all and just really berated him and and so my dad came home and was discouraged you know coming home because you don't like that you know it's hard to suffer reproach for Christ when my dad got home there was a letter there he opened it up and it was congratulations you've won you know first place in the United States again for serval for the fifth year in a row and this year you know we're gonna send you to the San Diego the World's Fair in San Diego in all expenses and there's a check in there and everything else so the fact that there was a picture and it was a hundred dollar bill that and it let me be the first to congratulate you you know for what you've done all these prizes well there was a football game going that night and my dad said come on son let's go the football game so we headed for the football game and we were playing that night against a team and the the stadium was just packed we got there a little late and way up towards the top there were a couple of seats so dad and I made our way up there and we sat down but as we were getting in dad looked and right behind this was the guy that that afternoon had just cursed him and said I don't know how the gas company an afford to hire fools and all dad had the letter still in his pocket and so he just looked handed the letter back to the guy you know and the guy let out of fuels and says come on back tomorrow mr. Smith I really do need that refrigerator it's no good oh my I shall see my desire upon my enemies my ears shall hear my desire the wicked that rise up against me the righteous shall flourish those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of God they shall still bring forth fruit in old age so his meager age menhir the next part I don't know though they shall be fat just fulfilling the word how can you help but you know that and flourishing to show that the Lord is upright he is my rock there is no one cleaner unrighteousness in him the Lord reigneth he is clothed with majesty the Lord is clothed with strength where with youth girded himself the world also established that it cannot be moved the throne is established of old thou art from everlasting from everlasting to everlasting thou art God here thou art from everlasting the prophecy of Micah concerning the birth of Jesus Bethlehem the birthplace and thou Bethlehem of Judea though thou beat and al Bethlehem though thou be little among the provinces of Judea yet out of thee shall come he who is to rule my people Israel whose going forth is from everlasting Lord thou art from the vanishing point the floods have lifted up O Lord the floods have lifted up their voice the floods up there waves the Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters yay than the mighty ways of the sea thy testimonies are very sure holiness becometh thy house o Lord forever Psalm 94 old Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth now it's hard for us to remember that vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord so often we try to take vengeance ourselves against the evil that is done to us so often we say or hear said I'll get even with him as though it is our place to take vengeance but Lord God vengeance belongeth to thee but he says now show yourself and take vengeance Lord lift up thy self thy judge of the earth render a reward to the proud Lord how long shall the wicked how long should the wicked triumph how long shall they adorn speak hard things and all of the workers of iniquity boasts themselves they break in pieces by people O Lord they afflict your heritage they slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless yet they say the Lord shall not see neither shall the God of Jacob regarded somehow there is that kind of feeling with those who are guilty of unrighteousness is that God doesn't see no fear of the Lord in them they do not realize that though they may get by with it here someday they are going to answer for those things that they have done vengeance belongs to God and God is going to come in judgment to bring vengeance upon the workers of iniquity but what fools they are thinking that God doesn't see nor they or that God doesn't regard what they are doing understand you brutish among the people you fools when will you'll be wise when you're gonna wise up he that has created the ear you think he can't hear the one that created your eye you think he can't see he that Jason's the heathen shall he not correct he that teaches man knowledge do you think he doesn't know the Lord knows the thoughts of man that they are emptiness blessed is the man whom you chase on O Lord and teach him out of your law that you may give him rest from the days of adversity until the pit be dig for the wicked for the Lord will not cast off his people neither will he forsake his inheritance but judgment shall return unto the righteous and the upright in heart shall follow it who will rise up for me against the evil doers or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity unless the Lord have been my help my soul had almost dwelt in silence I'd have been wiped out when I said my foot slippin thy mercy O Lord held me up in the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul so the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee which frames mischief by the law they gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood but the Lord is my defence and my God is the rock of my refuge and he shall bring upon them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness yay the Lord our God shall cut them off so the psalm is out of a troubled heart because of the oppression of the wicked but the acknowledgment that God is the god of and God will avenge and God will uphold the righteous but those that have been guilty of wickedness shall be brought in judgment one day oh come and let us sing him to the Lord let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation let us come before his presence with Thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with songs for the Lord is a great God a great king above all gods in his hand or the deep places of the earth the strength of the hills is his also the sea is his he made it his hands formed the dry land o come let us worship Him bow down let us kneel before the Lord our maker for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hand so the beautiful song encouraging us of singing under the Lord making a joyful noise of praise unto him coming into his presence with Thanksgiving it's a beautiful Psalm really of Thanksgiving and making a joyful noise with praise for the greatness of God now there is the warning for he is our God we are the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hand now today if you will hear his voice harden not your heart as in the provocation as in the day of temptation in the wilderness when your father's tempted me proved me and saw my work 40 years long was I grieved with this generation and said it is a people that do error in their heart and they have not known my ways unto whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest here we are warned not to heart in our heart against God or the work of God the example that is given to us is the children of Israel in the wilderness they had come to the border of the land that God had promised to them they come to katie's Barnea there on the border of entering into the land that God had promised to give to them now God had made some marvelous promises he said I'll drive out the enemy from before you I will go before thee and drive out your enemies and every place you put your foot I've given it to you for your inheritance all these glorious promises the Moses said well let's send spies in that they might spy out the land and we might know what kind of a land were coming into and so they picked from each tribe a man to go in and to spy out the territory and when they returned ten of the spies brought a discouraging report the cities are big the walls are high the people are dwelling them are like giants we were like grasshoppers before them they'll eat us up Joshua and Caleb brought back a encouraging report they said aw sure they're giants but they're bred for us let's go in and eat him up their defenses have departed from them let's go in right now and take it but the people were discouraged by the ten fellows who brought the evil report and they began to murmur against the Lord and against Moses and they said let's choose a leader that will take us back to Egypt you know we were fools to follow Moses out here and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them because of their unbelief failing to believe God that he would bring them into this land of rest and promised that he that he had promised to give them and because of their unbelief they did not enter into the rest but they wandered for forty years there in the wilderness and perished in the wilderness experience now these things all happened Paul tells us to them as an example for us the whole history of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt and coming into the land of promise is known as typical history that is there are spiritual analogies to be drawn from it and in the spiritual analogy the land of Egypt represents the old life of bondage that we experienced in our life of sin the Promised Land coming in to this promised land spiritually represents that glorious life in the spirit that God wants you to know that life of rest resting in God now between my conversion and entering into the fullness of the life and the spirit there is a wilderness that I must pass through and there is a legitimate wilderness experience as I am growing as I am learning about God as God is revealing his power to me as I come to the bitter waters of Marah and yet I see how God can turn the bitter waters sweet and I realize how God can take the bitter experiences of my life and bring sweetness out of them as I'm learning to follow God with the pillar of fire and with the cloud and I'm learning to just commit my life and trust God to lead me and guide me coming into this new relationship with God into this new life and experience but there is an illegitimate wilderness experience too God doesn't expect you to spend your whole life in a spiritual yo-yo God wants to bring you into a full rich abundant life of the Spirit God wants to bring you into his rest that glorious rest that God has for his people where you're not always worried not always upset not always fretting not filled with anxieties but where you have that nee confidence and beautiful rest well Lord's gonna take care of it you know so the place is burning down cos got another place you know and and that beautiful neat rest that you just know it's in the Lord's and you know the Lord is taking care of it he's proven himself to you you're confident that God's got the whole thing under control and a that is a glorious place to live where you just learn that even in tragedies apparent tragedies God's hand is working and God's gonna bring up his perfect purpose and well and it's gonna be for the best so the children of Israel perish in the wilderness never entering into the Promised Land now in Hebrews this Psalm is quoted even as the scripture saith today if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts as in the day of provocation don't harden your heart against God for in Hebrews it says lest a promise having been given to us of entering into his rest we should fail to come into it there are many people today who are failing still through unbelief to enter into that rest that God has for you your Christian experience is still like a wilderness experience you haven't really entered in to that full rest in the Lord but God wants you to enter into that rest so let us beware lest the promise having been given to us of a place of rest that we would fail to enter into it what a tragic thing when there is rest for us that we are so filled with turmoil and and and worry and anxiety when God has promised rest to you so harden not your heart believe and trust God Oh sing unto the Lord a new song sing unto the Lord all the earth sing unto the Lord and bless His name show forth his salvation from day to day declare his glory among the heathen and his wonders among all the people for the Lord is great and greatly to be praised he is to be reverenced above all gods for all the gods of the nations are idle but the Lord made the heavens honor and Majesty before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary give unto the Lord o you families of the people given to the Lord glory and strength give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name bring an offering and come into his courts all worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness reverence him all the earth say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved he shall judge the people righteously let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad let the sea roar and the fullness thereof let the field be joyful and all that is therein then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord for he cometh for a cometh to judge the earth he shall judge the world with righteousness and the people with his truth glorious Psalm Psalm 96 encouraging us to the praising of the Lord singing the praises unto Him declaring the glories of God and the wonders of his work because of the greatness of God he is to be greatly praised he is above all of the gods of the nations the other gods that people follow after so given to him the glory due his name worship him and then the anticipation of his coming for the Lord cometh we are looking now to that day when the Lord is going to come and he's going to come to judge the earth as you get into the 24th chapter of Matthew the disciples said Lord what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age and Jesus began to tell them the things to watch for and then as we get into chapter 20 five as is referring to his coming then shall the Kingdom of Heaven or then shall he when he comes again gather together the nations of the earth to judge them and he shall separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goat and so the lord's day of judgment that is coming referred to here and also at the end of Psalm 98 in fact Psalm 96 in Psalm 98 are parallel ideas in these Psalms Psalm 97 the Lord reigneth in the previous Psalm it said the Lord reigneth say among the heathen the Lord reigneth I think that this is something that we often forget in the adverse circumstances of life that God reigns we just have a dear saint of God in Huntington Beach that whenever I would get discouraged she'd say well Charles the Lord is still on the throne and I would say thanks I needed that you know sometimes I would forget that God was on the throne I look at the things that were happening in the world around me and I'd see all the disasters and and and see how things were going so bad and all and I'd start to get upset she said but Charles the Lord is still on the throne all the Lord Rena how we need to remember that God is reigning things are not out of control you know you read of the new weapons that Russia has always got invented the Lord reigneth not out of control he knows exactly what's going on the Lord reigneth that's really the only hope for the world today that God is reigning he's on the throne he can he's allowing it to go so far but God has set the limits he said that's it that's all the further you're going he's reigning now men think that they are raining sometimes Russia thinks that they're raining Russia is gonna move down into Israel thinking that no one can stop her but the Lord reigneth us is eight you're gonna come so far and then blot oh the Lord reigneth let the earth rejoice and the multitude of the Isles be glad clouds and darkness around about him righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne a fire goes before him and burns up his enemies round about his lightnings enlightened the world the earth saw and trembled the hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth this is reference to Mount Sinai and the giving of the law the heavens declare his righteousness and all the people see his glory confounded be all they that serve the graven images which boasts themselves of idols worship him all ye gods Zion heard him was glad and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of thy judgments O Lord for thou Lord art high above all the earth our exalted far above all gods ye that love the Lord hate evil underline that and put emphatic marks around it if you really love God hate evil unfortunately because of the iniquity of the earth today we have developed sort of a toleration towards evil and in some quarters even an acceptance of evil because evil is desiring to be accepted it wants to make itself acceptable but if you really love the Lord then hate evil have no toleration for it certainly no place in your life ye that love the Lord hate evil for he preserveth the souls of his Saints and delivers them out of the hand of the wicked light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart rejoice in the Lord ye righteous and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness now Psalm 98 as they said parallel Psalms 96 and many things notice Psalm 96 so singing the Lord a new song Psalm 98 sing unto the Lord a new song for he has done marvelous things his right hand his holy arm have gotten him the victory the Lord has made known as salvation his righteousness had the openly showed in the sight of the heathen he has remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praise sing unto the Lord with the harp for the harp and the voice of the psalm with trumpets the sound of the cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord the King let the sea roar and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein that the floods clapped their hands let the hills be joyful together before the Lord for a cometh to judge the earth with righteousness so be judge in the world and the people with equity now notice in Psalm 96 it begins those singing unto the Lord and the encouragement to praise God and to offer the offerings and so forth unto him and then calling the heavens to rejoice and the earth and the sea roaring and the fullness thereof and so in verse 7 let the sea roar the fullness thereof and then the thirteenth verse of 96 compared with the ninth verse they are pretty much the same the Lord Cometh to judge the earth with righteousness Shelly judge no there are people who are constantly worried about how can a God of love do this or that or the other God when he judges will judge righteously I do not believe that we have in our court systems today really righteous judgment I long to see righteous judgment I think that it's a shame travesty and all that the Supreme Court should rule the concerning you know the Ten Commandments put up in the classrooms they don't mind and they don't do anything to stop the pictures of the development from a anthropoid to a man in the classrooms that's pawned office science and yet it's a religious system it takes more faith to believe in that than it does to believe that God created things and yet the schools in Kentucky where they had the Ten Commandments placed in each of the classrooms the Supreme Court has ordered that that is a violation of the separation church state etc state not imposing any religion of course they did it no the Lord will judge the earth with righteousness silly judged the world and I long for righteous judgment the Lord reigneth starts out as did Psalm 97 the Lord reigneth let the people tremble he sits between the cherubims let the earth be moved now the cherubims are an angelic class they are described in Revelation chapter 4 and in Ezekiel chapter 1 and chapter 10 in the descriptions that are given in Ezekiel the flying soft Serb us say that that's exactly what flying saucers look like and their movement as are described in Ezekiel and so they're saying that Ezekiel actually saw UFOs and was describing the UFOs that he saw and and they oftentimes point to Ezekiel as a proof that UFOs have been visiting the earth from the time that man has been upon the planet Earth which points up something very interesting to me it is true indeed that Ezekiel saw a UFO and he describes how it flew and the fires and and and the lights and so forth and and he describes the movement how it moved rather in straight lines rather than you know on a curved basis and so forth but Ezekiel tells us that these wheels within the wheels with the lights and the movements were actually cherubim spirit beings now Satan was a fallen cherubim Satan was a cherub before his fall he is called an ezekiel the anointed cherub that covereth because the Flying Saucer gets so much into the occult ish kind of things I do believe that if there are genuine sightings as some of these people relate that actually it is possible that they are seeing spirit beings fallen spirit beings satanic spirit beings because there's a whole cult developed around this whole thing and and thus I do not always question that these people you know they say oh they're a bunch of weird ducks you know thinking that they see your folks know it is very possible that there is something to this that you're delving into a spirit realm and and that they are actually observing fallen cherubim now God dwells between the cherubim they surround the throne of God God placed cherub cherubim at the Garden of Eden to protect it there are the cherubim about the throne of God who ceased not day and night saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty when God had Moses build the model at heaven for the tabernacle was nothing but a model of what the heavenly scene is like the mercy seat the throne of God and within the holy of Holy's was the model of the throne of God with the cherubim that were carved upon it and so coming in to the little cubicle the golden cubicle of the Holy of Holies the priest was coming into the model of coming into the presence of God in heaven with the cherubim that were there so the Lord reigneth let the people tremble he sits between the cherubims let the earth be moved the Lord is great in Zion he is high above all the people let them praise thy great and awesome name for it is holy the Kings strength also loves judgment and thou just establish equity thou execute his judgment and righteousness in Jacob exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool for he is holy Moses and Aaron among his priests Samuel among those that call upon his name they called upon the Lord and he answered them he spake unto them in the cloudy pillar and they kept his testimonies and the ordinance that he gave them you answered them O Lord our God you were a god that forgave them though you took vengeance of their inventions the golden calf and so forth God took vengeance against I mean yet God forgave them oh the goodness of God exalt the Lord our God worship at his holy hill for the Lord our God is holy Psalm 100 make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands serve the Lord with gladness now if you can't serve the Lord with gladness it's better that you not serve Him it is a shame and a disgrace that people gripe about what they've done for the Lord or their service for God but that's usually the result of people being pushed into something that God hasn't led them into and the church unfortunately has been very guilty of pushing people into jobs or into things that the people's heart really isn't in it people oftentimes push to support a new building program or pushed to support a a new budget or something for the church and every time the month comes around and you get your little notice that your pledges do you get upsetting yeah you know and you write out your pledge and mail it in but but you're angry about it you've been pressured into it they caught you at a weak moment serve the Lord with gladness if you can't give joyfully to the Lord you're much better off not to give because if you give grudgingly that's gonna go against you that's an account that will count against you so you're much better off not to give it all if you can be happy about not giving it all you're much better off doing that rather than giving grudgingly to God and that's giving of your time in serving the Lord or giving of your finances or whatever if you can't give unto the Lord with a joyful heart if you cannot serve the Lord with gladness then it's best you not serve him at all God doesn't want any kind of grudging in your gifts to him God doesn't want your giving ever to be out of pressure out of constraint out of someone pushing you and if ever any of the pastor's around here are trying to push you to do something you come to me and we'll see that it's taken care of people come up and say you know we've been coming here for a long time and and we'd really like to teach a Sunday School class but how do you go about teaching a Sunday School class here and I said you just found out you got to ask we won't come around and nail you for anything you want to do something for the Lord you're gonna have to ask if you desire to giving in you're gonna have to ask how to do it we're not gonna we're not gonna ask you you call us is where we will not come to people to support God or God's work that's ridiculous if you don't out of your own heart of love and Thanksgiving want to serve the Lord with gladness then don't serve Him it all come before his presence with singing know ye that the Lord now here's you know make a joyful noise serve the Lord come before his presence why because the Lord he is God God has rights we talk about human rights there are also divine rights and his rights to our service his rights to our praise because he's God because He is God he is worthy of our praise because He is God he is deserving of our service unto Him it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves the self-made man what a tragedy it is he that it made us when Belshazzar was feasting with his Lords at the time of the siege of the medo-persian army and in order to add a new dimension to the feasting Belshazzar called that they bring the gold and silver cups that his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken in the Temple of Jerusalem and pour their wine in these golden cups that have been sanctified for youths in the temple of God and as they were drinking their wine out of the golden cups and praising the gods of gold and silver suddenly they had a very sobering experience because over on the plaster of the wall there appeared to him and the writing was on the wall and it began to burn there on the wall and stayed there words that they could not understand mainly mainly Tekel upharsin and this King it says his the his joints were loosed and his bones begin to smite against each other and they called for the wise men to come in they said we don't know what it means finally the Queen said there was a man under your grandfather's reign named Nebuchadnezzar of the children of Israel God gave to him understanding and visions and dreams and so forth and they called Daniel in and he said can you interpret that and Daniel says yes I can but first of all I want to talk to you King your grandfather was a great king over all the earth and God gave him dominion over the world and yet his heart was lifted up with pride and so God allowed your grandfather to go insane them for seven seasons he ate with the oxen out in the field he lived like a Badman until he knew that the Lord in heaven rained over the earth and put on the Thrones those of me would and he said the very God whose hand your breath is you have not glorified I mean you really laid a message on the King you failed to glorify God look your life depends on you our DP is he he he is the one that has made you your very breath is dependent upon him the very God in whose hand your breath is you've not glorified therefore the writing came on the wall and its interpretation is thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting and your kingdom will be taken from you tonight divided and given to the Medes and the Persians but the idea that God in whose hand your breath is how dependent we are upon God it is he that hath made us and yet that very breath that we receive from God we use many times to blaspheme God the very breath that God has given to us we use to utter filthy epitaphs or stories or whatever what a shame the very God in whose hand your breath is and at that time that King's breath was foul with a smell of the wine drunk and though he was drunk and the breath permeated with the smell of the wines yet it was the breath that God had given to him the very God in whose hand your this he has made us not we ourselves for we are his people the Sheep of his pasture you are living in God's earth you are using and abusing God's earth the earth is the Lord's the fullness thereof and all they that dwell therein your breathing God's air you're drinking God's water you're eating God's food you're burning God's oil you're heating your home with God's gas you're eating God's cattle God's fish the earth is the Lord's we are actually just grazing in his field everything that we have everything that we see everything that we're surrounded with belongs to God and yet how we abuse it and try to use it just for ourselves the Sheep of his pasture therefore enter into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto Him and bless his name for the Lord is good he lets you sponge off of him all the time his mercy is everlasting again look how long he's put up with you and his truth endureth to all generations so praise the Lord for what for His goodness for his mercy for his truth may God just cause your weight to be filled with Thanksgiving and praise all week long unto Him don't wait till Thursday get a head start on so we pray father we are so grateful that your truth endureth to all generations and that we can study the truth and learn of thee now Lord let us put into practice those things which we have learned may we not be hearers of the word only deceiving ourselves Lord let us be doers of the word let us O God truly give thanks and praise unto thee honoring glory unto our king help us Lord to hate evil help us O Lord to walk with thee in the beauty of holiness o Lord minister to your people tonight that we might dwell in the secret place of the Most High abiding under the shadow of the Almighty in Jesus name we pray amen you

Channel: Ken Zenk

Views: 23,886

Rating: 4.7647057 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, God, Jesus, Christ, Love, Hell, Death, Sex, Marriage, Drugs, Satan, Porno, Cancer, Sports, Girls, Music, Holy Spirit, Children, Family, Heaven, Healing, Pregnant, Aids, Gay, Movies, TV Shows, Animals, Israel Prophecy, Last Days, Christian, Jewish People, Gentiles

Id: IiH-ctEwMXg

Length: 84min 38sec (5078 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 20 2013