Series:
Psalms
Title:
He That Does These
Text:
Psalm 15: 3-4
Date:
June 2, 2013
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Psalm 15: 1: LORD, who shall abide in thy
tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
The
question is, “LORD, who shall so-journ in your church here below. Who shall
dwell forever in thy holy hill above?”
It is a
reasonable question considering what we saw in Psalm 14.
Psalm 14: 1: «To
the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.» The fool hath said in his heart, There
is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is
none that doeth good. 2 The LORD looked
down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did
understand, and seek God. 3 They
are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is
none that doeth good, no, not one.
The
Lord gives the answer. We saw the first three things were in the heart toward
God.
Psalm 15: 2
He that walketh uprightly, in his
heart. It means he that walks perfect,
whole, and complete in heart without sin.
Psalm 15: 2: and worketh
righteousness, in his heart. It means we must do that which is right and
just according to God’s holy law, never once breaking the law of God, not even
in the heart.
Psalm 15: 2: and speaketh the
truth in his heart. It is to confess all mean liars and sinners and God
alone as righteous and holy and the Savior of sinners.
Proposition: The only
one that has done all of these things perfectly is the Lord Jesus Christ, so all
those created anew by the Spirit of God, who trust Christ for our full acceptance
with God shall be accepted of God in him by his righteousness, not ours.
Now today, we will look at the next two
points of the Psalm to see that Christ is the only one who has also fulfilled
these things.
Psalm 14: 3: He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor
doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. 4:
In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the
LORD.
I. THESE ARE THINGS DONE TOWARD MEN. WE WILL
PUT VERSE THREE TOGETHER. IT MEANS HE THAT LOVES HIS NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF SHALL
DWELL WITH GOD.
Psalm 14: 3: He backbiteth not with his
tongue against his neighbor. “Backbiting” is to
slander behind their back, to discredit their name and reputation without them
knowing it.
Psalm 14: 3: nor doeth evil to his neighbor. “Evil” includes anything that is unkind or hurtful or
that may cause your neighbor trouble and sorrow.
Psalm 14: 3: nor taketh up a
reproach against his neighbour. “Reproach” means to disgrace, to scorn, to
upbraid. To not “take up a reproach” means you never listen to someone backbite
your fellow man and do not repeat it, if you do hear it.
Remember,
these things are not only toward neighbors who are kind to you, but it goes for
those who work evil toward you.
Christ our Neighbor
Truly, Christ
is the only one who ever walked this earth who was Neighbor to us. He did not slander anyone about our sins,
though we had plenty of sin to speak of. Christ came to cover our sin and put
them away—not to backbite. God the Son did
not work evil toward us, only righteousness.
He did not scorn us or upbraid us but he dealt graciously toward his
people. And Christ is the Neighbor
toward whom, we chiefly were backbiting, working evil, and take up a reproach
against. Christ shows us who our neighbor is.
Luke
10: 25: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying,
Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
This
question is similar to the question asked in our Psalm.
Luke 10: 26: He said unto him, What is written in the
law? how readest thou? 27: And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28: And he said unto him, Thou
hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
This answer is similar to the answer the LORD gave in our Psalm.
Luke 10: 29 But
he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
In answering
the question, we see what Christ our Neighbor did for us. Christ is the only one who ever “loved the
Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his
strength, and with all his mind; and his neighbor as himself.”
Luke 10: 30 And Jesus
answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him,
and departed, leaving him half dead.
God’s
elect fell in our father Adam. We were
stripped of all righteousness and left half-dead: spiritually dead within while
our sinful, God-hating flesh lives but is dead in sin as well. Amazingly, Christ came down and took the
place of his people. He allowed us to
strip him and wound him and he laid down his life for his people. So Christ both came to save his people in the
ditch of sin and he knows what it is to be the one in the ditch.
Luke 10: 31: And by chance there came down a certain
priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32: And
likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and
passed by on the other side.
The law
would not help us out of our condition, nor any amount of religion or religious
works.
Luke 10: 33: But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed,
came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34: And went to him, and bound
up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and
brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
A
Samaritan was one despised and rejected like Christ. This lawyer was a Pharisee. He especially hated a Samaritan and he hated
Christ. That is why Christ used a Samaritan
in this illustration. Christ had
compassion on us from eternity and, in the fullness of time, came from heaven
to where we are. And Christ comes to each of his children personally in the
predestinated time of our new birth. He bound up our wounds, pouring in the oil
of the Holy Spirit and the wine of his blood in the gospel. Christ himself is our
rest like the wounded man was put on the beast so he could rest. The Lord
Jesus, the Head of the church, brings his weak child to his church and
continues to take care of us.
Luke 10: 35: And on the morrow when he departed, he took
out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care
of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay
thee.
Christ
has departed for now, but he provides his gospel preachers and as they take
care of his sheep, Christ provides for them.
His preachers take care of his people by preaching the gospel to them. Christ’s
servants will never be the loser for spending and being spent for the cause of
Christ.
Luke 10: 36: Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was
neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37: And he said, He that shewed
mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Christ is
the Neighbor, who alone has really shown mercy to those who are truly in need. When Christ has done this work for us, he
bridles our fleshly backbiting tongue, he puts down the evil-working-man of our
flesh, and he gives us a new heart to
reign instead of that scornful heart.
Now, by
God’s grace, we love him who was Neighbor to us, who showed us mercy. In a much
smaller way, we follow his steps, by loving our brethren, as well as other
needy sinners who are yet fallen and robbed in the ditch of depravity. We show them mercy by speaking the truth of
Christ instead of backbiting them or his holy name; we show them mercy by
providing whatever they need to help them get under the sound of the gospel of
Christ rather than doing evil to them; we love them by taking them up when they
fall rather than taking up a reproach of scorn against them. All of this is because Christ was Neighbor to
us.
II. HE WHO HAS SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT TO
WITHOLD HONOR WHERE IT IS NOT DUE AND TO GIVE HONOR WHERE HONOR IS DUE SHALL
DWELL WITH GOD.
Psalm 15: 4: In whose eyes a vile person is
contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD.
In
whose eyes” means in our judgment. “A
vile person” is a wicked man. He may be
a religious man or wicked sinner, but in either case, he is one who despises
God and the accomplished salvation of a particular people by Christ Jesus. “To
contemn” such a one is to give him no esteem whatsoever.
No Spiritual Discernment
While
we were in the flesh, we had no right judgment of things because we had no
spiritual discernment. We honored men who appeared outwardly wealthy but were
inwardly vile haters of God and his people, proving it by their wicked
practices. While the saints of God, who
outwardly appeared vile in their poor clothes, but were inwardly new creatures
in Christ, we held in contempt and despised. But the Spirit of God quickened us
to life, creating life where there was no life, and gave us the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2: 15: But he that is spiritual judgeth all
things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16: For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Now,
that our gracious God has brought us to rest in Christ and to see our own sinfulness,
in our own eyes, it is our own vile man of flesh that we hold in utter
contempt. And his dear saints who God used to give us the unsearchable riches
of Christ are those we highly esteem. And we give Christ the highest honor over
all.
Despising Those Who Despise God
Brethren,
those who despise Christ are to be despised but we are to honor those that fear
the LORD. Character is the object of our
attention; persons and circumstances are of minor importance.
If a
vile man holds an office of honor or authority we are to honor the office and
obey. But we are not to admire him, nor to flatter him, no matter how wealthy
or esteemed by natural men. We are not to value his company and conversation,
nor approve of or comply with his practices. We are to judge him a most
miserable wretch of a man for his rejection of Christ. One reason, being, we want no man to think
God is pleased with him when as yet he is a vile God-hating rebel.
Honoring Them That Fear God
We are
to honor and highly esteem those who fear the LORD. No matter how poor, or how
despised by this world, that man who rejoices in Christ who accomplished the
salvation of a particular people declaring God just and the Justifier is to be
honored because he has the fear of God, knowing something of the truth that God
is holy and will by no means clear the guilty. The man who denies his will, his
works and himself to serve God and his people and the cause of Christ is to be
highly honored because such a man has been given a fear of God in his heart and
humbled by the effectual, irresistible grace of God.
The
Lord Jesus held in perfect contempt those who rejected him for their vain show
of religion but the harlots and publicans who came seeking mercy, he honored. The Spirit of God said through James,
James 2: 1: My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2: For if
there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and
there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
One
represents a man who is vile within wearing a gold ring and goodly apparel
without. The other holy within, but poor and in vile raiment without.
James 2: 3: And ye have respect to him that weareth the [goodly]
clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor,
Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4: Are ye not then partial in
yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5: Hearken, my beloved
brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs
of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? 6: But ye have
despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the
judgment seats? 7: Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are
called?
The
last verse says, “He that doeth these things
shall never be moved.” All of these
things are things we fail at miserably.
Sin is mixed with all that we do.
So though we “delight in the law of God after the inward man, we see
another law in our members, warring against the law of our mind, and bringing
us into captivity to the law of sin which is in our members.” (Rom 7: 22,
23) We dare not attempt to come to God
thinking he will receive us because we have done these things as we ought—we have
not. Instead, we depend entirely upon
Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have been made the righteousness of God. Christ is our Righteousness. It is in Christ that we have done these
things perfectly and by whose faithfulness we shall never be moved. We will pick up here next time and take the
remainder of the points in this Psalm.
May God
give us grace to believe on Christ and to seek to walk as he walked when he did
these things and justified his people from all our sins.
Amen!