Series: Psalms
Title: The Way of
Escape
Text: Ps 59:1-17
Date: March 26, 2020
Place: SGBC,
NJ
Psalm 59: 1: « To
the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent,
and they watched the house to kill him. »
To the chief Muscian,
destroy thou not, a golden Psalm of David; written under David’s very dire
circumstance when he was shut up in his house with Saul’s bloodthirsty men surrounding
the house ready to kill him in the morning.
We read about this in 1 Samuel 19: 11.
1 Samuel 19: 11: Saul also sent messengers unto David’s house, to watch
him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David’s wife told him,
saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.
Can you put yourself in David’s shoes that
night? He is on an upper floor, probably
in the wall of the city. I picture him
peeking through each window. Everywhere he
sees Saul’s men watching the house, waiting to kill him in the morning. He is completely surrounded. David’s wife was Michal, Saul’s daughter. She urges David, “If thou save not thy life
tonight, tomorrow thou shalt be slain.”
David had nowhere to turn.
The condition of every sinner all the time is
like David’s condition that night. He was
surrounded by enemies and helpless to save himself and so are we. Most of our enemies are unseen to our natural
eye. Like as Saul constantly schemed and
laid in wait for David all the time, so we are surrounded with “the wiles of
the devil” constantly all the time.
Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Constantly, every hour of every day, the enemy
we are surrounded by is this present evil world. But the world is our enemy because of our own
sinful lusts in our Adamic nature which lusts for this world.
1 John 2: 16: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is
of the world. 17: And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that
doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
James 4:4: Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the
friendship of the world is enmity with God?
Whosoever therefore will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5: Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us
lusteth to envy?
The very worst enemy that surrounds us every
hour of every day is our own corrupt, sinful, God-hating sin-nature which we
inherited from our father Adam.
Romans 7: 18: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no
good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that
which is good I find not.
Genesis 6: 5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually.
Like David that night, we are helpless to
save ourselves from our enemies. But by God
making David see himself surrounded by his enemies and helpless, it was God’s
great blessing to David. How? God makes us see our utter helplessness in
order to drive us to Christ to cry what David cried that night.
Psalm 59: 1: Deliver me from mine enemies, O my
God: defend me [raise me up high] from them that rise up against me.
It is a great
blessing which outweighs all the pain of the trial when God brings us nearer to
Christ. Are you surrounded by enemies? Are you unable to deliver yourself? Then, sinner, cry unto God! Do you know what God did when David cried to
him? God made a way for David to escape.
1 Samuel 19: 12: So Michal let David down through a window: and he went,
and fled, and escaped.
Proposition: The way of escape—the
window of hope—for helpless, needy sinners is Christ Jesus the Lord.
Our subject is: The Way of Escape
We see that Christ is
our way of escape by hearing Psalm 59 as the words of our Substitute as he
served God for his people in this earth.
Why is Christ the way of escape?
Here are reasons why Christ is the way of escape to every true believer.
THE SINLESS SUBSTITUTE
Psalm 59: 1: Deliver
me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me [raise me up high] from them that rise
up against me. 2: Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from
bloody men. 3: For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against
me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD. 4: They run
and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.
The Lord Jesus Christ
is the way of escape because as the substitute of his people, he is sinless. The devil and wicked sinners arose against our
Savior—"they rise up against me.”
Our Lord Jesus was surrounded by “the workers of iniquity”, “bloody
men” (bloodthirsty for his death). He
said, “The mighty are gathered against me.”
We know David is a type of Christ because these same words are used
concerning Christ.
Acts 4: 25: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the
heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? 26: The kings of the earth
stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against
his Christ. 27: For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou
hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the
people of Israel, were gathered together, 28: For to do whatsoever thy hand and
thy counsel determined before to be done.
They charged our
Redeemer falsely. He was without sin. He said—"not for my transgression,
nor for my sin, O LORD. They run and prepare themselves without my fault.” Our Lord Jesus Christ was without transgression
and sin and fault. Yet, he was charged
with sin by men. He was reviled as a blasphemer
and gluttonous man. When a believer charges
the another with being a reviler the very charge is itself an act of reviling! Yet,
even when they reviled our Redeemer, they could not provoke him to revile by
charging them as revilers. He did not
sin by threatening back nor in any other way!
1 Peter 2: 22: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23:
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.
We see why we need Christ! Who of us have been reviled and reviled not
again? Who have been reviled and not even
had a hint of guile in our heart?
Anyone? Who of us ever suffered
and threatened not? Not even in our thoughts?
Christ never even did that! That is why God’s elect need a sinless
Substitute! Christ Jesus is the way of
escape and salvation for the believer because he is the sinless Savior of his
people. His sinlessness is why Christ
was fit to make his grave with the wicked and the rich in his death—“because he
had done” no sin, neither was their any in his mouth coming up from his heart.
Isaiah 53: 7 He was oppressed,
and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to
the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not
his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison
and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out
of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.9:
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he
had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (Isa 53:7-9)
Never let anyone say
Christ was made a sinner on the cross.
He knew no sin. Indeed, “he
hath made him sin for us.” But Christ
is he “who knew no sin.” Indeed, Christ
owned our sin to be his own. We see it
throughout the Psalms. But we also see
right here that it was not for any personal transgression in him. God said, “For the sin of my people was he
stricken.”
In order to be the holiness and righteousness
of his people the Son of God became a sinless Man, “made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law.” As the Head and Representative of his people,
Christ served God in perfect obedience without one sin “even unto the death of
the cross.” That is why Christ is the
way of escape to all who believe on him.
THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH
Psalm 59: 1: Deliver me from mine enemies, O
my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. 2: Deliver me from the
workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men…8: But thou, O LORD, shalt
laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. 9: Because of his strength will I wait
upon thee: for God is my defense. 10: The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God
shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
Christ Jesus is the way of escape because he
is the author and finisher of our faith.
In order to be the Faith of our faith—the Author and Finisher of faith—Christ
Jesus had to commit all his care into the Father’s hand in perfect faith. That is what we hear him doing in our Psalm—“Deliver
me...O my God: defend me…Deliver me…But thou, O LORD shalt…I wait upon thee:
for God is my defense. The God of my
mercy shall [go before] me: God shall let me see…” That is Christ serving God in perfect
faithfulness as the perfect believer trusting God for his people. We see his perfect faith when we behold Christ,
in faith, committing his cause into God’s hand in this Psalm. In order to Deliver his people, he had to
trust the Father to deliver him. In
order to be the Defender (the High Tower—meant by the words “defend me from
them that rise up…”) of his people—he had to trust the Father to be his defender. In order to be the Savior of his people, he had
to believe God the Father to save him.
Make no mistake who Christ is. He is God of very God. Christ Jesus is the Creator of heaven and earth. It is he who upholds all things by the word
of his power. Yet, as the servant of the
Father, as the GodMan representing his sinful elect people, in order to be our
defense and the God of our mercy, he had to wait upon the Father to be his—"Because
of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defense. The God of my
mercy shall prevent me [go before me in mercy]: God shall let me see my desire
upon mine enemies.”
In all this we see what the apostle Peter
said, “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:”
(1Pe 2:22-23) We see Christ reviled
yet not reviling again; suffering yet instead of reviling we see him committing
his care to God his Father who judgeth righteously. In the midst of all the wiles of the
devil, his house being totally surrounded by workers of iniquity, Christ was faithful
to God. That is the perfect faith by
which God beholds his people as perfectly faithful to him. That is why we won’t find God’s people
boasting in our faith. We boast in
Christ’s faith. We run the race of faith,
not looking to our faith, but instead,
Hebrews
12:2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
HE HIGHLY EXALTED GOD
Psalm 59: 16: But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of
thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day
of my trouble. 17: Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my
defence, and the God of my mercy.
Christ Jesus is the way of escape because in all that he did, he made (and
continues to make) his people behold God the Father highly exalted. Christ promised the Father that he would sing
of God’s glory in the great congregation.
He promised in the midst of his people, in his church, that he would
sing.
Hebrews 2: 11: For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are
all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12: Saying,
I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I
sing praise unto thee.
That is another way of saying that in Christ we behold the fulness of
the Godhead bodily. It is another way of
saying that we see the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Christ sings
to us through the preaching of the gospel.
Through the preaching of the gospel, Christ sings to us of God’s power—"But
I will sing of thy power.” It is because
in Christ we behold the power of God to put away the sin of his people. He sings to us or makes us behold that he is God
the Father’s power unto salvation.
Through the preaching of the gospel, Christ says to God—"yea, I
will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning.” In Christ’s mercy toward helpless sinners
like us Christ sings to us of God the Father’s mercy. In beholding God’s mercy to save us in Christ—because
of Christ—though we do not deserve the least of his mercies, we see God’s
mercy. And we behold God’s mercy new every
morning.
Christ brings each believer to sing with one heart unto God our Father and
to Christ himself. We sing to God our
Father and his Son Christ Jesus what Christ himself sings to his Father—"thou
hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.” Even our perfection of praise to God is not
of us. Christ performed it for us. Christ praises God perfectly saying these
things and we praise God perfectly in him. And by beholding that God has made himself our
defense and refuge by providing his Son Christ Jesus as our defence and refuge,
we are brought to sing this to God in the face of Christ Jesus.
Do you see, brethren? By highly
exalting God, by making us behold the fulness of the Godhead bodily in him,
Christ sings to us of all the beauty and glory and saving strength of God our
Father. Doing so, Christ brings us to
cry to God our Father and his Son Christ Jesus the same thing Christ cried to
the Father—"Unto thee, O my strength will I sing: for God is my defense
and the God of my mercy.”
It is this love and condescension
and obedience of Christ to God for us that constrains every true believer to be
of the same mind and same love and commit all our care into Christ’s hand. That is exactly what the apostle Paul said to
the church at Philippi. This is what I
say to you and me this hour.
Philippians 2: 1: If there be therefore any
consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any bowels and mercies, 2: Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having
the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3: Let nothing be
done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
other better than themselves. 4: Look not every man on his own things, but
every man also on the things of others. 5: Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus: 6: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God: 7: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him
the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8: And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. 9: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and
given him a name which is above every name: 10: That at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; 11: And that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen!