Psalms

[0:00] The words upon my mind, which I hope the Lord will help me to speak from this morning, will be found in Psalm 38.

[0:17] The last two verses. Forsake me not, O Lord. O my God, be not far from me.

[0:34] Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. Psalm 38, verses 21 and 22.

[0:53] Forsake me not, O Lord. O my God, be not far from me.

[1:04] Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. This is the very feelings of my heart, I believe I can say at this time.

[1:20] That the Lord might make haste. That he might break through that dark load that seems to be hovering around one this morning.

[1:36] To make haste to help. And no one feels his need of the health of the Holy Spirit at all times.

[1:49] And at this time, to unfold a little that is coached in the Holy Word of God.

[2:00] We understand this, Theron, is of David. The Lord greatly blessed him.

[2:15] Blessed him with spiritual life. Grace, the fear of God. And the Lord was pleased to bless David with wisdom.

[2:31] And yet David had those paths to walk. And to experience such as in the text.

[2:43] He wasn't always on the top of the mountain in praise. David was often, perhaps walking, in the same experience of Jeremiah.

[2:55] Often down in the dungeon. And it appears to the words of our text this morning that he was somewhat in darkness.

[3:09] The Lord seemed to withdraw his presence from the fariness daily. He seemed to be walking alone.

[3:19] And there was a cry in his heart. And I have no doubt from but this prayer.

[3:31] These few words. Forsake me not. Came forth in the heart of David. And ascended into heaven. Forsake me not.

[3:44] O Lord. Yea, we can say that David had experienced somewhat of what we have read.

[3:56] In Psalm 22 and in this Psalm before us. David knew what it was to be under the chastening hand of God.

[4:09] Rebuce me not in thy wrath, says David. Neither chasten me in thy heart this pleasure. David knew what it was to be convinced of sin.

[4:27] He knew the burden of sin. The guilt upon the conscience. For thine harrow stick fast in me. And thy hand presseth me sore.

[4:41] He looked as it were into his own tabernacle. In his own body. There is no soundness in my flesh, says David.

[4:52] And he gives me the reason. And he reminds me of the words of the apostle Paul. O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this body of sin and of death.

[5:07] No soundness in my flesh. Neither has there any rest in my bones. And he gives the reason. Because of my sin.

[5:18] For mine iniquities are gone over mine head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

[5:31] Language of David. I believe this is the experience of well-exercised souls. Souls who have been quickened by design grace.

[5:46] Souls who know the work of the spirit within. For it is the work of the spirit to unfold what is in our hearts by nature in some measure.

[5:59] You and I can remember perhaps those days when we were in darkness.

[6:11] When we had not the fear of God in our heart. And we was not troubled as the soundness. We could not say there was no soundness in our flesh.

[6:25] We could not speak of our iniquities being a heavy burden. It's the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts unfolding to us what is in us by nature.

[6:42] And the more the Holy Spirit works within and gives light. Heavier will be the burden. That we shall come again with the words of the soundness and say, My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

[7:06] The soul was wounded. And nothing, nothing can heal these wounds but the precious blood of Christ.

[7:22] Again he says, I am bubbled, I am bowed down greatly. Do you know this path, dear friend? Do you know this experience?

[7:34] Blessed soul, You say, Are we blessed then if we are brought so low most decidedly because it's the Spirit in you.

[7:50] You become the temple of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit is unfolding to you the malady. We shall never search, shall I say, for the remedy.

[8:04] We shall not have a desire for the remedy unless we know the matter. And so lift in you up. And I believe you and I in some measure.

[8:17] We may not have been brought so low as David to be able to say, I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long.

[8:29] For this is the work of the Spirit. For my loins are filled with a lonesome disease and there is no sowness in my flesh.

[8:40] And walking through these experiences, David eventually came to the words of our decks, Forsake me not, O Lord.

[8:56] So we can say it was the experience of the sadness. It's the experience of every child of God, the church of God.

[9:09] But I desire to look at it from another viewpoint as I may be helped. It's the path that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, entered into an experience.

[9:26] You say, well, is it possible for him to come into such a sound as this? Would he have ever said, My wounds did stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness?

[9:43] Could he have ever come here, I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long. Yes, yes.

[9:55] Your thoughts may be, Well, Jesus, the Son of God, was an holy man. True he was. Holy. He was never defiled by sin.

[10:11] He knew nothing of this nature of sin within him. He had one principle. Grace.

[10:23] Grace. Full of grace. Full of love. Holiness. Wisdom. How could such a man then come into such an experience as we have read in these serums?

[10:41] They were not his sins, and yet out of love to his people he called them his sins. And not only called them his sins and his iniquities, but he was willing to take them and the bearish.

[10:58] Oh, the wonderful plan of salvation. That dear man of God, who never sinned, and yet willingly took upon him, in his body, upon his heart, within his soul, the sins of the church of God.

[11:20] Christ. No other way, no other way of deliverance, no other remedy, but in the gospel.

[11:31] Christ is the gospel, and the gospel is Christ. So he walked, and it gives us a little idea, dear friends, how deep he went in this path.

[11:44] O Lord, he said, may we use the word here, Father, Father, O my desire is before thee, and what was the desire of Christ?

[12:07] Why, to be able to continue in his pilgrimage, to continue in the work of salvation, to bring it to pass, to lay down his life, and take it again, that he might be a living, a savior.

[12:26] Lord, all my desire is before thee, and his desire, I believe, was to bring his chosen to the Father, through his merits, righteousness, and blood, the plan of salvation.

[12:47] So the Lord Jesus went into this path, my groaning, is not it from thee? Groaning, yes, what have we read in thee?

[12:59] Twenty-second sound. My God, there's a groan there, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

[13:13] And in this experience, he came very low, he says, I am feeble and sore broken, I have roared by the reason of the disquietness of my heart.

[13:26] And yet, he says, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not it. from thee, and all have forsaken him, even his disciples, my lovers and my friends, stand aloof from my soul, and my kingsmen stand afar off.

[13:52] Yea, who came into this world to bear death, forsake me not, O Lord, O my God, O Lord, O my God, I believe we can, in some very, very small measure, experience, or, by faith, and see, where Jesus was, at that time.

[14:29] Bow down, bow down, and the hiding, of his father's face. Jesus knew this experience.

[14:44] He was often brought into darkness in his last days upon earth. To fulfill that law, to satisfy the Father, he stood alone.

[15:00] his disciples forsook him. It appears at times in the reading that his father forsook him, yet he never did.

[15:16] He never forsook him, but he, he did his face. In other words, there wasn't that sweet communion, one with the other, that Jesus knew all his children.

[15:32] Day by day, night by night, I believe they communed one with the other. And now, as this great work of salvation, yea, near he got to the garden of Gestan, and closer to Calvary, there was the hiding of his father's face.

[16:00] that he had to climb into the same words of David, much farther, farther, farther, than we have ever trod.

[16:11] Never have we got so deep in our experience as Jesus did when he said, forsake me not, over, Lord.

[16:25] Forsake me not, over, forsake me not. Why, that dear man, no doubt, was in much darkness, much darkness of mine, when his father hid his face, when he walked alone, and the burden was to be carried by himself without the help of his father, without the help of the disciples.

[17:03] He was to walk alone, to bear it alone, in his body. And I said at times, oh, what a burden, that dear man carried, and the effect of it in his body.

[17:23] and especially as he hung upon that person tree. And yet, speaking with all reverence, it was little, very little, compared with the weight upon his death, to bring the past, life, everlasting, salvation, for that great multitude of sinners, whom the father had given him to live in.

[18:06] Forsake me not, oh, Lord. Well, dear friends, I believe you and I know a little of it, but do we not? Hmm.

[18:18] you look with him at times and you realize what a poor thing you are. Can the Lord look upon you?

[18:32] The question arises, can he remember me? Will he continue his loving kindness toward him?

[18:45] so often I have forsaken him? So often I have sinned against him? I haven't read his word as I should, prayed as I should, and guilt comes upon the conscience.

[19:14] And sometimes the very devil comes in into the heart and says, well, you have forsaken him and he will forsake you.

[19:26] And the cry comes out of the heart, forsake me not, oh, Lord. As I said, you know, David came here.

[19:38] I believe sometimes we've drawn a little comfort from the fourth of it. That that dear man who we know is there in heaven walked the same path as we did, and had the same fears, had the same troubles, and he went to the same God.

[20:00] He sought the same things that we sought to seek. No, forgive me, forsake me, I believe this cry comes out of the heart of those who have known the Lord, hasty that he seemed gracious.

[20:23] You have heard his voice, you felt a little of his presence, the heart at times had been touched with his grace. You may have walked, as it were, with a sweet experience, as the disciples of old on the way to Emmaus.

[20:47] When your heart burned within you, and you could say, as they did not have a heart burned within us, as we walked and talked, as it were, by the way.

[21:02] Some of you know this experience. Now, perhaps this morning, he has turned his face. He's drawn a curtain between him and thy soul, and it causes this cry, this glare, to come out of thy heart.

[21:25] Forsake me not, O Lord. May thee in some affliction you can't understand it.

[21:53] Why should it be? He said he has loved me with an everlasting love, and know this affliction, this trial, this storm in life, it brings out a cry, Forsake me not, O Lord.

[22:14] May there's something in providence, in the things of this life, things that have gone as you expected, as you've prayed for, and you come again with this man baby, or he staggered like a drunken man, and with another child of God, he said all these things are against me.

[22:48] It's the way then the Lord leads his people most decidedly, and will bring forth this short flare, forsake me not, and when this short flare comes out of our hearts and ascends to heaven, it brings, I believe, honour and glory unto his name, and he can see, as it were, the travel of his own soul, he can see the work of the Spirit in the hearts of his people, when this prayer ascends into heaven, forsake me not, O Lord.

[23:33] This cry, this prayer will continue to come forth out of the hearts of the living until the dying moment. How many have had to pray this prayer on a dying bed, forsake me not, O Lord.

[23:53] Not in all cases, but I believe there's many who have come even to the gates of death in much darkness. In much darkness.

[24:07] I've heard of some of the Lord's dear people, when near their journey's home, they've had the cry that the light might appear.

[24:19] And doesn't that remind us, dear friends, of the words we've already quoted, that Jesus spoke very near to the end, My God, my God, why hast thou also come?

[24:34] Well, if the Lord Jesus had to enter into this prayer unto his Father, why not you? Why not me?

[24:49] It's the same steps, in some measure, of the steps of the Lord Jesus Christ. forsake me not. Forsake me not. And as I said, when the Lord hides his face, this will be the cry.

[25:05] Forsake me not. And again, as you know, David cried in Psalm 100 and... For...

[25:15] For... For... For... Remember me with the favour that thou bearish unto thy people. O visit me with thy salvation.

[25:27] The Lord will never forsake his dear people. We may fear he will. We may often be troubled that he will forsake us.

[25:40] But we must look at it from another viewpoint. His promises stand there upon the rock. Nothing can move those precious promises that God has given to Zion.

[25:57] Let me quote just one or two. Fear not, I have redeemed thee, thou art mine. You say, well, yes, when the Lord speaks that word with power into my heart, the fear is gone.

[26:16] But when he withdraws, when the night is gone, the sweetness of the word, the power of the word, Then I have become again into the word.

[26:28] Forsake me not, O Lord. I have often been, shall I say, comforted for those words in the sound.

[26:41] The angels of the Lord encampment round about them that fear him. So if the Lord has provided those angels, as it were, to be round about his children, Will he forsake them?

[27:01] Oh, the wisdom of God in this. We little realize, ere we are protected by the Lord.

[27:17] I believe some of us can pacify us. Not a single shock in it, unless the God of love sees it.

[27:32] Fear not, I have redeemed thee. Fear not dismay, for I am thy God.

[27:43] I will help thee, I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Another free promise in Hebrews.

[27:58] I will never leave thee, nor accept thee. There's the precious promises, and many others recorded in the scriptures.

[28:12] My grace is sufficient for thee. I will guide thee with mine eyes. I will bring thee even to the haven of rest.

[28:23] Yea, dear friends, this prayer still ascends into heaven from the heart of his people. Forsake me. Forsake me.

[28:36] When we are in the precious presence of God. When the Holy Spirit is working within. When we feel a little of the sweetness of the gospel.

[28:49] We may then turn our prayer from this. Forsake me not. Into the prayer. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

[29:01] And forget not all its benefits. Who hath redeemed thy soul and soul. Forsake me not, O Lord.

[29:14] And the sadness. And can I say, you and I. We look in one direction. Heaven walked. We know that this one is able.

[29:27] The Lord is able. Oh, the wisdom.

[29:38] Something that counts very deep here. If we might rightly do it. Forsake me not, O Lord. David wasn't looking to himself.

[29:52] Wasn't looking to a hard flesh. I'll go further. Jesus was looking in the right direction.

[30:04] Heaven walked to his father. Have we been brought of an arm of flesh? Are we looking to the creature?

[30:17] Do you think you can manage to pace yourself? We cannot. We cannot. Without him we can do nothing. Not in these spiritual things.

[30:30] Forsake me not, O Lord. We are looking in the right direction. If we look downward, we shall not find a help.

[30:41] To look upward. That's where the help cometh from. O Lord. O Lord. There's a fullness that resides in Jesus' airhead.

[30:52] And heaven abides to answer our need. O Lord. Some of you may be in some trial this day.

[31:06] This morning. Some trial. May be lame with weight upon thy spirit. The Lord has his crosses, shall I say.

[31:22] For his people to carry. Yes. Yes. There laid, as it were, at the door. There's a voice from heaven.

[31:33] This is thy. This is for thee. My child. My son. My daughter. This cross at thy door is for you. Is to be carried.

[31:45] Oh, what a mercy it is. If we are unable to take up that cross. And carry it with patience.

[31:58] With our eyes. Heaven. And if so. I'm sure we shall come with the prophet of Micah. When he said. I will bear. The indignation of the Lord.

[32:11] Because. I have sinned. Against. Amen. Forsake me not, O Lord. Forsake me not.

[32:23] When I come down to the end. The end of our day on earth. The hell. The hell. When the soul would be separated from the body.

[32:39] The earthly death of nothing. Forsake me not, O Lord. Just that moment. When I shall need thee. Greatly need thee. Why?

[32:50] Why to take my poor spirit. To the realms of bliss. Forsake me not, O Lord. All my desires are deforting.

[33:01] Nothing is here. The next clause in our text. O my God. Though David felt to be somewhat forsaken.

[33:15] He knew this. The God of Israel. The God of Israel. Was his God. O my God.

[33:27] He claimed. As his God. Why? Why David approved it so many, many times. Previously. So of you. I trust our Lord.

[33:39] Many times. In the years of the past. You have proved. That evil child. Not only in the things of prosperity. But in the things of grace. I've entered this morning.

[33:53] That if we know. That we are sinners. If we have been convinced of sin. If there's been a wound. In our spirit. That hard of conviction.

[34:05] Come. Into our souls. By the power of the spirit. There will be a wound. There will be a wound. And hasn't that wound.

[34:18] Been healed. Go back to those days. It may be many years ago. When the Lord commenced that work. In your soul.

[34:30] Showed you. His holiness. And showed you also. That yours are poor. Wretched undone sin. Can you remember those days?

[34:47] When he wounded you. But hasn't that wound been healed? Has come to the point. Dear friends. Has come to the remedy.

[34:57] Is that wound still open? Hasn't it been healed? My mind goes to that man.

[35:10] Who came down from Jerusalem. To Jericho. He's going in the wrong direction. And he's going down. And he's going down to Jericho.

[35:30] And he fell among thieves. Yes. They came. They stripped him. They wounded him. They left him off dying. That's what the law was doing.

[35:43] The law convinces. And you're laid low. They'll leave you dying. You need the gospel.

[35:55] You need that good Samaritan. Here he is in the test. Oh my God. Can you remember those days? When you felt to be stripped of everything.

[36:10] Nothing in my hand I bring. Nothing to bring. A poor helpless sinner. Wounded. Wounded.

[36:24] How many years you've been like it. I fear. I trust. Each of us will be able to say. Well we wasn't many years in that experience. Because we proved that the good Samaritan had come along.

[36:39] And he did not come just where you were. You never had to go to him. He came to you. And he looked upon you. Looked upon you in sympathy. In love.

[36:51] He saw the wound. And he healed him. Did he not pour in that grace. And love.

[37:02] And blood. Into that wound. Within thy soul. Isn't it healed? If so. I believe you and I. Will be able to say.

[37:13] In some measure. With David. Oh my God. My God. And perhaps there's been many times. From that day to this.

[37:26] That the Lord has. Given your little. A little. A little. Of. His righteousness. A little.

[37:37] Of his spirit. A little. Of his love. It's raised a hope. Within thy heart. It's strengthened your faith. And at times.

[37:48] You've been unable to say. He's my God. Again. The sound. In the air. That twenty-third sound. Why. What did he say?

[37:59] The Lord. Is my shepherd. Yet David. Came here. Forsake me not. As I said. This morning.

[38:10] Dear friend. Isn't it a comfort. When we are unable. To walk. As it were. In somewhat. In the same paths. And experience. The same thing. As David. Did David know in heaven?

[38:22] And it gives us hope. That we are traveling. In the same footsteps. And the same footsteps. As our forefathers. And let me go a little further. In the footsteps.

[38:33] Of the Lord. Jesus Christ. He said. Forsake me not. O Lord. O my God. O my God. Well.

[38:45] I believe. Some of us. Have been unable. To say. And claim him. As our God. Our Savior. When he has. Spoken into our heart. When he has.

[38:56] Given us. Some word. Some word. Fear not. I have.

[39:06] I have prayed. I have prayed. Oh. When we are able. To draw near. To him. In prayer. And the Lord. Draws near. To us. And we feel. That sweetness.

[39:17] Of his presence. Then we can rise. Air face. And say. O. My God. He's my God. You may have heard me say this before.

[39:32] But I can remember the first time. When I could say. From the heart. He's my God. You say. When was I? When he spoke to me.

[39:43] The same words. As he spake to Jeremiah. Yea. I have loved thee. With an everlasting love. Therefore. With loving kindness. I have drawn thee.

[39:54] The wound was healed. And I could say. He's my God. Without a fear. In my heart. Oh.

[40:04] For more. Days. Such as that. And. These sweet experiences. When the Lord. Draws so near. And into our heart.

[40:15] That we can claim him. As our God. The Lord. Is my shepherd. Says. David. Be not far from me.

[40:28] Be not far from me. Again. We must go back. To the Lord. Jesus Christ. Oh. How he needed. His father's help.

[40:38] As he was. So near. To that. Hour of death. Be not far from me. Be with me. Go to Calvary.

[40:52] We understand. We understand. There was an angel. Sent by the father. From heaven. To strengthen. To strengthen. Be not far from me.

[41:04] That prayer. Was heard. In heaven. That prayer. Was heard. By the father. And the father. Sent the angel. To be with his dear.

[41:16] Beloved son. To strengthen. Be not far from me. No doubt. David. Is heard.

[41:26] Breathed. At this prayer. When he. His life. Was threatened. By his enemies. So. And his own son. Also.

[41:37] Be not far from me. Hold. My enemies. Around. Correct me. To take my life. I may be near death.

[41:48] Be not far from me. We know. But little of this. Experience. He is not the enemies.

[41:59] The enemy within. I agree. Satan. Also. Without. And he's ready. To deceive us.

[42:09] And he would. Destroy us. If possible. So these words. In some measure. Can come. In air experience. Be not far from me.

[42:20] Oh Lord. Be not far from me. Yes. And if we rightly. Know ourselves. And what poor things. We have. We shall need.

[42:31] The Lord. To be with us. Continually. To hold us. And to keep us. To keep us. In the right frame of mind. To keep us from sitting. Be not far from me.

[42:44] Otherwise. I shall drop away. Soon. I shall. Perhaps. Backslide. And turn my back upon thee. Be not far from me.

[42:55] Lord. And as I said. David. He needed the Lord. To be with him. Continually. When he went. Before that great Philistine.

[43:11] He commenced. As it were. To go. In his own strength. But. He realized. His strength. Was in the Lord. The battle was the Lord.

[43:23] Not me. Says David. And so. He went in faith. And with. No doubt. This. Prayer. In his heart. Be not far from me.

[43:34] Lord. I shall need thy help. You may be entering. Into some sore affliction. Or some trial. And here's the word. Here's the prayer. Be not far from me.

[43:45] Lord. I shall need thee. In this affliction. I shall need thee. In this trouble. I shall need thee. In this storm. Can't do without thee. Be not far from me.

[43:57] I believe this. The language of love. The language. Of the Lord's people. It's a prayer. In our old text. It's a prayer.

[44:08] Forsake me not. O Lord. O my God. Be not far from me. It's an urgent case. This day. It's a prayer. Make that.

[44:18] Make that. You think the Lord is offended. With his dear people. When they cry unto him. And say make haste.

[44:30] No. No. And yet sometimes he keeps us waiting. Does he not? But the case is. Urgent.

[44:41] The cross is heavy. The burden. No. No. Not how to carry it. Make haste.

[44:51] Oh Lord. Make haste. Come. Come to help me. Says David. Make haste. The case is urgent.

[45:02] Can't do without it. My dear friends. You know it's good to come here. I believe it brings glory to his name. When he sees his child.

[45:14] His daughter. His son. Helpless. Lain at his feet. Can't do anything. Why the poor woman. Who had that disease. For those many years.

[45:26] She was brought here. She tried everything. Everything fine. Earthly physician. No. No Ramabine.

[45:40] Eventually she came to Jesus. Make haste. The Lord. The affliction is so sore. Can't do without it.

[45:52] Though remedy is indeed. Why the poor woman. Had tried everything. Spent all she got. Empty pockets. Heart full of grief.

[46:04] Terribly afflicted. Make haste. Make haste. And as she was unable. To touch the hem of his garment. All that living thing.

[46:14] If I can only. As it were. Touch Christ. If I'm only able. By living faith. To touch the hem of his garment. I shall find virtue.

[46:27] May case Lord. Can't do without it. Another dear woman. Came there. And she breathed out. That short prayer. Lord.

[46:37] Lord. Help. Help. Me. That dear man. We read of him. The prophecy. Of Isaiah.

[46:50] As he cried. He was another. Set thine house in order. For thou shalt die. And not live. Make haste Lord. Make haste.

[47:01] He turned his face to the wall. And wept. Forsake me not. Very words of air text. It was a very substance. Are they?

[47:12] Lord. I am oppressed. Undertake for me. Make haste to help me. O Lord. My salvation. Amen.

[47:23] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[47:35] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[47:50] Amen. Ilustrad늘. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[48:01] Amen. Amen.