Series: Psalms
Title: Omnipotence in Weakness
Text: Psalm 17: 5
Date: December 26, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Psalm 17: 5: Hold up my goings in thy paths, that
my footsteps slip not.
For
every believer there is omnipotence in weakness. When we have no power except Christ, then and
only then, do we have all power.
The
Lord Jesus taught the apostle Paul, “My
strength is made perfect in weakness.
(2 Cor 12: 9) Each of us who God saves are totally weak. And God chose weak
things to save us. Why? He said, “My strength is made perfect in
weakness.
So Paul
learned, “when I am
weak, then am I strong.” (2 Cor 12: 10) We are
always weak. But sometimes we vainly
imagine we are strong. It is when we behold our utter weakness that we depend
entirely upon Christ. When we depend
entirely upon Christ then we are all powerful because Christ is all
powerful.
This is
what I mean when I say there omnipotence
in weakness. Psalm 17: 5 is the prayer of a believer who has been made to
know this very thing by God’s grace.
Proposition:
This is the prayer of the believer who has total confidence in God’s power and ability
because he knows the utter weakness and inability of his own flesh.
Divisions:
1) Psalm 17: 5: Hold up my goings…who
are we asking to do this?—the only one who can: the triune God in Christ Jesus.
2) Where are we asking him to hold up our goings?—Psalm 17: 5: Hold up my goings in thy paths,--we don’t want to walk
in the paths of the destroyer, we want our goings to be in God’s paths; 3) Why
are we asking him to hold up our goings in his paths?—Psalm 17: 5:…that my footsteps slip not.
I. WE ASK OUR TRIUNE GOD IN CHRIST—Psalm 17:
5: Hold up my goings…
We Began By God
How did
we come to be in Christ in the first place? Was it by our power? No, it is by
God’s grace and power.
1 Corinthians 1: 29: That no flesh should glory in his
presence. 30: But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1 Corinthians 8:6
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and
we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Not a
single believer has anything to glory in, not anything to boast of.
·
God our Father chose who he would save--“BY
GRACE ARE YE SAVED!”
·
God the Son, Christ Jesus, put away the sins
of all those God chose by his substitionary death on the cross
·
God the Holy Spirit quickened us and called
us to faith in Christ—we were made willing in the day of Christ’s power!
John 3:27: John answered and said, A man can receive
nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
We Have Been Kept By God
Brethren,
how have we been kept from the first hour until now? By his same grace and
power.
1 Samuel 2:9: He will keep the feet of his saints, and
the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
Psalm 37:23: The steps of a good man are ordered by the
LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24: Though he fall, he shall not be utterly
cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand….28: For the LORD loveth
judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the
seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
1 Peter 1: 5: Who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We Continue By God
So do
we look to ourselves for strength to persevere in faith? No, we ask God in
Christ, Psalm 17: 5: Hold up my goings. And God shall hold up each and everyone
of his blood-bought children because he promised to do so:
Jeremiah 32:40: And I will make an everlasting covenant
with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put
my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Application: The blessing in being made to see our utter weakness is
that he makes us to behold our Redeemer who is all powerful, who upholds us by
the word of his power. The same Power who upholds this whole globe shall uphold
you, believer. Cry unto him continually
to “Hold up my goings.”
II. WHERE DO WE ASK HIM TO HOLD OUR
GOINGS?--Psalm 17: 5: Hold up my goings in thy paths,
We
don’t want to walk in the paths of the destroyer, of transgressors, not even in
our own paths. We want our goings to be in God’s paths. Notice, “paths” is plural. There are many “paths” our God has ordered
from eternity which each of his children shall walk in.
Christ the Way
First,
is THE WAY—Christ Jesus himself.
John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
The one
Way by which the holy and just God brings elect sinners to him, in holiness and
righteousness, is Christ Jesus
Acts 4:12: Neither is there salvation in any other: for
there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
·
All who God saves must be made righteous in the righteousness of Christ alone
·
All who God saves must be made holy in Christ our Sanctification alone
·
All who God saves must be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ alone
·
Christ is the only Way God can remain just
and God can also be the Justifier.
Coming
to God through God-given faith in Christ is the only Way our boasting is
excluded and God receives all the glory!
Therefore, “There is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.” The only Way into God’s holy presence is through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What
are we saying when we declare that we believe on Christ? We are trusting Christ
has fulfilled the law for us—justifying us of all our sins, making us the
righteousness of God in him; we are trusting that by Christ being formed in our
hearts we have Christ who is the “Holiness without which no man shall see the
Lord.” (Heb 12: 14) We are saying
that we believe God that we are accepted of God in Christ the Beloved! We are
saying that nothing can be added to Christ. In him we are complete!
Hebrews 7:25: Wherefore he is able also to save them to
the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make
intercession for them.
Application: Sinner, are you like an orphan child looking in at a
feast spread out on a table? You would love to feast with us but you feel as
though you can’t enter because your clothes, hands and face are dirty. Oh, may the Spirit of Christ speak
effectually into your heart now, he says,
Isaiah 55: 1: Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy
wine and milk without money and without price. 2: Wherefore do ye spend money
for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which
satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is
good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3: Incline your ear, and
come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Picture:
When Israel was taken captive in Babylon. God promised through Isaiah to send a
redeemer to set them free. And God
promised a highway to bring them
from Babylon back to Jerusalem.
Isaiah
35: 8: And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way
of holiness;
Christ
is that Way: He brings all God’s elect from the captivity of Babylon—from sin,
condemnation, darkness and death—into God’s presence in heavens Mt. Zion, in
heavenly Jerusalem. And what God
declared here in the picture is true of Christ.
Isaiah
35: 8:…the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those:
the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
The unclean shall not enter—and such were all
his people by nature, but Christ washed us by his own blood and washed us in
regeneration—if you can come through faith in Christ, you’ve been washed!
Isaiah
35: 9: No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up
thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
No beast shall be in Christ the Way—only chosen sheep! And
neither shall any lion or ravenous beast shall hurt us in Christ the Way! The Redeemed shall walk there!—not run, but
walk ye in Christ, protected and provided for forever! Sinner come to Christ today!
Application: The believers continual prayer is, “Hold up my goings in
Christ the Way!” “Father, I want to be
found in him. I do not want to be found having mine own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith[fullness] of Christ. “Father, I want the righteousness which is of
you by the faith[fullness] of Christ, given freely to me through faith in him.”
(Php 3: 9) Hold up my goings in Christ the Way!
And Christ the Way promises,
John 6: 37: All that the Father giveth me shall come to
me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. CHRIST IS THE WAY!
The Path of the Gospel
Then
there is the path of revealed truth, the Gospel of our salvation. We pray God
uphold our goings in the path of the gospel! God teaches us the gospel:
·
Divine election
·
Inseparable union between Christ his church
·
The death Christ accomplished! Christ accomplished the redemption of his particular people—
·
Free justification by the righteousness of
Christ imputed to us through faith
·
Christ’s fullness to supply all our needs,
·
Perseverance of the saints,
·
The final glory of all God's elect with none
lost.
Illustration: There is book learning in the letter and there is
knowing in the heart.
True
knowledge is more than book learning in the letter. Christ teaches us in the
heart making us to experience his grace. We can learn the doctrine of
perseverance of the saints—that those who are truly his shall endure to the end
in faith. But let a trial come where we
find ourselves unable to lift up our heads to God. Then we learn that it is God preserving us by
which we persevere. A man will be
“carried about with every wind of doctrine” until Christ bring us into the
storm and makes us to see he is our anchor within the veil.
Then
the doctrine of grace becomes one unified doctrine in Christ himself: election
becomes election in Christ, predestination become predestination to the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ, conformed to the image of Christ, everlasting,
unchanging, particular love becomes love toward us in Christ and for Christ’s
sake. All doctrine becomes the living word
in our living Redeemer.
Our
Lord and Savior teaches us effectually in power by experience:
Ephesians 3:17: That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 18: May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height; 19: And to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Colossians 2:7…abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Then we
thank God for the trials. We say with the
Psalmist, Psalms 119:71: It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I
might learn thy statutes. What great
grace of God to make us walk in this path! But for the vain professor it is a different
outcome—many learn doctrine in the letter…
Matthew 13: 20: But he that received the seed into stony
places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21:
Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation
or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Rather
than become offended, by his grace, we pray hold up our goings in thy path.
The Path of Tribulation
We ask
God to hold us in God’s path of tribulation.
“Through much tribulation ye shall enter the kingdom.” (Acts 14: 22) Believers,
like unbelievers, face poverty, disease, disappointments, worldly difficulties;
but believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have conflicts which the world knows
nothing of. One of which is persecution for Christ’s name. Christ promised us
that because the gospel is so offensive to natural man,
Matthew 10: 21: And the brother shall deliver up the
brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up
against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. 22: And ye
shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to
the end shall be saved.
We ask
“Lord hold up my goings in thy paths to the end!”
John 16: 2: They shall put you out of the synagogues:
yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God
service. 3: And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known
the Father, nor me.
Application: Brethren, it is sad how many in our day speak of this
word, of God our Father and of Christ our Lord, as if he were a fictional character,
as if this was a fable. Yet, the things men believe to be truth are delusional! It appears God has done what he said he would
do. He said men “received not the love
of the truth that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.” (2 Thess 2: 10-12) Here is the cause of sodomy, along with
all the other wickedness, and the acceptance of it in our nation today. Here is
the cause:
Romans 1: 22: Professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools, 23: And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping
things. 24: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of
their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25: Who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26: For this cause God
gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural
use into that which is against nature: 27: And likewise also the men, leaving
the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with
men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence
of their error which was meet. 28: And even as they did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those
things which are not convenient;
Brethren,
you and I are no better by nature. Here
is the only difference.
2 Thessalonians 10: 13: But we are bound to give thanks
alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and
belief of the truth: 14: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the
obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15: Therefore, brethren, stand
fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or
our epistle.
2 Timothy 1:8: Be not thou therefore ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the
afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
It is
that very power that we ask to uphold us in his paths.
2 Tim 2:11: It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead
with him, we shall also live with him: 12: If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:--Lord, don’t let us deny you.
Hold up our goings in thy path.
Application: We try to load our barns with wood, hay and stubble at
times. God, in mercy, sends trials to
save his child from false confidences, false comforts, and false joys. He
brings us to his feet to ask him, Psalm
17: 5: Hold up my goings in thy paths,
III. WHY DO WE ASK GOD TO UPHOLD US—Psalm 17:
5…that my footsteps slip not.
Indeed,
every believer is to keep ourselves by heeding the word of God—Psalm 17: v4: Concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips I have kept me
from the paths of the destroyer….but immediately David said, 5: Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my
footsteps slip not.
The Scriptures are true. They show us what is
good and evil.
Proverbs 16:17: The highway of the upright is to depart from
evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Proverbs 13:6 Righteousness
keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
The
word of righteousness is the doctrine of the Gospel. It preserves us from sin,
and keeps us in the right way. The doctrine
of Christ turns us from the sin of self-will, self-wisdom, self-righteousness
and self-sanctification. These holy
scriptures instruct us in the performance of good works, to use all the
privileges we have been given to serve God, to observe every command of Christ,
to walk in all his ways is a great preservative from false doctrine and antichristian
worship.
Yet, we
depend entirely upon our Savior to keep our foot from slipping.
Jeremiah 10:23: O LORD, I know that the way of man is not
in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
1 Corinthians 10: 12: Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall.
God
keeps us in his paths.
Proverbs 2:8: He keepeth the paths of judgment, and
preserveth the way of his saints.
Christ our Wisdom says, Proverbs 8: 20: I lead in the way of righteousness, in
the midst of the paths of judgment: 21: That I may cause those that love me to
inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
Let’s end
this message the same way we began—by remembering the word of Christ Jesus to
the apostle Paul.
2 Corinthians 12: 9: And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. 10: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am
weak, then am I strong.
Brethren,
Psalm 17: 5 is our continual prayer:
·
To whom? Psalm
17: 5: [Heavenly Father] Hold up my goings
·
Where?--in
thy paths,
·
Why?—that
my footsteps slip not.
Only one
who has been made to know what we are apart from Christ, one who desires to be
found in Christ alone, can ask this in spirit and in truth. And our God shall because he everlastingly
loves his people in Christ. There is
Omnipotence in Weakness.
Jude 1:24 Now unto
him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25: To
the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both
now and ever. Amen.