In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of trusting in God and seeking His self-revelation through prayer and studying the Bible. He quotes John Piper, who states that God's actions are driven by His desire to uphold and display His glory, and that it is the duty of humans to delight in God's glory. The preacher highlights David's desire for God to be exalted and glorified above all else. He also discusses the concept of God's perfect love casting out fear, using the example of a loving father comforting his lost child. The sermon concludes with a mention of Joseph Alain's book, "An Alarm to the Unconverted," which serves as a warning to those who are enemies of God.

Will you turn with me to the Psalms, Psalm 57. I'll read the psalm. And for the sessions that I have with you this week, I'll be with this psalm, an incredible psalm. Psalm 57. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee, yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpassed. I will cry unto God Most High, unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. Think on that. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among lions, and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heaviness. Let thy glory be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They have digged a pit before me into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Think on that. My heart is fixed, O God. My heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise. Awake up my glory. Awake, psaltery and harp. I myself will awake early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. Amen. A gigantic theme that has been placed upon our brother Philip's heart for this week. We beheld his glory. And already there's been that ministry to us that has set God before us in his majesty, in his transcendence, in his glory. And I guess that with what, 16 sessions that we have with the various speakers this week, it's inevitable that there will be some repetition of thought. And that's good. That it might be laid into us as God wants us to understand it, to see him for who he is, and that to affect us, as has been mentioned already in this conference, the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 3.18, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. We are changed into that same image from glory to glory. From one degree of holiness to another degree of holiness, even as by the spirit of the Lord. I want to speak about the God of glory this week. And this morning, the God of glory, no threat to his children. That verse 2 in the psalm, please. I will cry unto God most high. Unto God who performs all things for me. This inspiring psalm reveals David, not without his troubles, but manifesting an implicit faith in God in the midst of such great adversity. His godliness, you will notice, did not exempt him from being assailed by bitter and relentless enemies who were cunningly plotting against him. In verse 4, my soul, says David, is among lions. And I lie even among them that are set on fire. Even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword. Life was pretty tough. And I think that our experience is also, whilst they may differ in kind to that of David's, often their intensity and their irksomeness is just as fierce and troubling. And when we pass through adversities, how often they could so easily plunge us into despair. It may be that there are those who are here this morning passing through some difficult way. And like David, in verse 6, perhaps ready to admit my soul is bowed down. If you go back a few psalms to Psalm 38 and verse 17, David admits, he says, I am ready to halt. The word means to fall. I am ready to fall. My sorrow, my anguish, my affliction is continually before me. But you know, David knew what to do in those times of distress. And go down to verses 21 and 22 in Psalm 38 and see him crying, forsake me not, O Lord, Jehovah. He says, O my Elohim, be not far from me. Make haste to help me or adonai, my salvation. In just the compass of two verses, there is this incredible revelation of God that comes to us that David had seen in God. And here in Psalm 57 and the verse we have taken this morning, verse 2, I will cry unto God, Elohim, Most High, El Elyon. Hallelujah. So David is confessing his trust in one whom he knows in his glory, revealed in his names as the just and the holy one, the faithful, covenant-keeping God. And here, the Most High, El Elyon, the transcendent one who ultimately and completely controls man's destiny. I'm glad I'm in his hands this morning. More than that, I'm in his heart. Praise the Lord. And so this psalm, it's a classic for it's awesome expressions and it's knowledge of the Almighty that becomes the sure ground of hope for divine help in times of trial and trouble. Because here is David's refuge, this God of glory. Now you'll note the title of the psalm says he composed it when he fled from Saul in the cave. Now what cave? We're not sure. Whether it was the Delim's cave or the one in Ein Gedi or the one in the hill of Hakela. What is clear is there is a hate-filled king, Saul, with three thousand of his men who were hunting David in every known crevice. And yet, David anointed by Samuel to succeed as Israel's king in God's appointed time. Notice that, in God's appointed time. David wasn't going to bring this on by his own ingenuity. He left it with God as to when he would ascend that throne. And he finds himself imperiled here. If you read those chapters in 1 Samuel that marks the occasions that David had an opportunity to remove Saul. Why? His own band of men, his guerrilla movement even urged him to kill Saul. But he refused to lift a finger against God's anointed. And later, in that eventual meeting with Saul, Saul confessed his sin to David. And in one sentence, unexpectedly but nevertheless accurately, he declared the whole truth concerning himself when he said, I have played the fool. But in it all, I want you to note it was God vindicating his trusted servant David whose desire was to do what was right beforehand. Praise the Lord. And when you have a vision of God as we had this morning of the one high and lifted up and whose judicial robe fills the temple, then friends, we want to do what pleases him. We want to do what is right in his sight. And I tell you, with this holy word as our infallible authority it matters not this morning what our situation before men might be. The troubles and the trials of life that may come, the fears and the forebordings that often do beset us. Those deep anxieties that would weigh down our very sensitive souls. God comes to the aid of those who seek to honor him, who trust him in the face of every cruel element of life. What a God we have. And this psalm I trust will help us this week as it gives such glorious testimony to the glory of God's mercy. You'll notice that the psalm has two parts. In verses one to six it reveals to us David's poor plight. But from seven to the end of the chapter, verse seven to eleven, is David's pure praise. He has come out. What great expressions here that honor and praise the Almighty. And particularly verses five and eleven which are is the one expression from David that's repeated. Be thou exalted above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. Hallelujah. And it's this psalm that helps us behold that awesome panorama of the excellencies of Elohim. Because it's in them that we see all the traumas and the perplexities of David's experience being swept up in his holy presence. The names of the Lord comprehend all the supreme beauty and majesty and glory. Those moral and natural perfections that are inherent in our God that are unique to Him. His names that combine His character and His reputation. And it seems as though David understands this. In Psalm 20 in verses 1 and 2 he says, The Lord hear you in the day of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob defend you. Send you help from the sanctuary. Psalm 54 in verse 1, Save me O God by thy name. Psalm 124 in verse 8, Our help is in the name of the Lord. And you recall in one Samuel 17 in verse 45, when David speaks to Goliath the Philistine. You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord. The God of hosts. The Elohim of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. I come panoplied. You've got a shield, you've got armor on, but listen, I don't need that. I am panoplied with the name of God. Hallelujah. All that God is is for me. He is with me. So this Psalm 57, it captures the understanding that God gave to David concerning himself and becomes of course the ground of all his hopeful expectations for God's help in David's little world of troubles and his declarations of faith in God's sovereign power to direct and control all universal destinies. Hallelujah. Bear with me for just a few moments for notice this Psalm. In verse one we have David's awaited consolation. What an amazing confession. He says, I trust in you. I hide myself in you. I will be safe until every perverse thing, every potentially destructive storm has been quelled. I am sure of your mercies. He must have seen God. He must have been beheld his glory. And verses two and three we have David's assured supplication. David knew whom he believed in, whom he prayed to. One who never ceases to act for his saints and to achieve what he has planned for them. So whatever the attempts of men or of devils to thwart such holy purposes in this providential God, they cannot succeed. You can depend on that. Praise the Lord. And in verses four to six we have David's anticipated salvation. He does not flinch in the face of trouble. Not that he did not feel it. He was well aware of what was taking place. And notice this, he does not deny its existence. He details every aggravation and he states his conviction that every evil design upon his life will be reversed upon his enemies. And right in the midst of his plight there is that incredible verse. Be thou exalted O God above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. As you move into the psalm further, verse 7 to 10, it's David's affirmed intention. So whatever else might happen, however persistent those calamities in his life, he says, My heart is fixed. Fixed on doing what? David says, I am going to sing. I am going to shout aloud your praises. The situation, as discomforting as it may be, is not going to rob you of my praise. And is not going to rob me of my peace. I will extol, he says, your mercies and your moral integrity. Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Praise the Lord. And that last verse, David's awesome revelation, and this is where we can use that word awesome correctly, this revelation of God. It was awesome, as in verse 5. He is telling us that God does everything by independent sovereign authority. He is the Lord of history. He bows to no one. His throne is established above the heavens and it's established for eternity. He is God and He alone. And David says, He's my God. He's my God. Although he knows that God is working for him, nevertheless he prays. You may say, what's the point of praying when God knows it all? But he comes before God because he himself and his mortality, his humanity, he needs the assurance of God's presence and the liberating power of His truth. You'll notice that David's first utterance in coming to God with his problem is not a lament as in verse 4. My soul is among lions. But when he comes to God, he has hope in verse 1. My soul trusts in you. And he follows on with that remarkable confession of truth that has been so personally revealed to him of Elohim Elyon. I will cry unto God most high, the transcendent one, who will faithfully undertake for me in His mercy. I tell you friends, it's only the man, the woman, who has such a biblical view of God acts and speaks in this manner. Now, one thing is evident. David had the primary desire in his life to exalt God, never himself. God. He has learned that if he puts God between him and his troubles, he would get out of such a plight. Is that what maybe some of you want this morning? To discover the secret of how to get out of your troubles. Well, David shows us the way. And listen, it's grounded in the knowledge that we have of God most high. And practically applied in the situation that we are in. Notice, it's not, it's not some profound, clever, complicated formula. Just listen. My soul trusteth in thee. That is, I cry for mercy with a faith that's anchored in my awareness of who you are. That's why, we have to day by day get into this book. And because it's God's self-revelation primarily, we pray, God, take back the curtain this morning. Give me a little more glimpse into something of your beauty, of your glory. John Piper says that two references follow from, two inferences follow from any revelation of God. I quote, he says, the first is that the goal of all that God does is to uphold and display his glory. All God's actions flow from fullness, not from deficiency. And the other inference is that the duty of man is to delight in God's glory. And this proves to be David's, it proves to be true in David's case. Desire us as he is to see God glorified. Be thou exalted, O God above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. In other words, whatever you do, O God, let every issue of your actions bring honour to your name. And so being aware of that fullness in God, the psalmist, he anticipates an overwhelming tide of mercy to sweep in upon him in his plight to save him from his enemies. And oh, what a disclosure David gives of his knowledge of God, such as undergirds his confident prayer. As Dr. Tozer so rightly says, and I quote, the character of God is the Christian's final ground of assurance and the solution of many, if not most, of his practical religious problems. Pause there a moment. It's exactly what Pastor Bill shared with us in the earlier session. See, all our problems, everything is theological. It comes back to God. He goes on, this Tozer, God has never at any time anywhere in the vast universe acted otherwise than in character with his infinite perfections. Now, notice what he says, this knowledge should be one, a warning to the enemies of God and it cannot be but two, an immense consolation to his friends. Now, for a moment, let's just take those two aspects and particularly the first, this warning to the enemies. You know, it was nearly 50 years ago as a rookie pastor and preacher, I read one of the most challenging books in my entire ministry, I think, by that Puritan preacher, Joseph Alain. What he died when he was only about 34 years of age, I think it was in 1671, I think it was in 16, or before that, in 1671 when the book was published, An Alarm to the Unconverted, a book that embodies the substance of his message, Joseph Alain, and in doing so I think it does provide something of a true model of Puritan evangelism. In fact, Sage Spurgeon, he records how when he was a child, listen to this, when he was a child, his mother would often read a piece of Alain's alarm to them as they sat around the fire on a Saturday evening. Now, you can only appreciate that if you read the book, and this is what Joseph Alain wrote. He says, So unspeakably dreadful is the case of every unconverted soul that I have sometimes thought if I could only convince men they are still unregenerate, yet, the work were more than half done. He said, It's therefore of high necessity that I not only convince men that they are unconverted, but I also endeavor to bring them to a sense of the fearful misery of their state. He says this, Where is the ready writer whose pen can depict their misery who are without God in the world? This cannot fully be done unless we know the infinite ocean of bliss which is in perfection in God and from which a state of sin excludes man. Then he speaks with such tender tones though with sobriety as he addresses sinners. He says, In Christ there is a possibility of mercy for you. Yea, an offer of mercy to you that you may have God more for you than he is now against you. But if you will not forsake your sins or turn thoroughly and purposefully to God by a sound conversion the wrath of God abides on you. And he proclaims himself to be against you as in the prophet. And he quotes from Ezekiel 5 and verse 8 Therefore thus saith the Lord God behold I even I am against you. Joseph Alain spells out how the infinite God is engaged against the sinner and very clearly and faithfully expounds from the word one on the fact that his face is against you. And then he deals with the fact that God's heart is against you. And then all his attributes are against you. I tell you it's an outstanding exposition of the gospel. But with Joseph Alain there is this passionate invitation and appeal to sinners to turn to God. Thank God friends there is this God of infinite perfection who is so infinitely holy of such absolute purity and one who cannot cannot be tempted to perform anything that's evil cannot be corrupted by sin that has invaded this world that he created in his perfection. God is absolutely holy. And yet friends there is a way for man to rise to that sublime abode. An offering and a sacrifice a holy spirit energy there's an advocate with God. Praise the Lord. His name is Jesus. Come back to Tozer for a moment because that was the one thing that he drew attention to in reflecting on the infinite perfections of God. It's a warning to sinners God's enemies but then the immense consolation such truth brings to his friends he says. And oh I'm glad I'm a friend of God this morning. Not only was Moses God's friend but I'm his friend. I'm his child. I'm in union with God in Christ. I've been reconciled to him by the blood of the cross. All enmity has been slain and thank God friends his peace is now within my heart to garrison me in times of trial and need. I'm glad I'm a friend of God and God is a friend of mine. And that's not trying to make him familiar in the wrong sense. It's so true you see. The revelation of God holds no threat to his children but it will ever be a great overwhelming comfort to us. Look at those verses in Psalm 57 here verses 2 and 3 where David is so full of confident hope. Notice his precise words he says I will cry the Hebrew word meaning to call out and it means to address someone by name. I will cry unto Elohim Elyon God most high but there's nothing vague or vain here. It's not some uncertain ill-defined expression hoping there is someone out there to hear the cry and help him. You know as well as I do friends we are living in a fearful world and around us this morning is a world of hopeless pessimism and despair with poor distressed souls in anguish in affliction they are crying but they are just crying. Now with David it's a confident hope in fact he says in Psalm 37 the righteous cry but it's another Hebrew word there and it shows it to be a veritable shriek evidently because of the severity of the trial but there is no hopelessness there is no lack of response the righteous cry what's it say then and the Lord cares and delivers them from out from all their troubles. Oh yes we cry at times when some unpleasant situation is hard for us to bear and let's admit it there are times when it seems that God is so far away. Turn over to Psalm 69 and verses 20 and 21 which is prophetic of Christ in the great trauma of his cross experience suffering such dishonor so gallingly painful as man can never comprehend because he is bearing the reproach of all sinners of all ages and causes him to cry out in anguish my God my God seems though he is very far away my God why hast thou forsaken me let's admit it you pray like that sometimes listen to him in this prophetic Psalm Psalm 69 reproach hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness and I looked for some to take pity but there was none and for comforters but I found none how is this prophetic of Christ because listen to what he goes on to say they gave me also gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink that's our Redeemer friends at Calvary he cried he cried listen don't feel condemned this morning if you cry in the midst of your trial and difficulty don't feel condemned Jesus cried in Hebrews 5 and verse 7 it says he cried with strong crying and tears but what a consolation for it goes on to say there he cried with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death not keep him away from dying no to save him out from under death and was heard for his godly fear it had to do with resurrection praise the Lord and it further states in verses 8 and 9 though he were a son yet learned he obedience by or from the things which he suffered and being made perfect that is complete as a savior he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him yes David cried out but notice he cried unto God most high so above his supplication is a revelation of the one that he is calling upon the one whom David knew was able to save him from the threat of death what a difference when believers cry because they're looking to this father of mercies who never disappoints us and so it's proper for us to have a brief look at God most high this morning just as David saw him here to reveal this God of glory as no threat to his children but the knowledge that he is for us praise the Lord notice first of all God's personal reality he says I will cry unto God David was not speaking into the air like those heathens around him with their pagan gods which are nothings in fact he says in Psalm 96 in verse 5 all the gods of the nations the peoples are idols and the Hebrew word means nothings they are worthless vain objects and then make this great contrast but he says the Lord made the heavens Paul affirms this in 1 Corinthians 8 in verse 4 he says but we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one so David knew like Paul and like us that God is a real person eternal in the heavens one who is exalted above every other created being he is God most high whose greatness is unsearchable we will never be able to fully comprehend the awesome majesty and grandeur and surpassing glory of God whom Jesus said was pure spirit God is spirit and yet he is personally real and wise friends like Job says we can never find him out to perfection we can know him we can know him John 17 and verse 3 in the high priestly prayer of Christ Jesus says that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent because friends that is the very essence of our Christianity it's knowing God how well it has been said that and I quote because we are finite beings we tend to perceive the infinite in the light of our limitations the Bible encourages us to reach beyond our limitations and think exalted thoughts about God have you heard those people say well I think God is like what do you mean you think God is like it's impossible for us to know anything about God except he reveals himself and here it is friends his self revelation that's a mystical thing we can know him and this is what David expresses here gives rise to his expectations of divine help in his troubled life God's personal reality do you see him this morning do you know him in such personal glory then you can confidently cry unto him today praise the Lord and secondly here with David's revelation of this God of glory there is God's providential care he says God performeth all things for me now the words all things are in italics in my Bible and you may have a Bible that puts the things that have been inserted by the translators are not in the original text put in to make sense and this does make sense but you can read this without those two words God performs for me hallelujah el elion the translator the transcendent one who cannot be comprehended in this vastness so this vast universe is contained within a vast God before there was a universe there was God and he performs for me for you for you he performs probably one of the most glorious truths as it concerns our destinies the providence of God and David knows that nothing can prevent the purpose of God for him so whatever happens every single thing will promote rather than hinder the out working of God's will praise the Lord I think this is a marvelous comforting reality that assists us to cry to God in times of need that not only do good things work for our good but God likewise causes even seemingly bad things to work out for our good rumours 828 I know sis Paul that all things work together for good to those who love God the called according to his purpose the ultimate good of course is that marvelous conformity to the image of Christ the blessed son of God so in God's working we behold him sovereignly overruling what is bad and causing it to work out for our good in the ultimate it may be suffering it may be temptations it may be business losses it could be unfaithful friends or those overwhelming disappointments that are so painful to endure I think the classic biblical example is that of Joseph starting in Genesis 37 verse 18 where those brothers conspired against him to slay him and you have to pass Margaret you have to pass through 13 chapters listen some 40 years later until you come to the incredible vindication of God in respect of this enviable character Joseph in Genesis 50 and verse 20 God says listen they meant it for evil but I meant it for good in marvelous ways bringing to pass his purposes in our lives praise the Lord I'm glad I'm his friend this morning but there's more not only a personal reality and his providential care but there's God's loving nature and to God who performs all things for me for me David might be surrounded by enemies who designed his hurt to the very point of death they were not for him they were against him but his greatest comfort and assurance of life rested in this knowledge that God was for him God had planned for him God had anointed him set him apart God had lovingly worked to bring all things to their divinely destined end and so he ventures on this marvelous confession God does things for me he must love me he must love me what a truth this personal God looks down and lovingly respects the most insignificant of us he loves us he loves you he loves you God is love which must be the profoundest of revelations concerning the most high a love that is eternal and holy and measureless and impartial and a love that's directed in its totality towards sinful creatures like you and me hallelujah you see God wills the good of all there's not a scrap of evil in God he cannot intend any evil sometimes in my preaching and especially on those sober aspects of the doctrine of eternal punishment friends I tell you what in eternity those sinners sadly who will have been banished to the lake of fire will never charge God with being unjust they will say he was right he was right interesting isn't it in Luke 6 16 where that that rich man lifts up his eyes in hell he never pleads with Abraham whom he beholds Lazarus in Abraham's bosom go and tell my brothers that they may not come to this place sorry he doesn't say listen get me out of here he says go to my brothers that they may not come to this place he doesn't say God why are you doing this you're unjust David knew that God is a God of love you know as a child my my lovely daughter Angela she causes a few embarrassments in in departmental stores crowded stores when suddenly she thought she was lost we were only just turned our backs and looking at another counter but to her she wouldn't look behind look around and suddenly there were those screams of a lost child fear had gripped her because of those strangers who were just milling around her and to to her they were like enemies but I would swing around and and and reassure her by putting my arms around her and in a flash all her terror abated for the known good will of a loving father cast out all fear praise the lord whatever be that situation this morning and it may seem to be a fearful one perfect love casts out all fear that is love in its perfection that flows from the very heart of God he loves me this is exactly what Paul says in Romans 5 he said we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God Amen Amen then he says we rejoice in tribulations also hey Paul are you mad we can understand rejoicing in hope of the glory of God but rejoicing in tribulations he says yes because I know something I know he says the tribulation work of patience patience experience and experience what hope so that all those tribulations Paul says I'm not militating against my hope they're promoting the hope because he says the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost whom he has given unto me I'm the object of his love so whatever it is whatever be the tribulation thank God for the hope and he can still be found rejoicing praise the lord well you say well there's plenty and Paul knew that but what he is saying in effect is who can be against us effectually God is for us he loves us quickly God's sovereign authority is here verse 3 he shall send from heaven and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up whichever way God would do it that was not David's concern his God the most high is for him and so he knew that this one who was the most high the lord of hosts could summon all the powers in his own being as well as those powers that he distributes and sends on missions from time to time to the airs of salvation help would be summoned from heaven to work deliverance David knew this God can dispense his power directly and personally but there are times friends when he might well dispatch angels to perform his works God is free to carry out his will at any time and in every single detail without any fear of intervention or of prevention and what persuasion this is on David's part David's need is desperate but his God is coming to his aid now prayer does not change God's disposition or his intention but it is a reaffirmation this morning of faith in his sovereign authority to act for us we know God is sovereign he is sovereign and what peace that brings and there is God's just omnipotence God shall send forth his mercy and his truth you know when God acts he does so always in accordance with his nature of holiness mercy and truth never one at the expense of the other we sometimes want God to act without any regard for righteousness simply that he will act for us maybe we desire him to exercise justice in terms that we approve of in ways that we would be glad to see happen we would sometimes want him to bring down fire don't criticize the disciples no friends you just leave it to God you leave it to God and that's why even though we know he is working we pray we pray we know that he will send forth mercy and truth isn't God good isn't he glorious all glorious this God of glory is it possible this morning that you or I in our present circumstances have allowed our troubles to overwhelm us and to really keep us from really reaching out to him is it possible this morning we could have even doubted his goodness and his grace I urge you this morning cry into him today God is no threat he is for you my old friend he used to be on the board when I was pastoring there whenever I phoned him I don't know if he did this with everybody he probably did unless he has one of these indicators on his phone who it was who was calling but he would say you may speak I am listening friends this morning you may speak he is listening cry into God most high amen