The LORD's Throne is in Heaven

It's good to be with you all today and very happy to have you joining us from so many different places. I'm very happy to have the Glenn Yuen Assembly helping with all of this and the help of our brother Caleb and Daniel from different parts of Canada. I've known them for a number of years.

So very thankful for the invitation today to share something from the Word of God with you all. So before we read from Psalm 11, we are going to ask God's blessing in prayer. Our Father, this afternoon, we are thankful to Thee for Thy Son, the Lord Jesus.

We're thankful to Thee for Thy great love towards us, although we do not deserve anything from Thee, except eternal punishment. But Thou didst love us with an everlasting love that was loved us from before the beginning of time. And we are thankful for setting Thy love upon us and sending Thy Son to be the Savior of the world.

And so our Father, today, as many of us are not able to meet together in a physical way, we are thankful for technology that allows us to meet together in this way and to share from the Word of God. And our desire is that it might be an encouragement to Thy people from near and far, that the Word of God, which is so old and yet so new, might speak to our hearts today. And so we look to Thee for help.

We are weak and we are dependent upon Thee. And so we do ask that it might please Thee to take Thy Word and speak to each one of us. We pray, Father, for those that are going through times of difficulty, times of sickness, times of trial, times perhaps of bereavement, that the Spirit of God might draw near and grant comfort even this very day.

And we pray, Father, for those that govern in so many different countries and the decisions that they need to make, that they might do so in the fear of God and that they might do so with a desire for the well-being not only of Thy people, but even of every citizen. So we look to Thee expectantly today with Thanksgiving in the worthy name of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus. Amen.

So if you can turn in your Bible, please, to Psalm 11. We're going to read in Psalm 11, the whole psalm. It's a very short psalm.

And I have been enjoying the psalms very much over the past, well, we could say number of years, but especially the past number of months. And perhaps even more so as a person goes through difficult times or times of challenge and change, the psalms is always a good place to turn to. So Psalm 11, it starts with the title to the chief musician, a psalm of David.

In the Lord put I my trust. How say ye to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? For lo, the wicked bend their bow. They may ready their arrow upon the string that they may privilege shoot at the upright in heart.

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.

The Lord tryeth the righteous, but the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall reign snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest. This shall be the portion of their cup.

For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. His countenance doth behold the upright. And we know that God will bless the reading, the public reading of his precious word.

So we have put a title on the message today. The Lord's throne is in heaven. And I think that's a good truth for all of us to remember today that despite all that is happening around about us, there are certain things that do not change, that have not changed, and that never will change.

When you read through the Psalms, it really is like holding up a mirror to your soul. Calvin, John Calvin said that the Psalms are an anatomy of all parts of our soul. So if you want to know what your soul looks like in different occasions, then take a look at all of the Psalms and there you will find an anatomy of all parts of the soul.

They appeal to every single part of us, our intellect and our will and our emotions. And perhaps it is that last one, the emotions that has particular appeal in times of distress or discouragement, of disappointment, of death. And the Psalms have this appeal to our souls.

They are old. They were written 2,500 to 3,500 years ago. So we're not looking at new poetry at all.

We're looking at something that has aged very, very well. And it still resonates deep within our soul even today. The Psalms also help us anticipate a brighter future.

Because as we read through the book of the Psalms, there are so many that speak about a coming king and a coming kingdom. The other thing that the Psalms help us to do is to maintain a proper attitude. Because as we read the Psalms, we see that there is this constant note of dependence upon an almighty God.

And that is where we want to go today, obviously. It causes a note of praise to arise in our hearts. Even the Psalms of lament, so-called the Psalms of lament, Psalms of great sorrow, end with praise.

Now there is one exception perhaps that doesn't end that way. But really all the Psalms, despite all the sadness and the sorrow and the distress and the discouragement that we find in many of the Psalms, they end with a note of praise. And we trust that when we come to the end of our message today, that there will be a note of praise in our hearts as well.

We do need to be aware that they are written, they were written, as Hebrew poetry. And I have to confess that when I was in school a number of years ago, I did struggle with poetry. Even in junior high school and into high school and in university, poetry was not my favorite subject at all.

But Hebrew poetry is what we have here in the book of the Psalms. And there is this symbolism and this parallelism that we need to be aware of as we go through it. And I think that poetry perhaps requires even more diligence and prose for us to properly understand it, because we do need to be aware that there are many symbols.

This Psalm, Psalm number 11, a Psalm of David, is one of the Psalms of trust. The theme of trust is introduced to us in Psalm 2 and verse number 12, where the writer David says this, Now many of you perhaps today are reading a different version than what I have in my hand, and that is absolutely fine. But it might say something like this, in Psalm 2 verse 12, And so when you come to Psalm 11 and verse number 1, in your edition, in your version of the Bible, it quite possibly says, Now again, our brother Caleb has mentioned to us today the theme of all these refuge series is Proverbs 14 verse number 26.

And the last phrase is, So what we have in Psalm 11 verse number 1 and Proverbs 14 verse number 26, the word trust in Psalm 11 and refuge in Proverbs 14 is really the very same word. So we trust in him, we find our refuge in the Lord. But I said this is one of the Psalms of trust.

I'll just mention a couple of other ones. Psalm 5 verse number 11, Psalm 7 verse number 1, Psalm 16 verse 1, Psalm 18 verse number 2, Psalm 31 verse 1, Now you may notice a little note that is repeated as we go through these. If we start in Psalm 2 verse number 12, David makes it very personal and he says over and over, Do I put my trust? I find my refuge in him.

And so it is a wonderful truth that there is refuge for all, we can all trust in him, but it is a marvelous thing when we make it individual, when we make it personal. Now, when I was reading through this Psalm over the past few weeks, since I was invited to speak on the refuge series, Psalm 11 is the first thing that came into my mind. And as I was thinking about this over the past number of days, I realized I am traveling through America on the way to Canada, as Brother Caleb has mentioned, just having left Mexico yesterday.

And I stopped at the bank machine and got out some of those bills that I don't recognize all that much, those American dollar bills. And in every dollar bill, in every coin, we find this little motto, In God We Trust. So I got to looking at this and it says that this really started because of an increase in increased awareness and increased religious sentiment during the Civil War many, many years ago.

And so the Secretary of the Treasury received many appeals from devout godly people who wanted the coins to say something about God. And so, for example, Mr. Reverend Watkinson from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania, he wrote these words, Dear Sir, you are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the finances of the national finances. One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked.

I mean the recognition of Almighty God in some form on our coins. So if I'm speaking to some Americans today, and I'm sure I am, every time you take out a coin, you are reminded, In God We Trust. But I fear that sometimes we don't actually take that to heart.

But the next time you don't pay with a credit card, but you pay with a coin or a bill, just look at it. Take a look at it. Let it be a reminder to you, In God We Trust.

And so ever since 1864, on a two-cent coin, every coin has had this phrase, In God We Trust. And then later on on the bills. But we'll go back to where we are today.

Why do we trust in Him? Why do we find our refuge in Him? It is really counter-cultural, and it is counter-human, if you want to look at it that way as well. Because we are taught to fight for ourselves. We are taught to defend ourselves.

But here we have the sweet psalmist of Israel. And he is going to give us several reasons in this psalm that we ought to trust in Him, that we can, that we should trust in Him. The first thing that we will notice in a moment or two is in verse 4, the Lord's position.

He is in His holy temple. He is in heaven. The second thing we'll notice is this, the Lord's perception.

His eyes behold. The next thing we can notice as we go through Psalm 11, is the Lord's purposes. Because it says His eyelids try.

He tries the righteous. The next thing we notice is the Lord's purity. Because it says in Psalm 11, verse 5, that He hates the wicked.

Verse 6, the Lord's power. What is He going to do in a coming day? He shall rain snares upon the wicked. The Lord's probity.

We'll look at that in a few moments. In verse 7, the Lord loves righteousness. He approves it.

And then, finally, the Lord's presence at the end of the psalm. So there are at least, and you perhaps can come up with more, but there are at least seven reasons that we can trust in God in difficult days. What were the circumstances that led David to make this declaration, not of independence, but of confidence? Well, we really don't know.

If you go back to Psalm 3, at the beginning, we find this title, and the title is divinely inspired. It says, the psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom, his son. But when we're in Psalm 11, there is no help to us to tell us exactly what David's circumstances were at that point.

Perhaps it was Saul that was persecuting David. Once David was anointed king, and Saul remains as king, maybe it was Absalom who pursued the kingship, even though his father was still alive. We don't really know the circumstances, and perhaps that is helpful.

Sometimes we would like to know a lot more details than what we actually know, but not knowing details helps us to be aware of the fact that this maybe applies to circumstances in my own life as well. Perhaps we could say this at the beginning. The confidence in God is going to change our perspective on the circumstances.

It might not change the circumstances. It might not eradicate the problems, but it will change our perspective on our circumstances. So not knowing is actually a help to us.

What we do know is this, that David was under incredible pressure. That there were men that were coming to him, and they were talking to him, and they were giving him suggestions. So if you look at verses 1 to 3, we can put a little title over the first verses and say, reasons to be dismayed and discouraged.

Now, perhaps there's somebody that's going to say to me today, well, I don't need any reasons to be dismayed and discouraged. That's already my circumstances. That's already the way I'm living today.

Well, if you want to just tune out for a moment or two, that's fine. I don't want to discourage you anymore. I don't want to dismay you anymore.

But the first three verses very quickly tells us that there are reasons, supposed reasons, that somebody could be dismayed and discouraged. And then verses 4 to 7 will give us a number of reasons that we can depend upon God and delight in Him. Why we can depend upon God, why we find our delight in Him.

Verse 1. It says, in the Lord put I my trust. David found his anchor in God. Now, I know that usually when we think about anchors, we think about something that goes down to the bottom of the sea.

And when we think about God, obviously, we're thinking about God up in heaven. But an anchor is something that gives solidity, a stability to our life. And so David says, the anchor in my life is this.

God, I have found my refuge. I can trust in Him. He knew exactly where to turn in times of pressure.

He was not going to turn inward. He was not going to look at his friends. He was not going to look at his soldiers, and he had many of them.

But David says, I am going to look upward. And so in the very first phrase of this psalm, we find a reason that we can trust in God. Now, I know that we're saying here in this section, we're looking at reasons to be dismayed and discouraged.

But David at the very outset of the psalm says, there is one main reason that I can trust because it is a God that is worthy, that is worthy of my trust, of my confidence. And we'll find more of that in verse number 4. But the next thing that we find here in verse number 1 is the advice that his friends were giving him. Now, perhaps there are different opinions of exactly what is happening and who is speaking and all that.

I'm not going to go into those details at all today. But here they are, and David maybe is repeating their words, and their advice was this, flee as a bird to your mountain. And he said, how are you daring to say to me? How do you come to me and say flee as a bird to your mountain? Because he was stating his strong faith, his confidence in God.

He was taking his all on the Lord. There was no self-reliance. There was no dependent, depending upon other people.

So we need to be aware of this. There may be believers, there may be people that are very well-intentioned sometimes, that are going to come along and give us advice that does not come from God. Now, there are times when fleeing is the right thing to do.

You will remember, for example, a man named Lot, and Lot had to flee. That was the right thing to do. You will even think about the Lord Jesus in John chapter number 10.

It says there that they sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hand. So he left them. But here in this instance, when people are telling David to flee, David says, I am not going to flee.

I trust in my God. So they were telling him, you're just like a bird. Just make a quick escape.

You're weak. You're defenseless. Find a cave in the mountain and everything will be fine.

And why were they doing that? Well, verse number two tells us that they were focusing upon the enemies. They said the wicked bend their bow. They make ready their arrow upon the string.

So there is this attack that is coming. They say, David, you are going to be attacked. Now, David, if you look back at Psalm 10, he had written much about the wicked.

We're not going to go through these at all, but Psalm 10 will speak to us about the wicked. It says in verse number two that they persecute the poor. Verse number three, they bolster their hearts' desires.

They bless the covetous. Verse four, they do not have God in their thoughts. Verse 13, they disdain God.

And so he knew exactly what the wicked thought. He knew how the wicked acted. And he says, I am not going to be so concerned about the wicked.

In David's case, the attack most likely was physical and literal. In your case, and in my case, it might not be something literal. It might be something verbal.

There might be different types of attacks that come to you and to me. But the other thing that we notice in verse number two is the ambush. Now, none of us like to be ambushed, but it says that they might shoot privily at the upright in heart.

The idea of privily means it comes from out of the shadows, out of the darkness. So the attack was sure to come, but there was suspense that was hanging in the air. Where is this attack going to come from exactly? The enemy seemed to be invisible.

Do you ever feel that way? You're just always wondering, what is the next thing that is going to go wrong in my life? The dangers, the pressures that we face seem to come out of nowhere all of a sudden. Well, David felt the same way. His friends were telling him the very same thing.

And you can look back over the past few months and in our experience in North America and in Europe and all across the world, and who would have predicted that there would have been such a tremendous damaging impact of one virus in 2020? None of us would have predicted that. And as it were, it's shooting privily at the upright in heart. Now, I know it's attacking others as well, but I am speaking to those that are upright in heart.

The upright in heart are obviously speaking about those that are righteous, those that are saved, those that are people of God. The wicked are always out to get the upright. So when we can move to verse number three, David writes these words.

Now again, he may be quoting, he may be reciting what his counselors said to him. They may have come along and said, David, just get away because the foundations are being destroyed. And since the foundations are being destroyed, what is a righteous man like you going to do? There is no way you can stand.

You are going to be attacked. You are going to be destroyed. So we can ask ourselves the question, what does this mean about the foundations that are being destroyed? Perhaps really what we're looking at here is creation order, expressing God's capability, expressing God's control in every sense of the word.

Perhaps it's referring as well to the covenant laws, what God has ordered us to do, which are in a certain sense an expression of God's holy and righteous character. Think about what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 119 and verse number 152. The psalmist says they are the foundation, your testimonies, your laws.

They are the foundation of society. So when you think about Saul, if it was Saul that was the cause of the writing of this psalm, Saul was envious of David. Saul was persecuting him.

He wanted to kill him. That goes against God's creatorial order. It goes against God's covenant law.

Absalom, he did not honor his father. He was seeking the throne of his father. Maybe there was another circumstance.

But the people said to David, his friends said, David, get out of here. The foundations are being destroyed. Well, perhaps you and I today look around about us.

And I'm not thinking so much about society today, but we're thinking about our own individual lives. And maybe there are some, and you're beginning to think my life is falling apart. The foundations of my life are crumbling.

Maybe there is a small business owner that has been severely affected by what is happening today. Somebody that owns a firm that has been affected, whatever the case might be, and they've been affected, their income has been affected. Maybe there is a college student today, unable to get a summer job and wondering, how am I going to pay tuition? The foundations are being attacked.

There is this assault upon society. And people say, what am I going to do? Well, there was the question. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? The wicked live in a carefree way.

The righteous are deeply concerned. So the righteous that are mentioned here in verse number five, we will see them again in other verses of this chapter as well. But there's the question.

If the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do? That was the challenge to David. And David had the answer. So as we move into the next section, we're going to leave behind what they were saying.

Whoever they exactly were, I don't know. But they were saying this, David, there's anarchy, there's chaos. Everything is falling apart.

Your life is falling apart. You're in grave danger, David. Get out of here.

And David said, hang on. God still has full authority. He still has everything fully under his control.

They say anarchy and chaos. David says, no. God has authority.

God has everything under control. So we go from reasons to be dismayed and discouraged, to reasons that we can depend upon God and delight. In him, verses four through seven.

So this is where we get to what is the title of our little message today. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven.

So I would like you to think with me for a moment about his position, his place. Where is the Lord today? Now you will remember, perhaps if you've read through the Minor Prophets, that you will get to one called Habakkuk or Habakkuk or however you might want to say it. And hundreds of years later, he wrote these words.

But the Lord is in his holy temple. Hundreds of years later. So here we are now, thousands of years later, 2020.

And you know what? We can say exactly the same thing. The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven.

Nothing has changed. He changes not. Now, if you want to look at these two phrases, they are perhaps parallel in some senses.

We have mentioned that Hebrew poetry does have this parallelism in it and that is good. But there may be a slight distinction that we can look at as well. So when we think about the holy temple, I just would like you to ponder this for a moment.

This has to do with our heart, our communion with God. And when you think about the throne, this perhaps ought to affect our head a bit more, our confidence in God. So we have the temple that has to do with our heart and our communion with God and we have God upon his throne, the Lord upon his throne that affects my thinking, my intellect, my head.

And it has to do with my confidence in him. So think with me for a moment. It says the Lord is in his holy temple.

The amazing truth is this. As you go through the Bible, you start in the very book of Genesis and you'll find God always wanted to be with his people. God came down and spoke with Adam and Eve.

Now we know that that communion, that fellowship was broken because of sin. But God has always wanted to have fellowship with his people. And so as we move into David's time, the temple as such wasn't standing yet.

That was constructed by Solomon. But yet we have the tabernacle and David is speaking about God's presence, about God's dwelling. And the amazing truth I repeat is this.

That God always has delighted to dwell in the midst of his people. Despite the fact that he rules from heaven above, he meets with his people here on earth. Now for you and for me today in 2020 as believers, we know that things have changed drastically.

And we have a more intimate relationship in many ways than what people in the Old Testament had. But nonetheless, there it is. We have this communion.

We have this fellowship with the Lord in heaven. And he who dwells in heaven, he hears us. We may think at times that he is far away, but he is always near.

Think about what David wrote in Psalm 18 in verse number 6. So David knew. He said, I can cry. It didn't mean that David always had to physically go into the temple.

David understood. I can cry at whatever moment. And God, even though he is in heaven, he will hear me.

He heard my voice out of his temple because he is in heaven, but he dwells amongst his people. So David is reminding his counselors, his friends, that we can stand firm and steadfast because the Lord still is in his holy temple. And he is today.

But then he says, the Lord's throne is in heaven. So again, I repeat, this has perhaps more to do with my head, my senses, my intellect, more than with my spiritual side of things, more than my emotional side of things. And let us remember this, that the Lord has never ever, nor can he ever, abdicate his position as the sovereign God over the entire universe.

He is still there. He is still sovereign. He is still in his holy temple.

Yes, and the Lord's throne is in heaven. Are we not thankful today that even though there may be moments in our life when we doubt, when we wonder, the word of God gives us this great confidence that David had. His throne is in heaven.

It made me think today of the hymn that we often sing. Jesus, in his heavenly temple, sits with God upon the throne. Now no more to be forsaken, his humiliation gone.

Dwelling in eternal sunshine of the countenance of God, Jesus fills all heaven with incense. Of his reconciling blood on his heart, our names are graven, on his shoulders we are born. Of our God beloved in Jesus, we can love him in return.

So let's remember this, when we think about the Lord on his throne, in heaven, let us remember that all things remain under him. He is sovereign and all things are still in his control. Now we can look around about us in society and we can wonder about sicknesses and pandemics and we can wonder about all these things and we can say, what is happening? And when we go through the book of Psalms, there might be some questions like that as well.

But the bottom line is this, the truth of God remains firm and it remains true. The Lord's throne is in heaven. So when I thought about this, I began to think about his intercession for us.

He is in his throne, on his throne in heaven. Hebrews chapter 7 and verse number 25 will speak about him interceding. He says, it says he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

You could go to John's gospel chapter number 17 and see this truth as well. But we have one seated upon the throne at the right hand of God and he lives to intercede for us. Now you and your weakness, I am my weakness and all my need, I can go constantly to him and understand this, he ever liveth to make intercession for me.

He's on his throne. He's right there beside God and he makes intercession for us. This throne is indestructible.

You can read through history books and you will find out the thrones are indestructible here upon earth, but his throne is forever and ever. That's what Psalm 45 verse number 6 says. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.

Quote it again in the book of Hebrews. But his throne is incomparable. Many great leaders have lived upon this earth and you can look back and and perhaps there are many watching today and listening to this message and they can think about wonderful leaders in the past and that is all great.

But this leader, this king, is incomparable. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his kingdom ruleth over all. Psalm 103 verse 19.

So let us remember that his position, his place, him being over all, makes us understand that things are not out of control. Knowing the Lord personally who sits upon his eternal throne ought to fill our hearts and our heads with confidence, with trust from day to day. This gives us an anchor for the soul.

That's why the psalmist began, In the Lord put I my trust. Why? Because he hasn't abdicated. He's still in the very same place.

We can still trust in him. He is a sure and a safe place of refuge in the storms of life. But look with me at verse number four and the second section.

It says his eyes behold. What does he perceive? What does he see? What is his perception? You and I are limited in what we can see, limited in what we know. We can come to all kinds of conclusions.

We can make all sorts of judgments. We can think that we know all the answers, but the truth is we do not. But here is the Lord in heaven and it says that his eyes behold.

Now, as you read through the psalms over and over, you will find these questions. Why? How long? When? Over and over. But let us recall that there is absolutely nothing that escapes his sight.

There is nothing that he is not aware of. There is nothing that he does not perceive. Even Hagar, an Egyptian handmaid, she came to this conclusion one day when she was fleeing from Sarah.

And she's out in the middle of the desert. I'm kind of in the middle of the desert here in New Mexico today. Very dry and very warm.

But there she was. She didn't have a glass of water. She took her son far from her just to die so she wouldn't see him die.

But God provided. And what did she say? I think we all learned these verses as Sunday school students if we went to Sunday school. Genesis 16 verse number 13.

Thou God seest me. So David, with all of his great knowledge, he's not an Egyptian handmaid, but David writes very similar words. His eyes behold.

Thou God seest me. Let us never think that God doesn't know what is happening in our life. Let us never wonder.

Does God see me? Does God know what is happening? Yes, he does. He knows exactly what is happening in our life. Proverbs 15 verse number 3. The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good.

Psalm 139 will teach us a very similar truth. Verse number 3. There are many other verses too in Psalm 139, but verse number 3 says, Thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. He perceives.

He sees absolutely everything. He is our Father. He is our Lord.

And there he is and he knows everything that is happening in our life. So let us not wonder. He does perceive.

He does know. But then as we can continue on to verse number 4 and into verse number 5, we get these phrases. His eyelids try the children of men.

The Lord trieth the righteous. So here we move from his perception to his purposes. So the question back in verse number 3 was, what shall the righteous do? David understood this.

The Lord tries the righteous. So is it true that we may look around about us and say the foundations are under attack? The foundations perhaps of society are crumbling? The foundations of my life are being terribly shaken today? Well, David says this. The Lord tries the righteous.

So he knows exactly what he's doing. He knows exactly what is going on. Believers are not free from trials and difficulties.

Believers are not free from testings and discouragement. They are not exempt from sorrow and sadness and sickness. We are not exempt from all of those things.

The Lord is doing something in our lives. He is trying us. He is testing us.

Remember that his testings, his trials are not like Satan's temptations or not like the temptations of our flesh. The temptations are to make us fall, to make us fail. God's tryings or his testings are to approve us, to bring us forth like gold, to increase our faith.

So David would have known obviously the story of Abraham. And he would have known the story of Job. Job in chapter 23 and verse number 10, he writes these words.

He knoweth the way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. So believer today, fellow believer, my brother in Christ, my sister in Christ, who is going through a deep trial, remember this.

When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. He knoweth the way I take. His eyes behold.

His eyelids try the children of men. So trust in him. He knows what he's doing in the trials.

These present trials do have a purpose. We might not understand it today and we might not even understand it tomorrow, but God knows exactly what he is doing. In the circumstances of our life, he has not lost control.

And what is happening around us, in us, beside us? He has not lost control at all. He is not unaware. He has permitted.

He has indeed purposed trials for our good. Verse number five very quickly. The wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

So I just want to think for a moment about the pure character of our God. Again, in the in the small prophet of Habakkuk, chapter one, verse number 13, he writes these words. And canst not look on iniquity.

That doesn't mean God doesn't see it, but he cannot stand it. He hates violence. He hates iniquity.

We could think about the the fact that the sinner, and perhaps there are some that are listening to us today, and have not yet come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. And you need to understand the seriousness that the gravity of your sin before God. Think about what it says in Deuteronomy chapter number 12, verse number 31.

The wickedness of idolatry. And you say, well, I'm not an idolatrous person. Well, perhaps you place something else before God in your life.

And it says this, thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God. For every abomination to the Lord which he hateth hath they done unto their gods. He's saying don't live like the world lives.

We live in a different way. For even their sons and the daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. You say, well, we would never do that.

It's a good thing we never do that. You'd be taken off to jail if you did that. But God was saying there needs to be a difference between the people of God and the people of this world.

They are an idolatrous people. They are worshiping other things, other gods. He said we're not that way.

The wickedness of idolatry. Now, perhaps I've taken a worst case example. That's a good thing.

But then we find the wickedness of iniquity. You say, is that not a conundrum? Is that not double stating it? Well, maybe it is. But look at Psalm 5, verse number 5. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

So David did not shy away from stating the fact that sin is an awful thing. And God is opposed not only to sin but to the sinner as well. These six things that the Lord hates.

Yea, seven are an abomination to him. Proverbs chapter 6. So God is a God of love. But God is a God of hatred as well.

We move on into verse 5, the latter part. It says the wicked in him that loveth violence his soul hateth. And upon the wicked he shall rain snares and fire, brimstone, and a horrible tempest.

This shall be the portion of their cup. So just for a moment, this is not at all the theme of my message today, but just for a moment. Think about his power.

Not just his power, his right to do this. The Lord is not slack. We have to remember this at the same time.

When we read verses about the judgment of God, some people perhaps get all up in arms and say God is a vengeful God. No, God is a God of love, a God of patience, incredible patience. It says in 2 Peter chapter number 3, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.

He's speaking about the second coming. He's not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering. He's patient to us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But again, if somebody is listening today and is not saved, God is patient. God is desirous of your salvation. He wants to save you.

He's able to save you. But judgment is sure. Judgment will come.

He has the right, the full right, to judge the wicked ones who refuse to bow to him. But move with me into verse number 7, where he says the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. So I want to use the word probity, and perhaps that's not a word we use on a regular basis, but it basically means this, confirmed integrity or uprightness.

So when we look at God, can we find a better example of confirmed integrity, of uprightness? God is a righteous God. And it says here in verse number 7, he loveth righteousness. So again, in his character, he is completely righteous, completely pure, completely perfect.

So when we move back into Psalm 45, which we've already quoted from, in verse number 7, it's speaking about the Lord Jesus. And it says thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness. So hatred of wickedness is a good thing.

And then it says, therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Thou lovest righteousness. So God is a God that loves righteousness, righteous acts.

He commends righteous acts. So you and I as believers today that have the character of God, the character of the Lord being reproduced in us, the spirit of the Spirit is producing within us the fruit of the Spirit. What does he want to see in us? Righteousness, righteous acts.

Because? Because that is the way God is. And so we are reproducing the character of God, the character of the Lord in us. He loves righteousness.

So ask yourself the question, do we love what he loves? And do we hate what he hates? We need to love what he loves. And we need to hate what he hates. And we need to be very careful, a word of warning, we need to be very careful to know exactly what it is we are loving, what we are hating.

We need to be biblically based on all these decisions that we make. But that again is not my theme today. So come with me to the last part of Psalm 11.

In verse number 7, the last phrase says this, his countenance doth behold the upright. I want to speak to you for a moment today about his presence. His countenance, his faith, his faith story doth behold the upright.

Now it's quite possible to read it this way. And many of you again perhaps have a Bible in your hand that will say something like this, the upright beholds his countenance or his faith. Now you will say to yourself, well, which is true? Does he behold my countenance or do I behold his countenance? And the answer is yes, both are true.

A believer in Christ beholds his countenance at the same time he is beholding our faith. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 8 in the Beatitudes. It says, he says, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

So one of the greatest blessings that we have as believers today is the blessing of seeing the Lord. Now with these physical eyes, obviously you and I will not see him today, but it is a wonderful thing to have this promise, to have this blessing that we can see God in our lives moving and controlling our life. We have the great hope that one day we will see him face to face.

We will put these eyes upon him as it were, but in the meantime, we can even see God in our life. So God is purifying us. He's trying us so that he can purify us.

Why? So that we might become more like him. Again, he is not only beholding the upright, but the upright are beholding him. And you will know that the more you behold him, the more upright you will become.

It says that basically in 1 John chapter number 3. As we as we look upon him, we will have this desire to purify ourselves. One day will come when we will see him as he is and we will be pure just as he is pure. But in the meantime, we need to be purifying ourselves.

And we are beholding as in a mirror, as in a glass. And the more we do so, the more we are being changed from glory into glory, more like the Lord Jesus every day. So when it says his countenance doth behold the upright, he is always looking down upon us.

What a marvelous truth. But what a marvelous truth it is as well that we ought to be looking up and beholding his face as well. What greater blessing could there be? But I just want you to think with me quickly about the Lord Jesus in this psalm.

Remembering that the psalms were sung by the Jewish people. They didn't have whatever hymn book you might happen to use, whether it's a believer's hymn book or redemption songs or whatever hymn book is your favorite hymn book to use. They didn't have those back in those days as you know, but they sang from the psalms.

So when you think about the Lord Jesus, who would have sung perhaps this psalm as well, think about the Lord Jesus in verse number one. How say ye to my soul flee as a bird to your mountain? Now, he didn't have those exact words perhaps said to him, but on more than one occasion, I'll just mention one. One time it was a friend, one time it wasn't a friend.

But in Matthew chapter 16, it says, then Peter took him. After he had spoken about his being turned over into the hands of sinful men, he was going to be crucified. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying, Be ye far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee.

Peter was saying, Lord, flee. You can't go to Calvary. This is the wrong way to go.

Well, we see that in verse number one. It happened to David, it happened to the Lord Jesus, and it may happen to you and to me as well. But look at verse number four.

Verse number four obviously is making us think again. We've mentioned this already, but the Lord is indeed in his holy temple. Because God said to his son, Psalm 110 and verse number one, sit thou at my right hand.

So the Lord is at the right hand of his father in heaven today. Verse number six. Now, you'll say you jumped over this and this is why I did.

This shall be the portion of their cup. Those that are, those that reject the Lord Jesus, will have a portion that is poured out upon them. And we have seen that.

It is not a pleasant thing at all. But think about the portion of the cup of the Lord Jesus. Remember Matthew chapter 26 and verse number 39.

Oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. So the Lord Jesus was willing to take that cup of suffering and sorrow and separation of pain and of death.

And he was willing to drink that cup. Why? So that the portion of our cup as believers today will be a portion of blessing. He took the sorrow.

He took the shame. He took our sin upon himself. He took that portion so you and I would receive a bountiful portion, a wonderful blessing, even this very day.

Think of another hymn. Death and the curse were in our cup. O Christ, t'was full for thee, but thou hast drained the last dark drop.

Tis empty now for me. That bitter cup love drank it up. Now blessings draw it for me.

So the question remains for us. Shall I trust God? Shall I find my refuge in him, in the present pressure, in the trial that I am facing today? Let's follow the example of David. Be firm in our faith.

Say to everybody that asks us, in the Lord put I my trust. I find my refuge in the Lord. Let us always remember the Lord's throne is in heaven.

He is in control. Shall we pray? Father, we are thankful this afternoon for thy son, the Lord Jesus. Thankful for the perfect example of a dependent man that lived here upon earth, one that trusted in thee in every moment and one that was in constant communion with thee.

We are thankful, Father, for what we have in thy word concerning him. And we are thankful for what we have been able to see today from thy word. And David, as he trusted in thee, we do pray that we might be like him as well and be able to say, in the Lord put I my trust.

In the Lord, I find my refuge. And although there might be pressures, there may be persecutions, there may be difficulties, we can trust in the one whose throne is in heaven. We bless thee, Father, for him.

We pray thy blessing upon thy people today, especially those that are going through difficulties and trials. Help them, our Father, to look upward today to the one who sits at thy right hand. We are thankful again for the opportunity to be together.

We are thankful for thy word. And I say a blessing upon us now, in the worthy name of thy Son, the Lord Jesus. Amen.

Many thanks.