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Bro. Dave Huber II
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We'll open up with a word of prayer this morning. Heavenly Father. Thank you for this morning. Thank you for your word. Thank you that it is so instructive help us to be well instructed this morning. And to learn from your scriptures father, we ask that you help us to take them to heart apply them to our lives and Let it be a changing agent for us to make us more like you.
It's in your name we ask these things amen. All right, so We have started psalm 44 and if you'll recall from last week, this is another instructive poem Otherwise known as a machine for the sons of Korah to be singing and David writes a Pretty interesting instruction here Which showed us that there's history lessons to be learned.
And if we don't learn from our history, we're doomed to repeat it, right? Well, we we see that fathers are the best Conduits for history for their sons. We see that the the history lessons that are shared are those of Protection Position and purpose.
We see that They speak of possession Not gotten by their own hand but by the the strong arm of the Lord and by his mighty right hand and By the light of his countenance because he had favor unto him. We saw a pledge to the Lord After remembering all these things of history He says thou art my king.
Oh God command deliverances for Jacob. We talked about the fact that Jacob is The name that is often used in association With Israel, but can sometimes depict the flesh. We talked about how We need deliverance not just from the outside world, but also from ourselves.
We Saw in verse 5 Through thee we will push down our enemies through thy name. We will tread them under that rise up and we talked about the fact that if you try to Conquer in the name of the Lord without the presence of the Lord you end up just being a pharisaical bully and And sometimes it doesn't really even work.
We saw that The trust is not put in the bow nor in the sword to save me as in verse 6. But that the trust Was put in the Lord Because he had saved them from their enemies and had put them to shame that hated God's people.
We saw a finally a verse of praise And a pause to ponder with the word Salah. Right, so we have protection position purpose provision pledge The personality of piety so that we will look more like our King driving out our foes.
We have The opportunity to praise him so we remember where our help comes from and we're supposed to pause and ponder all of those things. As We get into verse 9 today, I want you to consider the fact that The very first word of verse 9 is.
But what do we always say about that word? What does it show? It shows contrast. So imagine What's it showing contrast with whatever preceded it, right? So if the word Salah Creates a more emphatic tone in the verse before kind of the mic drop moment of goodness and praising God forever then this word but Surely denotes a far more bleak contrast than it would have had the word Salah not preceded it.
I will not trust in my bow. I will not trust in my swords. My God has saved us from our enemies and it is him. We will boast in all the day long Salah. But It is that very powerful God who is worthy to be praised who has cast off and Put us to shame.
But thou has cast off and put us to shame and goest not forth with our enemies. Or with our armies, sorry. It is this God who saves us from our enemies who has decided not to go forth with our armies.
And as Spurgeon puts it if our great ally will not go with us. Our defeat is inevitable. So today we see the other side of the story. If this is an instructive poem then one of the things that we've got to understand is With without learning from history we have this idea of we're doomed to repeat it.
But also In order to learn from history, we have to know what happens if we don't learn from it. So that's what we're gonna see next and you'll you'll like my attire this morning because I had to borrow glasses from David.
Because I walked right out of the house without my glasses. So I had already chosen to wear the bowtie. So the old man glasses just completes the look. Yeah, I figured I'd get that out of the way just so that we can uh, we'll laugh about it now.
You know wouldn't be going to did he try to dress up like costume style today? I want you to be able to think about the lesson and and not the the costume. Um. So verse verse 9 shows this incredible contrast between the history.
That we're supposed to learn from and this wonderful Lesson of protection and provision and and all the things so the word but really brings contrast to that and Now we see what happens if we're not learning those things.
Thou has cast off and put us to shame and go us not forth with our armies. Verse 10 Thou make us us To turn back from the enemy and they which hate us spoil for themselves. Notice who it says makes us turn back from the enemy.
It's God. It is him that makes us retreat. But notice who it says hates us. Does it mean that God hates us and causes us to retreat? Of course not. God doesn't hate his people, but it no notice. It says they which hate us spoil for themselves.
Nevertheless Being left of God to the spoil of man is the most devastating of consequences when we sin. The reason we experience cancel culture in America is largely because of the apostasy of the church.
When the salt has lost its savor wherewithal shall it be salted it is hence. It is thenceforth good for nothing and is cast out and trodden under the foot of men. All right, so we see When we lose our savor when we begin to disobey when we turn away from the history lessons of what God is using to to instruct us.
Then all of a sudden everything goes wrong for us and the Lord uses men to do it. Verse 11. Thou has given us like sheep Appointed for meat and has scattered us among the heathen. It's as if to say to death with you for sin surely produces death.
But it's not an honorable sacrificial death Like you might depict of the martyrs who who went obediently unto death. Rather, this is a brutal senseless cruel and careless death for the world. The flesh and the devil will once use you and abuse you and Then they will lose you as If you never mattered to begin with.
Because to them you don't matter at all. They will sooner love the animals than the people that were chosen by the God that they hate so to be scattered among people like that. To be scattered among the heathen is to be left to the wolves and to be dressed with a savory meat for their enjoyment.
Verse 12. Yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's exactly, right.
We're gonna see something similar to that in Chronicles as well, which I'll show you here at the end of the lesson. But that's a good scripture to pull out there Colin because that's a perfect depiction as to what's happening here.
Thou has given us like sheep appointed for meat and. It's as if he's just like here death to you. That's what that's what you have chosen. By chosen by choosing to disobey by choosing to go against by choosing to not learn from.
All of the history we have together you are willingly choosing death so enjoy. Verse 12 Thou sellest thy people for not and does not increase thy wealth by their price. It's as if to say let them be sold for nothing so that they will know how the world values them.
Let them be bargained for and valued less than a clearance item. As our old military slang might say not worth the powder and lead. We we went and checked out Fort Parker yesterday. Rices came that was cool, and I didn't get to stay for the the second reenactment battle.
But the first one we watched was pretty epic. I'm gonna watch the the recording Matt made for us. Later today, hopefully Matt. I hear you got a recording you need to show me. I Imagine it's like Matt you got.
I mean he has the filmographer type. Background. I can just imagine Matt like trying to weave through everybody make it very cinematography. Before they can tackle you. Give one great take it's gonna win a prize of some sort.
Yeah. Running it's funny. Just imagine he's got he's got a little Winston for the low shots get out there Winston. Anyway. Imagine. It's as if the Lord is saying not worth the powder and lead. So we went to this old reenactment in there.
There are all these old sayings and they've got some history about the Comanches that took over the fort and stuff in that nature, so when. When we watch movies and such you have enemies and the enemy Has like this ultimate cut down.
It's in a lot of movies and that is it's not worth it. You're not worth it. You know that kind of thing. Imagine being sold as a slave to maybe an Islamic neighbor. Only to learn that your new owner believes he got a terrible deal now imagine being overworked and starved tortured with cruelty and Not for the Lord's namesake.
Not for the honor of spreading the gospel or becoming a martyr or expanding the kingdom rather for punishment of sin. It's as if you couldn't even take comfort in feeling like the Lord had gained honor by your demise.
So not only is it that the enemy doesn't feel an increase by owning you it's as if The Lord doesn't receive an increase notice. It says thou sellest thy people for not and does not increase thy wealth by their price.
It's it's as if It's as if it seems like God's people are completely worthless and we know that's not true. We know that that's how it would seem in the moment. They have certainly made themselves to some degree worthless in the sight of the Lord with their sin.
Now imagine notice it says in the next verse I believe it is here. Yeah next verse thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors a Scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. What's the difference?
What's a reproach a scorn and a and a derision? Any ideas. When you think of the word reproach, what do you think of? Cruelty, it's a good thought. It's a good thought certainly someone who has Who might be Treated with cruelty a reproach.
There's the next two verses give us four different Important words here to kind of give an idea of just how low God's people Are brought now make us to reproach to our neighbors a scorn and A derision to them that are around about us.
Verse 14 says thou makest us a byword Among the heathen and Then there's this this last one. That's not even really a word but an action a shaking of the head among the people. Okay, so a reproach. I'm gonna try and say this word sharp.
Ha is is the Hebrew word here, which means disgrace or shame. It's the status or condition of lost honor Often indicating a broken covenant or a societal downfall. Okay, so It it's like a reproach is oh my goodness That reputation is destroyed, you know a Destroyed reputation might be a way to think of it a scorn a little different it's mocking scoffing the audible or gestural act of Ridiculing someone which can imply stammering or speaking a foreign tongue mockingly Interesting as if as if to say I mean, that's that's What the the word actually means it's mocking Almost with a stammering and foreign tongue.
So lost A lost reputation a broken reputation Followed by Mockery a derision a Derision is like a laughingstock the object of intense public jeering. It only appears about three times in Scripture and it's always tied to a physical target.
So imagine Imagine a Broken I keep missing this word a broken reputation. Followed by mockery and jeering that's like hyper focused on you. You know like pointing Mocking and then a byword a byword. It's like It's like when you take all of these things and put them together.
If you were if you were to become the laughingstock the object of jeering because you had absolutely utterly destroyed your Reputation do you think perhaps you you'd remember that forever? Do you think other people might talk about how terrible that was that that happened to you or maybe how Justly it was that happened to you see a byword is a proverb or a parable a Pithy phrase a story or a maxim in a negative content context it's a person who becomes legendary as a warning like It's so bad you're remembered for how bad it was and You're remembered.
You never want to be that almost as if to say Like you become synonymous with how bad things were. Like. You don't want to pull a Dave Huber. You know what I mean? You don't want to do that. You look like you want to say something.
Colin.
No, go for it. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.
You become synonymous with the failure. Yeah, and then Finally a shaking of the head among the people. You know when someone does something That is maybe just so utterly Stupid that you don't even have the words or don't feel the need to say the words you look at them and just go.
You know, that's what this is. It's like the ultimate slam. You don't even waste the words on it not worth the powder or the lead. No, not even worth talking about the powder of the lead just. You know, that's how Far God's people have fallen in this little history lesson.
It's shaking of the head a silent disapproval of something so inferior. It's not worth speaking of or to verse 15 my confusion is Continually before me and the shame of my face hath covered me. The word for confusion here means reproach or dishonor so imagine being so utterly embarrassed and Then reminded of that embarrassment constantly.
It's constantly before me. Until it becomes an overwhelming thing. I can't. I Can't even handle it. It's so much in front of me. It's not like I can just put it aside and not think about it. It's brought right back in front of me again.
It's continually before me. This is how David is thinking of the sin of God's people. This is how David is probably thinking of his own sin. But I want you to imagine I want you to think of someone like Abraham pleading for the righteous of Sodom and Gomorrah.
If you can just find a few righteous there Would you spare it? Imagine the feeling he must have had for the fact that these are supposed to be God's people and they're about to be utterly Destroyed. This is embarrassing.
Imagine how embarrassing it would have been as God says sure and he doesn't seem deterred in his in his Determination to go and destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. So Abraham goes well, let's lower that number and God says sure and still doesn't seem deterred.
How embarrassing would that have been like are there any that are there? I Want you to think of Nehemiah? Who in chapter 1 of the book of his namesake is confessing the sins of Israel and Crying out to God.
That's what's happening in this in this Psalm. Here David knows Israel is imperfect and it's blemished and he himself is to blame for some of the shortcomings and has taken ownership of the sinful embarrassment and has felt the shame of imperfection in the sight of a perfect God.
Spurgeon says this it is well for a nation when there still exist in it men who lay to heart its sin and shame. God will have pity on the chastised ones and it is a pledge thereof when he sends us choice ministers men of tenderness who make the people's case their own verse 16 Will probably end up ending on verse 16.
I've had some other things. I'll share with you here, too, but Simply because the way the the psalm breaks down it's a good place to stop and then we'll have a whole nother chunk next week for the voice of him that reproacheth and Blasphemous by reason of the enemy and Avenger.
Okay. I want to really break this one down. Because you have here the utter shame the lost reputation it's continually before them it's So bad that it's like they're jeered. They're mocked. The head is wagging at them.
They've become a byword and You see the psalmist in a sense take on that as if he owns it because it's it's mine. You know My confusion is continually before me and the shame of my face hath covered me and then he takes he takes ownership of that as if I'm I'm to blame and Then he begins to direct God's attention on What that's causing what that's doing so we begin to see a shift in the mockery because From it being directed solely at God's people it begins to shift.
The reproach begins to shift and be directed at God himself. It goes from reproach to blasphemy. The world the flesh and the devil take very or take every opportunity to point out the faults of God's servants.
They wait in the dark to shed light on God's people's shortcomings. They want to shed light on the mistakes and on the sins of God's people while they lurk in the dark and then they cancel them for their hypocrisy and They lord over them with sneers of superiority and Then comes the cruelest blow of all.
Not only are you a terrible Christian you serve a terrible God and we would be better off without any of you. This is what is meant in Psalm chapter 2 and it says why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing?
Kings of the earth set themselves and rulers take counsel against the Lord and against his anointed saying Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us so we actually have The psalmist here Recognizing that because of their own shortcomings they've given foothold to the enemy and the enemy is using it to attack God himself with blasphemy.
What's interesting too is That Israel's enemies stand out and taunt the children of God and taunt the God of Israel and They mean it as if they have somewhat avenged the losses of their own ancestral gods so like up until this point Israel has had great victories with God on their side with God going with their armies and The victories over Israel are seen as victories over Israel's God.
Even though it was God who defeated the armies of the heathen and destroyed the false gods all those years ago. They see their current victory as proof that somehow their God has come back from the dead to win the Lord the war as if their God has somehow risen and Destroyed the only one who has ever risen from the dead.
This shows us the nature of this war it is spiritual. But the war isn't against the world as much as it is against our own flesh because Satan tempts and the world facilitates but it's our flesh that ultimately falls to sin and That is why the war is actually within.
Paul described this as a war within his members. When we let our guard down when we get lazy. When we turn from the diligent work of denying the flesh we listen to temptations. We see a world that promises to accept our sin and Will even make it easier to perform.
When we succumb to the flesh it gives the enemy the leverage he needs to throw us off. Balance to skewer us with guilt and shame. To ridicule us for the hypocrisy that we have displayed and then to blaspheme our God for being weak and In the words of those who hate him they call him evil.
They actually have the gall to call Jehovah evil. Because they hope to break our bands asunder and cast away our cords from them. So God wills that we would when we turn from him. We should experience the end of our sin to some degree.
We should experience the rise of Islam for instance and their oppressive terrorist groups. We should see them burning countries to the ground. We should be presented with a choice. Do you want this to happen to you as well?
Do you want to continue to cast me aside. For fleshly desires because I can just as easily cast you off. I can put you to shame. I can depart from your armies. I can make you retreat in war and be spoiled.
I can sell you for pennies to people who will value the pennies more than your life. You can be a reproach a scorn a derision a byword. They'll shake their head at you as if you aren't worth the words they'd speak to describe you.
Or. You can take a page right out of 2nd Chronicles Chapter 7 you've heard this if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves. And pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.
Then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. It goes on from there to say now mine I shall be open in mine ears a tent unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there forever and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
And as for thee if thou wilt walk before me sound familiar calling as David thy father walked and do according to all that I have commanded thee and Shall observe my statutes in my judgments, then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom According as I have covenanted with David thy father saying there shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel.
But if you turn away and Forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you and shall go and serve other gods and worship them. Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them in this house Which I have sanctified for my name.
Will I cast out of my sight and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. Imagine America the great following Falling imagine losing Being the world power. This city on a hill that's been able to spread the gospel it's been the Probably the greatest nation to do just that and this house which is high Shall be an astonishment to everyone that passeth by it.
So that he shall say why hath the Lord done this under the this land and under this house. And it shall be answered because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt out of the land of Britain, perhaps and Laid hold on other gods and worshipped them and served them therefore Hath he brought all this evil upon them?
Remember this as you go and vote this week if you're doing early voting. Remember the spiritual war that is being waged here on American soil. It is powerful and it is deadly this week. We saw what it meant To forget the Lord and to turn from remembering the history of his deliverance and salvation.
Next week Lord willing we will look at what God's man does. To plead for the return of God to his people. So I'd encourage you go on ahead and read ahead. Read ahead the rest of this psalm and then we'll discuss it when we get back together next week.
Any other thoughts. Yes. Persecution maybe even to death and in one case martyrs when you read the story of martyrs. You always there's this very much a supernatural like serenity. Yeah. God's people through the same scenarios, but for punishment's sake in what's the word of looking for awful about it.
There's a lack of peace. Right right. That's in the way. I presented it is it feels as though you've done Nothing to increase the wealth of God. I mean, that's how the psalm reads it. But we also know that in both scenarios God is brought honor and glory.
Whether it's by his martyr or by the chastising of his children, right? But the difference is how the Christian perceives it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Contrastly you have the martyrs who when they die.
Often you see just the opposite you see people going. Well, there was something real there. You think of Steven you think. Exactly. Yep. That's good. And you you mentioned the heart thing. Maddie and I were talking about judges chapter 10.
She'd been reading through the book of Judges and she saw This she saw this right here it says and the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Amman and that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel 18 years all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan and In the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.
Moreover the children of Amman passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah and against Benjamin and against the house of Ephraim. So that Israel was sore distressed and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord saying we have sinned against thee both because we have forsaken our God and also served Balaam and the Lord said unto the children of Israel did I did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the Children of Amman and from the Philistines the Zidonians also and the Amalekites and the Mayonites.
Did oppress you and ye cried to me and I delivered you out of their hand yet Ye have forsaken me and served other gods. Wherefore I will deliver you no more ye Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen.
Let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation and That really bothered Maddie because she was like wait, they're crying out to God. Why isn't he saving him? He's done it over and over and over and over again.
Did God change but you get the answer if you read one or two more verses down? And the children of Israel said unto the Lord we have sinned do thou unto us whatever seemeth good unto thee deliver us only we pray thee this day and They put away the strange gods from among them and serve the Lord.
You see they hadn't done that yet they're crying out to the Lord, but they hadn't yet put away the strange gods and here they say save us and God says no go serve your other gods and Then they say do what seemeth good to you and then they put away the strange gods and they serve the Lord and it says.
And his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. So you begin to see the Lord soften at that point to their position, but obedience came first. Not just a crying out crying out as a part of the obedience but then also putting away of false gods and so.
This heart issue that Ben's talking about as we go and we consider our own country we can in the name of God. Say we are a Christian nation. But if we don't have the heart fixed if we haven't come to to right relationship with him on the inside He sees right through it and it doesn't matter even how we vote.
He'll make sure we get chastised and So we do need to make sure that when we vote we vote in accordance with God's Word. But we also first need to before going to the voting polls go Lord Examine me help me to examine myself and help me to see where I am Not in right relationship with you and help me to fix that.
Help me to put away my false gods and help me to serve only you and then when we go. To vote I think we'll be in a better position to do that. All right, any other thoughts? Yes.
Scorn and derision. Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's a great way. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Yeah, right and it's a good way to kind of wrap it up because just like Ben was saying like the heart issue and such like what you've described in the difference between the martyr and the one that is Is disobedient we have that contrast between us the disobedient?
And our Lord the martyr. Because it's a good Perfect contrast there, you know, so help us to be more like him, right? All right. Well, let's go ahead and pray and we'll dismiss Heavenly Father. We thank you so much for your word.
We thank you for your example. We thank you that the history that you have shown us Makes it pretty clear what we're supposed to do father help us to Extricate the false gods from our lives and help us to adhere to your word more and May it change us.
As a people first and then ultimately as a nation and father we ask that you be with us today. It's in your name. We pray. Amen.