Do Good in Thy Good Pleasure

The point: Learn to use Psalm 51 in your own devotional exercises, especially when sensing a need for God's cleansing grace and renewing Spirit.

Martin hopes that at least a half-dozen people have learned to incorporate Psalm 51 'into the bloodstream of their own spiritual experience,' meaning to use it regularly in their devotional life for cleansing and renewal.

The Apostle Paul said on one occasion, this is the second time I'm writing to you. I would say this is the 16th time I have said to you, let us turn to the 51st Psalm. And this 16th exposition will be our concluding exposition, but I trust certainly not our concluding consideration of this psalm. Now, if but a half a dozen of you have begun to learn to use this psalm in your own devotional exercises, times when you sense your need of the cleansing of God's grace and renewing of His Spirit, I trust that at least to say if a half a dozen people have learned to incorporate this psalm into the blo...

0:12 - 1:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Learn to use Psalm 51 in your own devotional exercises, especially when sensing a need for God's cleansing grace and renewing Spirit.

Martin uses the example of liberal commentators rejecting Davidic authorship of Psalm 51 due to verses 18-19 as an illustration of an unbecoming attitude for a Christian, who should seek to justify biblical positions rather than quickly discard them.

For up until verse 18, David's consideration is almost primarily and exclusively, definitely primarily, almost exclusively with himself. And all of his petitions relate to his own spiritual state and his own spiritual needs, and others are mentioned simply in terms of what will happen to others if his own needs are met. He says that ask God to open his lips, that he might show forth his praise, and if he has restored joy, sinners would be converted. But in this section of the psalm, these concluded two verses, David, as it were, shifts gears and moves now into petitions that do not relate to h...

1:29 - 2:56 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains David's prayer in verse 18 for God to 'Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion' and 'Build thou the walls of Jerusalem,' interpreting 'Zion' and 'Jerusalem' as…

The state of Jerusalem is described as a 'barometer or a thermometer' indicating the general condition of God's people, emphasizing its symbolic importance.

In the 18th verse, David's petition is, Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion. And it's obvious that Zion here is synonymous with Jerusalem, for in the latter part of the same verse he says, Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. The substance of David's prayer in the 18th verse is this, that God would be pleased to grant tokens of his favor to his peculiar people and particularly to the people of God at Jerusalem. Now, in a very real sense, the state of Jerusalem was a barometer or a thermometer to give you an indication of the condition of the people of God in general. You remember that Jerusal...

4:14 - 5:35 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains David's prayer in verse 18 for God to 'Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion' and 'Build thou the walls of Jerusalem,' interpreting 'Zion' and 'Jerusalem' as…

Martin uses the analogy of God literally becoming a 'mason' to build walls to show that David's prayer for building Jerusalem's walls is poetic, not literal, referring to God's protective presence.

Now notice that for which he particularly prays. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. This does not have to be pressed as a petition that God would literally raise up the walls, for if you press it literally, David is asking God to come down from heaven and to become a mason. Not of the 32nd order or something, I don't mean that kind of mason, but a man who works with mortar and brick and stone.

6:52 - 7:21 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains David's prayer in verse 18 for God to 'Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion' and 'Build thou the walls of Jerusalem,' interpreting 'Zion' and 'Jerusalem' as…

He uses the image of literal boars eating vegetables after hedges are broken down to further illustrate that the Psalmist's lament in Psalm 80 is poetic, signifying destructive influences ravaging God's people due to broken spiritual protection.

Thou preparest room before it and didst cause it to take deep root and it filled the lands, the hills were covered, etc. Now verse 12, Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which do pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Is he saying that the literal walls were broken down so that literal boars, that is wild pigs, were coming by and eating up the vegetables and eating up the vegetation?

8:17 - 8:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains David's prayer in verse 18 for God to 'Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion' and 'Build thou the walls of Jerusalem,' interpreting 'Zion' and 'Jerusalem' as…

The experience of a professing Christian friend falling into grievous sin and enemies casting it 'in your teeth' is used to illustrate how David's sin brought reproach upon God's people.

And when the word gets out that this man who was supposedly a man after God's own heart, this man who was one of whom God said, God spoke, David, who shall do all my pleasure, who had mighty conquest by the power of God, the sweet psalmist, the sweet hymn writer of Israel, when word goes out of his dastardly deeds of adultery and murder, imagine how this would be cast into the teeth of the people of God. You've had this happen when a professing Christian friend falls into some grievous sin and the enemies of God who are just looking for inconsistencies, what do they do? They come and they cast...

10:29 - 11:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Verse 19, 'Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,' is explained as the balancing truth to David's earlier statement that God desires a broken spirit over…

Offering a 'bullock' is described as the 'Cadillac sacrifice,' meaning it was the most expensive and highest expression of worship, emphasizing the costliness of true devotion.

But always after this, there was a reinstitution of sacrifice and of the sacrificial system. These men saw that reinstituting God-appointed worship was fruitless until men's hearts were right. But when their hearts were right, God would now be pleased with appointed sacrifices, namely the offering up of burnt offerings and bullets. That was the Cadillac sacrifice.

14:17 - 14:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that if there is no concern in your heart for God's building the walls of Jerusalem (His church), it is a symptom of a deeper problem in your relationship with the Lord, not a cause to be 'whipped' into action.

Martin recounts reading about churches giving out 'green stamps' for attendance as an example of trying to 'bait' people into church, failing to recognize that indifference is a symptom of a deeper spiritual problem.

So I'll not be found beating the people of God over the head because they don't pray. This is why I don't try to cajole and tease and reward people into coming to prayer meetings or any kind of meetings. A lot of churches operate on the basis that if you sort of imitate Hollywood or the side show and have something different all the time and give people a prize, there are some churches down south I read recently who have even given out green stamps if you came to the service. Yes, so many green stamps for the morning service, so many green stamps for the evening service.

19:26 - 19:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Be careful if you are content to stop with personal restoration (e.g., Psalm 51:7) and do not cry out for God's work among His people, as this may indicate a pseudo-deceptive spiritual experience.

A doctor who only treats symptoms is called a 'quack' to illustrate that addressing indifference to God's kingdom by external means (like prizes) is ineffective; one must address the underlying spiritual unhealthiness.

Wonderful state of affairs when the green stamps must be used to somehow bait the people of God. You see, the problem with that is they fail to recognize that people's indifference to the house of God is symptomatic. It's symptom of a deeper cause. Now any doctor who simply treats symptoms is a quack.

19:59 - 20:21 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If it wasn't taught in the Bible, I'd say anyone was crazy who tried to tell me that the God who was in operation long before I came on the scene and was handling things well made the worlds, the infinite galaxies and al…

The idea of putting 'a nickel in the slot and get out a nickel's worth of candy' is used to describe a heathen concept of prayer, where blessing is earned by the quantity of prayer.

In other words, Lord, you work according to the pleasure of your own heart. I cannot cajole thee, I cannot somehow earn thy blessing, five pounds of prayer, five pounds worth of blessing in return. This idea that you put a nickel in the slot and get out a nickel's worth of candy, you give a nickel's worth of prayer and God's bound to give you a nickel's worth of blessing, this is a heathen concept. Our Lord said, the heathen think they shall be heard for what?

22:13 - 22:40 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If it wasn't taught in the Bible, I'd say anyone was crazy who tried to tell me that the God who was in operation long before I came on the scene and was handling things well made the worlds, the infinite galaxies and al…

Martin expresses his personal bafflement at the idea that the sovereign God of the universe would respond to the 'whimperings of a poor little creature of flesh,' highlighting the mystery of God's invitation to prayer.

He recognized that relationship that exists between the prayers of God's people and the actings of a sovereign God. I doubt David understood any more clearly than any of us do how those two things stand together. I don't understand it. In fact, at times to me, if it wasn't taught in the Bible, I'd say anyone was crazy who tried to tell me that the God who was in operation long before I came on the scene and was handling things well made the worlds, the infinite galaxies and all the rest, that this God should actually work in response to the whimperings of a poor little creature of flesh, the l...

23:27 - 24:24 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If it wasn't taught in the Bible, I'd say anyone was crazy who tried to tell me that the God who was in operation long before I came on the scene and was handling things well made the worlds, the infinite galaxies and al…

An anecdote about a man who believes in fatalism and is asked what he does when he falls down stairs ('Well, I'm glad that's over with') is used to challenge the idea that sovereignty leads to passive fatalism.

And someone taunted him by saying, Well, when you fall down the stairs, what do you do? Look up at the bottom and say, Well, I'm glad that's over with. You see the idea that, Well, it was inevitable. What will be, will be.

25:16 - 25:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: God never viewed the sacrifice as a thing in itself. It's as though God always saw with the sacrifice the hand of the man and the heart of the man and the life of the man who presented it and that hand and heart and life…

David's prayer is paraphrased as, 'Lord, first of all, put the knife of conviction and contrition into my breast,' emphasizing that inner brokenness must precede outward sacrifice.

God never viewed the sacrifice as a thing in itself. It's as though God always saw with the sacrifice the hand of the man and the heart of the man and the life of the man who presented it and that hand and heart and life either cancelled the validity of the sacrifice or made it an acceptable sacrifice unto God. Now David saw that. That's why he said in those previous verses, Lord, it's not enough for me who've been out of fellowship with you in sin to simply do what a good Jew is supposed to do and offer up a sin offering.

30:46 - 31:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Dare not come to a Sunday morning worship service or open your mouth in praise until you are sure that the heart behind that mouth is right before God, with all accounts settled and no conscious controversies.

The shaking of the building in Acts 4 is described as God saying, 'I'm pleased with your sacrifice,' and humorously, 'the chairs began to dance around the room,' to illustrate God's tangible witness to acceptable worship.

That's what He did in the book of Acts. That sacrifice of praise and worship that came up in the fourth chapter of Acts was answered with a witness from heaven. He shook the building as if to say, I'm pleased with your sacrifice. I want to let you know that I am.

34:26 - 34:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The thing that should mark us off from every other religion in the world is that we should be called the people of the presence. Not P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S, but P-R-E-S-E-N-C-E. The people of the presence. God in the midst of H…

Believers are called 'the people of the presence' (P-R-E-S-E-N-C-E) to emphasize that God's manifest presence in their midst should be their distinguishing mark.

Beloved, the thing that should mark us off from every other religion in the world is that we should be called the people of the presence. Not P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S, but P-R-E-S-E-N-C-E. The people of the presence. God in the midst of His people.

36:05 - 36:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Individually feel the burden that your spiritual condition affects the entire body of Christ, and cry to God to search, purify, and cleanse you so you are not a hindrance to God bearing witness to acceptable worship.

The far-reaching influence of David's sin is compared to 'the circles that go out from the stone dropped in the pond in ever-widening degrees till they splash on the shore,' illustrating the ripple effect of individual sin.

dropped in the pond in ever-widening degrees till they splash on the shore. So the circles of the influence of David's sin had gone out in many directions. And David, acknowledging that, cries that God will in some sense repair the damage done to the people of God by the sin of one of the children of God. And that principle is found very clearly in the Scriptures.

39:18 - 39:45 Read in full sermon

The point: Individually feel the burden that your spiritual condition affects the entire body of Christ, and cry to God to search, purify, and cleanse you so you are not a hindrance to God bearing witness to acceptable worship.

The story of Achan taking forbidden items and causing the entire nation of Israel to suffer defeat at Ai is used to clearly demonstrate how the sin of one individual affects the whole community.

It's taught in that story of Achan that all of us know. We've known it from our childhood. One individual took a Babylonish garment and a few shekels of silver and a wedge of gold that God had said you're not to take, hid them in his tent, and the whole nation came to a standstill. And when Joshua was on his face praying and crying to God, they went up against that little city of Ai after the mighty conquest of Jericho.

39:45 - 40:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Husbands, if you have a controversy with God, you cannot bear your spiritual rule in the home or be the nurture and help to your wife and children spiritually that you ought to be.

The finger is used as an analogy for an individual member of the body of Christ, showing that while it has individuality, it cannot operate healthily in isolation from the entire body and its life source.

Though we maintain our individuality in the body of Christ, and though in a very real sense every man stands or falls in terms of his own relationship to God, just as this finger must draw its own life from the blood stream, its own impulses from the nervous system, must operate on the basis of its own muscles, in that sense it's a unit all by itself, and yet in a very real sense it can't operate without the entire body, the entire body operating with it. For the messages come from the head that tell the finger to wiggle, and the blood that goes through bringing nourishment is pumped out from ...

41:42 - 42:50 Read in full sermon

The point: A healthy Christian should want to come to prayer meetings (unless providentially hindered) because they long to cry to God for the prosperity of His kingdom and are not content to only receive.

The prayer meeting is likened to 'the poor little girl who never gets a date' but becomes 'the most popular girl on the block' when God revives His church, illustrating how revival increases concern for the kingdom and prayer.

He longs to cry to God that the pleasure of the Lord would prosper in his hands. So whenever God revives His church, what happens? Instead of being the poor little girl who never gets a date, why, the prayer meeting's the most popular girl on the block. See, her popularity ratings change.

46:57 - 47:16 Read in full sermon