Calvary Road Baptist Church

“PLAIN DIRECTIONS TO THOSE WHO WOULD BE SAVED FROM SIN”

Psalm 4.4-5

This evening I read to you a message I have modified from a sermon originally delivered by Charles Spurgeon on July 15, 1888. The text of the message is Psalm 4.4-5. Please turn to that portion of Scripture and stand for the reading of God’s Word: 

4  Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

5  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD. 

Israel’s King David was surrounded by many wicked and cruel enemies. And they touched a nerve when they mocked his religion, and so turned his glory into shame. They invented all kinds of lies against him, but the worst of all was that they said, “There is no help for him in God.” That was like saying, “Since God has cast him off, therefore, men should also cast him off, since a man that is forsaken by God is not fit to sit upon the throne of Israel. Give us his son Absalom in his place.”

What did David do in response? He first made his appeal to God in prayer, Psalm 4.1: 

“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.” 

In this, he showed his wisdom. You can get better at the mercy-seat than from men. You’ll get more relief from the righteous LORD than from ungodly men. To enter into a debate is never so profitable as to enter into devotion. Carry not your complaint into the lower courts, but go at once to the Supreme Court of heaven, where the Judge of all presides. Copy David, and the Lord Jesus, Who in the days of His flesh, with strong crying and tears, poured out His soul before the Father.

After David had prayed, he protested to his adversaries in verses 2-3: 

2  O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing?

3  Selah. But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. 

Verse 1 shows his sonship toward God. Verses 2-3 show his attitude toward men. There is no evidence of bitterness in the words we read here. Instead, there is a kindness in what David writes. And if his foes had been at all reasonable, they would have listened to his pleas. He urged them to cease from sin, and he even showed them how. But it’s not likely they listened. In four sentences in our text, he helps them to escape from their evil ways and to become better men. Had God’s Spirit applied David’s words to their consciences, they would have been pricked in their hearts, and there would have been no need for them to be smitten on the jaw, that their cruel teeth might be broken.

Upon these four precepts, I would speak as the Holy Spirit shall give me utterance, trusting, hoping, believing that many who desire a better life may find it in this message from God’s Word. May God begin with you, that you may start with God! I have no confidence in my persuasions. Yet being called to use them, I trust in Him that sent me to make use of what I say. David mentions four things as helpful towards ceasing from sinning.

The first is, feel reverent awe: 

“Stand in awe, and sin not.” 

The second is, use thoughtful self-examination: 

“Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.” 

The third advice is, make the right approach to God: 

“Offer the sacrifice of righteousness.” 

And the fourth is the greatest of them all: exercise faith: 

“Put your trust in the LORD.” 

Here are four stepping stones through the filthy swamp of sin. Mark them well, and step from one stepping stone to the other by the help of God’s Spirit, until you reach the other shore, and stand on the safe and clean ground of salvation. 

First, FEEL REVERENT AWE 

“Stand in awe,” David writes. 

This might be translated, “Tremble, and sin not.” Hardened sinners sin, and do not tremble. Penitent sinners tremble, and sin not. Gracious work in the heart usually begins with trembling. I cannot believe a person has been saved if he has never trembled before God because of the evil of sin. The old house of depraved nature shakes before it comes down. The returning prodigal must feel, I “am no more worthy to be called thy son,” or he will never be called a son.[1] He seeks his father’s face with much trembling because he has so grievously offended. Awe is not a common emotion nowadays. This is a flippant age. Modern men are instead triflers than tremblers. If there be any doctrine which has peculiar weight and solemnity about it, they try to pare it down to less terrible proportions. Even preachers make jokes about sinning. Sin is not exceeding sinful to them, nor its punishment exceeding terrible. They would not have us know the terrors of the LORD, though by these very terrors we persuade men. But true religion must have a savor of awe about it: “My heart standeth in awe of thy word,” is the expression of someone that knows God and is reconciled to Him.[2]

Let me say, then, to you who have been thoughtless and careless about your souls until now. I seriously urge you to consider these words: “Stand in awe.” Remember, there is a God. Whatever you may desire, or others may declare, there is a God Who made you, and in Whose hand your breath is. There is a God that sits in heaven, Who beholds all the sons of men. And however much you may dislike the thought, there He is, and there He ever will be, and you will have to deal with Him, and He with you, before long. God is everywhere, present, at all times. He has seen all your evil ways and heard all your hard 1speeches. No night is so dark as to hide from His eye. No closet is so secret as to shut Him out. He has even read your thoughts and imaginations. He notes all, and forgets nothing. All things are ever present to Him. The days of your youth and the years of your adulthood lie open before Him, like a book. If people could but realize that God is here, how could they dare to sin before His very eyes? If at this moment any one of you who is without Christ could only be filled with this one thought, “God sees me,” surely you would stand in awe, and at least desire to sin no more. Well may a preacher speak very solemnly when he feels that he is surrounded with God and that God is within him as well as around him! Well may you tremble if you think that all your thoughts are at this moment read by God! Stand in awe, I pray you, of God, who even now fills this room, and is in your own home. He is everywhere. Will you sin in God’s presence? Can you blaspheme Him to His face? Will you disobey Him while His eyes are fixed upon you? I pray you, stand in awe of the eternal God, in whom you live, and move, and have your being![3]

Remember that this God, who is everywhere, and sees everything, is your Judge. He is pure and holy and cannot bear iniquity. He is angry with the wicked every day and will surely visit you for your transgressions.[4] Every sinful act shall have its proper punishment. Do not doubt it. The world is all in a tangle now, but there will be a day when the LORD will bring justice upon each person. Today the wicked prosper, but there comes a day when God will turn their way upside down. And though the righteous be often under a cloud, He will bring forth their judgment as of the noonday. Everyone has respect for an earthly judge. Therefore, I pray you to stand in awe of the Judge of all the earth.

Do not also forget that your God is almighty. He has but to will it, and the strongest of us would be crushed more easily than a moth. There is no escaping from the LORD. Neither the heights of Mount Carmel nor the depths of the sea could afford shelter for a fugitive from the LORD. Neither can any resist Him, for none have any power apart from Him. You have heard His thunder, and trembled at the bolts of His lightning; behold how dreadful is God in arms! How dare you sin against a God so great? Stand in awe. Even holy Job, when he came near to the LORD, exclaimed, 

“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”[5] 

How can you feel Him near and not be filled with awe? Stand in awe of God because He is infinitely good. The Lord Jehovah is God and a great King above all gods. He is to be had in reverence of them that are round about Him. I know now why Jacob said at Bethel, 

“How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”[6] 

He was filled with a holy dread and solemn awe because God had been so near. I therefore say to you, stand in awe of God, because He is infinitely great and good. God has dealt with me very graciously. Oh, His great goodness! A sense of it is overwhelming. We fear and tremble for all the goodness which the Lord makes to pass before us.

Think of sins forgiven, of righteousness imputed, of spiritual life imparted, of that life preserved, supplied, nurtured. Think of providence with all mindful foresight and abounding supplies. The love of God should make us reverent as angels, and humble as penitents. Even if a man’s pride was so daring as to insult justice, yet it still ought to be melted to humility by God’s great love. There is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. His grace, if not His glory, should command the reverence of the most stubborn hearts. I pray you to stand in awe of God, and sin not. If thoughts of this kind could only stay in your mind, you would indeed perceive that sin is a great wrong to the LORD, and you would flee from it, crying like Joseph, 

“How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”[7] 

Beloved, stand in awe in reference to a future state. You have no doubt about the truth which the Holy Spirit has revealed that when you die, you will continue to exist in eternity. There will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust, “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”[8] Oh, that you would remember this wherever you go! Spurgeon tells of a soldier, a British soldier, who was in the valley of Jehoshaphat, outside Jerusalem, and someone reported that this valley would be the scene of the Last Judgment. In that place, the multitudes would be gathered. The soldier, hearing this, said, “What a crowd there will be! I shall be there, and I will sit on this stone.” He then sat down to imagine the scene, and his imagination acted so powerfully that he seemed to himself actually to be there and actually to see the Great White Throne. He was then seen to faint and fall to the ground. Is that such a surprise? If any one of us could, in our inmost souls, behold that scene, should we not be overcome as he was? I wish I could so speak that some of you would picture that last tremendous day, for which all other days were made.

Behold that day of wrath, that day when justice will sit upon the throne! Behold it by anticipation, for it will soon be upon you. As surely as you live, you will live again, and for every act on earth, you must give an account in that last judgment. Stop messing around, for the Judge is at the door. We may hear His trumpets before this day is over. Let not this thought be driven from you. Rather welcome it, and let it dwell in your mind. If you were to think of nothing else for a time, you might end up being saved, since it is of such overwhelming importance that you prepare for your final state. Shall someone live and never think of the end of life? Can a woman feel it wise to occupy herself with frivolities throughout her entire life? While you are shaping your eternal condition, will you do nothing else but play? Will you never think of that day when your position in Hell will be fixed by the verdict of the great Judge? O my dear friend, do not forget that you have to live in a future state and that you will see Him Who died on the cross seated on the throne, in that day when all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall divide them, the one from the other, as the shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. Hear the word of the King to the righteous, 

“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”[9] 

Hear, also, that dread sentence to those on His left hand, 

“Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”[10] 

Oh, think on these things, and “stand in awe, and sin not”! This awe is one of the strongest moral disinfectants. Use it generously. There is no fear of you having too much of it. He that has no fear of God before his eyes sins with ease, but awe of the Lord leads to purity of life. 

Second, David admonished the ungodly to practice THOUGHTFUL SELF-EXAMINATION 

“Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.” 

I am not so much trying to preach a sermon as I am trying to take you by the hand, to lead you in the right way. I pray the Holy Spirit to make you willing to follow my guidance. I now ask you to think about yourself, “commune with your own heart.”

When men choose the way of evil, they run in it with their eyes closed. Most of you who are lost do not wish to consider the truth. It is easier to go blindly on. You will think about your worldly concerns, your profits, and losses, your pleasures and amusements, your anticipation of fun, but you refuse to seriously consider your condition before God. Think of what you are, and where you are, what you have done, what you are doing, and what it will all lead to! Are you so foolish that you will not consider these things? If not, put on the clown’s hat, and stop pretending not to be what you are. Even if you are a happy go lucky type of guy, it would greatly benefit you sometimes to be wise as well as happy, and to take a look into the future, so that when your time comes, it won’t for you be a leap into the dark. Especially think of the state of your heart. This is vital. Are you right with God? Do you serve your Maker? Have you truly repented of your sins? Have you fled to Christ as your refuge? Have you been born again? Are you the subject of sanctifying grace? “Commune with your own heart” upon these essential points. If you want your face to be clean, you must look into the mirror to see the smudges. And you who would have your heart clean must gaze into the looking-glass of God’s Word so that you may discover your secret faults. Your heart may be diseased while your cheeks seem to blush with health. Look within you, man, and be not deceived as to the reality of your soul’s condition. Have you passed from death to life? Does the Spirit of God dwell in you? Such questions as these are all important. Answer these questions as if you were standing before the living God, without any partiality or negligence. Think by yourself, alone, and in quiet. Oh, how I wish I could persuade you to spend an hour or two by yourself! “Commune with your own heart upon your bed,” at that time when companions are out of the way; when the silliness is silenced, and the idle talk is hushed. Get by yourself when you think of yourself, or it will be an impossible task. Choose a time of night when all is still around you, and darkness allows you to be alone in your thoughts. You can forego a little natural sleep, to be aroused from the sleep of spiritual death. Think of your bed and sleep as instructive emblems of the grave your body will someday lie in and death. They may aid you in the serious work of examining your hearts. Remember that, as you take off your clothes to go to bed, so you must put off your physical body someday. Are you ready for that undressing? Make your bed the place of godly sorrow for sin, even as David did when he said, “All the night make I my bed to swim.”[11] The earth has dew, so let your heart have tears.

Think by yourself, of yourself, and then think for yourself. You’ve been carried away by your friends and boyfriends. You’ve tried to think as they think. The general opinion of the age may have influenced you to be indifferent about spiritual things. With a family round about you, you have looked at things too much in the light of business and personal benefit. But all this, it will be wise to lay aside. As you will have to die alone, and to put in a personal appearance at the Great White Throne of judgment, it will be prudent to remove yourself from your surroundings, and “commune with your own heart.” Think seriously about this portion of God’s Word. If you are unsaved, I suggest that you think rather than sleep. The tendency of most people with regard to eternal things is to go to sleep and let matters drift. I pray you do not do that. I dare not let you take your rest while all is wrong with you.

Sleep, if you like, in a house that is on fire. Sleep, if you want, in a ship that is listing and rapidly sinking. But I charge you do not sleep while you are an unforgiven sinner, and your soul is nearing its eternal sorrow. “Commune with your own heart upon your bed.” Use your bed for seeking instead of sleeping. I remember when I dared not go to sleep, for fear I might wake up in Hell. I came to Christ early, early in the morning, after a long night of reading the Bible and reflecting. Many, when under conviction of sin, have at length resolved not to sleep until they found Christ. I wish that some such feeling as that would come over you right this moment. Keep on thinking till you come to be still. “Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.”

Do you know what that means? There comes a time with those God is saving when everything grows quiet within them. Their old pleasures and desires are hushed. The voice of the outside world is still. And they hear in the silence of their souls “the still small voice” of conscience. Oh, that you were at this moment still enough to hear that warning! Memory also begins rehearsing the past. It tells of the past and brings forgotten things before the soul. Oh, that all of you would remember and remember that God requires payment for that which was done in the past. Best of all, God speaks in the soul. It was at night, when young Samuel was on his bed, that the LORD said to him, “Samuel, Samuel.” And it is when the heart at last has grown still that God’s voice of mercy is heard calling to the sinner by name. Oh, that in such a case, you may have the grace to answer, “Speak; for thy servant heareth.”[12] I urge you, give yourself space for thought before thought becomes the worm of eternal misery to you. Remember, before you hear that voice which spoke to the rich man in Hell, and said to him, “Son, remember.”[13] You slaves of fashion and frivolity, think! You servants of daily money-grubbing, rest awhile, and hear what God the Lord will speak to you! Do allow the eternal voices to pierce the clamors of the hour. Do, for God’s sake, and for your soul’s sake, hear what wisdom teaches concerning everlasting things! O Lord, give grace to them, that they may consider their ways, and turn unto thy statutes! 

Very briefly, let us note that David gives a third piece of advice, which in essence means APPROACH GOD CORRECTLY 

“Offer the sacrifices of righteousness.” 

I do not quite know what David himself may have intended by it, but this is how I interpret it: Come to God. Come to God in His way. Come as Israel came to the Tabernacle in the wilderness, bringing their sacrifices with them. When they brought their sacrifices, the first thing they did was to lay their hand on the victim, and make a confession of sin. Come, then, with broken and contrite hearts unto the LORD: 

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” 

Recognize your shortcomings and transgressions. Do not conceal or excuse your sins. Get alone and tell the Lord what you have done. Pour out your heart before Him. Turn yourself upside down, as it were, and let all flow out, even to the dregs. Confess your pride and unbelief, your unfaithfulness in Church, your dishonesty, your falsehood, your disobedience to parents, your immorality, your every violation of God’s law. Whatever you have done wrong that comes to mind, lay it before Him, and go to Him in the only way in which He can receive you, as a sinner admitting your guilt.

Go also to the LORD with gracious desires to be rid of sin. Plead for reconciliation, saying, “I would no longer be what I have been. I throw down the weapons of my rebellion. I pluck out the plumes of my pride. O Lord, I stand before You guilty, and I pray you to forgive me, and then rid me of the tyrant evils which now rule me so terribly!” “Oh, that I may sin no more! If I have been a drunkard, help me from this day to stop drinking. If I have been a swearer, wash out my mouth. May I, from now on, speak nothing but that which will be acceptable to you! If I have been immoral, cleanse my mind, that I may keep my body pure!” In this way, come to God with a contrite heart. How much do I desire that you may draw near to God with true repentance and a strong resolve to conquer sin!

The main thing, however, is to bring unto the LORD the offering which He has divinely appointed and provided. You know what that is. There is one sacrifice of righteousness without which you cannot be accepted. Come to God by faith in Jesus Christ, plead the precious blood of atonement, and say, “My Lord, for His dear sake Who died upon the tree, receive this wanderer, and now be pleased to grant me that repentance and remission of sins which He is exalted to give.” Friend? Am I speaking to reach your heart? If not, I don’t want to talk any longer. I’d much rather be quiet than minister to your condemnation. If you come through Christ, you will never be cast out. The Father will receive any sinner that pleads the name of Jesus. And Jesus is willing that you should plead His name. He died on purpose to be the propitiation for our sins. God grant that you may accept Him as such! Come to your God. This is the great necessity of the hour. Say, “I will arise and go to my father.” If the prodigal had said, “I will arise, and go to my brother,” he would have made a great mistake, because the elder brother would have shut the door in his face. Even if his brother had been kind, he could not have forgiven the transgressor. Only his father alone could do that. Come, then, to your God with earnest prayer.

Come also with humble praise, for there’s much to be thankful for that you are still alive and not yet cast into the pit. Come to your God and Father, with the resolve henceforth to render Him your life’s service, saying, 

“O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name,” 

Isaiah 26.13. 

I close with the fourth point, perhaps the most important of all: EXERCISE FAITH. 

When holy awe and thoughtful self-examination have led you to seek the LORD, then you are prepared for what follows. It is the command of the Gospel in its Old Testament form: “Put your trust in the LORD.” In whom should a man trust but in his God? It may seem reasonable to trust another person, but human beings are frail things, and to lean upon a mortal being ensures a fall. It is, therefore, unreasonable to trust in the creature. But to rely upon the Creator is the dictate of pure reason.

May God, the Holy Ghost, lead you at once to a childlike faith in our faithful God! 

“Put your trust in the LORD.” 

First, trust Him as willing to receive you, to forgive you, to accept you, and to bless you. Are you despairing? Do you say, “There is no hope”? “Put your trust in the LORD.” Are you saying, “I am without strength, and, therefore, cannot be saved”? Why not? “Put your trust in the LORD.” Does the evil one say that God will not receive you? “Put your trust in the LORD,” Who is infinitely gracious and full of compassion. He says, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”

Surely, you may trust in Him whose mercy endures forever. Especially trust in the LORD as He reveals Himself in the person of His Son Jesus Christ. In Christ, you see love written out in capital letters. “Put your trust in the LORD” as having provided the one sacrifice for sin, whereby He has put away forever all the sins of those who believe in Him. God is just, and the justifier of Him that believeth. Believe that the precious blood can make you whiter than snow, scarlet sinner, as you are. Come with that daring trust which ventures all upon the bare promise of a faithful God. Say, 

“I will go in unto the King, and if I perish I perish.” 

If you do not trust in Christ, you must be lost; therefore, come and try the divine way of salvation. The Lord Jesus is God’s unspeakable gift, freely bestowed on all who by faith receive Him. Dare to grasp what God holds out to you as the one hope of your spirit. Put your trust in the Lord; I beseech you. By His agony and bloody sweat, by His cross and passion, by His precious death and burial, by His glorious resurrection and ascension, I entreat you to trust the Son of God. Who has once appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 

Would you be saved from sin? Pay close attention to the inspired directions of the psalmist David. Listen as I tell you again where the stepping stones are that will guide you through the swamp of sin to the safe shore of salvation.

First, feel reverent awe. He writes, “stand in awe.” And there are good and sufficient reasons to stand in awe of God, as you have heard.

Second, practice thoughtful self-examination. “Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.” Those of you who are too busy to think, who surround yourselves with distractions and chattering friends and coworkers, you do not fool me. You are avoiding thoughtful self-examination.

Third, approach God correctly. David wrote, “Offer the sacrifices of righteousness.” The Lord Jesus Christ interpreted for us by telling Thomas, “No man cometh unto the Father but by me.”[14]

The final stepping stone through the swamp of sin to the shore of salvation is “put your trust in the LORD.” Exercise faith in Jesus Christ. Believe on Him. Come to Him.

__________

[1] Luke 15.19

[2] Psalm 119.161

[3] Acts 17.28

[4] Psalm 7.11

[5] Job 42.5

[6] Genesis 28.17

[7] Genesis 39.9

[8] 2 Corinthians 5.10

[9] Matthew 25.34

[10] Matthew 25.41

[11] Psalm 6.6

[12] 1 Samuel 3.10

[13] Luke 16.25

[14] John 14.6

Would you like to contact Dr. Waldrip about this sermon? Please contact him by clicking on the link below. Please do not change the subject within your email message. Thank you.

Pastor@CalvaryRoadBaptist.Church