Psalm of David 141. Lord, I cry unto thee, make haste unto me, give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands at the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing. to practice wicked works with men that work iniquity. And let me not eat of their dainties. Let's come before the Lord in prayer. Once again, our gracious God and Father, it's our joy to come into this place of worship. It's our duty and our joy to bring our evening sacrifice of praise and worship. Again, Lord, as we pray this morning, we pray that you would present yourself amongst us, and all we do here may be to your praise and to your glory, and that you would do our souls good, and that we'd leave this place saying it was good to be in the house of our God. So again, gracious spirit, we beseech you to come in our midst and to infuse us, enliven us in our worship and our praise and in the hearing of the word of God. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. First hymn, please, Maddie. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? I'll be stronger than ever. See the streams of living water streaming from each to save. Faces like the gold I've given, never less a face to hate. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? If you'd like to turn your Bibles please to Psalm 70, the 70th Psalm. Psalm 70, let us hear the word of God together. To the chief musician, a psalm of David to bring to remembrance. Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them be turned backward. and put to confusion that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for reward of their shame that say, aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee, and let such as love thy salvation continually say, let God be magnified. But I am poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God, Thou art my help and my deliverer, O Lord, make no tarrying. And then a second reading is found in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter 27, commencing at verse 34. Jesus has been before with a Sanhedrin, Simon of Cyrene is being compelled to carry his cross and they bring the Lord Jesus to Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull. And there in verse 34 we read, they gave him vinegar to drink and mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof he would not drink. And they crucified him and parted his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. And sitting down, they watched him there. and set up over his head his accusation written, this is Jesus, king of the Jews. Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left. And they that pass by railed him, wagging their heads and saying, thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be a son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocked, mocking him with the scribes. And the elders said, he saved others, himself he cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross. And we will believe him. Be trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if he will have him. For he said, I am the Son of God. The thieves also which were crucified with him cast the same in his teeth. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. May the Lord That is blessing to the reading of his most precious word. We have a second hymn, please. Thank you. The Son of God, almighty God, came down to earth Yeah. This is where we have become the Holy One in Heaven. He gave a hand, O priest, for me. In love, O priest, he called me home. He went to all in red for me. He drank my cup, all proud and full, and well did the guests say. ♪ Went up to Calvary for me ♪ ♪ And paid my debt there for my God ♪ ♪ In his own holy blood he died for me ♪ Let's pray together. Oh, our Lord and God, our blessed Father who art in heaven, we come again in poverty of spirit, seeking to worship and to praise you in spirit and in truth. We come to worship the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we thank you again, our God, that you are high and lifted up that you reign upon the circle of this earth, that your glory fills the courts of heaven. You are all glorious in your power and in your majesty. You are the great, you are the awesome God. And our Father, we thank you that you are our God. We thank you Lord for the grace and mercy you have bestowed upon us. We thank you again for that great love found in the work and person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came as a babe to Bethlehem, who lived that perfect, that righteous, spotless life. The God-man who dwelt amongst his people. And we thank you, Father, that he was faithful to the charge you set before him there, before the foundation of the world, to come and to redeem a people to himself. We thank you, our Father, that he left those glorious courts of majesty and splendor, of immense beauty and purity, that place of eternal perfection, and he came as a man to suffer and to die upon Calvary's cross. And we thank you, our Father, that not only did he die for the sins of his people, but again on the third day he rose again from the dead. And again we cry hallelujah, what a Savior. We thank you that he now sits at your right hand, interceding for his people, interceding for us, interceding for me. What a privilege we have of this great high priest who brings our feeble prayers and petitions before your throne of grace and perfects them. And Lord, we bless you that you have an ear to our cries for mercy and compassion. But as cries of, when we are in days of distress and discomfort, you are a God who hears and comes and delivers. As the children of Israel cried in their distress, Lord, we thank you that you did not turn your face from them, but you smiled upon them with grace and favor. And Lord, as we go through the history of the church, even to this day, you still smile with your grace and favor upon us. Even though, Lord, we feel discouraged at times in this world, as we look at your church, your bride, the one whom you have purchased with your precious blood, we see your bride marginalized and mocked and ridiculed, but yet, Lord, we are your people, and we would not be any other. For you are a great Savior and worthy to be praised, worthy to be served and worshipped, worthy to be uplifted high in our hearts and in our minds. You are glorious above all glory. And so tonight, Lord, we come with thanksgiving upon our lips, upon our tongues, and we pray again, Lord, we accept our thanksgiving for your many, many mercies toward us. For, Lord, you have been infinite in your goodness to us, Lord, our blessings we cannot number, even through this day. And as we were to count them, Lord, through this passing year, they are too numerous. But Lord, you have abundantly kept us safe and watched over us and blessed us. And we give you the thanks and praise for those mercies. Lord, even for those who've been going through hard days and hard circumstances, Lord, you have sustained as you promised, as your days are, so your strength will be. And Lord, again, we approve that, and that your word is faithful. And we, again, give you all the praise and the glory. Lord, how can we thank you? Words fail us, yet our hearts are full, and we thank you that you can read our hearts. They're ever open. to whatever seeing eye. Lord, again, we confess our sin, our waywardness. Lord, we confess our weakness, our poverty. Lord, we've given to the sense of bankruptcy before you. Yet, Lord, in Christ, we have riches beyond measure. Lord, give us eyes to see those spiritual riches which are in Christ Jesus. there in the heavenly places. We pray again, Lord, that you would continue to sustain us through this coming year. Lord, you may go before and encourage in these days of small things. We would not despise the day of small things, but Lord, again as we pray this morning, we beseech you humbly to visit your church with reviving power. to come amongst us and to give us zeal, to give us energy, to give us a concern for the lost. Lord, again, we pray for this church and many other churches in our district, in East Bournemouth, for Mayfield, for Withersfield, for churches in Bexhill and Hastings, for those churches who have no pastors, for Market Street. And again, Lord, we pray to raise up men, God-fearing men, who will proclaim the full counsel of our God. Lord, you would encourage us. Lord, we confess we are often discouraged as we look around, and yet, Lord, we pray. Give us a zeal to pray for souls, to pray for one another, and to pray for the glory of your church. Lord, use us, we pray. Use us, Lord, for your glory. Empty vessels that we are, poor as we are, yet, Lord, we pray that you may fill us with those wonderful riches in Christ. We do pray again, Lord, for those who are sick amongst us. We pray, Lord, they will be able to tune into this service again tonight, and that their souls may be encouraged and blessed. That, Lord, together we may rejoice in our great salvation. And so, Lord, as we come to look into your word in a moment, we pray for ears to hear, hearts to respond. May we not just be hearers of the word, but may we be doers of it. And that to your praise and to your glory. And so, Lord, again we humbly seek you to bless us, If we remain with our time together tonight, and we ask this in the precious name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Thank you, Maddie. Through all the changing states of life, in trouble and in joy, the praises of my God ♪ My God and God above ♪ ♪ All these deliverance I will boast ♪ ♪ Till all that I distress ♪ ♪ From all its trouble come to me ♪ In one abode with Thee, with Thee exalt his name. When in distress to Him I call, He's to my rescue came. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, ♪ The best of day and holy day ♪ ♪ To Him is due on high ♪ ♪ Give Him peace days and you will pay ♪ If you could please turn to Psalm 70. Continue our studies through this glorious book of Psalms. We've now come, by God's grace, to the 70th. In our last studies, we looked at Psalm 69 and all its complexities and all its glories and encouragements. Psalm 70. I quite enjoy watching those programs, emergency, SOS, the lifeboats and the ambulances. They're quite moving sometimes, the predicaments people get themselves in. I remember many years ago when we used to go to Folkestone with the children, and Liz, one of the particular groups, said one time, just a few weeks ago, some men were on the edge of a cliff there at Folkestone. It's made of clay, it's full of wonderful fossils. That's why I took the children there to go fossil collecting. Someone at sea saw these two men stranded on the edge of a cliff. A tide was in and they made that emergency call. The operator said, what service would you like? They said, lifeboat. Hurry, quick, it's an emergency. There are two men stranded on the edge of a cliff. Their lives are in peril. It just so happened their lives weren't in peril. They were sitting there, enjoying the view, having a picnic. But other times, that is true. And people go for a walk along the coast and they haven't got a clue of a tide timetable and circumstances and they get trapped and caught. And then the lifeboat is called and these brave men and women rescue their lives. And the call is always, make haste, come quickly, this is an emergency. That's Psalm 70. It's a Psalm of David. It's to the chief musician. And it's a Psalm of David to bring to remembrance. And commentators are divided what that remembrance is. But maybe it might be to remind us that in our days of distress and calamity and danger, we're to pray this prayer. In a sense, Psalm 70 is a short version of Psalm 69. This is what we would call an arrow prayer. Psalm 70 is related in many aspects to Psalm 69 and to Psalm 71. There are themes which are carried on through these three Psalms. So again, it's one of those triads. We considered the triads before. Psalm 69, David prays, save me O God for the waters are coming into my soul. I sink in deep mire. where there is no standing. I'm coming to deep waters where the floods overflow me. So he's speaking here of waters, of a deep mire and of floods. He's been overwhelmed. He cannot cope with the situation. He feels like his life is in danger. And he uses metaphors to express what he's feeling spiritually in his own heart and his own soul. And we can feel that as well at times. In verse 34 he gives us another one of those wonderful triads. Let heaven and earth praise him and the sea and everything that moveth therein. So he's calling upon the heavens to praise God. All that is on the earth to bring praise and worship to God. Not only on the earth but in the sea. All creatures are designed to bring praise and glory. to our God in heaven. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moveth therein. And that includes you and I. As I said this morning, this is our glorious calling to praise and to glory our God and Father in heaven. And David has many burdens upon his heart. We're not quite sure of the historical background to these particular three Psalms, But there are clues, there are enemies. He speaks of his enemies in Psalm 68, and also those in Psalm 70 and 71. And there are many links by word. But David is in a haste. In Psalm 69, verse 17, hide not thy face from my servant, for I am in trouble. Hear me speedily. Psalm 70, make haste, O God, to deliver me. In verse five of Psalm 70, I'm poor and needy, make haste, this is an emergency, I need help right now. Sometimes it's right that we cut our prayers short. We do away with all the frills, so to speak, in our prayer, but we come straight to the point. That's what David is doing here in Psalm 70. Psalm 69 he's embellished it, he's given us pictures to consider and in Psalm 70 he's coming straight to the point. That's good. Other times we need to be more reverent and to be more God-fearing. One commentator says he's greatly helped by this very simple word, acts. When we come to prayer, acts. What does he mean by that? A for adoration. When we come to God, we have to adore him, speak of his splendor, his majesty, his glory, and the glory in his attributes, his character, his love and his mercy. and we come with adoration and praise upon our lips, that the heaven and earth praise Him, the sea and everything else therein. Adoration, is that how we approach God in prayer? Reverently, with that sense of His awesomeness, His greatness, His great God, and we approach Him with fear and trembling, but yet with love and with an invitation. and we bring our adoration and praise to him. A, for acts. C, confession. We confess our sin. We confess our shortcomings and our failures and our weaknesses. And T, we come with thanksgiving. We come with praise, yes, but also thanksgiving for what God has done for us, provided for us, those daily blessings which are necessity for life, our foods, our homes, our clothing, our loved ones. Thanksgiving for our church, for one another, as we pray for one another. Thanking God that He has preserved us as we prayed earlier on. As a church, God has kept us through these days. Acts, adoration, confession, Thanksgiving, and death for supplication. We supplicate our God on behalf of others. We pray for those who wouldn't pray for themselves. We bring our prayers on their behalf. We bear their burdens in prayer and also in practical ways. That's a very simple word to remember. Acts, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. But David here is cutting straight to the chase. Now, this psalm has been repeated. You'll find, example, In Psalm 40, verses 13 to 17, we considered that many, many months ago. But this is pretty much word for word of Psalm 40, verses 13 to 17. And David is concerned for his welfare. He's concerned for his spiritual welfare and for his physical welfare. Make haste, O God, to deliver me Make haste to help me, O Lord." And he's calling upon the Lord not to be slow, not to delay, but to come quickly and to bring deliverance. This is a prayer we should pray. Prayer when we feel ourselves in danger, both physically and spiritually. And we often feel this way. We're in situations where we feel we're out of our depth and we need God's help, we need God's grace, we need God's strength to deliver us and to bear us through these hard and trying circumstances. And I know that some of us are going through hard and trying circumstances and it is difficult, yet God would have us to call upon Him. to call upon Him first, as we've seen previous Psalms. He should be that first port of call, to call upon Him. And as doing so, call upon Him to come quickly, to come speedily, and to make haste to deliver us. Will He do that? Will He do that? He will, in His time, according to His purpose. Again, a God is a God who cannot lie. He's a God who's made these rich promises in His Word, and we have to bear that in mind. He's a God who's promised never to leave us, nor to forsake us. He's a God who will deliver. He has delivered, and again, Psalmist wants us to grow in our minds the times where God has, and He does in the present, He will also do there in the future. David is also concerned. for God's glory, let them be ashamed and confounded, verse 2, that seek after my soul, let them be turned back and put to confusion, that desire my hurts. He's asking God to turn the tables upon them, those who wish to do him harm, he's saying let them be ashamed of their thoughts and of their actions and of their deeds, let them be confused, confounded, that seek after my soul, they are those who seek our harm. There are those who seek our harm. We're seeing that in our day. There are those who are seeking to destroy family values, the family. We live in a day where there are those who pray to Satan, particularly against Christian families, but they may be destroyed. We have laws passed. We're going through a time of trying at this very time, where we're not to meet with our families and our loved ones. We know the reasons the government give for these dictates, but they are undermining the fabric of our society. They're undermining the mental states of many. I was speaking to a man just two weeks ago, has to visit his mother. She's in the 90s. She's given up. She hasn't been out since March. He's not allowed to visit her. He's not allowed to give her comfort in her own home and she's taken to her bed. It's family values. They've been undermined, friends. We need to be mindful of these things. Those who seek to break Christian fellowship, they say, churches must be close. And again, we understand the reasons for these principles which are being laid down. But there comes a time, surely, when as the people of God, we need to question the authority of our governments. They're telling us we can't have Christians in our home, you can't give hospitality. The Scriptures say we are to give hospitality one to another. Now these are issues the church needs to confront and consider very carefully. There are those who seek after my soul, says David. We're living in very strange days indeed. So pray for leaders, pray for godly leaders, that they will give wise counsel in these most trying days and situations. Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul. Let them be turned backward and put to confusion that desire my hurt. Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame that say, aha, aha. There are those who seek our harm, In this psalm, there are another group of seekers. Verse 4, let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee. Let all those that seek Thee rejoice. Friends, this evening, are you a seeker after God? Let all those that seek Thee rejoice. If something is of value, you need to put effort into it. Job speaks of that miner who digs for those jewels in that deep mine, in the darkness. That seeking takes effort. He's got to move material to seek and to find those nuggets and those diamonds and those jewels. Seeking demands effort, demands concentration, demands discipline. that those that seek be rejoiced. And when you find those nuggets, do you not feel your heart rejoice? The glorious things contained in Scripture, when we deep into these precious truths and they make our souls rejoice, because they're glorious. And we're glad, and we're glad we spent that time exploring the Word of God. Are we a seeker? Are you a seeker tonight? Are you gonna be a seeker this coming year? into the attributes of God, into His ways, into His mercies. Let's make that resolution as a people, to be seeking after the truth, seeking after righteousness and justice. Let's be those that rejoice in the truth as the Lord reveals it to us. Let each of us, and let each, and let such as love for His salvation continually say, let God be magnified. Let God be magnified. No matter what circumstances you're in, no matter what difficulties, no matter what setbacks, no matter what disappointments, no matter what the future may, in your mind, hold for you, the Swami says, and let such as love thy salvation, say continually, let God be magnified. Again, there's a link to a previous psalm, verse 36. The seed also of his servant shall be inherited, and they that love his name shall dwell therein. Those who love his name, what a name we love. What a wonderful name it is. Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us. the name which is high above every other name. And the saints love that name. And when we think of that name, it just overwhelms us with joy and love and wonder as we consider what he has done for us. We love his name because he first loved us. We love his salvation for it is the gift of God. And it's a glorious gift. And he exhorts us, let God be magnified. Let God be magnified. Together, let us magnify our God. Let's make Him big. He is big. And puny you and I, he exhorts us to magnify Him in our praise, in our worship, in our commitment to His cause. Let God be magnified. Are you a magnifier of God tonight? Is that your desire to magnify this God, to make Him big in the eyes of your friends and family, your contacts, your colleagues at work? Let us magnify the Lord together. Let's pray that God will be magnified from this pulpit in this coming year, that His glory may be revealed to us and we rejoice in our great and glorious salvation. David says there in verse five, but I am poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help and my deliverer. O Lord, make no tarrying. Does not Matthew say, blessed are the poor in spirit? God does not like the proud and haughty spirit. God likes those who see their poverty, their spiritual poverty and their bankruptcy. And David confesses here, I am poor. But he's the king. He has riches. He has power. Yet in his spirit, he feels that poverty. It needs to be praised. I am poor and needy. Dear friends, that is who we are. We are poor. spiritually poor, as a nation we are poor, we're almost in famine conditions and we're needy, we're a needy, needy people. In our prayer meetings, let's pray for the needs of a church, the needs of this church, the needs of churches in our district, in our nation and around the world. There's a need for godly men, and godly women in our churches. There's a need for men to fill these pulpits. We're in a generation of small things. We are poor and we're needy. Yet, we have one who is not poor, who can supply all our needs. Where is the earnestness? Where is the prayerfulness? We're poor in spirit. We are needy people. So David prays again, make haste unto me, O God. Thou art my help and my deliverer. O Lord, make no tarry. Do you long to see the day of the Lord? Is that your heart's desire, to see his glory manifested in the church? Ultimately, his glory manifested to the world, and he shall return in power and glory. So this is a prayer, a prayer in an emergency situation, and God will hear that prayer. We read there from Matthew 27, and I'm sure our Lord Jesus prayed such a prayer as this. Verse three, let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, but say, aha, aha. And as he hung upon Calvary's cross, as he bled, as he was beaten, that crown of thorns placed upon his head, those nails thrust into his hands and to his feet, what did the chief priests and scribes do? haha, haha, he said he's the Son of God, if he's the Son of God, let him come down. Then we'll believe. They scoffed and they mocked at the Eternal Son of God. You who had pulled down a temple and built it again in three days. They mocked and they scoffed. That's what the scorner does. And yet, the Lord sustained him. And he will sustain his people. When we are mocked and scorned, let them be turned back for reward of their shame. Let's say, aha, aha. And God will turn them. God willing, he will turn them to himself, as he did some of those scribes and Pharisees. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, and in the Book of Acts we see that many believe, many of the lawyers, the scribes, they believed. Probably those who scoffed at the Savior as He bled and died there on the cross. They were turned back. They were turned back in grace. But oh, there is another turning, where God turns His back upon them. and they are cast into that pit of everlasting damnation, of hellfire and judgment. There is a turning, and God is the one who turns the hearts and minds of men. Are you a scoffer? Are you one who sits and hears these things? Are you ever online or here in person? Are you one of those who will have nothing to do with this Jesus? The Scriptures are plain. Again, turn to Him. Turn to the Saviour. Make haste. We can say that surely, can't we? Make haste. Why put off that day? You cannot Guarantee another breath, another minute of our life. Make haste to put your soul right with this Savior tonight. This night, is this the night of salvation? Is this a night when God will turn your heart? Can you confess with David here, I am poor. I am bankrupt. I have no means of myself. to make amends for my sin, I need a savior, I am needy, I need salvation, I need grace. Oh, if you're such a one tonight, make haste and he will deliver you. He's promised. And again, He's a God who cannot lie. Make haste, O God, to deliver me. Make haste to help me, O Lord. May that be the prayer of one's heart tonight to the glory of His name. Amen. Closing hymn, please, Maddie. O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, to Bethlehem. You are the help for us. You are the help for us. You voice the past, dear voice, who wins and sees the way. He shall prepare your way. He shall prepare your way. So shall your work be done. So shall your work be done. A profit can be made. My self wants to be made. ♪ To Him, command your host, be dear ♪ ♪ A gentle, softest prayer ♪ ♪ A gentle, softest prayer ♪ ♪ Through age and past and storm ♪ He gently cares for me. Great men, despite, so childish quite, Serve men in joyous way. Serve men in joyous way. to choose and to command. So shall you wander in God's way, a voice has called Israel. And now the Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.