Hello, you're listening to Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church. Stephen Pollack is the pastor of Free Presbyterian Church of Malvern, Pennsylvania. The church is located at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. Thank you for joining us today as Dr. Pollack opens the Word of God and lets the Bible speak. Well, let's take our Bibles and turn tonight to the Psalm 21. Again, entitled to the chief musician, a Psalm of David. The King shall joy in thy strength, O Lord, and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice. For it has given him his heart's desire, and has not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. For thy preventest him, or come before him, with the blessings of goodness, and thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. He has life of thee, and thou givest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. His glory is great in thy salvation. Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him, for thou hast made him most blessed for ever, and thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved. Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies, and thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger. The Lord shall swirl them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. For they intended evil against thee, they imagined a mischievous device which they are not able to perform. Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them. Be thou exalted, O LORD, in thine own strength. So will we sing and praise thy power. Again, you'll be familiar with the language of the Messianic Psalms. It's a term we use, really, for a type of psalm that is pointing forward to the Messiah. Again, the Messianic title, of course, the word Messiah in that particular term. And some of the Psalms are clearly messianic in that they're quoted directly in the New Testament regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. You take Psalm 110 or Psalm 2, very directly quoted in the New Testament regarding Jesus, the Christ of God. Other Psalms are messianic in how they point forward, particularly to a coming King. If you like, a king greater than David. And there are several Psalms, and some of these, I should say, are also quoted in the New Testament, but they may be known as the Royal Psalms. Psalms that refer to the king and the triumph of the king. We saw one, the Psalm 20, last Wednesday evening. Recognize language there that relates to David as the king, but then also pointing forward to a greater than David. One that's going to come in the line of David, yet exceed David in glory and in triumph. And so the, if you like, the exalted terms in these Psalms clearly go beyond the person of David himself. So you take Orr's Psalm, tonight's Psalm 21, and you'll see there, verse number four, for example, he asked life of thee and thy giveth it him, even length of days forever and ever. Now, the term forever and ever is sometimes used in the Old Testament scripture, in the Hebrew, for something that goes on for a very long time, not necessarily eternal. But having said that, you still get the sense that there's more than David in view here. And so it continues, verse 5, Now, We should see more than David here. The Bible itself encourages us to see Christ prophetically seen in these songs of David. Again, you think of how the Lord treats, again, the idea of David and his greater son in his language to the enemies of the gospel in the gospel narratives. David himself said, by the Holy Ghost, Mark 12, the Lord said to my Lord, David himself calls him Lord. And so, again, you're getting a sense that there is one coming after David who is greater than David. David, of course, was a great and successful king. There was much accomplished in his reign, and yet his time on this earth came to an end. He died. He is not this eternal king sitting forever upon the throne of David. That promise was to David's seed. And so when Peter preaches in the Death Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, he emphasizes the fact this David, this patriarch David, is both dead and buried. And a sepulcher is with us unto this day, therefore being a prophet. pointing forward to the one that is to come, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne." Speaking of the resurrection of Christ and Peter's own interpretation of these promises. And so definitely we are encouraged to see more than David in the Psalms. We're being provoked, really driven, by David himself. to look to a greater that is still to come in David's own lifetime. Of course, the theological link here is in what we term the Davidic covenant. The covenant that God made with David that one of his sons would sit on the throne forever and forever. You turn across to the psalm. Again, you'll see one of the renditions of this Davidic covenant in that psalm, and the language is used very directly regarding the promise made to David that God would build him a house. Remember the context. David wants to build a house for God, and the Lord says, no, I'm going to build a house, a house in your name, a house that will be in your line and lineage, verse number 3. I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant. Thy seed will establish forever and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah." It's the language we call the Davidic covenant. Over in verse 28 of the same psalm, again, you'll see that Again, the psalmist develops it further and says there in verse 28, The promise of an enduring covenant. And you'll see there, verse number 28, use the term, my mercy will I keep for him forevermore. And the word mercy there is that Hebrew word hesed that we see so often in the scriptures, the covenantal faithfulness of God. God's made a covenant that he will not break. My mercy, my covenant mercy, will I keep for him forevermore. That same mercy is highlighted in our psalm. Again, back to Psalm 21, and verse number 7, as David reflects upon his reign and the joy given to him by the Lord. Verse number 7, For the king trusted in the Lord, and through the mercy, same word, through the mercy of the Most High, he shall not be moved. As I say, David finds the end of his days. He can get no warmth. He's marked by human weakness. Oh, certainly marked by human sinfulness, even throughout his reign. It's a greater than David expected here in the fulfillment of this covenant. And so David knows that his victories are owing to the covenantal mercy and faithfulness of God, that same covenant that guarantees the coming of a son of David, a greater son. And so tonight, this Psalm that seems to speak so personally of the experience of David, points forward to a greater than David. And that's where we get the benefit. If this only refers to David, it certainly encourages us. But you're not David. I'm not David. This experience may belong to David alone. But it's in the Psalms to encourage us that we would see in the language here prophetically the very heart and mind and experience of the Christ of God. It's often the case that we see more insight into the heart of the Savior in the Psalms than we see in the historical narratives in the Gospels. In many ways, the Gospels shows us the events, and at times we get words that give insight into the Lord's emotions and feelings, but in the Psalter, we sometimes see real insights into the Lord's experience of salvation. And so what you have here tonight is really this Psalm showing us the joy of the King. an insight into what provoked joy in the heart of the Savior. We know his joy was full, but here you're seeing verse number one, the King shall joy in thy strength and in thy salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice. If we're to see Christ in this, then we're to see the joy of Christ. We get an insight into the heart of Christ that would encourage our souls, increase our faith and love for the Savior. the Lord's joy that should be our joy, that we would find ourselves taking delight in the things the Lord takes delight in, that our joy would be equivalent to, not in proportion, not in magnitude, but at least in its source to the joy of Christ himself. What do we rejoice in? Well, the Lord here rejoiced, of course, in the Lord's goodness, in the Lord's presence. And again, you have that. Verse number three, Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness. Verse number six, Thou hast made him most blessed forever. Thou hast made him exceedingly glad with thy countenances. He's delighting in God's presence. He certainly delights in his victory over his enemies. Verse 8 through 12 highlights the victory of this king over his enemies, and Christ will indeed rejoice in that final victory, in his ultimate return and coming. We see those things. But what struck me tonight was really the words of verse number 2. Or again, it says here, "...in thy salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice, thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips." To which the psalmist adds the Sela, encouraging us to pause upon this. That the joy of the psalmist, the joy of David, was the joy of answered prayer. Answered prayer in the realm of God's deliverance. So for David, salvation in the terms of deliverance and victory, Christ, of course, rejoicing in the salvation. He's accomplished the salvation accomplished in answer to his prayers that has given him his heart's desire. And so tonight, I just want to very, very briefly draw from that language and see Christ's joy in answered prayer and note when the Lord prays, what he prays for, and how those answers to prayer provokes joy in the Savior as they relate to our salvation. You see, Christ's joy in answered prayer corresponds to his joy in our salvation for the joy set before him when he endured the cross. His prayers are answered, therefore He rejoices. Our souls are saved, therefore He rejoices, because His prayers are for our salvation as the people of God. And that's so encouraging to our hearts. So turn in your Bibles. Again, we're going to look at several times in the Gospels very, very quickly. I'm not going to explain all the passages, but just highlight the things He prays for. And I believe there are six here, six things the Lord prays for that are answered and provokes joy in His soul. Begin in Luke, Luke chapter 3. Luke chapter 3, and I've tried to organize these thematically without necessarily being strictly chronological, but they also are somewhat chronological. In Luke 23, we find the Lord here praying, first of all, for the Holy Spirit. We find the Lord in his baptism, verse number 21 of Luke chapter 3, and it says here, Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized and praying, The heaven was opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven. It's my suggestion to you here that the Lord is pleading the Old Testament promises that he would be anointed with the Spirit of God in fulfillment of portions given to us by Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach the gospel. Again, that language is used over in chapter 4. And so the Lord, as he's being baptized, he's praying for the Spirit of God. And that prayer is answered. Chapter 4, verse 1. Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost. Chapter 4, verse 14, So what you're seeing here, I believe, is the Lord praying for the Spirit of God. The Spirit that was essential for the human nature of the Lord to be empowered by the Spirit. There was to be no confusion of the Lord's two natures. And so His human nature depends upon the power of the Spirit of God for His ministry. And He delights in answers to His prayers. And the Spirit of God is poured out upon the Son. We also should pray for that. We should pray for an outpouring of the Spirit of God. We're told to do that. We see that. We are to ask our Father for the Holy Spirit. The Father gives gladly such a precious gift. We should pray for it and delight in the outpouring of the Spirit of God. It brings joy to Christ. It should bring joy to our hearts also. And secondly, he prays for, if you like, in general terms, for success. So first of all, for the spirits, and secondly, for success in gospel ministry. You turn back to Mark, and what is significant, this is the early days of the Lord's ministry, and he's immediately very busy in the work. In verse number 35 of Mark chapter 1, And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. All I'm doing here, I'm just drawing your attention to times when the Lord is seen to be praying. But looking at it in light of Psalm 21, where his prayers are heard, and they're answered, and he rejoices. Well, what's he praying for here? Why is he praying? Well, again, we're just drawing from the context, and what happens following in Simon, and they, they're with him, followed after him, and when they found him, they said unto him, O men, seek for thee, and he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also. for therefore came I forth, and he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee." It seems to be the case that the Lord has set time aside praying to his Father for blessing upon a preaching tour of the various towns and synagogues in Galilee. He understands even the Savior of the need for the Father to send the Spirit of the hearts of men for the ministry to be truly blessed. And when such a ministry is blessed, it brings about joy. Think Luke 15. The lost son, the lost sheep, the lost coin. There is joy in that parable. As the lost is found, as the ministry is successful, there is joy. So the Lord is here praying for success in gospel ministry. My point to you is that that's seen in your own life. Christ has prayed for success in your life. There was someone brought the gospel to you. The Lord prays for such success and it brings him joy in his heart. And of course, we all should pray for such things tonight. Thirdly, he prays for servants. I'm referring to workers here. He's praying for those who will work for his name. You think of Luke chapter six. In Luke chapter 6, you have, again, the record given to us here of the appointment of the apostles. Verse number 13, Those opening words seem just to pass. And when it was day, Why is that significant? Well, look at the previous verse. And it came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day. We're not sure exactly what he prayed for here. We're not sure they pray that he had a wisdom and choice direction and choice. I suspect this more to do with the grace that they required. as they were called, that they are of grace to serve, and there's a sending out of the disciples and the work they must do that follows this. And so, the Lord is, in general terms, He's praying for those who will continue His ministry, for those who will serve for the glory of His name. He's praying for workers, if you like. And one important thing that is, of course, in Matthew's account. In Matthew's account, we have the account in chapter 10 of Matthew of the apostles being appointed, And the previous verses were told to pray for laborers to go into the harvest field. So clearly there's a connection between the prayers of Christ and the laborers being sent forth and the prayers that we have and other laborers being sent forth. The Lord by pattern here is saying, you pray for laborers and he sends them forth. And so we must do the same. And when God sends forth those laborers, we must indeed rejoice in answers to prayer. But fourthly, he prays for saints. I want you to turn across to Matthew 14. Here we're seeing he's praying for the saints—for those, again, who are following him, who have come to know him. Matthew 14, and you'll look down to verse number 22, Now, again, there are various ideas of what's happening here. Again, we are constrained to interpret the Lord's prayers here in the context The Sea of Galilee is visible to these mountains. And the Lord's in the mountains, and the disciples are in the boat, and they're being tossed with waves. And what's going to happen later on is the disciples are going to be revealed as those who are weak in faith and marked by fear. so my contention is here, the Lord is there praying for the faith and the strength of the disciples. Their passageway is guaranteed. But he's praying for them in the midst of the storm, that they would know the faith, to have faith and not fear in the midst of their troubles. The Lord prays for that. He's praying. We know, again, From the language of John 17, I pray not that thou should take them out of the world, but thou should keep them from the evil. He prays. We have this also in John 11. You know John 11 when he goes to the tomb of Lazarus and he says, the Lord hears him always. Why does he pray there? That those who hear his prayer and see the results of the prayer in Lazarus coming forth, that they would believe. That they'd believe. See, Christ here is praying for the faith of the saints—a faith that will not fail, a faith that will be strong. Christ is praying for his saints even tonight. He's praying that your faith would not fail. It's his prayers that secured our salvation on the ground of his atoning blood. And we certainly, we must pray similar prayers for each other, praying for each other. Your faith would not fail in the times of trouble and strife and storm. God will answer those prayers and we will rejoice in such an answer to wonderful prayers. So he's praying for saints. We also find in the fifth place, he prays for strength in his trials. And here's a very personal insight into Christ Jesus. It's Luke 22. And of course, the scene is Gethsemane. He's there. And the strength here, I'm not referring so much here to the strength that's required to live in faith in the midst of a storm, but rather the strength that is required to do the will of God, even though it seems difficult. And at times, the Lord is confronted here in Gethsemane with a challenge. Again, you go to Luke 22, and the verse number 41, And he was withdrawn from them by a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. He's praying. Verse number 44, Again, the writer of Hebrews puts it this way, I believe it's a description of the Garden of Gethsemane and the crying of Christ in prayer, and he's strengthened by the angel. Verse number 43, he's praying for the strength to do the will of God. Again, the humanity of Christ confronted with bearing all sins upon the cross and doing the will of God. He needs strength for that, and so do we. He prayed for it. It was answered. He got the strength. He was heard in that he feared. We're told he's heard in that season of prayer. And he rejoices. And he goes to the cross with joy and boldness and confidence. And so we find ourselves, yes, rejoicing with the Savior, but also praying similar prayers, praying for strength to do the will of God, to do what's right, to do what's biblical, even though sometimes that may not be straightforward or easy. And so finally then, sixthly, So we've seen he's praying for the Spirit of God, he's praying for general success in ministry, he's praying for the servants of God, for the saints of God, he's praying for strength in his trials, and he's praying for sinners. And, of course, here I'm referring to John 17. John 17, verse number 20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe in me through their word, that they all may be one, as thy father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. He's praying for souls. They're not yet converted. He's not praying, if you like, for the faith of those who already believe. He's praying for those who do not yet believe, but who will believe. You see, it's a slight difference. He's praying for souls to be converted, that they would come to know and love him and rejoice in him. And so the Lord answers prayers. He sees the travail of his soul and is satisfied. Oh yes, certainly the Lord's travail is seen in the cross, is seen in the garden, is seen in the cross. but he travails in prayer even for sinners at this time, and the Lord is pleased to answer his prayers. And as the Lord answers, he rejoices. So I take you back now to Psalm 21, just to be close. I just thought this would be an edifying way to consider this particular portion. We're seeing the king, the king rejoicing, David rejoicing certainly in God's victories, pointing forward to Christ, And you see verse number two again, Thou hast given him his heart's desire and is not withholding the request of his lips. If our Savior still lives, he still prays, and his prayers are still being answered. Our task as a people of God is to join with Christ in his prayers, in the certain confidence that our prayers will be answered as the Father answers the prayers of the Son. So it's a time again to consider the Savior, to rejoice in Christ, to see Him in His triumph. May we see answers to our prayers, the prayers that echo His prayers for these things tonight and in the coming days. Thank you for taking the time to listen to this episode of Let the Bible Speak from Malvern Free Presbyterian Church. If you'd like more information about the gospel or the church, please call 610-993-3170 or email malvernfpc at yahoo.com. We extend an invitation to all to join us as we worship the Lord each week. You will be made very welcome. The church is situated at 80 Mallon Road, Malvern, Pennsylvania, at the junction of 401 and Mallon Road. We meet for worship on the Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. A Bible study and prayer meeting is also held on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. We preach Christ Crucified.