Our text this evening is our last scripture reading, Psalm 28. As we begin this evening, I want to just begin as we have now for the past several times together and ask a question. What does it look like for the godly man to go to the throne of grace? We've asked that question now several times. But in this 28th Psalm, that question has to be narrowed somewhat. What does the godly man look like? What does he do as he approaches God when he has been unjustly dealt with? When his cause is right, but he has enemies? That's a very important question. It's important because what we've seen thus far is that the psalmist time and time again, he supplicates for mercy, but he does so for God's sake. He shows us that his aim here is not for self-interest. So what does that look like in an instance where he has enemies who are dealing with him most unjustly? What does the godly man look like in such a case? The 28th Psalm gives us the answer. The Psalm easily divides into four basic sections. The first three verses and really the first line of the third verse issues forth a petition where he goes to the Lord and he calls him his rock. And we find here then a man indeed at the throne of grace. And he makes a petition that is of course for self-preservation. He prays that the Lord would undertake for him. But then as you look at the latter portion of verse three, down to the fifth verse, you'll notice that then he begins to pray specifically against his enemies. And he even describes them for us. In verses six and seven, we find the issue. That is the out gate that is given to the psalmist. That is the Lord has indeed heard his prayer, he has delivered him. And so we find statements of thanksgiving. And the psalm, concludes then in the last two verses with a promise. Really a compound promise that belongs to all of God's people, not just to the psalmist himself, but to all of those who call upon the Lord in truth. As we hold those four sections together, what you and I recognize is that this is a case of justice that the psalmist brings before the Lord. He is saying that his cause of course is righteous. And he's pleading that God would intervene. He is praying for himself that he would receive mercy from the hand of God, while simultaneously he prays that God would deal in judgment with those who have unjustly wronged him. I suppose it could seem almost superfluous to say that this Psalm shows us that the man's first point of address is to God. But it's important for us to see that. Throughout, the psalmist makes God his final arbiter and advocate. Well, that is so very crucial. We'll see why that is in just a moment. But friend, I also want you to notice that what you and I have in this 28th Psalm is not just really a portrait of a man who lived several millennia ago. It is a pattern for all of the godly. This is to be your pattern and mine in such a case. And as such friend, I want you to notice that as we look at these eight, nine verses together this evening, we see first of all, the reminder that God's people appeal to the Lord as their arbiter and advocate. God's people appeal to the Lord as their arbiter and advocate. And I want you to notice first of all, how he is their arbiter. I want you to notice again, as you look back at the first verse, that the psalmist begins with a very simple statement of fact. He says, unto thee, unto thee will I cry. That's significant friend, because you notice that immediately the psalmist is very different than the worldly man. The worldly man puts his trust in princes and earthly judges. If there's an issue, an issue of, Unlawfulness, the worldly man will supplicate at the court of man. But notice friend how the psalmist begins. His first point of address is to God. I want you also to notice that it takes the form here of a vowel. It's not merely a statement of fact, is it? It is a statement of intent that he will go to God, to God. as arbiter. As for me, as the psalmist says in Psalm 55, I will call upon God. Let the worldly man call upon whomever he might. The psalmist says, I will go to the Lord. What you and I see then, friend, at the very beginning is that God is the first and principal arbiter for the godly. God is the first and principal arbiter for the godly. And he is so because, of course, they recognize his prerogatives. They recognize that he is judge of all the earth. They recognize, of course, that he is God, the judge of all. They recognize as well that he is the Lord who is the righteous judge, whose righteousness is in all of his works, who always judges justly. They recognize that as they approach him as such, But there is friend also a recognition that the one whom they approach in such a case is the one who knows their own hearts. One whom they approach is the one who tries the righteous and sees the reigns and the hearts of men. A friend that immediately reminds us how solemn a thing it is to approach God in such a way. He goes before the one who knows him perfectly, who knows his hearts. It's in our recesses and thoughts. And he goes to him as judge. It's a striking thing. But friend, I want you to notice that they approach the Lord, the righteous judge, not only with an acknowledgement of his justice and of his prerogatives, but they also recognize their own interest It's important to note in the very first verse, the Psalmist begins by calling the Lord his rock. The parallels you look throughout the Psalm, you'll find in verses seven and eight, where the Lord is called again, his strength and his shield. In verse eight, he's called the strength of his people generally. And so you notice here that the Psalmist recognizes that he has a stake in God's mercy. This is, His God, He's not approaching the Lord only as He is God, judge of all, but He approaches God as He is His God. Beloved, that means then that His approach to the Lord, His approach to the Lord must be only through grace. What you recognize in the Psalm is that the Psalmist makes that quite explicit. I want you to notice, as you look there at the final line of the second verse, he says that he will lift up his hands toward the Holy Oracle. The word in the original is actually, it's the word translated practically everywhere else as the Holy of Holies. It is the proper technical term in the Hebrew for the holiest place in the tabernacle and in the temple. And he says, the psalmist says, I will turn there. When he's making his supplication, pleading for the Lord, his rock, to bestow mercy upon him. He goes before the judge who searches the hearts and tries the reigns of men. He says, I'll turn to the holiest of the places, the temple and the tabernacle. Why might he do so? Friend, you remember in the law, particularly in the book of Exodus, you'll find these words, the mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony sat in the most holy place. It sat in the holy of holies. But note Moses' emphasis. The mercy seat upon the ark of the testimony is in the holiest of places. That word mercy seed, friend, is in fact the Hebrew equivalent of what you have in Hebrews 4, namely a throne of grace. So what is the psalmist saying here? Yes, he goes to God who is judge of all the earth, but he goes to a God in whom he has interest and who has a seed of mercy. Friend, he goes to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is this so important? It's so important friend for us to recognize that the psalmist himself acknowledges that if he deals with God absolutely, if he deals with God as an absolute judge, even in a case such as this, friend, he has enough sin on him. He is worthy of such judgment. under infinite guilt that he could expect no mercy. Just to give you a parallel, friend, you remember in the case of David's life, you had Shimei at the apex of Absalom's rebellion cursing David. Now friend, Shimei, of course, was sinful in doing so. But friend, ask David, Did David by his sin deserve such affliction? Yes, it was Shimei's sin, but did not David deserve so much more? Friend, what you recognize in this text is that the psalmist goes to God in such a case, acknowledging that he needs grace. For if God deals with him according to the rigor of the law, he can expect no mercy. In fact, he acknowledges that even the affliction he is under on account of his own sins, he deserves this and so much more. Now it's to a throne of grace the psalmist turns. He may pray that his enemies receive judgment, but he pleads from his interest in Christ to receive mercy. And so that is the arbiter. It is not God absolute, but God through the Lord Jesus Christ to whom the psalmist appeals. So we come then to the psalmist accusation. The psalmist accusation, you notice this from the third verse and following, he turns now to those who are his enemies and he calls them simply the wicked. And then he says in verse four, he pleads with the Lord that he would give them according to their deeds, according to their wickedness. What you recognize here is that the psalmist is pleading then that the Lord would rescue him. while simultaneously pouring divine wrath upon them, namely his enemies. What you see friend here is that God's people indeed crave justice. It is perfectly consonant with biblical piety. In fact, it is requisite for the godly to crave righteousness and its establishment on the earth. And we see the psalmist really giving us an example of that. Let the heavens rejoice, said the psalmist. Why? For he cometh to judge the earth, Psalm 96 and Psalm 98. It is supposed to fill the people of God with an earnest longing for justice when they see injustice against themselves or in any other case. And so the psalmist demonstrates that. But beloved, I want you to notice that this prayer for self-preservation, and it is a prayer for self-preservation, is not a prayer issued out of self-interest. There is such a radical difference between those two. He may be praying that God preserves him, but friend, it is not only or purely out of a self-interest that he so prays. Why can we say that? I want you again to look at the fourth verse. Friend, he prays that God would deal with them according to their deeds, according to their wickedness. Again, in verse five, because they regard not the works of the Lord. Is it not striking to you, friend, that the psalmist, though so heavily afflicted, and though so personally attacked, is so impersonal as he describes his enemies? He describes them principally as God's enemies, does he not? And so you see here, friend, that while of course the psalmist is praying that the Lord would deliver him, he is not praying out of self-interest. He's not praying for his own sake. This is a general desire that the psalmist has, that God would simply establish righteousness in the earth. He would vindicate his justice over his enemies. Now friend, in general evangelicalism today, as I say to you, I know every time we come across portions of the Psalter such as this, there are those who say this seems so radically impious. Are we not supposed to love our enemies? Are we not supposed to pray for those, even those who persecute us? So how does that agree with what you and I see in Psalm 28? And I want you to notice that there is absolutely no tension even between those two ideas. First of all, friend, I want you to notice that again, the psalmist is praying that God's justice would be established. Friend, every cause of justice is God's cause. No matter its case or context, every cause of justice is the cause of God. whether in the life of the psalmist or in any other case. And so friend, all that the psalmist is praying for here is that God would vindicate his own cause. Ultimately, friend, when the godly pray for the righteousness of God to be revealed, again, it is not self-interest primarily that is to move them. It is that God would establish his cause on the earth. And he would do so by vindicating his justice. Friend, I also want you to notice this. And this is perhaps more of a practical note, I suppose. To whom does the psalmist turn? He turns to God and complains to the Lord about his enemies. Most of those people who think this is impious, friend, when they are wronged legally will turn first and foremost exclusively to an earthly magistrate. Will they not? But how different is our psalmist? He goes to the God who searches and tries the hearts of men. He says, the Lord, the arbiter between me and you. Friend, in fact, this is one of the most poignant expressions of piety in the life of the believer. When he can take his case to the searcher of hearts and have God the one who decides the case and make him first and foremost, his judge. It underscores for us, friend, how dangerous it is to deal unjustly then with the godly. It is a dreadfully dangerous thing to deal unjustly with those who can go before God, who, friend, in a righteous cause, will go to God, even, friend, silently, and ask for the Lord to undertake and to plead their case. The ungodly, of course, in our generation don't think of that. The psalmist underscores how dangerous it is for those men to deal unjustly with the Lord's people. This is a selfless appeal to Jehovah. And the Lord will certainly answer. But finally, as we close, I want you to notice the arbitration. The arbitration that we see at the end of the psalm. Not only does the psalmist have an arbiter in God, And not only has he made his accusation and made it in such a way as to make it God's cause. I want you to notice that the Lord indeed works. He intervenes. He says there again in the sixth verse, the Lord has heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord has answered. He has answered and he's answered positively. And he demonstrates friend that in this text that the Lord has demonstrated his own grace by strengthening the psalmist by upholding him. My friend, as you look at these verses, you might immediately wonder, well, is this simply just an expression of David's case? David, of course, was God's anointed king. And of course, there were special promises and privileges that belonged to him. As he not only featured uniquely in Israel's history, but in redemptive history. My friend, then you find the end of the psalm. Speaking of all of God's people, he says, the Lord is their strength. The very same thing that the Lord was for David. He says here, the Lord is for all of his people. A friend, what you notice is in this text that David's experience knew that the Lord was his strength. And the entailment then friend is that not only friend is is God, his people's strength generally, in abstract sense. Friend, the entailment is that they too will know by experience that he is such. You have in verse seven, the psalmist experience. The Lord has undertaken for him, he has dealt righteously. He's vindicated his cause, delivered mercy to the psalmist while he's delivered judgment to his enemies. In verse nine, you have the promise that that belongs to all of God's people. Note, friend, that it is a prayer, but as a prayer, friend, it is also a promise to us. Save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also. It's interesting, the word there, feed, is adequately translated as such. It's the idea of a shepherd ruling over his flock to nurture them. It communicates sovereignty, but it communicates a nurturing sovereignty. And it closes with this, lift them up that has established them forever. Friend, not only is the Lord his people's strength, as it were on paper, they will know his saving help, even in experience. The first point of examination from this text, first of all, friend, is a basic one and it pertains to all of these nine verses and that is, are we careful? to weigh our case before the Lord, as does the psalmist. For only a fool would go to the searcher of hearts as arbiter and advocate lightly and without careful thought to their own conduct and carriage. So friend, do we carefully approach the Lord when we are wronged, when there is a case of conflict among ourselves and others, Are we careful to weigh our own hearts such that we can go as the psalmist does before the Lord? To be sure that indeed our cause is the cause of justice and so indeed the cause of God. The psalmist does and so should we. But secondly, friend, do we go in such a case as the psalmist goes to a throne of grace? Tacitly, friend, in that second verse is the acknowledgement, is the acknowledgement that the psalmist knows if he is delivered, it is better than he has deserved. Otherwise, it would not be a seat of mercy, it would be a seat of wages. So friend, even in a case where you're wronged, do you go before God confessing that for your sins, you deserve this and so, so much more. or that your hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ for grace and for free grace. Can you say with a psalmist that it is to a throne of grace that you turn in such a case? Friend, I want you to notice that there is within the psalm as well, a boon of comfort and encouragement that is to drive us to deal so with the Lord. Note what he says there. And the eighth verse, he says, the Lord is their strength and he is the saving strength of his anointed. The word saving strength there, it's an adequate translation as it stands, but friend, the emphasis in the Hebrew is, it's a plural salvation. He has salvations for his people. You and I, we see this right throughout the scriptures. Daniel, when he speaks of going before God, he says, with the Lord are mercies and forgivenesses. The psalmist in Psalm 130 says, with the Lord is plenteous redemption. The prophet says that the Lord will abundantly pardon. Paul, time and time again, speaks of God's exceeding grace. And now the psalmist says, salvation. It's not just salvation, but salvations to be found in the Lord. An indefinite number of mercies and deliverances. Beloved, what you see here is that the psalmist testifies that God is not miserly. that he is not, friend, brought to an impecuniary place in his grace, such that he could not issue mercy to his own. Beloved, there is not only mercy with the Lord, but an abundance. There's not only salvation to be found at the throne of grace, but there are salvations, deliverances in abundance. Friend, for every case, there is more than enough at the throne of grace for you, for every case. Beloved, as we close, then let that be an encouragement to you. Every time you do go before the Lord, every time you do go to the throne of grace, beloved, know that there is plenteous redemption. an abundance of pardon, exceeding grace, salvations to be had from the Lord, and that through the Lord Jesus Christ. In every case, this is so. And so may the Lord, by his grace, teach us to go to him in every case.