May we open the Bible, please, at the
84th psalm.
Psalm 84.
Our greatest Father, we pause to lift our
hearts again to Thee, now as we're turning
to Thy holy words, to pray that every
person present may hear Thy voice speaking through
Thy words, and that there may be an
honest response to Thy message.
Undertake for us as we speak to minister
Thy truth in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm 84.
How amiable are Thy tabernacles, that is, how
delightful, how delightful are Thy tabernacles, O Lord
of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, for the
courts of the Lord, my heart and my
flesh cryeth out for the living God.
The sparrow hath found a house, and the
swallow a nest for herself, where she may
lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord
of hosts, my King and my God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house,
they will be still praising thee.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in
thee, in whose heart are the ways of
them, who, passing through the valley of data,
that is, the valley of weeping, the mulberry
tree valley, make it that well the rain
also filleth the pools.
They go from strength to strength, every one
of them in Zion appeareth before God.
O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer,
give ear O God of data.
Behold, O God, our shield, and look upon
the face of thine anointed, for a day
in thy courts is better than a thousand,
that is, better than a thousand anywhere else.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the
house of my God than to dwell in
the tents of wickedness, for the Lord God
is the sun and shield.
The Lord will give great and lowly, no
good thing will he withhold from them that
walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man
that trusteth in thee.
The second verse is particularly on my mind,
that Pharaoh hath found a house, and that
swallow a nest for herself, where she may
lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord
of hosts, my king and my God.
Now, if you have your own bible before
you, you will notice a little heading at
the top of this psalm, a psalm for
the sons of Korah.
These headings in the book of the psalms
are different to the editorial notes which our
translators have put in at the head of
many of the chapters of the bible, because
these headings in the psalms form part of
the original Hebrew text, and therefore were put
in by God himself through the inspired writers
of these sacred psalms, and we may often
learn from them, if you just stop and
consider carefully what they tell us.
For instance, several of the psalms expressing the
exercise of souls would perhaps lose a great
part of their value for us, if we
didn't notice at the top a psalm of
David when he fled from Absalom his God,
his own son turned against him, and that
accounts for the heart cry you see, and
for many of these headings people loudly do
it, and here we have a psalm for
the sons of Korah.
There are a number of psalms in this
heading.
It naturally leads us to ask the question,
who were the sons of Korah?
And, when we turn back to the 26th
and to the 16th chapter of Numbers, and
then to those early chapters in 1 Chronicles
made up almost entirely of genealogical tables, we
learn that the sons of Korah were the
direct lineal descendants of that Korah who, with
Japhan and Nathiram, led in the apostasy in
the wilderness.
In number 16, we're told how Korah, Japhan
and Nathiram, each led in a congregation, rose
up against Moses and Aaron, and said he
takes too much upon you, you sons of
Levi, but all the Lord's people are holy.
We might sense exactly what they meant, if
it were not for the fact that over
in the New Testament, in the epistle of
Jude, where the Holy Spirit tells us of
the apostasy of the last days, denying the
Lord that bought men, denying the Lord that
bought them, rejecting the testimony concerning atonement by
his precious blood, we read they've gone in
the way of Cain, and followed after the
error of Salem for a ward, and perished
in the vain saying of Korah.
The vain saying of Korah then was this,
Korah and his associates said, we do not
need a mediator, we do not need a
high priest, we do not need an offering
whereby to approach to God.
All the Lord's people are holy, we're good
enough as we are, we don't need anyone
to go to God on our behalf, and
that, you know, just answers to the apostasy
that's so prevalent today.
In so many places, people tell you we
don't need a savior.
In fact, one of our old poets has
written, I need no Christ to die for
me.
That is, he took the crown of being
good enough for God as he was, and
he did not need an atoning savior.
Well, a way back there in the old
testament times, God spoke through Moses to these
apostates, and he called upon them for repentance,
and when they refused to do so, he
said, if these men die the death of
all men, then you may know that the
Lord has not sent me.
But, if the Lord create a new thing
in the earth, and the old earth open
her mouth, and swallow them up with all
that appertain unto them, then you may know
that God has spoken.
And, Moses gave the order, come away from
the tents of these wicked men, and everyone
in Israel that fears God and recognizes Moses
as the divinely appointed mediator, and Aaron as
the divinely appointed high priest, fled from the
region of the tents of Korah, Jason, and
Abiram, and went across to the tabernacle where
Moses and Aaron stood.
I fancy I can hear them singing, I'd
rather sit at the doorstep in the courts
of the Lord that dwells in the tents
of wicked men.
And, when the separation was complete, and there
was suddenly a great earthquake, the earth did
open her mouth, and we are told that
Korah and all his company went down alive
into the pit.
Well, if Korah and his company went down
alive into the pit, how could there be
any sons of Korah in after years whom
these psalms might be dedicated?
Well, the 26th of Numbers tells us a
little more about it.
It gives a second account of that incident,
and there we have this word added, notwithstanding
the children of Korah died not.
And, you know, that tells a wonderful story.
It tells us that when the sons of
Korah had to choose between fealty to their
own father or faithfulness to God, they chose
for God, and so they were saved from
going down to the pit.
And, you made a choice like that.
You know, the Lord Jesus said when he
was healing earth, whose beloved father or mother
more than he is not worthy of me.
These sons of Korah had to decide would
they go on with their father in his
rebellion against God, or would they turn away
from him and his truth to God?
And, they chose the latter course.
I've sometimes tried to visualize that scene.
I've imagined I could see those young men
go up to their ancient father and say,
father, don't fight against God.
Don't rush upon the feet, thick waters of
the Almighty.
Whoever hardened himself against him and prospered, keep
the voice of his servant while this time,
and bow in repentance before God, and acknowledge
your need of a priest and a mediator.
And, I think I could see that stern
old man draw himself up and say, no,
I'll never consent that I need a savior.
I'll never acknowledge that I need a mediator.
I'm just as good as Moses and Jerob
or any of the rest of them.
I'm good enough for God just as I
am.
And, then the call came, come away from
the tents of these wicked men.
And, I think I see those sons of
Korah say with tears in their eyes, well,
father, if you won't yield to God, you'll
have to listen.
We can't go on with you.
We must keep the voice of his servant.
And, so over the depths and to the
deserts they went to the tabernacle of Jehovah.
And, then in a moment the earthquake came
and Korah's all his company went down alive
into the pit.
But, the sons of Korah were saved.
From the pit.
You know, whenever I come to one of
these moms with this heading, it's on for
the sons of Korah.
I say to myself, I must give special
attention to that.
But, I'm one of the sons of Korah.
I too have been saved from going down
to the pit.
Have you?
One time I was exposed to the judgment
of God, but through it for the great,
I was led to decide for Christ against
the world.
And, God in great aid made and delivered
me from going down to the pit.
Oh, it's a great thing to make a
decision like this.
Have you ever come to the place in
your life where you said, my old companion,
fare you well?
I will not go with you to hell.
I mean with Jesus Christ as well.
Let me go.
And, can you say tonight my heart is
fixed?
Eternal God takes a seat, and my unchanging
choice is made.
Christ for me.
He is my prophet, priest, and king, who
did for me salvation bring.
And, while I breath, he'll tell me.
Christ for me.
Let others boast of the heaps of gold.
Christ for me.
His, my fortune never can be told.
Christ for me.
Your gold will wait, and wear away.
Your honor perish in a day.
My fortune never can decay.
Christ for me.
Have you made that decision?
The Lord Jesus said to some people in
his day on earth, you will not come
to me that you might have life.
And, the invitation went out to everyone whosoever
will, let it come.
Have you heeded the invitation?
Have you come to it?
Have you made the great decision?
Well, if so, these psalms ought to have
special interest with you, because you belong to
the sons of Korah.
You're among those who'll be saved from going
down to the pit.
The sons of Korah, the pussy, take quarters
in the sanctuary of Jehovah.
In later years, their descendants should take quarters
as a part of the temple choir.
And, you know, it's so suitable that it
should be so.
The people who have been redeemed should be
singing the praises of the Lord.
What did we hear a few minutes ago?
Redeemed, redeemed, oh, sing the joyful praise.
Give praise, give praise and glory to his
name, who gave his life, our souls to
save, and purchased freedom for the slave.
It's a wonderful thing to be redeemed.
It's a wonderful thing to be numbered among
the sons of Korah, among those who have
decided for Christ, who will never know what
it is now to go down to the
pit, who can pray with dear Paul Gearhart
of the 17th century.
There is no condemnation, there is no hell
for me.
The torment and the fire my eyes shall
never see.
For me, there is no judgment.
For me, there is, because the Lord who
loves me shall heal me with his wing.
It's a wonderful thing to have made that
decision.
Well, these sons of Korah, you know, as
they took their place in the temple choir,
they could see something that a great multitude
of people perhaps didn't notice nor every.
The Jews never drove the little birds out
of the sanctuary.
They allowed them to enter right into the
courts of the tabernacle of the temple, and
to build their nests there, even the sides
of the altars.
But they could be at home in God's
house.
When I was over in Jerusalem some years
ago, my wife and daughter and I went
up one day to the temple site where
the temple of Solomon formerly stood, and now
there stands the great mosque of the Dome
of the Rock, in memory of the false
prophet Muhammad.
And, as we were looking about that gorgeous
building, our hearts pleased to think that a
shrine to Muhammad stood in the ground where
once sacrifice and offering went up to Jehovah.
Suddenly, I said to my wife, listen, and
we paused, and there, away above us, were
little clusters of birds resting upon the arabesque
ornament, and singing oh so sweetly.
And, I said, why that's just like it
used to be centuries ago when the temple
of Jehovah was in this mosque.
The Jews never drove the little birds out.
They had a lovely name for them.
They called them God-pensioners.
They said they've come into God's house, and
they're putting their trust in God, and so
we mustn't disappoint them.
We must never frighten them, and the result
was the little birds would fly about, and
even when the priests would officiate in the
office, they'd not perfectly say that they're little
from the ledge or had a nest there.
They were at home in the house of
God.
Two kinds of birds are mentioned here, and
I think they have lessons for us.
The sparrow has found her house.
The sparrow, what shall we say of the
sparrow?
Well, I think we'll agree the sparrow is
the most worthless of birds.
Some years ago, some press people out in
New Zealand who had gone from Great Britain
to the English parrots they were used to
at home, and so they wrote back and
asked the press to bring out a little
cage of English parrots, and they left them
loose in New Zealand, and you know today,
they're a perfect pest.
All over that country, they try to kill
and slap them because of the damage they
do to the crops and so on.
The sparrow's so utterly worthless.
It's not a strong bird.
It's like the heat of the melody.
It's good for nothing.
Yet in our Lord's day, it was customary
for young boys to go out and trap
the sparrows and then dress them and put
them in a sewer and put them out
for sale, and the poorest of the people
bought them and made a kind of a
sparrow pie for their food, and the Lord
Jesus referred to that when he said, are
not two sparrows sold for a barley?
And then he added on another occasion, are
not five sparrows sold for two barleys?
For one barley you get two.
If you invest in two barleys, you get
a real bargain.
They'd throw in an extra sparrow with the
rest.
Oh, Dr. James A.
Brooks of St. Louis, a fighting champion for
the fruitive years gone by, used to say,
I think that's how I got saved.
God must have been saving four others.
He just threw me in for good measure.
Poor, worthless, good for nothing sparrows are not
two sparrows sold for a barley.
You know that the Jewish barley, the Palestine
barley, is the most infinitesimal coin.
It's smaller than an English barley, and an
English barley is half of one of our
American friends.
I remember when I was over in Southampton
one time, somewhere or another it made this
change.
I was given three barleys, and you know,
I tried to pass them all over England
for weeks afterwards, and everywhere I offered them,
they looked at me with contempt and said,
we don't need those anymore.
When I got up to Scotland, they were
gladly getting them.
They know the value of money up there.
I had no difficulty passing them to Scotland.
But in England, they didn't want them at
all.
They said, what's the matter?
And you know, it just tells us the
story, doesn't it?
The utter worthlessness of the sparrow, and yet
the sparrow had an end in broad sight.
The sparrow found refuge in Jehovah's orphans.
I tell you, dear brothers, that you and
I, in broad sight, though worthless in ourselves,
are of more value than many sparrows.
We're good for nothing in our sin, and
yet God is great and has such a
value upon us that he gave his own
son to die to save us.
But, if we say that the sparrow is
the most worthless of birds, what can we
say of the swallow?
Did you ever see a swallow at rest?
I think the swallow is the most restless
of birds.
It seems to be always on the wing.
One wonders how it can remain quiet long
enough to hatch out the eggs.
Just seems to be glitching in and out
of the underneath of the barn, or wherever
it has its nest, constantly.
And it surely speaks of these poor wrecks
of parts of ours before we know Christ.
Saint Augustine said centuries ago, O God, thou
hast made us for thyself, and our souls
will never get rest until they rest in
thee.
Yet, we are as worthless as the sparrow,
and as restless as the swallow, and thank
God there's a place of refuge for us.
The sparrow has found a house in the
swallow, and Edmund's up working a lathe and
job.
God takes note, not only of the individual,
but of the family connection with the individual.
You'll remember that Paul's words to the jailer
who cried, what must I do to be
saved?
And the answer came back, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, the thousandth day in and
nine out.
It's been a wonderful thing to find refuge
in your oldest house, and to seek to
bring the children in too, and bring them
up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord.
Well, these punks of Chorus, they noticed a
little first mention there in the altar in
Pope's song, and you'll observe they used the
plural, even sign altar, not just sign altar.
You see, there were two altars in the
temple at Jerusalem.
There was the great altar, out in the
court, the brazen altar, and that was the
altar of sacrifice.
That was the altar to which the victims
were brought, and slain, and their blood poured
out, and the parts of their bodies burned
in the flames to go up as a
sacrifice in God's mercy of the cross work
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we think of a little bird finding
refuge in that grave, and when the priests
were officiated, for one afraid with a bird,
if you could see them on the leg
of the altar, building their head, and the
fortunate of their age, while the slave of
the altar was going up towards the feet
of the poor sinner, finding refuge in a
cross, and you found refuge there, and you
say, hear the cross, a trembling soul, love
and mercy thousands.
There's a bright and morning star that is
seen around you.
In the cross be my glory ever, till
my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the
river.
The apostle Paul knew what it was that
I read in the cross, and he explained,
God forbid that I should glory, save in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so, to the next in the brazen
altar, speak of the rest that we find
for a heart, for a guilty conscience, when
we come to the Savior who died on
the cross for our sins.
Then speak of peace with God through the
blood of his cross, being justified by faith
we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
But then there was another altar.
Inside the holy places, just before the veil,
there was a golden altar.
No sacrifices were ever offered on that altar,
but the blood of the sacrifice was taken
from the brazen altar, and placed among the
horns of the golden altar to identify the
one with the other.
And on that golden altar, Jesus prayed that
his faith was rising up to God's control.
David explains that when he says, let my
prayer come before the ascent day, and the
lifting up of my hands of the evening
sacrifice.
The golden altar speaks of the work that
our blessed Lord Jesus is carrying on in
the glory.
The brazen altar speaks of the work that
he did on Calvary.
The golden altar speaks of his intercessory work
in the holiest up there in the presence
of God, who is able to save to
the uttermost all those who come unto God
through him.
Seeing his ever-limitless and intercessory voice, he's
constantly carrying his people up before God in
prayer.
The prayer of his faith is rising before
the Father's throne continually.
So, that golden altar speaks of the of
the throne work of our blessed Lord.
The brazen altar says, Christ died for our
sake.
The golden altar says, Christ lives for our
complete and eternal salvation.
The golden altar says, Christ died in our
place for our judgment.
The brazen altar says, the Christ who died
for us lives to care for us.
He's undertaking for us to take over.
The brazen altar says, we'll keep withdrawing through
the blood of the cross.
The golden altar says, be careful for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your request be made known unto
God, and the peace of God which passeth
all understandings shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.
You know, I think there are a lot
of Christians who can trust the Lord for
their eternal salvation, but who find difficulties trusting
him for the rest next month.
They can rest in him to carry them
through to heaven, but somewhere or other their
faith breaks down when they face the difficulties
of getting along in this world.
Oh dear Christian, the one who died for
you lives for you, and the word says,
cast all your care upon him, for he
cares for you.
I think a lot of Christians are like
a cartoon I saw many years ago.
It was a double cartoon.
On the one picture it represented a man
going along a country road, bent down beneath
a heavy load, looked like a sack of
potatoes or a sack of grains, something like
that, and a farmer was driving by in
an old-fashioned farm wagon in an empty
seat in the back.
He and his wife were up in the
front seat, and he was threatening the man
to get up in the wagon and take
the seat that was vacant, and the second
picture represented the man on that back seat
in the farmer's wagon, and there he sat
bent up down beneath the load that was
deliberately chosen, and the farmer was representative looking
around in surprise and saying, why don't you
cast your burden in the wagon?
And the man was saying, oh sir, it's
good enough of you to give me a
ride without making your horses pull my load
too.
I could carry that myself, and you know
I think a lot of Christians are like
that.
The blessed Lord is carrying them through the
heavens, but they're carrying their own burden.
They've never learned to unload their burden on
the living Christ at God's right hand.
They used to sing years ago, you've carried
your burden, you've carried it along, oh bring
it to Jesus, his loving and strong.
He'll take it away, and your sorrow shall
cease.
He'll send you rejoicing with his heavenly peace.
I remember when I was a boy, I
used to hear about a poor widow in
the north of Scotland from which the place
my father came, and this poor widow had
been left with several little children.
Her husband had died in his maturity without
having been able to make very much provision
for his family, and he just as he
was dying, he committed his wife to the
Lord.
He said, I can only leave this with
you.
He has said, leave thy father's children unto
me.
I will preserve them alive unless thy widow
trusts in me, and at first her faith
was bright, and she got on with the
Lord, committed all to him, but little by
little she saw her small bundle of her
husband's savings dwindling away, and finally she'd drawn
out the last pound note from the bank,
and then the day came when she'd spent
the last penny from the purse, and now
she'd come down to the last bit of
meal in the barrel, like the poor widow
in her life's estate, and she went to
the barrel, you know, and she was stooping
over it, gathering up what little meal there
was for the last penny, and then she
didn't know what she was going to do.
She had a little tin scraper, and as
she bent over she was scraping it again,
and she felt so utterly lonely, and forgot
that the hot ball of tears began to
fall down into the barrel, and her little
three-year-old saw her, and his wee
heart was moved with pity, and he came
up, and he caught her by the dress
skirts, and he said in his broad-socked
way, Nether, Nether, what do you greet in
the moose?
Some of you didn't care to greet me,
but that wee bit, what do you greet
in the moose?
And she said, just my lord, he has
been scraping the bottom of the barrel, and
she caught him up in her arms, and
her tears came to tears of joy, and
she said, oh lord, I thank you that
out of a mouth of praise and suffering
thou hast heard me this praise.
I do believe thou hast heard me, thou
hast seen me scraping the bottom of the
barrel.
I will trump and not be afraid.
You know, there was a sequel to this
story, because her husband had built a house
for one of the wealthiest men in the
village, that when it came to a final
settlement, there was a difference between them of
a matter of fifty pounds or so, and
the wealthy man refused to pay, though the
other insisted it was coming to him, so
he died without receiving.
But you know, the day that the poor
widow was scraping the bottom of the barrel,
God began scraping his conscience, and he got
thinking about the man that built the house
and the widow and the little children, and
he wondered how they were getting along, and
he said to himself, I know I really
owed him that much, I should have paid
him.
It wasn't down in black and white, and
so I was able to get out of
it, but I've never been happy over it,
and maybe the poor woman needs the money,
and so he went down to the bank
and he threw out the money, and he
came to a little cottage and knocked on
the door, and when she opened the door
and saw who it was, she didn't want
to receive it, because she thought he'd treated
her husband so badly, but like a book
agent, he put his foot in the door
and she couldn't shut it off, and he
explained the matter and why he had come,
and as he handed her the money, she
burst into tears and said, oh God did
hear me scraping the bottom of the barrel,
didn't he?
And he said, what do you mean by
that?
And then she told him, well it's actually
never a better friend than that man in
all the days afterwards.
Yes dear troubled one, God he is, he
knows, he loves, he cares, nothing this truth
can say, he gives the very best to
those who read the choice they need.
Have you found refuge in the author?
Have you found refuge in the cross?
You must have been there, you know, you
never can know the tender loving care of
the Lord Jesus as your shepherd, and as
your intercessor, and advocate, and high priest, until
you're first knowing that you're saved.
Oh if you've never come before, make your
decision tonight, break away from the world that
burned the Lord Jesus, and nailed him to
a cross, and trusted for yourself, while he
waits to be crucified.