I am going to look at Psalm 56 this morning and maybe get into Ezekiel a little bit. It is just amazing and beyond our comprehension when we consider this time. We are under 200 days, a little more than six months, so what do we do? Do we change anything? Not really. Maybe we ramp up our activities a little bit in getting the Gospel out to everyone whom we can, having confidence that the Lord will work and save whom He will save. So we will just read through Psalm 56.
The children of God have always gotten encouragement and assurance through the Scriptures. God has always worked things out this way. In one sense, the children of God are at all different places. Some are new to the faith. Some have been in the faith for a long time. Some have more of a confidence in these things than others, simply because of our own personalities, and yet we are also the same. If we are children of God, all of us have His Spirit dwelling within us. In this sense, we know that we are saved; and yet sometimes our flesh works against us, our fleshly bodies that are still not saved.
Let us read Psalm 56 and then we will look at some of the things in this Psalm. Psalm 56:1-13 says:
To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath. Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me. Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul. Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. In God will I praise his word: in JEHOVAH will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
This is a Psalm of David. It is Messianic. The subtitle is inspired. It is part of the Psalm. We can see Christ in David. He is one of the most prominent pictures and representatives of Christ in the Bible.
So Psalm 56:1 starts out:
To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim…
“Jonath” is the word “Jonah” and it means “dove.” A dove was a clean animal. It could be used in a sacrifice. In this sense, it was a picture of Christ.
The word “elem” means “silent.” At this time, there were numerous Psalms written by David under the inspiration of the Lord when he was in the wilderness of Judah while he was fleeing from Saul. At this time in history, David, who was to be king of Israel and who was a prominent picture of Christ, was fleeing. He was out in the wilderness and fleeing from Saul, the man who had dominion over God’s people Israel. Saul was a wicked man and he wanted to kill David, and so we can see tribulation in this.
So “Jonath” is the word for “dove” and “elem” means “silent.” I believe the sense of this is like what we read in Isaiah 53 where we read about the suffering of Christ. We read in Isaiah 53:7:
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Psalm 38 gives us a little more insight into this. Psalm 38 is a Psalm of David and it is also Messianic. We read in Psalm 38:12-14:
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
This corresponds to Christ’s ministry on earth. The word “reproof” means “to correct.” Yet at this time, Christ is mute and there are no reproofs in His mouth. I believe that we are to see the first part of the tribulation here when possibly no one was being saved or, at least, very few.
Look at Psalm 39. This is also a Psalm of David. We read in Psalm 39:1-2:
I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
He also says in Psalm 39:9:
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
Let us go back to Psalm 56 again. It says in Psalm 56:1:
To the chief Musician upon Jonath…
So the “dove” or Christ is in view here. Then we read:
…elem…
This means “silent,” and so the dove is silent at this time. Then we read:
…rechokim…
This means “afar off.” I believe that this is in the sense of being separated from God.
Look at Psalm 10:1. It says:
Why standest thou afar off, O JEHOVAH? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
This is in the same sense. The Lord is “afar off” here.
Then Psalm 10:2 says:
The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
Look at Psalm 22. This is probably the most obvious of the Messianic Psalms. Psalm 22:1 says:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
This word “far” is the same Hebrew word that was translated “afar off” in Psalm 10:1. This is also the word “rechokim” in Psalm 56.
So Psalm 56:1 is saying that the dove is silent and afar off from God. Psalm 56:1 says again:
To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David…
This is a “Michtam of David.” In some Interlinears, this is translated as “a golden poem” or “a secret treasure,” something like this; but the root of the word “Michtam” has to do with carving or engraving. I think that writing is the sense of this here, as in the Word of God.
Look at Jeremiah 2:22. The word “marked” is the root word of “Michtam.” Jeremiah 2:22 says:
For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord JEHOVAH.
Turn to Psalm 60 where we find this same word. Psalm 60 elaborates on this word a little bit, which is also in the introduction to this Psalm. We read in Psalm 60:1:
To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach…
This adds the word “to teach.” This is just giving us a little more insight into this word “Michtam,” the root of which means “to carve or engrave.” I really believe that this has to do with the Word of God through which He teaches us.
Again, Psalm 56:1 says:
To the chief Musician upon Jonathelemrechokim, Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath…
Tribulation is in view here. The enemy has taken David. When he was fleeing from Saul, he went down to the Philistines. He actually went to Achish the king of Gath. These were the enemies of Judah. At this time, they took him. They knew who he was and they took him, but he feigned insanity and they let him go.
A little later, we read that he went again to Achish the king of Gath, but this king of Gath could have possibly been the son of the other Achish. We do not know; but at this time they became good friends and Achish trusted in him. David was actually going to go out with the Philistines to fight against Saul’s armies, but the other lords of the Philistines would not let this happen because they still did not trust David.
Again, tribulation is in view here because David was out there in that Judean wilderness. He was fleeing from the king of Israel, a wicked man who had dominion over the Israelites who represent the people of God, and he had been taken by the Philistines, the enemies of David.
So let us continue looking at this Psalm. Again, the child of God gets encouragement and comfort and assurance from the Word of God. We can certainly see this in this Psalm, and many of the Psalms read this same way. He continues on to say in Psalm 56:1:
…Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
The Hebrew word that was translated “swallow me up” is translated “devour” in Isaiah 42:14. We do not have to go there. I think that you can understand the sense of this.
It continues on to say in Psalm 56:2:
Mine enemies would daily swallow me up…
David’s enemies were daily fighting against him. David was a representation of Christ, and so their will was to devour Christ.
He goes on to say in Psalm 56:2:
…for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High.
Then it says in Psalm 56:3:
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
This brings to mind many verses in the Psalms. The strength, the assurance, and the courage of the true believer is in God.
Psalm 118:6 says:
JEHOVAH is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
This should be the mindset of any child of God. Certainly, we are at different places in this sense. Some new believers have a little bit less of this confidence. They are timid. Again, we all have different personalities, but yet Christ is our strength.
So it says in Psalm 56:3:
What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Then David begins to speak about the Word of God. He makes reference to the Word a couple of times in this Psalm. We know that a child of God loves the Word of God and that he gets his assurance and encouragement from the Word.
Psalm 56:4 says:
In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
We see again this same principle. The child of God will not fear what flesh or man can do unto him.
This word “praise” is translated as “boast” in Psalm 44:8. Psalm 44:8 says:
In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
It is a different Hebrew word for the word “praise” here, but we can see how the sense of boasting or praising in God is related and that a child of God praises the name of God forever.
Then Psalm 56:5 says:
Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
In 2nd Peter, he talks about men who “wrest” the Scriptures. They twist or pervert them. The sense of this word here in Psalm 56 is a little bit different, but the principle is the same. There are those in the church, those who claim to be the people of God, who twist the Scriptures. They change doctrine. They teach a works gospel. They teach that God loves everyone, as well as all of their other false doctrines. They do violence to the Scriptures until they have brought them to the point where they have a gospel that they like.
Again, Psalm 56:5 says:
Every day they [twist] my words…
Again, the words of Christ are the Bible.
Turn to Zephaniah. We have Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and then there is Zephaniah. After Zephaniah is Haggai. In Zephaniah 3, God explains what He spiritually means by “violence.” He is talking here about the priests and the prophets in Jerusalem at that time. Zephaniah 3:1 starts out:
Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
He is speaking about Jerusalem here and He is calling it “filthy and polluted…the oppressing city.”
Then we read in Zephaniah 3:2-4:
She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in JEHOVAH; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
Again, this is repeating in our day. The churches are doing violence to the Law. They are changing these doctrines to whatever suits them. In doing so, they are actually doing “violence to the law.” We can read about this in Habakkuk also where he cries out to the Lord because of “spoiling and violence.”
This is also what we are reading about here in Psalm 56:5:
Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.
This is not speaking about the enemies of Israel, like the Philistines or the Babylonians, the people who were outright enemies of the Israelites. As we read on, we will sense that He is talking about those who claim to be the people of God.
Psalm 56:6 says:
They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
Let us turn to Hebrews 10. We read in Hebrews 10:24-25:
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
This is speaking of our day. He is saying that we are not to forsake the “assembling of ourselves together,” but this is not speaking about the whole body assembling together before the Lord. When this is translated correctly, the word “ourselves” is what is emphasized. We are to gather “ourselves together” unto the Lord now that we understand that He has forsaken the corporate body. He has left. He has taken His Spirit out of the congregations corporately.
All throughout the Old Testament, we read of this in the way that He finally judged Israel. This prefigured what He would do to the corporate church at the end shortly before Judgment Day. We should be gathering ourselves together in fellowship with God. Our fellowship is to be directly with God. There is to be no corporate body in between us now to pervert the Word, to wrest it with all of their false doctrines. God is now teaching His people absolute truth.
Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 starts out:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…
We can see how this is referring to the time of His coming, the end times. It continues:
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
This is the same word that was translated as “assembling” and “together” in Hebrews 10:25, and this is the same principle. There is no corporate body that God is using. There are no ministers, pastors, priests, elders, or teachers between us and the Lord to pervert the Word. Our fellowship is now directly with God.
So in Psalm 56:6, it says:
They gather themselves together…
Can we take it this far? Can we say that this is speaking of or prefiguring those in the corporate church who are still gathering together in opposition to truth? Can we take it this far? I think that we can.
Psalm 56:6 says again:
They gather themselves together, they hide themselves…
This word “hide” is translated as “lurk privily” in Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1:10-11 says:
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily…
This is the same word as “hide” in Psalm 56:6 and the same sense as “hide themselves.”
It continues in Proverbs 1:11-12:
…let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
This is speaking of a false gospel creeping in and enticing sinners as it draws them away from truth. There are several different passages in the book of Proverbs like this.
Psalm 56:6 says again:
They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps…
The sense of this word “steps” is to supplant. This is a little bit difficult to bring out the sense of this word, but it has to do with supplanting. When Jacob and Esau were in the womb, Jacob took Esau by his heel, which is actually the same word as “supplant.” Jacob supplanted Esau. Esau should have gotten the blessing and double inheritance; instead, he lost it to Jacob. Jacob supplanted Esau. It is the same principle here where the enemies of Christ want to supplant Him.
Turn to Psalm 49. This is another Psalm that has tribulation as its theme. Psalm 49:5 says:
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?
This is actually speaking about those who are pursuing and trying to supplant Christ.
Again, this is a difficult principle to explain, but turn to one more verse in relation to this. Turn to Job 18. This is speaking about the wicked. We read in Job 18:7-9:
The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down. For he is cast into a net by his own feet, and he walketh upon a snare. The gin…
This word “gin” is a general word used for a device. It can also refer to a trap.
It continues:
The gin shall take him by the heel…
Again, this is the same word and the same principle. It continues:
…and the robber shall prevail against him.
Let us go back to Psalm 56:6:
They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
So the wicked are waiting to supplant Christ. The sense of this word “wait” is to look:
…they [look] for my soul.
Then Psalm 56:7 says:
Shall they escape by iniquity?…
In other words, can they escape from judgment by their sin, in the false gospels that they bring? Can they escape by their iniquity? We know that this is a rhetorical question.
It continues:
Shall they escape by iniquity? in thine anger cast down the people, O God.
Again, this has a sense of judgment coming.
Then Psalm 56:8 says:
Thou tellest my wanderings…
This word for “tellest” is sometimes translated as “number” or “declare.” This is in the sense that God takes notice. He has it all marked and recorded and He can declare it. In other words, He is aware of the wanderings of His own children and how they will stray off in one direction or another.
It continues:
Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle…
This is a statement of the awareness of God, that He knows of suffering. It continues:
…put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
This has to be referring to the Bible, because we are to see Christ in this. This is Messianic. The sufferings of Christ and the way in which the wicked pursue Him to supplant Him are all set down and recorded in the Bible.
Psalm 56:9 says:
When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me.
God’s children cry to Him. There is no place for pride. This is a principle that we can read all throughout the Bible, especially in the Psalms.
Turn to Psalm 119. We know that we have no strength of our own and that we can go to God as often as we want. Again, all throughout the Bible, especially in the Psalms, we read of God’s people crying to Him. We read in Psalm 119:145-147:
I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O JEHOVAH: I will keep thy statutes. I cried unto thee; save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies. I prevented the dawning of the morning…
In other words, even before we see the morning light, we are to go to God and cry to Him.
It continues in Psalm 119:147:
I prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried: I hoped in thy word.
Again, this is where we go for our comfort and encouragement.
Then Psalm 119:148 says:
Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
This whole Psalm, of course, is about the Word of God.
It continues on to say in Psalm 119:148-149:
Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word. Hear my voice according unto thy lovingkindness: O JEHOVAH, quicken me according to thy judgment.
In Psalm 119, God uses the words “judgment,” “statutes,” “precepts,” “laws,” “commandments.” All of these types of words are used in Psalm 119. He is saying, “Quicken me and give me life according to Thy Word.”
Then Psalm 119:150-152 says:
They draw nigh that follow after mischief: they are far from thy law. Thou art near, O JEHOVAH; and all thy commandments are truth. Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever.
This is referring to the Word of God. Again, in relation to crying to God, any child of God will not hesitate to cry to God for His mercy and for His help.
Psalm 56:10 says next:
In God will I praise his word: in JEHOVAH will I praise his word.
There is a love that a child of God has for God’s Word. He gives praise for the Word of God as he sees that he can only get his assurance from the Word of God.
As God opens up the Scriptures to us, we see that every book in the Bible has the same message woven throughout it. It tells us of our sin and of salvation through the Lord Jesus and of impending judgment. We know that this Book would not have been written by man, that the Bible could not have been contrived.
As God has opened up His Word in the last twenty years or so concerning “time and judgment,” we just marvel at those who are resisting this. We just ask ourselves how anyone could say that this is contrived or that this is crazy. If Mr. Camping had been off by one year in any place in his timeline, the whole thing would be out the window; but it is not. It is just perfect.
Robert Fitzpatrick wrote the book, The Doomsday Code. He is right in line with Mr. Camping on everything. Let me show you something that he was referring to in Ezekiel.
All through the opening chapters of Ezekiel, God was warning the Israelites through the prophet Ezekiel. These were the Israelites who were in captivity. God was warning them of their apostasy, of their turning to idols, of their falling away. He was warning them over and over again in many different ways. God had made Ezekiel a walking parable in numerous places. Here He says in Ezekiel 4:1-3:
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile…
This would have probably been referring to a roof tile. They made their roofs out of tiles.
It continues:
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Over and over in this book, God says that Ezekiel would be “a sign to the house of Israel.” In Ezekiel 24, God took Ezekiel’s wife. When Ezekiel’s wife died, the Israelites wanted to know why this happened. The Lord said to them, “Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign.” This was because Ezekiel was a picture of Christ or of God the Father, and his wife was going to die. Then God says, “I will profane my sanctuary.” In other words, this was picturing the death of Israel as God’s corporate people.
Then God says to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 4:4-5:
Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
He is going to lie on his left side for three hundred and ninety days as a sign to “bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.” This is speaking of judgment on God’s people.
Ezekiel 4:6-8 then says:
And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
How could anyone do this? How could anyone lie on one side for three hundred and ninety days without turning from one side to the other and then lie on the other side for forty days?
There is more in these numbers than I have time to explain now. I would just like to show you that the total number of days that Ezekiel laid on his side was four hundred and thirty days, each day for a year.
The number forty-three is used in the Bible by God in several places and it is associated with judgment on God’s people. The Israelites were in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years. From the time that Jacob went down into Egypt in 1877 B.C., which was a picture of tribulation because Jacob had to leave the Promised Land to go down into Egypt, until 587 B.C. when the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, it was 1,290 years, which is 3 x 430, and so we see the number 43 again. Then 587 B.C. until 1994 A.D. was 2,580 years, which is 2 x 1,290. Again, the number 43 is in view.
Ezekiel was in captivity. He had gone into captivity with King Jehoiachin. This was before the Babylonians came in and destroyed Jerusalem. He went into captivity in 598 B.C. At that time, the king of Babylon took Jehoiachin into Babylon and replaced him with King Zedekiah.
So we read in the beginning of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 1:1-2:
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
This would be 593 B.C. He is telling us when this all started. As we read of these events in the opening chapter, he has a vision of “living creatures” and an “appearance of the wheels,” etc. God comes to him telling him to warn Israel and that He is making him a sign in several ways to the nation of Israel.
Again, these signs have to do with the death of the church and with the tribulation. From 593 B.C. to 1988 is 2,580 years, which has the number 43 in view. Ezekiel laid on his side a total of four hundred and thirty days. This was certainly over a year, but this would have started in 593 B.C. 2,580 = 2 x 2 x 3 x 5 x 43.
This could not be contrived! Over and over for years now we have been seeing these time paths, and yet the corporate church believes that we are out of our minds. They think that Mr. Camping has lost it, that he is involved in numerology. But what this is is God giving assurance to His people that we are on the right track.
Turn to Ezekiel 12. This is something else that the corporate body is doing. This is after He has given Israel warnings in numerous different ways. Ezekiel 12:26-27 says:
Again the word of JEHOVAH came to me, saying, Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.
Ezekiel had been prophesying that the temple in Jerusalem was going to be destroyed in just a few years.
Then Ezekiel 12:28 says:
Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord JEHOVAH.
We are again getting the same response as we bring this message to the church of our day. They say, “No; the Lord is not coming soon. He has to come and reign in Jerusalem for a thousand years. Then some time that is far down the road somewhere, there will be a Judgment Day.”
This parallels exactly Old Testament Israel, and we are to see the corporate church in Old Testament Israel. God gives us all kinds of hints and evidences of this. The people that resist this just refuse to see it.
Again, the whole theme of what I am saying here in Psalm 56 is that God gives His people assurance through His Word. This is where we go for our comfort and encouragement. A child of God simply turns back to the Word, turns to God and cries to Him for His encouragement.
Let us read the last several verses of Psalm 56. It says in Psalm 56:9-12:
When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. In God will I praise his word: in JEHOVAH will I praise his word. In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee.
When we read about vows in the Bible, this has to do with the faithfulness of Christ. It has to do with the faithfulness of the person who makes the vow; but, ultimately, it is the faithfulness of Christ. Within the ceremonial laws, an Israelite could make a vow to the Lord along the lines that if the Lord would do something for him, he would then make some kind of sacrifice or offering to God.
In Ecclesiastes 5, it talks about how serious a vow is. It says in Ecclesiastes 5:5:
Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Again, when we read about a vow, it has to do with the faithfulness of God.
Then Psalm 56:12-13 says:
Thy vows are upon me, O God…
David had vows upon him, which is speaking of God’s faithfulness. It continues:
Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?
This is the prayer of a child of God, that He would keep us and hold us up, that He would keep our feet from falling.
Turn to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1:3-5 says:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again [or made us born again] unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
This is the way it works. We are kept “by the power of God through faith.” It is not through our faith. This is through the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a child of God, you were named before the foundations of the world and your sins were atoned for before the foundations of the world.
It is God who holds us fast. For anyone who does not have this assurance, just continue to stay in the Word. This is the only place where we can get our assurance.
In Romans 8:16, it says:
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
If we are a child of God, God’s Spirit witnesses with us to give us this assurance.
How does the Spirit witness with us? Look at John 6:63. In John 6:63, Christ says:
It is the spirit that quickeneth…
It is the Spirit who brings to life or who gives life. It continues:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
These are the words that Christ speaks to us, the Bible. This is what we are to see in Psalm 56.
Let us close.