Indestructible Foundations
[Editor's Note: A Message By The Rev. Francis W. Dixon Preached At Lansdowne Baptist Church, Bournemouth, England, On Sunday 30 June 1963.]
Introduction
"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)
It was C. H. Spurgeon who called this eleventh psalm "The Song of the Steadfast", for when David wrote it he was being persecuted by Saul who sought his life and hunted him as a partridge upon the mountains. In this time of fierce temptation David cried out, "In the Lord put I my trust" (verse 1).
It is the tremendous question of verse 3, however, that we want to consider - "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" This "if" is only a hypothetical "if", for the foundations of God will never be destroyed, but the psalmist asks us to suppose that they could be destroyed. What would we do if we awakened tomorrow to find that the Bible is a myth, that there is no true God who has revealed Himself in His Son Jesus Christ, that the Holy Spirit does not in fact exist, that there is no salvation for sinners and no Heaven? What would we do then? That is the question David is asking. He is calling upon us to imagine the dreadful situation in which we would find ourselves if the foundations of our faith were destroyed.
It is a fact that the great foundations of the Christian faith are being attacked today as never before. On every hand there is what we might call a new naturalism, an intellectualism, a rationalism that turns aside from the divine revelation and substitutes man's puny speculations. The faith is being assailed by clever men - philosophers, scientists, yes - and theologians, who want us to discard "the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints" and to substitute other doctrines of man's contriving. We can take as an example the book written by the one-time Bishop of Woolwich, "Honest to God", in which Dr John Robinson even denied the existence of God Himself and of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, of the need of salvation and of the reality of prayer - and, in consequence, of every vital doctrine so dear to us.
Within the brief compass of this psalm the writer mentions, either by direct assertion or by definite implication, the foundational and fundamental truth of the existence of God and of His attitude towards mankind. There is not the slightest reason to think that the great foundational and fundamental truths of our faith, so clearly and so definitely revealed in the Bible, will ever be destroyed, for these foundations are indestructible. What are they? Let us look at the psalm and see.
I. There is a God
A. God is the Sovereign Lord of the Universe
There is a God in Heaven who is the Sovereign Lord of this universe. We read this in verse 4: "The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in Heaven." Of course, atheists, anti-theists and evolutionists all deny this. The Bishop to whom we have referred denied this. He said that there is no personal God who is sovereign Lord of this universe, who is enthroned in a place called Heaven.
The Bishop has denied the existence of an unseen world of supernatural beings in which God reigns supreme; he does not believe in a God who is the Creator and Lord of Heaven and earth; he does not believe that God is transcendent; but here in our psalm we have the simple, clear and satisfying declaration, "The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in Heaven."
B. God is Holy
God is holy, which means that He loves righteousness and hates sin. Look again at verse 4, and notice that David tells us that "the Lord is in His holy temple..." Notice also the words in verse 5: "The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth"; and in verse 7: "For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness: His countenance doth behold the upright." What a word this is for today, when our newspapers are full of the sordid details of men's sins! What a reminder this whole psalm is of the truth that "righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people"! Our God is holy. He is not only the governor of the universe but He is the moral governor of the universe. Notice the next point.
C. God is Interested in Mankind
God is interested in, and has communicated Himself to, mankind. The whole psalm declares this truth, but in verse 4 we have the words, "His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men." What does this mean? It certainly means that "all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do", but it means more than that. It means that God is not silent. He is not just sitting upon His throne in Heaven and doing nothing. He is not disinterested and unconcerned. On the contrary, He sees all the activities of His creatures, and more than that, He has actually communicated Himself to mankind. He has done this in two ways. First of all, in the Person of His Son, and second, in His holy Word. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:1-3). These words refer to actual historical events; they refer to the miracle of Bethlehem, of the sinless life of our Lord Jesus Christ, of His vicarious death upon Calvary, of His glorious ascension and of His present session in Heaven. All these indicate great historical events. The Christian faith does not rest upon fable or fiction but upon great events of history. So, David in his psalm goes on to declare even more as seen in the next point.
D. God has Provided Salvation for Mankind
This is clearly implied in the psalm, and this is a foundation that stands very sure! God has provided a salvation that is full and free; a salvation that is altogether of grace, because we do not deserve it, and that is obtained through faith, as verse 1 assures us when David says, "In the Lord put I my trust". This psalm, then, declares the truth of justification by faith. Men and women are saved, not by works, by efforts, by ordinances or by rites or ceremonies, but simply by believing, by receiving the salvation that is offered to them in Christ Jesus. But David says more.
E. God as a People
God has a people who are in a very special sense His own people. If you read through the psalm you will see that two classes of people are mentioned. Who are they? The "righteous" or "upright", and the "wicked". God's people are the "righteous". This has been true all through human history, and it is still true today that God has a people who are in a special and peculiar sense His own people. They are His by creation; but more than that, they are His by redemption. Then notice next.
F. God will Punish Sin and Sinners
The most terrible verse in the psalm is verse 6. It tells us that, "the soul that sinneth it shall die"; that "the wages of sin is death"; and that "whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap". Verse 4 speaks about Heaven. Verse 6 warns us about Hell - "Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." Look next at what David declares.
G. God May be Known, Loved and Trusted
God may be known, love and trusted, and will never confound those who rely upon Him. In the opening words of the psalm David says, "In the Lord put I my trust." Thank God we have such a God, and that He is ours, that He has revealed Himself to us, that we may know Him, that we by grace are His people, and that this foundation is sure!
II. What if God Did Not Exist
But suppose we had no such God - what could we do? In the words of our text, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" Let us ask the question of the psalmist, and consider the following simple statements.
A. Life would Not Make Sense
If there were no such God as this, life would not make sense. Can you imagine it? Born into this world, living in this chaotic scene, growing up, working, playing, suffering, and all the time having no revelation of God and of His purpose and plan. How terrible it would be to live in the world without any authentic word about creation, providence, redemption or immortality! It would be intolerable to live under such conditions. It is only reasonable to suppose that God has revealed Himself to man and has given His word about Himself, about ourselves and about human destiny - and thank God, we know that He has in fact done this!
B. There could be No Help Available
If there were no such God as this, there could be no help available in times of swift temptation. When David was tempted to "flee as a bird..." he found all the strength and help he needed by turning to the Lord and putting his trust in Him. But if there is no such Lord, if there is no-one like this to trust, if there is no gracious God to whom we can turn in times of temptation, what a terrible situation we are in! A young fellow once said to me, "I am terribly tempted to commit a certain sin." I replied, "What do you do when you are tempted like this?" He answered, "I simply cry out, 'Lord, save me!' and the Lord graciously delivers me every time." But, you see, it would be impossible to find this kind of deliverance were there no God to deliver us.
C. There could be No Peace
If there were no such God as this, there could be no peace for the guilty conscience. We all know in our heart of hearts that we need pardon and cleansing, but where can we find peace of conscience, cleansing from our guilt and deliverance from impurity if there is no God such as the God David knew and declared and trusted? Such lovely words as the Lord's invitation to sinful men - "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" - such words would be meaningless. They would offer a false hope. Thank God that this foundation truth that God is just and the justifier of all who believe on Jesus is a foundation that cannot be moved - but if it were moved what miserable people we would be!
D. There would be No Refuge
If there were no such God as this, there would be no refuge in trouble and no balm in sorrow. When troubles and trials fall upon our friends we say to them, "Put your trust in God. He is our refuge. He will not fail you!" We quote Psalm 46, Psalm 23, Romans 8:28, and we tell them, "Underneath are the everlasting arms"; but what folly it is for us to do this if there is in fact no God, no Saviour, no Holy Spirit, no refuge, no help in times of trouble!" What sympathy the man needs who denies God exists - yes, he needs our deep sympathy and our earnest prayers, for in times of trouble, of sickness and of sorrow, he has no God to whom he can turn, no loving Heavenly Father from whom he can receive comfort and strength.
E. There would be No Hope
If there were no such God as this, there would be no hope beyond the grave. How dark the grave would be to us all and how bleak the future would be without any certainty about immortality, about the gift of life eternal and about Heaven, the home of the redeemed!
Conclusion
And so we might go on. How deeply grateful we must be that, as Paul said to young Timothy, "The foundation of God standeth sure!" Thank God for "the faith once and for all delivered to the saints." Let us hold fast to it, rejoice in it and proclaim it, and let us pray for those who in their blindness are sincerely groping after the truth, that God will reveal Himself to them and that they may soon be led to stand with us upon the sure foundation of God that can never be destroyed.