By George H. Alquist Jr.
"Have mercy upon me, 0 LORD, consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: "That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation." -Ps. 9:1 3,14.
David was in a bad way: he was troubled and suffering at the hands of his enemies, even to the point of death. He called out to God to lift him up, to save him, to take him from the gates of death to the gates of Zion. He was seeking the mercy of God while he was lying at the "gates of death!"
David's situation was one of physical need, yet these verses also speak of man's spiritual situation.
I. Lying at the Gate
The practice of begging has been going on for a long time. I'm sure you've walked down the street many times and seen folks holding out a tin cup, begging for money. And they do their begging in a high-traffic area, a place where the most people will see them and help them.
The Gate Beautiful
"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;
Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.
And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
And all the people saw him walking and praising God:
And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him." -Acts 3:2-10.
The lame man, lying at the gate Beautiful because it is a place of high traffic, is there to ask for money from the passersby.
Let's look at some of the other people who may be at this particular gate.
There is a dying man, hoping someone will have pity and mercy on him and give him money so he can get the medical attention he needs.
Close by is a man who is destitute; he has no money, so he sits there day after day, begging for alms.
We also find at the gate Beautiful a derelict who has lost his way. He has no direction, no guidance, no one to help him; and he lies at the gate, asking for alms.
There is a disabled man. He would work if he could, but he has been lame from birth, and his legs will not support his body. All he can do is beg for alms.
All of these people are lying at the gate, their bony, empty hands reaching out for mercy from passersby: "Won't someone put a coin in my hand?" they beg.
Occasionally someone will toss a penny their way, but it is seldom out of mercy. Their "kindness" is most often out of guilt or to soothe their own conscience or, as is most often the case, to make themselves look generous and charitable in the eyes of others. But the beggars care not for the motive; they care only for the money.
The Gate Death
Lying at the gate of death is where Jesus finds us when we are in our sinful condition, when we are lost and without guidance or direction or hope. We lie there just as miserable and just as needy as those found with the lame man at the gate Beautiful.
When we are born into this world, we are placed at the gate of death. We lie there year after year-sometimes decade after decade-until one day we go through that gate. The Bible says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4); "for the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23).
The Gate Hell
Not only is there the gate of death" there is also the gate of Hell (Matt.16: 18). That is where death takes the sinner. He will spend eternity in the lake of fire with "the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars" (Rev. 21:8).
From the moment of birth we are physically dying, but if we are not born again, we are also dying spiritually. "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses" (Col. 2:13).
We are like that dying man, destitute of all personal righteousness: "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6).
Paul tells us in Romans 3:10, "There is none righteous, no, not one."
Without Jesus Christ, we are spiritually bankrupt and spiritually destitute; we have nothing to offer to God for His acceptance.
Are you fearful? Are you an unbeliever? Have you ever told a lie? Is the lake of fire your destiny? When you enter through the gate of death, will you then enter through the gate of Hell?
The Gate Disability
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." -Titus 3:5.
We are not able to work our way or to earn our way into Heaven. We are unable to lift ourselves or to help ourselves. The Bible says:
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2: 8,9.
The Gate Dereliction
The word derelict means "to be without a captain." Before we are saved, we are like a ship without a captain, a plane without a pilot, we are wandering and drifting and lost, our nature corrupt and without hope because we are lost at sea, for there is no one at the controls.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. - who can know it?"-Jer. 17:9.
"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." -Rom. 7:18.
Being born into the human race, we are in an unsaved condition; we are without moral compass; we are without power to do right, we are without direction; we are aimless and hopeless. Outside of Christ, there we lie - pitiful, writhing wrecks of willful humanity.
Maybe you've never looked at yourself as a derelict, but that is how you are if you have not been born again. Oh, we gloss it over with our works for humanity, and we pride ourselves on our accomplishments and abilities, but under the light of the Bible we see our true selves.
II. LOOKING AT THE LAMB
"The next day John [the Baptist] seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." -John 1:29.
Jesus Christ, the sacrificial Lamb of God, was sent to die for the sins of the world. What is it that places us at the gate of death and the gate of Hell? Our sinful nature. And Jesus came as the Lamb of God to die on the cross to pay for the very sins that placed us before these gates! He came to lift us up away from those gates; He came to save us and to release us from the gate of death and the gate of Hell.
But wait a minute! Before we are released from these gates, we must respond to the Sacrifice. And how do we do that? By looking to the Lamb.
John said, "Behold the Lamb of God," and he said that to bring our attention away from ourselves and to turn our eyes toward Jesus, because there is "the Lamb of God." But how do we "behold the Lamb of God"? How do we turn our eyes upon Him and away from ourselves?
