David begins the psalm with this
exhortation to praise and gratitude. Praise him and give thanks unto
him. He gives a couple of reasons
for that. Because he's good. Because he's merciful. And his
brand of mercy doesn't go away. It has no limit to it. You can't wear it out. You can't
go too far. Praise you, the Lord. We're exhorted here very commonly. And we'll have to remember this
because right now it doesn't mean much to you. Let's just
be honest, it doesn't mean much to you. You're hearing me say
that, praise you, the Lord, and you're going, oh, I've heard
that before. Okay. Yeah, let's do that. But David's
got some things to talk about in this psalm, and we'll need
to remember this verse 1 now. This is one of those psalms where
you can read verse 1 after every verse. Have you ever done that
before when you're reading scripture? Who can utter the mighty acts
of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise? Praise ye the
Lord. Give thanks to him. Blessed are
they that keep judgment. and he that doeth righteousness
at all times. Praise ye the Lord. He's in the blessing business.
Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto
thy people. Oh, visit me with thy salvation. Praise him and
thank him. Verse two, who can utter the
mighty acts of the Lord? Have you ever tried? Have you
ever tried? I bet Joe has asked this question
a time or two. If you've ever stood up and tried
to utter the mighty acts of the Lord, you're asking this question,
who? Who can do that? Who is qualified? Who is smart enough? Who? Who
has got to the bottom of it? Who can even begin? Who is sufficient
for these things? Who can show forth all his praise? Who even understands it? You'd
have to understand it to show it forth. You'd have to have
some grasp of it. Now, the Lord's mighty acts are
numerous. But the magnitude here of what David is saying, who
can utter? I'm at a loss. It's not just
about numbers. That's not what this is. In all
of the mighty acts of God, there is one truth. One truth that
is shown. one incredible reality that is
proven over and over again in everything that God does, in
everything that he says, in all of his mighty acts, in all of
his praiseworthy doings. There is one reality set forth,
proven, revealed, and that's what's unspeakable. That's what
can't be told. The half has never yet been told. When you see this one thing about
God, really see God as he is in this one aspect that he reveals
in everything. You'll never be the same again,
and you will spend eternity praising him and thanking him for it. And it's what you see at Calvary.
You see this one thing at Calvary best. For all of these acts in
this psalm and others are just glimpses, they're just pictures,
they're just snapshots of what happened at Calvary. Verse 3, blessed are they that
keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Now
this is an interesting verse in this psalm because if you
look at this verse in this psalm, it doesn't seem to fit. David's
fixing to talk about how bad we are, how hopeless we are. The ones with the most advantage,
now the children of Israel who had the law and the prophets
and the commandments of God, and they had all the things that
Paul talks about in Romans chapter 3. What advantage did they have
to the Jews? Much every way. To them are committed the oracles
of God. They had the statutes, they had
the types of pictures, they had all that God revealed to them
in the Old Testament. They had these mighty acts done
right before their eyes. And yet, they failed over and
over and over and over again. And that's what David recounts
in this psalm. The failures of Israel. But also that one thing we're
talking about. That if we can see this one thing
about God, This one aspect of His character. We'll praise Him
and thank Him forever. We'll never forget verse 1. It'll
never become mundane to us. But here amidst all of that is
this, blessed are they that keep judgment and that doeth righteousness
at all times. He's fixed to tell us about a
group of people, the most advantaged group of people that ever lived
in this world, as far as the things of God are concerned,
who didn't do righteousness at any time. And yet we're reminded
here at the outset that those who are blessed of God are those
who deserve it. Pure and simple. If you're going
to be blessed of God, you're going to have to deserve it.
You're going to have to keep judgment. You're going to have
to do righteousness at all times. And then we're shown over and
over. After being shown, if you're going to be blessed with God,
you must deserve it. We're going to be shown over and over in
this song how that we don't deserve it. And this reveals the spiritual
truth of how God saves us. Because these earthly pictures
are wonderful, miraculous, awe-inspiring. The Red Sea is mentioned. Imagine
yourself there on that day. Awesome, incredible, wonderful,
miraculous salvation. But this is talking about the
spiritual truth about how God saves us here. The Red Sea, just
a picture of that. God saved them there on that
day by folding back the water so that they could pass by. And
then not just that though, but by letting the water go back
when their enemies were in the midst of it. That was part of
the salvation too. In other words, let's break that
down to the essence of what God did that day. He saved them by
making them able to do that which by nature was impossible for
them to do. Being the creatures that they
were, there's no way they're getting across that sea before
those enemies come down upon them and wreak havoc upon them.
Not gonna happen. So God made them able to do that
which they could not possibly do themselves. and destroyed all of their enemies
in the process. You know what that looks like
spiritually? Calvary. All of the enemies of God and
his people crushed and us, holy, righteous, spotless, and pure
before God. This is us being blessed on the
basis of righteousness. That's what verse three is all
about. We can't keep God's law any more than we can cross that
Red Sea before the Egyptians come down on our head. And yet
we're going to cross the Red Sea. And also, and yet we're going
to stand righteous in the presence of God, innocent and blessed
on the basis of perfect righteousness. Having in the eyes of God done
righteousness at all times, like the verse says. And it's going
to happen in the same way the Israelites were saved at the
Red Sea. That's why that's used to picture. That's why God established,
arranged that whole scene. How were they saved that day?
We're saved the same way. God never saves but one way.
How were they saved? By doing what God said. Which
was what? Nothing. Just stand there. You
stand there. You stand still. Don't even move. And watch me save you. That's what happens at Calvary.
We look and live. They stood there and witnessed
how God can make the impossible inevitable. And that's what we
do at the cross. We see how the holy God of heaven
and earth can justify sinful men and women. We just watch
him do it. We just see it with an eye of
faith. And with all of our heart embrace
him who accomplishes it. We see how we can be righteous
without keeping the law. The righteousness without the
law is revealed Romans 3 21. at Calvary. It was witnessed
by the law and the prophets. They've been pointing to Christ
all along from the beginning. And that's what this psalm does.
And we behold, we stand still and see God's salvation. What
I want to see particularly tonight is this. He saved them nevertheless. He saved them without their help.
He saved them in spite of them. Their only part in it was they
needed it. And he did it nevertheless. And all of these other mighty
acts of God revealed in this book reveal the same thing. We
are wretched before God saves us. We are wretched while God's
saving us. And when God's done finished
saving us, we're going to be wretched. But he's going to save
us anyway. That's what verse 8 said. He
saved them nevertheless. Verse 4, Remember me, O Lord,
with the favor that Thou bearest unto Thy people. Remember me
that way. Don't remember what I've done.
Don't remember what I've said. Don't remember the thoughts and
intents of my heart. Remember me with the favor that
You have toward Your people. Everything that David's gonna
recount in this psalm. He's saying to God look let me
in on that Save me nevertheless like you did them visit me with
your salvation Verse five that I may see the good of that chosen.
I Let me in on what you do for
the ones that you elected from the foundation of the world.
Let me remind you what election is about. Paul said the purpose
of God, according to election, stands on this. Jacob, I love. It's not an arbitrary choice,
eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Election is God says, I love
you. That's what election is. I love
you and I hate you. That's what we're looking for.
That's what we see here. Why would God save him nevertheless? That I may see the good of thy
chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that
I may glory with thine inheritance. David had seen something now,
what we're looking for tonight, that he sets forth in the rest
of this whole psalm and he cries out for that. I want in on that. He had seen that God can only
bless. He can only save based on perfect
righteousness. But the way of that, the way
that happens is not for me to be good, not for me to do good,
not to do better or to try my best. The way that happens is
for God to save me nevertheless. It's what happens to those who
God favors, distinguishingly, Favors above all else They're the worst of the worst
as we're gonna see But he loves them and so he saves them anyway It's what happens to those who
are chosen of the Lord do you see that in the text here that's
what I want to happen to me I Don't want God to give me what's coming
to me. I I don't want my good to outweigh my bad. I don't want
my good at all, Paul said. I cast it behind me. It's done. The best of me. I want in. I want to throw in my
lot with those who God loved from the foundation of the world
and saved in every sense of the word, in every way that a man
can be saved and did it in spite of them. You see that here? David, knowing now the only way
that God can save a sinner is by that sinner being perfect.
He just established that. If you're going to be blessed
of God, you got to do righteousness at all times. And yet knowing
what he was, seeing it in the Israelites,
seeing it in every man that ever lived, in every example given
in the scripture, Knowing what he must be, and yet knowing what
he is, he cries out to God and says, Lord, deal with me the
way that you dealt with them. They were wretched like me. I'm
wretched like them. And yet you saved them. Deal
with me the way you dealt with those that you loved, you favored,
you chose from the foundation of the world. You didn't save
them from Egypt because they were righteous. You didn't save them. You didn't
favor them because they were good and obedient and didn't
rebel. You saved them anyway. Remember me now Lord and deal
with me that way because I'm just like them. You see verse
six. I'm just like them. We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We
have done wickedly. That's all we've done. We're
talking about the mighty acts of God now. And the only the only way I get
in on it is I need his salvation. Here's
my acts, sin, iniquity, wickedly. That's my part in it. How about
you? We're all by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. And I want you to notice that
David's not talking about now before God ever showed up. Oh,
we used to be bad. Oh, before we saw anything from
God, before God, you know, turned the light on, we used to be real
bad. No, he's not talking about a time before they saw anything
of the mercy and love of God. He's saying that even after God
revealed to them how he saved sinners, revealed to them his
power, they didn't understand it. They didn't get it. Verse
seven, our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. Think
about the mighty power and authority and sovereignty that God showed
in saving them. Everything he did resulted in
their salvation with a mighty hand. They understood
not, they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies, but
provoked him at the Red Sea, even at the Red Sea. Even at
the Red Sea, even where they wouldn't have even been there
if God hadn't worked mightily in their favor. Now, what was the real issue
at the Red Sea? What was their sin? How did they
provoke God? We've already seen and said that
what God did was make it so that the Israelites could do what
was impossible for them. They're standing there realizing
this is impossible. We're goners. And he made it
happen. They just stood there and watched
him save them. It was impossible for them because
of their nature, because of their own personal limitations, they
could not cross. And the reason they murmured,
the reason they provoked God was because they were still insisting
on doing this thing themselves. They're still looking to themselves.
That's why Peter realized all of a sudden, wait a minute, I
can't walk on water. Sure enough, you can't. Why were they even
doing that? God, look what God had just done
in Egypt. Clearly, if He can turn all the
water in Egypt to blood, if He can do all of the other wonders
that He displayed before their very eyes, He can save them now.
So what's their problem? They're still leaning on the
flesh. They're still doing what we do every blasted day that
we live. We don't see how we can get out
of this. Well, no wonder you can't. And that's where we've
got to come spiritually. What am I going to do to be saved?
You're not. Stand still and shut up and see
what God did. And it's without excuse. This
is after God had already shown them what He's capable of and
how helpless they are. And we know better too, don't
we? We know better. We know that in our flesh dwelleth
no good thing. We know that Christ is all of
our righteousness before God. And yet we still lean on the
arm of the flesh. We're still self-righteous. We're
still proud. We still doubt and fear. And
our own sin, our own limitations, cause us to doubt and sin even
more. We commit the terrible sin of self-righteousness. That's
what it is when you look to yourself to accomplish anything Worth
accomplishing you self-righteous We have no faith with regard
to his precious blood. We come to that place. You remember
what he said to his disciples How is it that you have no faith? Well, that sounds pretty strong
doesn't it surely he should have said how is it that you don't
have very much faith We forget that He has accomplished
everything for us. That's what they forgot. They
forgot about standing still. They forgot it. What were they
doing? What we need to do is what we did to begin with. Stand
still and see God save. What did they do in Egypt before
the Red Sea? Did they have a hand in that
when the plagues were sent? When God dealt with the pride
and rebellion of Pharaoh, did their flesh, their goodness,
their obedience, did anything about them save them then? What
did they do then? They just stood there and watched
God save them. And yet on this day, they provoked God. And we still do. We still do. How many Red Seas has He brought
us to? And we're still forgetting. So they sin, they provoke God
without excuse. They're still looking to themselves
and God saves them nevertheless. Nevertheless. What a beautiful word that is.
Nevertheless. Why would God do that? This is why when God would teach
us something of his love and grace toward us, he told Hosea
to go yet and love a woman. Go love Gomer. At first he said
go and love a woman. Go love that woman. The most
unlovable woman imaginable. Is there anything Is there anything less lovable than someone that is blatantly
unfaithful, has no regard for you, doesn't care whether you
live or die? Go love her. Go fall in love
with her. And what did he say before he
told you that? He said, I'm going to teach you something of my love for
my people. This is the one thing. that everything
God does sets forth. Everything. And it all, as I
said, is a picture of Calvary. That's where it all culminated.
Herein is love. Not that we love God, but that
he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our
sins. So he said, go love a woman.
And then when she proved to be exactly what Hosea knew she was,
when she spurned Hosea's undeserved love for her. She didn't deserve
his love, and she still didn't care for him. When she was unfaithful, when
she did not love him the way he loved her, she could not, her nature made
it impossible You see, she wasn't a pretty good gal that fell into
bad company. She was a harlot. God said she's
a harlot. That's what she is. Not what
she does. That's what she is. And when
she played the harlot, God said to Jose, you want to know about
my love for you? Go yet. Go yet and love her. Go love her anyway. Go love her
nevertheless. That's what we'll never be able
to tell the half of right there. There are many acts, mighty acts,
wonderful pictures of God's saving love and grace in this book.
And we come to Calvary. They all point us there. They
all point us to Christ crucified. Paul said, God forbid that I
glory in anything or anybody else, but my Lord Jesus Christ
crucified for me. They all point us there we come
to Calvary. We see God nevertheless Saving us in that while we were
yet sinners, here's what nevertheless looks like turn to Romans chapter
5 Romans 5 6 For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. That's who God's been saving
from the beginning. The ungodly. Those who've sinned,
those who've done wickedly, those who've transgressed and continuously,
before and after, For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while
we were yet, he loved us yet, he loved us
nevertheless. And this is what love looks like.
This is what love is. Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. If he
did save us when we were wretched and vile and ungodly and without
strength, you think he's gonna let us go now? We're still all those things. But we're justified by his blood
now. Always have been, really. I know
people want to argue about that. Eternal justification, or did
justification take place at the cross? Yes. Yes. Both. When we understand who it was
that died for our sins, and we don't, but I'm talking about
just getting a little glimpse. He's the eternal lamb. And His blood is eternal blood.
And His justifying power is eternal. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being
reconciled, now that we're reconciled, we shall be saved. He's been
saving us all along. He's been saving us from the
start and He's not going to quit. And we're going to heap sin upon
sin. We're going to heap wickedness upon wickedness. And He's going
to save us anyway. If God saved us, loved us nevertheless,
how is He going to let you go now? We are unfaithful servants. We understand that. We're unfaithful. We're gomer. We do not love God the way he
loves us. We sin every second of every
day. And he saves us every second
of every day. Where sin abounds. And I'll tell
you where that is. It's right there. In my heart
of hearts, but right there is grace does much more about grace
is not something floating out in the air here that we're to
avail ourselves of oh this is the one thing now though i am wretched and vile
and unfaithful and my love's not worth talking about Though
I still heap sin upon sin every moment, He saves me anyway. And He's gonna save me to the
uttermost. By that precious blood that He
shed on that cross. That's why Paul said, God forbid,
don't let me, God, don't let me lowering anything out. but
Him and His dying love, His saving, precious, sin-atoning blood.
It is His love and His grace toward me that are unspeakable,
that can't be told. Who can utter it? Who can show
it forth, David asks in verse 2. Who can praise Him sufficiently
for loving and saving such as we at such cost? Verse one, praise ye the Lord.
Praise Him, don't ever stop. Paul said, glory unto Him, both
right now and forever. Praise ye the Lord, oh give thanks
unto the Lord, for He's good. for his mercy endureth forever
and you look at the rest of this psalm they understood not they remembered
not though his mercy was multiplied upon them they didn't know anything
about it didn't care anything about it but provoked him nevertheless
he saved them for his namesake He's going to get glory, isn't
he? And oh, we're going to say, not unto us, Lord, but unto thy
name give glory. He's worthy of it. That he might
make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also,
and it was dried up. So he led them through the depths
as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand
of him that hated them and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
And the waters covered their enemies. There was not one of
them left. Not one. Not one, not one sin, not one
charge, not one enemy, no one to pursue us. You don't have
to look over your shoulder. Not when God saves you, not one. Then believe they his words,
they sang his praise, they soon forget. Do you believe? Lord, I believe,
help. Don't ever say, I believe, without
saying help, at least in your heart. Help, help. They soon forget his works. They
waited not for his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness
and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request,
but sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses also
in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord. The earth opened
and swallowed up Dathan and covered the company of Abiram. And a
fire was kindled in their company, the flame burned up the wicked.
They made a calf in horror and worshipped the molten image.
Thus they changed their glory. The one who is our glory. They changed into the similitude
of an ox that eateth grass. We make idols in our own image,
don't we? What are we? A dumb ox. And that's
an insult to the ox, because God said at least the ox knows
who his master is. And he lives in his master's
crib. They forget God their Savior,
which hath done great things in Egypt. wondrous works in the land of
Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea. Therefore he said that
he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach,
to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. God will raise up a prophet like
unto me. That's Christ. Yea, they despised
the pleasant land, they believed not his word over and over, but
murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice
of the Lord. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow
them in the wilderness, to overthrow their seed also among the nations,
and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto
Baal Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked
him to anger with their inventions, and the plague break in upon
them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment, and so
the plague was stayed. And that was counted unto him
for righteousness unto all generations forevermore. They angered him
also at the waters of Strath, so that it went ill with Moses
for their sakes, because they provoked his spirit, so that
he spake unadvisedly with his lips. They did not destroy the
nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them, but were mingled
among the heathen and learned their works. And they served
their idols, which were a snare unto them. Is that us living
in this world? Yeah, they sacrifice their sons
and their daughters unto devils. People are doing it every day.
Are we doing that? That's unthinkable, isn't it?
Yeah. Yeah, it is. and shed innocent blood, even
the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed
unto the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood."
What are you teaching your children? What's important? What do their
lives consist of? Have you sacrificed them to an
idol? Thus were they defiled with their
own works, and went a-whoring with their own inventions. Therefore
was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch
that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand
of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them. Their
enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection
under their hand. Many times did he deliver them,
but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low
for their iniquity." We're still worshiping this same God now. And we still what we are. Nevertheless, nevertheless, he regarded their
affliction when he heard their cry and he remembered for them
his covenant. You see that, that's Calvary
2. The blood of the everlasting
covenant was shed there God's everlasting covenant of grace
with his people was ratified right there on that cross. That's
why David said, this is all my salvation and all my desire that
God has made with me an everlasting covenant. And Christ held that
cup in his hand and said, this cup is that new covenant, my
precious blood. He remembered for them his covenant,
which is broken for you, for them and repented according to
the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied
of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O Lord our
God, and gather us from among the heathen. And then we go right back to
verse 1 again, don't we? Look. To give thanks unto thy
holy name and to triumph in thy praise. Praise Him. Thank Him. Every
moment. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, so
be it. To whatever, to what? Amen to
what? Whatever he does. Everything
he does, he doeth all things well. Praise ye. You praise Him. You praise Him.
May God give us grace to praise Him in the preaching of the gospel,
in witnessing wherever there's opportunity to. Who are we? Who are we? Witnessing is not
something you do. It's somebody you are. Praise ye the Lord. Let's pray
together.