May God be with us and bless
us this evening as once more we turn to his word and again
we turn to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 21. The prophecy of Isaiah chapter
43 verse 21. But this people have I formed
for myself. They shall show forth My praise,
this people have I formed for myself. They shall show forth
my praise. To remind ourselves, we considered
the first half of this verse this morning. And we considered
it in this light, that is that the verse shows us two essential
elements of a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
first element we thought this morning was how they are those
who have known the work of God. They have known and trusted in
the work done for them through the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and his death on the cross. And they have known the work
of God in them as they have been brought to repentance and faith
in him. We considered how they were and
are the people of God. They are and always have been
his people and that they have been formed for him. They are
under his headship and therefore are eternally secure. And so we may ask when we consider
the state of man naturally, a sinner, why does God save his people? What is the reason for the Lord
to save his people? Well, in one sense, that is a
mystery that no one can answer. Why would God ever choose his
people? Why would he ever love his people? Why would he ever be willing
to die for his people? That is a mystery that we will
never fathom, and eternity will never entirely unearth the depths
in that question. So why are we saved? Well, some people may say, and
you may have heard the phrase, there's an element of truth in
it, we are saved to serve. And so we are saved to serve
the Lord. And so His people are to serve
Him in their life. That is the reason He has saved
them. Partially, yes. Some may say, well they are saved
to evangelise. They are saved to preach the
gospel and to spread the word of God throughout the world.
They are saved to be his witnesses to the as yet unbelievers around
them. Partially yes. Others will say
that they are saved that the Lord might bless them. that he
has such a love for them that he just wants such good for them. He wants them to know eternal
joy, happiness and peace. Partially yes. You may say that
the Lord has saved his people because he desires them to be
with him in glory. He desires to have his bride,
the Church of Jesus Christ, around him forever and ever in eternal
bliss. Partially, yes. But here, I think
we have the real root of why the Lord has saved his people.
And all of those other points sit underneath this overarching
reason. this people i have formed for
myself they shall show forth my praise and it is summed up
in this that his people are for his glory they are to bring glory
to him and here we have it as well in verse 7 of this same
chapter 43 where he says, even everyone that is called by my
name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him for my glory. And we must remember that the
church of Jesus Christ is to bring glory and praise to him. That is their main concern, or
should be their main concern, to glorify that one who has formed
them for himself. I want you to notice here, and
it's striking and it's important, he says, they shall show forth
my praise. They shall. You know the hymn, Lord it is
my chief complaint, that my love is cold and faint. Yet I love thee and adore, O
for grace to love thee more. And I think the believer will
often feel that their love is not as strong as it should be.
But will also feel that their praise of God is not what it
should be as well. Will feel that they do not bring
glory to God as they should. Because the sad reality is that
every believer is still a sinner, Every believer continues to sin,
they continue to fall short of His glory, they continue to wander
in their own ways at times, they continue to fall down before
idols even at certain ways and times. And so they look at their
life and they see, is there any real praise to God in my life? Do I bring any glory to Him at
all? And the encouragement here is,
if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that you shall
bring forth praise to him. It's a certainty. You must. It's an inevitable part of what
it is to be a Christian. You already bring glory to the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You already bring praise to his
name because you are a Christian. A true believer, as we saw this
morning, is one who has known the work of God, has known the
transforming, regenerating work of God, is someone who is no
longer the same as they were. They are, in the language of
Paul, a new creature, a new creation. And that believer who has known
the work of God must bring glory to God because they are marks,
they are an evidence of his work. They are evidence of the power
of God. They are an evidence of the grace
of God. They are an evidence of the finished
work of Jesus Christ at the cross. They are an evidence of the complete
washing away of sin through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They are a miracle. They are as amazing as Lazarus
was as he walked out of his tomb. A believer is a wonder to behold. And so they bring praise to God
because they are a believer. You know how the Lord Jesus Christ
says that there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that
repenteth. And if we have been that sinner
who's repented, The Lord has so worked in us to bring us to
our knees in sorrow. If he has so worked in us that
we have desired and longed for his blessing and salvation, that
we have turned from our own selves and turned unto the Lord Jesus
Christ, that we've been that sinner that's repented, then
there's been the ring of joy in heaven. There's been the peals
of rejoicing in heaven itself. because they're an evidence of
the work of God. And so a turning to the Lord,
a turning in a humble trust to the Lord in itself is to acknowledge
a need of him who is far greater and more wonderful than we are.
And that in itself, though it may not feel like it, that in
itself is an act of glorifying God. It brings us down and lifts
him up. They shall show forth my praise. But you see, Not only is a believer
glorious because they are an evidence of God's work, but they
are glorious in Christ. They are glorious in Christ.
We are accepted in the beloved. And so as Christ is glorious
in himself, in his perfection and his righteousness, so his
people are glorious in him. This beautiful, you read Revelation,
this beautiful bride adorned for her husband, this beautiful
church prepared for the Lord Jesus Christ, they are beautiful
in Christ. And as the Lord looks upon his
people, he sees them in Christ, and he brings praise to his name. Can we even say that the Lord
God Almighty is as pleased with his people as he is with his
son? Of course, in a sense, his son
is that peculiar treasure. It is him who came to live and
to suffer and die. It is him who is the second person
to Trinity. His people will never be that.
But all the same, in his son, they are as precious and as glorious.
Oh, you see, they shall bring forth praise unto God. So take encouragement from this.
You may feel, I don't bring God the glory I should. And every
Christian would agree with you in that. But there is a certainty,
if you're a believer, you already bring glory to God by the mere
fact of what you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. They shall show
forth my praise. There's a number of words in
the Hebrew which are translated praise or worship. Some of them
speak more of a falling down on your knees before the Lord.
Some of them speak of a more quiet contemplation. But this
word which is translated praise here, this speaks very much of
a singing out loud. something that is heard and recognized
by others. And it has an element of spontaneity
about it. That means that it's not prepared
and organized in a sense. There's a spontaneous rejoicing,
a spontaneous praising to God. That's what this praise is here. This praise is a result of the
knowledge of the Lord themselves that they almost cannot help
but sing out. And others will see it. And others
will know it. So I want to consider this evening
just a couple of ways, a couple of points, and what it is to
praise. what it is to praise the Lord.
And of course, we may think, well, it is that, isn't it? It's to sing. Isn't it to meet
together in public worship like we do tonight, to sing together
and to worship him together? Yes, there's an element there,
of course. That is what it is to praise
the Lord. Yes, it is to have a full heart
ourselves and to lift it up in thanksgiving and praise to God.
I want to consider it in a slightly more personal and practical way
this evening. Firstly, praise is to be found
in every voice of thanksgiving. Praise to God is to be found
in every voice of thanksgiving. Perhaps this evening, particularly
in the last service of the year, it is a time to look back and
record the goodness of God. It's a time to try and remember
perhaps those things that we've now forgotten. Remember those
times, those months ago, those difficult times. Remember those
times where there was a lot of prayer offered up to the Lord.
It's faded into the memory now, but go back and remember it. Remember those times when you've
stood in a real need and he answered. Look back and record his blessings. And look back and record his
answers to prayer and give thanks. Give thanks. You know how quickly
we can become accustomed to the position that we're in right
now, and we can forget what's come before to bring us here.
And we can become used to where we are or the situation we're
in today, and we can forget what brought us here, perhaps the
heartache that brought us here, perhaps the real cries to God
that brought us here, and we can forget and just accept where
we are now. And tonight is a good opportunity
to look back and to record with thanksgiving what the Lord has
done. Those answers and those helps
and those blessings that we've known naturally and of course
spiritually. those times we were downcast,
those times we doubted our salvation, those times when we wondered
if there was a God at all, those times when we faced fierce temptations,
those times when we fell and we had to again come on our knees
in sorrow and repentance, those times, and yet the Lord has not
forsaken his people and has continued to bless them and to continue to show them
his grace, record his goodness, throughout the year. And that
will bring praise to his name. And we'll bring praise to him,
because it's him that has done that wonderful thing for you.
Record his goodness. It may be, you know those times when you're
struck, perhaps afresh, with the power of the gospel we can forget and it's a tragic
truth that we can forget what the gospel really is we can become
so accustomed to it we can become so used to it We can hear it
week in and week out and it just becomes the same message that
we heard last week and we'll probably hear next week and we
become so used, yes the Lord loved his people, yes the Lord
Jesus Christ died for sinners, yes the Lord rose again from
the dead and we can forget just how amazing the gospel is. How amazing. You know, Psalm
40, it's why we read Psalm 40 this evening, tells us something
of what the Gospel is in Old Testament language in the opening
verses. He brought me up out of an horrible
pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and
established my goings, and hath put a new song in my mouth, even
praise unto our God. That's what the Lord has done.
Look what he's done. You're a horrible pet. horrible
place mirey clay where you were sinking down you were trapped
and couldn't escape and couldn't rescue yourself and he's taken
you up out of that situation and you've put your feet on a
safe and a solid rock and he's established your goings and he's
gone with you and guided you and assured you of a certain
end and he set you singing praise unto Almighty God and probably
the only thing you did before was complain about the miry clay. Now you're praising the Lord
as you walk on your journey with him. That's what the gospel is. It's taken his people from death
to life. It's taken them from the broad
way to destruction and put them on the narrow way to heaven. It's taken them from the certain
wrath of Almighty God so that they might say, Abba, Father. And we can forget what the Lord
has done. Maybe we can look back, or maybe
we're there this evening, when we can be struck again with the
gospel. And when it flows from the heart
and the Lord has said, a new song in my mouth, even praise
to our God. And we may say, well, we've met
and we've sung. I continue to come and I continue
to sing the hymns. I continue to join him with the
prayers. I continue to say the right things to my friends and
my fellow members of the congregation. I continued in the same vein,
but now there's a new song. Now I sing with joy, with melody
in my heart, because I've been struck again by the power and
glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How wonderful that Christ
should come for sinners like me. And every time we are struck
with that again, and every time we lift up our eyes in thanksgiving
again, and every time we give thanks, it is in itself We show
forth his praise. We show forth his praise because
it is an acknowledgment of all that he has done. In the Song of Solomon, that
beautiful book regarding about the love of Christ and his people,
we have, of course, there the time when the bride loses that felt communion with
the bridegroom and she searches for him. By night on my bed I
sought him whom my soul loveth. I sought him but I found him
not. I'll rise now and go about the city and the streets and
the broadways. I will seek him whom my soul loveth. I sought
him but I found him not. And maybe again we can identify
with that. We've been looking, praying,
and seeking, longing, but it feels like he's gone. The watchman
to go about the city found me, to whom I said, saw ye him whom
my soul loveth? He said, I continue in to seek.
And then we're told it was but a little while. I pass from them
that I found him whom my soul loveth. I found him. If you like, struck again, the
love of Christ. Struck again with his grace.
And what does she say? I held him and would not let
him go. I held him and I would not let
him go. You see that very act of holding
on to him is an act of praise. It is an acknowledgement of a
need. It's an acknowledgement of a love for Him. It is an act
of praise. It's people I've formed for myself.
And because I've formed them and because I've blessed them,
they shall show forth my praise. Your clinging to Christ is an
act of praise. And so praise is in every voice
of thanksgiving. But also, Praise is to be found
in every act of obedience. Praise is to be found in every
act of obedience. The Apostle Paul, when he speaks
of his testimony, tells, I think it is King Agrippa, of how the
Lord called him. And he says, and I was not disobedient
to the heavenly calling. And the Lord called him to a
complete transformation in his life. He called him from the
path of a Pharisee to the path of an Apostle. He called him
from a persecutor to be a preacher. There was a complete change,
but he was not disobedient to the heavenly calling. Because
in love to the Lord who had blessed him and loved him and saved him,
he would obey him. And that in itself was an act
of praise. As he obeyed that heavenly calling,
look at the Lord Jesus Christ as well. You know, in that John 17, that
high priestly prayer of the Lord, when we are given a little insight
of his prayer life with his heavenly Father, he speaks there, I have
glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. I have glorified thee. on the
earth. The Lord Jesus Christ brought
glory to God. He glorified God in his life,
in his holiness, in his love and compassion, in his obedience. He glorified God as he obediently
and willingly goes on the path to the cross at Calvary. He glorified
God. So shall forth my praise. Are
his people not also to glorify him through their acts of obedience? Yes. This means, of course, a
act of taking up the cross and following him. The Lord Jesus
Christ glorified his father as he took up the cross and followed
him. It glorified His Father as He laid down His life for
His people. It brought glory to God. And
His people bring glory to their Father as they take up the cross
and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, as they obey Him in following
after Him. Yes, they bring glory to Him
as they take on His name and speak of Him by professing their
faith. They bring glory to Him as they
honor Him in obedience. But you see, it comes more, can
I say it comes smaller than that? Yes, it's in that public profession. Yes, it is in that taking up
the cross. Yes, it is through the baptism
and through the Lord's Supper. But it comes smaller. It comes
to the everyday living for the Lord. His people bring glory to him
in their everyday decisions as they seek to turn from the idols
in their life and turn to him. And again, we can think, can't
we? Well, to have an idol, almost as if it's a rare thing. So it's
become an idol. or we can say it's just one certain
thing and then it's gone and it's dealt with you know we have
a plethora of idols and anything can become an idol at any point
and it become an idol unexpectedly and unlooked for And we can contend
with many things every day of our life as we struggle against
that sinful desire to go after those ungodly things, and there's
that inward struggle because we love the Lord as well. And
God is glorified in every single little decision when we put away
that idol and turn to Him. Every time we turn our back,
and it may be painful to do so, And it may be that our flesh
would love to do it, and there's so many arguments why we might
be able to do it, but when we think, no, it will not do my
soul good, no, I will spend some time with the Lord, no, I will
not give in to that, it brings glory to God. It is in itself
an act of praise. The everyday decisions to turn
from idols. It's an act of praise. I mean,
as people make that choice, if I can use that word, and I use
it carefully, a choice to seek the Lord. You know what I mean? We have many pressures on our life,
and we have many reasons why we can easily neglect the Lord.
Particularly when you've got a family at home, and you're
busy at work and you're got up early and you're to bed late.
You know what it's like when you've set aside some time in
the morning and it's disturbed within five minutes and it's
easy to give up. The Lord is glorified. When you
see that gap in the day or you make that time and say, I will
seek the Lord. I will read his word. I will
turn to him in prayer. I will meditate on the gospel. I will give this time to the
Lord. And that choice could have easily justified doing something
else. That choice, if it's done rightly and willingly, is it
not an act of praise? An acknowledging of what the
Lord means? and their desire to spend time
with him, they shall show forth my praise. Is it not an act of praise when
his people, with his help, and this is very much with his help,
they accept his will, however hard that will might be, however
trying, however painful, however upsetting. And when they can
honestly say, I know the Lord is in it, I know the Lord has
brought this to pass, I know the Lord has brought me to this
place, I know it's his will, and I find it so hard to accept
and so hard to walk through, but I will, with his help, accept
his sovereign will. Is not that acceptance, that
humble laying yourself under his hand, is that not an act
of praise? glorify our God as we acknowledge
that He knows best, that He is wise? Is it not an act of praise to
trust Him? Is it not an act of praise to
believe Him with the impossible? An act of praise to leave the
matter with Him when the mountain is too great? Is it not an act
of praise to go where he leads and to do as he commands? Is
it not an act of praise to believe his word and his promises and
his faithfulness to his word and his promises? Is it not praise
to acknowledge that the Lord knows and is wise? They shall
show forth. my praise. You see, praise in
every little act of obedience brings glory to Him. You know,
just that simple thing where people say, well, why are you
doing that? Why are you going there? Why have you made that
decision? To be able to say, I believe
it's the Lord's will. And I put myself under His will.
And under his guidance, surely that's an act of praise. And so, they shall. This people have I formed for
myself. They shall show forth my praise. Praise in every voice
of thanksgiving. Praise in every act of obedience. And may the Lord so help us to
be obedient. to follow after him, to do what
he has called us and commanded us to do, and that that may bring
glory to him. But finally, let's take us to
the glorious end. They shall show forth my praise,
the praise of heaven. The glorious praise of heaven. Because heaven is a place of
perfect praise. It is a place of sinless praise. It's a place of the lifting up
of the name of Almighty God from unsinning hearts. It is a place of worship. And,
you know, heaven is a great mystery and there's many things that
we do not know. But whatever the redeemed people of God are
doing or are involved in, and we can debate that forever because
We are not told in the word of God. Eternity will tell us. But
one thing is certain, it will be done in worship. It will be
done in an act of praise unto God. But look at the song of
praise in Revelation chapter 5. Revelation 5 verse 9 we're
told of the song of the redeemed. They sung a new song. saying thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and
has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and
tongue and people and nation and has made us God made us unto
God kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth is the
praise of heaven. And you see that the main center
of heavenly worship is thou was slain and thou hast redeemed
us. The center is the message of
the gospel, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the very
center of true praise. What Christ has done. That's
what the center of true praise is on earth below. We obey him,
we thank him, we honor him because of what he has done for us, because
he has formed us for himself. And that is the very center of
heavenly worship. For thou hast slain and hast
redeemed us unto God. You see, then there's another
group praising God in heaven. There's the redeemed, but then
there's the angels. And the angels say, worthy is
the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. But do you notice something? The angels praise God for what
he has done, but they don't praise him for what he has done for
them. They say, worthy is the lamb
that was slain, but they don't say, who has redeemed us. because
the angels have not been redeemed. And so we're told by the Apostle
Peter that these things the angels desire to look into. And if you can just try and understand
that, try and grasp this, that the redeemed multitudes in heaven
praise God in such a way that the angels will never know. They praise God with such a heart
that the angels can only look on and desire to look into. They praise God as Redeemer and
the angels look on and stand in amazement that this company
this multitude of people, this people who were lost and ruined,
these people who were fallen in sin, this people who were
disobedient, this people who worshipped idols and worshipped
themselves, this people who would have nothing for God, this people
who by nature would be cast into hell at this very moment and
in front of the multitudes of angels is this people praising
God and giving glory to Him like they will never know themselves. The praise of heaven. They shall
show forth my praise. They shall sing the song of the
redeemed for he was slain and has redeemed us with his blood. They shall show forth my praise.
And so here is the church. This people have I formed for
myself. They shall show forth My praise. Here is a church who has been
blessed with the work of God, who has been formed by him and
for him. Here is a people who, as a result
of that, bring glory to God in their life and witness. Here is a people. Is it you and me? Are we one
of these people? Are we one who have desired and
longed for his blessing? Are we one who by our simple
faith in the Lord bring glory to him? Are we one who have known
his remarkable redeeming grace? Are we one who sadly have to
acknowledge what we are And yet praise God every day for what
he has done and what he can do. Is it us? Is it you? Is it me? But I believe here is a place
of assurance, a place of encouragement. Assurance is such a big subject.
Assurance is such a subject that people struggle with so much.
Here is grounds for assurance. Here is grounds for certainty.
The work of God. This people have I formed. It's grounded in the work of
God. It's grounded in the finished
work of Jesus Christ. It's grounded in His sovereign
grace. It's grounded in His eternal love. It's grounded in his ownership
and headship over his people. It's grounded in the person and
character of the unchanging God. That's the grounds for assurance.
If you are trusting in him, you shall and you do show forth his
praise. Lift up your eyes on high. You
know that little account of Elijah's servant and of how he looked
about and saw all of the enemy around them and in front of them
and he said, what shall we do? And was expecting this destruction
or at least being taken into captivity. Elijah says, Lord,
I pray thee open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. Maybe that should be our prayer,
just as we enter into a new year. Lord, open our eyes that we may
see. Lord, when it all seems bleak and difficult, and when
we feel we don't give the praise that is due to thy name, and
when the gospel seems remote and distant, Lord, open my eyes
that I may see. that around is this multitude
of the heavenly host, around is the sovereignty of God, around
is his work and his salvation, around is this, this people have
I formed for myself, this little frightened band in the midst,
this people I've formed for myself. They shall show forth my praise. May God bless his word to us
today. Amen.