Go with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 145. Psalm 145. One verse of scripture in particular
made me want to look at this psalm. Verse 14. It says, the Lord upholdeth all
that fall and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The Lord upholds all that fall
and he raises up all that be bowed down. The heading under
the title of this psalm It says David's psalm of praise. David's own psalm of praise. David said this one is for me. This one is mine. This is a song
for me. I know the feeling so well. I know the feeling so well. Sometimes
I get into the word. And I become so fed by what I'm
studying, I think this is a message for me. I don't know if anybody
else is going to be fed by this, but this is for me. I have to
preach it. David said this song is for me, a song of praise. This is directly from my heart
to my God. Do you notice how Psalm 146 begins
by saying, Praise ye the Lord. Psalm 147 says, Praise ye the Lord. Psalm
145 says, I will extol thee. My God, O King, And I will bless thy name forever
and ever. I will bless thy name. He said, this is what brings
me joy. In the midst of all my trouble, David was a man of so
much trouble. And he said, this is what brings
me joy. I will bless thy name. Forever
and ever. Forever and ever. Verse two says,
every day will I bless thee and I will praise thy name forever
and ever. That's what my heart wants to
do, forever and ever. Forever and ever. When you think
of heaven, take a minute and go into your heart. When you
think of heaven, when the thought of heaven comes into your mind,
what do you think of doing? What do you think of doing? What
do you think heaven will consist of? What do you think in your
mind you will want to do forever and ever? What will it be filled
with forever and ever? Is the answer in your mind praising
your King? Just sitting there, just praising
your King. In your heart, do you want to
spend forever and ever blessing your King? There are plenty,
there's much time, no time. Okay, there is no more time. It's a never-ending eternity.
There's a lot of things we could do. but that'll have to wait
this first. And I can't leave it forever
and ever. If so, if that's what's in your
mind, if so, then this song is for you. If that's the case,
this song is for you. Turn with me over to Revelation
chapter five. Revelation 5, verse 1 says, And I saw in the
right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within
and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong
angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open
the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold the lion of the tribe
of Judah, The root of David hath prevailed to open the book and
to loose the seven seals thereof. That's Christ. Christ has done
it. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst
of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent
forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and
twenty elders fell down. They all fell down before the
Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of
odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new
song. saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain
and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred
and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld
and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne
and the beast and the elders and the number of them was 10,000
times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud
voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in
heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying." They all
heard I saying. I heard them saying. I heard
all of them crying it. They all heard me crying it.
Every soul there heard me crying. Blessing and honor and glory
and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the
Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. This is what forever and ever is going
to be. We just read what heaven will be forever and ever. This is the song of every saint
of God. This is my song. This is your
song. David said, I will extol thee. I will bless thy name. I will
praise thy name forever and ever. That sounds like a wonderful
eternity to me. With so much crying going on
down here, so many tears and so much pain and so much heartache
and so much worry and so much fear, that's going to be a wonderful
eternity. Blessing and honor and glory
and praise. Crying, thank God you redeemed
us by your blood, not by my decision, not by my this, not by my that,
not by my anything, by thy blood. That's the cry of eternity, by
thy blood, by thy blood. You cling to the blood, you're
clinging to it all, by thy blood. Go with me back to Psalm 145. Now let's enter into this song
of praise in light of verse 14. Verse 14 again says, the Lord
upholdeth all that fall and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. He upholds all that fall. Now
he's not talking about every man and woman who fell in Adam
in the garden. That's not who he's talking about.
In the garden of Eden, When Adam sinned, every man and woman on
earth fell into sin. That's not the fall he's talking
about. All men and women have fallen into sin. He clarifies
who he's talking about in the second half of this verse. He
said, he raises up all those that be bowed down. All those that be bowed down. Those who have had something
done to them. That's who he raises up. Those
that have had something done to them. Those who have been
caused to fall on the chief cornerstone. Here's the commandment. Fall
on Christ. Nobody will. Okay, that's the
commandment. We blast it. As far as the broadcast
of blasphemy, fall on Christ. That's the commandment. Nobody
will. Nobody will. This sinful heart
will not fall. The gospel is Christ has caused
some to fall. Christ has caused some to be
bowed down. He's caused some to realize that
they need mercy from God. They need mercy. Oh my goodness. We need mercy. Luke 18 says,
it says in Luke 18 verse 14, Everyone that exalteth himself,
that's every human being on earth. Everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, shall be abased. But he that humbleth himself,
and that only comes through the mighty hand of God, he that knows
that he needs mercy, I need some mercy, God be merciful to me. He who knows that he has nothing
to offer God, I don't have anything to offer God, He who knows that
he has been ruined in sin, completely ruined in sin before God. And this is my only hope. My
only hope is to fall on Christ and beg for mercy and forgiveness
in His blood. That's our only hope. That is
our only hope. As we stand before God, we cry,
Lord, I'm falling on the blood of Jesus Christ. I'm falling
on the mercy of Christ. I'm at your mercy. I'm at your
mercy. Our Lord said that is the soul
who will be exalted. That is the soul who has received
my work. And that soul will be exalted. Psalm 34, don't turn there, but
Psalm 34 verse 18 says, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of
a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. The word contrite means crushed,
humbled. That's who he saves. And you
know, every man and woman's heart by nature is so hard. Just so
hard. It takes the word and power of
God to crush a hard heart. Just like David, let me show
you another man who knew this well. Go with me to Daniel chapter
4. Here in Daniel chapter 4, King
Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up in pride before God. And he,
in his heart, said, look at everything I've
done. Would you look at everything I've done? God said it is all
going to be taken from you. Because of that pride, it's all
going to be taken. Your kingdom is going to be taken
from you. He said your mind is going to
be taken from you. You're going to be driven out
into the field to live like a beast. Daniel 4 verse 33 says, The same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar. And he was driven from men, and
did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of
heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his
nails like bird's claws. And at the end of the days, I,
Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven." God caused
him. God said, look at me. You know,
David said, if you turn me, I'll be turned. God turned him. At
the end of his appointed days, verse 34, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me. And I blessed the Most High,
And I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation
to generation. And all the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth, And none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? It was revealed to him, this
is God. It does not matter what I think
I've done. He started by saying, look at everything I've done.
And then he saw, all I've done is sin against God. Verse 36,
at the same time my reason returned unto me and for the glory of
my kingdom, mine honor and brightness returned unto me, God reinstated
him. and my counselors and my lords
sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent
majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise
and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are
truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to obey." That's wisdom. That is such wisdom. That is
who can say, Psalm 145 is a song for me. That's my song. Every soul that God has abased. A congregation of believers is
a congregation of abased people. They're all fighting. trying
to get lower and lower. One of them says, I'm the lowest.
The other says, no, I'm the lowest. I esteem you higher than myself. Every soul that God has abased
revealed something of that soul's own sin, revealed something of
that soul's own pride. Every soul that God in loving
kindness, that's what it is, In loving kindness and in tender
mercy, every soul he brings down. Causes that soul to fall. Fall
on Christ. That's the soul who can say.
Through the complete payment of my sin. On the cross of Calvary
through that payment. Christ upheld me. That's when
he upheld me in that payment. When he was brought down, I was
held up. And through the satisfaction
of his death, he raised me all the way up with him. If that is your hope, if that's
your only hope, everybody wants to cling to something. If that
is your only hope, if that is your story, then this is your
song. Go back with me to Psalm 145.
Psalm 145 verse 3 says, Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised. And His greatness is unsearchable. Worthy, worthy, worthy. Worthy is the Lord and worthy
to be praised. He's worthy. His worthiness. That's the song. That's the song. Thou art worthy. I'm not worthy. Let me ask you a question. Are
you worthy to go to heaven? Nope. I'm not worthy. He is. He is. Verse 3 says, His worthiness,
His greatness, His worthiness is unsearchable. Verse 4 says,
One generation shall praise thy works to another and shall declare
thy mighty acts. That is why I'm standing here
right now. This is the reason I'm standing
here right now. I want our children to know just
how worthy he really is. I want them to know. I want them
to become condensed. I want them to grow up seeing
that he is worthy. He's worthy to be praised, He's
worthy to be honored above all things. What trumps His worthiness? What trumps His praise? What
trumps gathering before Him? Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Verse 5, I will speak
of the glorious honor of Thy majesty and of Thy wondrous works. You're my only message. I have
nothing else to preach but you. I'll just speak of you. Verse
6 says, And men, others who you have done this for, I'm not the
only one. David said, I'm not the only
one. Men throughout the generations shall speak of the might of thy
terrible acts And I will declare thy greatness. Do you see how
thy greatness in the margin says it? They'll speak of the might of
that terrible acts, and I will declare it. I'll just repeat
it. That's all I'm doing. I'll just repeat the same declaration. Verse seven, they shall abundantly
utter the memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy
righteousness. This right here is important. That said, they shall abundantly
utter the memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy
righteousness. This song, crying thou art worthy,
sings of thy righteousness. This is so important. A man's
own sin will never keep him from Christ. A man's sin will never keep him
from coming to Christ for mercy. The only thing that will keep
a person from coming to Christ is his own righteousness, his
own worthiness, his own goodness. Lord, we will sing of thy righteousness. We sing of your perfection, only
thy righteousness. You earned it and gave it to
us. That's the only thing we glory
in, what you have done. Verse eight, the Lord is gracious
and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. That's amazing. That's praiseworthy. He's gracious. He's compassionate. He's patient. And oh, how merciful. Merciful in the blood of his
son. Verse nine says the Lord is good to all and his tender
mercies are over all his works. How kind is it that our Lord
not only sends his reign to the just, but also to the unjust? Verse 10 says, All thy works
shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee. I enjoyed this so much. I hope you do too. He said, All
thy works shall praise thee. Psalm 19 says, The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Everything
praise him the heavens the stars and the moon and all of that
and The firmament it all shows his handiwork it all glorifies
and praises him. Let me show you a glorious thought
Okay, I hope the Lord will let us enter into this go with me
to Isaiah 55 Isaiah 55 Think about the very moment that
Christ comes back That very moment when he comes
back and all of his saints rise to meet him in the air All right, think about that very
moment as we read this okay here as we're rising up and Isaiah
55 verse 10 says, For as the rain cometh down, and the snow
from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth,
and maketh it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to
the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Now, look at verse
12. For you shall go out with joy,
and be led forth with peace the mountains and the hills, shall
break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands." Is that not glorious? The whole creation in that moment,
as we are rising to meet Him in the air, the whole creation
will give our Lord a standing ovation. Glory to God. The trees are going to clap their
hands. Go back to Psalm 145. Verse 10 says, All thy works
shall praise thee, O Lord, and thy saints shall bless thee.
They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy
power. to make known to the sons of
men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout
all generations. The Lord upholdeth all that fall. Fall on him. Fall on him for
mercy. Verse 14 says, and raise us up
all those that be bowed down. Bow down before him. Bow down before him. Let's humble
ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Verse 15, the eyes of
all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their meat in due
season. Thou openest thine hand and satisfyest
the desire of every living thing. And he does. He's the temporal
provider of every living thing on this earth. Verse 17 says,
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his
works. He's perfect. He's perfect. He's pure. The word holy right
there means merciful, bountiful. Verse 18 says, the Lord is nigh
unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him
in truth. The Lord is near every soul that
calls upon Him in truth. in truth. That's the key. The Lord is near every soul that
calls upon Him in truth. What is calling upon Him in truth? Here it is. This is the truth.
Lord, I'm a sinner. Will you please help me? I'm a sinner. That's the truth. If we come any other way before
Him, it's not the truth. I'm a sinner, Lord, please help
me. He said, every soul who calls
that way, verse 19, he will fulfill the desire of them that fear
him. He'll help them. He will also
hear their cry and will save them. Verse 20 says, the Lord preserveth
all them that love him, but all the wicked will he destroy. The
Lord preserves all them that love him. A man one time realized through our conversation,
I was having a conversation with a man, and it took him just a
minute to realize that we were not on the same page doctrinally. And we were running out of common
ground. And he wanted to end that conversation. So he finally asked me, But do
you love Jesus? That's not what he's talking
about. That's not what he's talking about. Verse 20 says, The Lord
preserveth all them that love God. Jesus Christ is the highest
God of heaven. There's no God above Him. Beside Him, there is none else. Well, what about the Father?
He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. He said, I and
my Father are one. God in all of His sovereignty,
God in all of His glory, His all-controlling, all-sovereign,
everything is in His hands, God. that God. The Lord preserves
all them that love God. David said, I believe the Lord
has put a love in me for that God. And I believe the Lord has
put a love in us for that God. So may every person here say
with verse 21, My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless His holy name forever and ever. I pray all of us can say, that's
a song for me. That right there, that's my song.
May it be so. All right, let's all stand together.