In Him from day to day I'll prove
His saving grace. I'll sing this song of praise
to Him until I see His face. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me Thy great salvation, so rich and free. Thank you. Now I have always had a great
deal of respect and admiration for teachers who teach our children
in school. What a great responsibility and
what low pay they usually get. I can remember When I started
school, six years old, and I can name all my teachers except one. In the first grade, I had Ms.
Rice. Second grade, I had Ms. Wells, Ms. Jones, and Ms. Peterson. And I missed the fifth
grade because I forgot her name, but Ms. Harris. But this Miss
Harris, she taught the sixth grade and they didn't change
rooms. One teacher teaches nine months every day, every subject. And Miss Harris, I think she
was maybe the first person that got me interested in the Word
of God. My parents didn't pay any attention
to the Word of God. Let me tell you about Miss Harris. She'd call us children together
in the morning when she got to class and when we get there,
settle us down, and then she would say, we'll begin this day
reading the Word of God. Every day, Miss Harris led us
in reading the Word of God. The same scripture every day. Psalm 100. I know it. I read it every day. Every day. And she said this. Learn this. Learn this truth and you'll begin
every day the right way. Let's turn to it. Psalm 100. This is Miss Harris' starting
of her school work every day. In Psalm 100. Let's read it together. Psalm 100. It goes this way. Make a joyful
noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord,
He is God? It is He that made us, not we
ourselves. And we're His people, and the
sheep are His pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,
and into his courts with praise, and be thankful. Be thankful
unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy
is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations. Well, this is my subject tonight. This is my message, and this
is my text. And let's take it verse at a
time. First of all, verse 1. Make a
joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Make a joyful noise. To whom? To the Lord. To the Lord. Because this is
my testimony. This is my witness, this is my
hope, this is my comfort, this is my joy. The Lord. Make a joyful
noise unto the Lord. The Lord. Now, not a God. I'm not just talking about a
God. I'm talking about the Lord God.
I'm not just talking about somebody up there who likes me. I've seen
people do that, you know. I'm talking about the Lord, the
Creator of heaven and earth. We just read, Mike just read
it. Mike just read it. In His hands are the deep places
of the earth. The strength of the hills is
His also. The sea is His. He made it. He formed the dry land. Come
and let us bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord,
our Maker, our Creator, our God, our Savior. And He's not my co-pilot
either. I saw that not long ago on the
back of a car. God is my co-pilot. Boy, you're
in a mess if He's just your co-pilot. He's not my co-pilot. No, sir. And He's not my partner. I've seen that before. God is
my partner in this business. No, He's not. He owns it. He's
not my partner. He's not my inspiration. He's
my God. He's my God. He's my Creator. He's my God. He's my Savior. And David said, He's my Shepherd. He's my Shepherd. And somebody
wrote this, He's my Shepherd and if He's pleased to comfort
me or to try me, He's still my Shepherd. And if He's pleased
to share me, or slay me, He's still my Shepherd. And if He's
pleased to hold me close or let me wander, He's still my Shepherd. And if He's pleased to honor
me or humiliate me, and I've been in both places, He's still
my Shepherd. You know, when young Samuel when
young Samuel told Eli that God was going to slay his sons. I
think God woke him up and talked to him, and Eli wanted to know
what God said, and Samuel wouldn't tell him. Finally, Samuel did. He said, well, God says He's
going to kill your boys. You know what old Samuel said?
He said, well, son, it's the Lord. Let him do what seemeth
good in his sight. Just hang on to that. Son is
the Lord. Let him do what seemeth good
in his sight. So make a joyful noise unto the
Lord. All ye lands, all ye lands. Now look at verse 2. And serve
the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with singing. You know, David's great invocation. We talk about the benediction,
invocation. Here's David's great invocation. He said, I was glad. I was glad when they said to
me, let's go to the house of the Lord. Start out that way.
I was glad when he said to me, let's go to the house. David
was always glad. I read about all through the
scripture. He was glad when he was a young shepherd out on the
side of the hills taking care of his father's plot. I guess
playing his uke or lute or whatever that thing is that he used to
play a long time ago. He'd play and sing. He was glad.
He was glad. And he was glad when all his
brothers laughed at him when he went to meet Goliath. He was
glad to meet Goliath and conquer him. He was glad. You know what
he said to his brothers? Is there not a cause? I'm here
on cause because God sent me here. There's a cause. I'm glad. He was glad to take the throne
from Saul and rule the people. And this was his watchword. He
said, I will sing a new song unto thee, O Lord. Upon a psaltery
and upon an instrument of ten strings will I in gladness sing
praise to thee. David was glad when he was on
that hillside. He was glad when he was conquering
God's enemies. He was glad to rule his people.
He was glad when he came to die. When he came to die, he said
this, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant. These were
his last words. God has made with me an everlasting
covenant. ordered in all things, and sure,
and this is all my salvation. And this is all my desire. Let's imitate. Let's just take
that as our own watchword. He's my God. He's my salvation. And He's my only desire. I went through the Psalms and
just picked up these places where David says, I was glad. I was
glad. I was glad. Listen to them. Psalm
9, 2. He said, I will be glad, O Lord,
and I will rejoice in Thee. In Psalm 90, he said, I will
be glad, I will rejoice all my days. He said in Psalm 92, Lord,
you made me glad. You made me glad with your work.
He said in Psalm 104, I will be glad in the Lord, and my meditation
of the Lord will always be sweet. Sweet. Because this is the day
the Lord has made, and we'll be what? Glad. Glad. Just glad in it. Alright, let's
look at verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us, not
we ourselves. We're His people. We're the sheep
of His pasture. It's God who made us. But let
me tell you something. I'm a man. I'm a man born of
woman. I was a man born in sin. I was
a man who sinned before God and Adam. And we all fell. I'm a man. What does that mean? Well, God said this, if a man
thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives
himself. So I'm a man, but I'm a shame.
I'm a shame. I'm a man. That's what our faces
and consciences tell us, that we are shamed before God. But
wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm a man who will one day die. Will that be the end of me? Oh,
hang on. Listen. I'm a soul. I'm not only a man, I'm a soul. I have a body. I am a soul. And that soul is me. That's right,
right now, that soul is me. And David said, I restored his
soul. I died in Adam, but David said,
he restored my soul. In Christ, I live. I'm made alive, and I will never
die. Somebody said, Brother Mahan
died last night. Don't you believe that? I died
a long time ago. But man didn't die last night.
He's not going to die next night. He's not going to die ever! He
lives in Christ Jesus. I'm a soul. That's me. David
said he restored my soul. What does that mean? God restored
my soul. Well, I'll tell you. He restored
us to eternal life in Christ. Never to die. He restored us
to purity. That's right. He is our righteousness
and we are righteous in Him. In the book of Jeremiah, it talks
about the Lord Jesus and it says He is the righteousness. It talks about us and says we
are the righteous. That's right. He restored us
to purity. He restored us to power. We're
kings and priests. They fixed another king over
our name. He'll never be a king. But you're
king. You're king and a priest unto
God. And He restored us to sonship. He says right here, we are His
people. His sons and daughters. And we bless His name. That's
right. We are His people. We're the
sheep of His pasture. God wrote a message to all men
when he wrote a message to Belshazzar. The Lord wrote a message on the
wall to Belshazzar and to all the Belshazzars of the world.
And that message was this, meaning, meaning, tikal yufarsin. What does that mean? Thou weighed
in the balances and found wanting. Weighed in the balances and found
wanting. Every son of Adam is weighed
in the balance and we're nothing. We're nothing. But the Lord is
my shepherd and I shall not walk. To Belshazzar he said, you're
weighed and walking. I'm not weighed and I'm not walking. I'm not in walk. That's right.
And I found this somewhere. I want you to listen to this.
The Lord is my shepherd, he restored my soul, and I'll never waltz. The Lord is my shepherd, I'll
never waltz. I shall not waltz. Now watch
this. I may be the weakest sheep in the foe, but I'll not waltz. I may wander and I may stray,
and I have, but I won't waltz. I may not have all that I wish
or all that I desire, But I do not want He supplies every need. I may go old and feeble." In
fact, I'm already there. Old and feeble. I told Paul,
I said, keep this thing high so I can see. Can't hear, can't
see. But I can feel His love and mercy.
That's right. I may go old and feeble, but
I shall not want. I may endure pain and sorrow,
I don't know what waits our future. I do not know. I've got two good
friends now, real close friends. One can't speak above a whisper.
He's got Parkinson's disease, J.D. Butler. I have another one
that's just very, very, he's the same age as I am. He just
celebrated his birthday. He's 85. I'm 84. But he has to wait. His wife has to wait. She has
to tie his shoes. She has to put the clothes. She
has to take him to the bathroom. He can't do anything. I may grow old and feeble, but
I'll not walk. He'll supply my needs. I may
endure pain and sorrow, but I shall not walk. And I may walk the
valley of the shadow of death, but I'll not walk. And to prove that, listen to
what God says. I shall not be ashamed. He says
that over and over. We shall not be condemned. We
shall not be confounded. We shall not be sent away empty.
and will never hear the Lord say, depart from me. I'll never leave you. You won't ever hear that. That's
right. Old Job said this. He said this. Write this in a book. Write it
on the rock. Write it in the lead forever.
The Lord is my keeper and I shall not Write it down. Alright, let's
look at verse 4 here. I'll help you here a little bit
with this from Mr. Spurgeon. He did a good job on
this. I went and borrowed one of your
books and got that Treasure of David and got his outline on
this. He says in verse 4, Enter into
his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.
Be thankful unto him and bless his name." What are his gates? Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. That's enter his presence. Enter
his presence. Now the sacrifices are ended.
That's true. But thanksgiving is not an out
of date. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. Enter his gates with thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is never out of
date. The Old Testament sacrifices are. As long as we receive his
mercy, we should give him our thanks. You know, those are two
notable sayings. It just means an awful lot, both
of them. a notable saying, thankful, I'm thankful, I'm thankful. And
you know what the second one is? I'm sorry. That's never out
of date. It's never out of date. I'm thankful. About, oh, 35 years ago, I met
a new missionary and he came and spoke at the church and he
needed some money. He needed some help and he wanted
to buy some land for a church and things like that. So one
of our young men and his wife Came up to me after service and
said, I'd like to help that man. And I said, well, what do you
got in mind? He said, we've got a little savings account of $4,000.
Now, this is 35, 40 years ago. $4,000. I said, all of it? She said, let's send all of it
to him. Well, they sent it. And the time
passed. The weeks passed. The months
passed. And I asked him one day, did he ever thank you? Never. Not a word? Not a word. I'm thankful. Thank God for everything
and thank you for being my friend. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm
sorry. That's a pretty good word too.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I didn't thank
you. It's never out of date. He says, come into His gates
with His presence, with thanksgiving, And in his courts, what are his
courts? Mr. Scourging said this, that's
the inner court. That's the inner court. That's
within the veil. That's open to believers now.
That's right. The scripture says, which hope
we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which
entereth into within the veil, where our forerunner, Christ
Jesus, entered for us. Even Jesus, our great high priest,
entered His presence, His gates with thanksgiving and His courts. Praise God. Praise God. And then he said this, enter
his gates with thanksgiving, his inner courts with praise,
and be thankful and bless his name. Bless his name when he
gives and when he takes away. That's right. Bless Him when
He gives and bless Him when He takes it away. That's what Job
said. The Lord gave and the Lord take
it away. And when He does, you bless Him. You thank Him. Don't pout. Don't fret. Just thank God. Bless Him when He gives. Bless
Him when He takes it away. For it's the Lord who gives.
It's the Lord who takes away. In His own time. in his own time. Now, let's see it here on verse
5. The Lord is good. The Lord is
good. His mercy is everlasting. His
truth endureth through all generations. His mercy, His truth. Let's look at Psalm 85 a minute.
Turn to Psalm 85. Let me read this over here, Psalm
85, verses 7-10. Psalm 85, verses 7-10. You got it? Show us thy mercy,
O Lord. Grant unto us thy salvation. I will hear what the Lord God
will speak, for He will speak peace unto the people and to
His saints, but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his
salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory may dwell in
the land. So mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. And Spurgeon said this, these
four divine attributes, four divine attributes, mercy, truth,
righteousness, peace, All were parted when Adam fell. All gone. Mercy, truth, righteousness
and peace, all gone. And there is no religion on earth
which can satisfy the demands of mercy, truth, righteousness
and peace. But all four of these, look at
verse 10, mercy, And truth, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. They all parted when Adam died,
and they were all given to his people when Christ Jesus died. That's where it is. Mercy and
truth, righteousness and peace. are all richly met in our Lord
Jesus Christ, the King of grace, in whom we stand complete. My friend, Brother Barnard, Tim
just mentioned Barnard's tapes and all. My friend, Brother Barnard, I
met him when he was 47 years old and I was 24. I was pastor
of the church at Ashland and Rob came to preach. If Barnard
was living, he'd be 105. Can you believe that? 105 years old. But anyway, he used
to give the best illustrations. I thought he was, your posture
is excellent at illustrating. But this guy Barnard, he, I don't
know, he just makes everything like that writer, Jim Harriot. He makes everything so real,
so vivid. But Barnard was 25 years old. About the age I was when I met
him. He was 25 years old and he was in Louisville Seminary,
not Louisville, but Southwestern Seminary, studying to be a preacher. And he was quite a preacher.
And somebody invited him out to a little country church to
preach Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday morning. And so Walt went out there, and
there was a family, this family, the Burks. He was a farmer, and
his wife was a wonderful lady. She loved the gospel, he didn't.
She went to the Lord's house. He didn't. But Barnard came to
town. And somebody said one time, when
he came to town, something always happened. But anyway, Mr. Burke. Barnard used to call him
Old Brother Burke. I've heard him tell that story
a hundred times. Old Brother Burke. Old Brother
Burke. He never went to church. And so his wife was getting ready
for church that Friday night. And he said, I believe I'll go
to church with you. She said, you serious? He said,
yeah, I've heard about that preacher. And said, I want to go and see
what he says. And so they got the buggy out. This was back in 1930, 1929,
30. He got the buggy out. He and his wife got in the buggy,
and they went to the church. And everybody was surprised to
see Burke there. But he went in, sat down, and
Barnard preached. When the service was over, he
got up and skedaddled out. Sat down in that buggy by himself,
waiting on his wife. And she came out after a while
and sat down. He said, don't ever ask me to come back to church. Don't ever ask me. That man, he started in on me,
and he just went some awful for the whole service. I got up and
walked out after he finished. I'll never come back. Well, Saturday
night, he got all his work done, and he came in. He said, you
going to church? She said, you said you were never
going back. Well, I said, he talks pretty good. And I think
I'll go listen to him one more time. One more time. So he went. Same thing. He came out, got
in the buggy. He said, don't ever ask me to
go back again. Don't ever ask me to come back here that bad
again. But he's pretty innocent. So the next morning, they got
their breakfast. Barney told me about it. They
got their breakfast. And she's feeling bad. Feeling
real bad. And he said, you're going to
church? She said, I don't think I can make it. I just feel so
bad. I'm sorry. I just can't go. He
said, I'm going. You're going to church? By yourself?
By myself. I'm going. I'm going to listen
to him one more time. One more time. So he went back. And Barnard had a lot of liberty
to preach the gospel. He got to the end of his message.
Old Brother Burke stood up, started down the aisle, tears streaming.
Fell down on his knees in front of the pulpit, said, Preacher,
I'm lost. Pray for me. I need the Lord. And they had a great time. He
had a great time there by rejoicing, and the Lord brought one of His
people home, saved his soul. That will happen when God, the
Holy Spirit, moves in the heart of a man. He may hate it, but
he'll love it. He loved it. And so he got in
his buggy and started home. And he told Barnard, he said,
on the way home, he said, I could hear the wind blowing through
the pine trees. And it seemed to be saying, glad
you're safe, Brother Burke. Glad you're safe. He said, I
passed this old, this old waterfall. near our house and the water
falling over the rocks and it seemed to say, glad you're safe. And he put the buggy up and put
his horse in the stall and started walking up the path and up the
steps and opened the door and his wife said, Lord saved you,
didn't he? He said, how'd you know?
She said, I heard you singing when you came from the muggy
walking down the pathway. You were singing, Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was
lost, now I'm found and blind, but now I see. That's the Lord's
teaching. You know, preaching. Preaching. Somebody said that
preaching may make a man religious, but only God can make him saved
and believe in Christ. That's God's work. And God's
work does that through preaching. Preaching to God. What we try
and do, what Paul does every Sunday, what the Lord's raised
up a lot of men to do. I hope that's a blessing to you. Thank you, Pastor. We're going to sing this to the
tune of Angels from the Realms of the Lord.