Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Those who hold the view that
God loves everybody the same generally become angry if someone
points out that the Bible is very clear that both the mercy
and love of God to men is selective according to the good pleasure
of his will. One needs to look no further than Romans 9.13 to
see this demonstrated. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Then he goes on to say, for he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. All have tasted that the Lord
is gracious to some extent, for he sends the rain on the just
and the unjust, and grants to all men a portion of pleasure
in their existence. Yet this is not the measure that
all men ultimately need, for all men, without exception, shall
perish apart from the saving mercy of God being bestowed upon
them. All who are given a hunger for His mercy shall see their
desire filled. For the Lord prepares the hearts of His people to call
upon Him, and He delights to show mercy to those of a broken
and contrite heart who tremble before His throne. He is of a
tender countenance to those who mourn for their sin. His mercy
precedes His mercy, as He is pleased to bring the blind by
a way which they knew not, and to show compassion to those who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, yet find it not in themselves
or the religion of this world. The psalmist said, I have trusted
in thy mercy. The mercy of God was his greatest
source of confidence. Yet he did not just assume that
the Lord would show mercy. Rather, he was given faith to
rest in the one who shows mercy. He said, I have trusted in thy
mercy, knowing that he was the one who has reserved his mercy
for those he has loved with an everlasting love. His confidence
was in the Redeemer of sinners. Let the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my Redeemer. Christ is the basis of the trust
of those whom the Lord is pleased to call. For the promise is unto
you and to your children and to all that are far off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call. But we had the sentence
of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God, which raiseth the dead, that we should be to the
praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye
also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory. When God is pleased to give a
man confidence in Christ, He causes that man to rejoice in
thy salvation. This is that of which the apostle
exhorts the sons of God, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again
I say rejoice. The flesh can be easily stirred
up by jazzy music and orchestrated theatrics to engage in a joyful
display. Many mistake this for biblical
rejoicing. The rejoicing of the psalmist had one object clearly
in view. The salvation of the righteous is Christ. He is the
justifier of his elect. In this they greatly rejoice.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. Rejoice not that the spirits
are subject unto you, but rather rejoice, because your names are
written in heaven. The rejoicing of the saints is
not limited to singing, but it does often result in it. The
psalmist said, I will sing unto the Lord. Yet this singing is
not always that which can be heard by others. Paul admonishes
the Ephesians, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the
name of our Lord. David said, I will sing a new
song unto thee, O God. The word new, which is used here,
actually means fresh. The worship of God's people is
to be new or fresh every morning, because his faithfulness to us
most surely is. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They
are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. He
will not be worshipped with rituals and rote observances. But the
hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. Everything which we, the
children of God, have or do before the Lord is by Him. All things
consist by Him. We pray by Him. Our confidence
is by Him. Our faith is by Him. Our rejoicing
is by Him. Our salvation is by Him. Our
righteousness is by Him. We are justified by Him. We are
reconciled by Him. We are enriched by Him. We are
taught by Him. Our obedience is by Him. Our
sanctification is by Him. Do you rejoice in Him? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.