Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the psalm that we read this morning. Psalm 103. Psalm 103. This is the psalm which we read
this morning in our service. And I pray that God the Holy
Spirit will illuminate the scriptures for us tonight as we study this
psalm, which really is one continued hymn of praise. One continued
hymn of praise. It includes a full view of the
goodness of Jehovah. The goodness of Jehovah. And
all the great works of creation, redemption, providence, and grace. So let's start at this Wonderful
psalm. Let's read the first two verses
here. It's a psalm of David. And David pens these words. Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his
holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits. Now, Lord, there is Yahweh, the
self-existent one. Jehovah. Jehovah. And take note how this psalm
opens up with these beautiful words of praise. It begins with
David praising our great God. It begins with David praising
our great God and blessing his holy name. Blessing his holy
name. And don't forget who David's
praising. He's praising the God of all the universe. as the scripture
declares, the Lord, the self-existent one, the one who has no beginning
and no end. No beginning, no end. And the
scriptures clearly bring forth that a good man out of the treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. Turn, if you would,
to Luke, chapter 6. Luke, chapter 6. A good man out
of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
good. And we know that in our natural state, That there's none
good, right? We know that. There's none righteous. So when the scripture says a
good man, it speaks of us in Christ. Because outside of Christ,
there's none good, no not one. But in Christ, we are clothed
in his perfect spotless righteousness, beloved. In his perfect spotless
righteousness. And we know from today what we
looked at, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.
We looked at that in Matthew 15 this morning. Look at here
in Luke chapter 6, verse 43 to 45. For a good tree bringeth
forth, bringeth not forth corrupt fruit. Neither doth a corrupt
tree bringeth forth good fruit. So a good tree, in verse 43,
can only bring forth good fruit. And that's brought out in us
by the Holy Spirit of God. A corrupt tree, speaking of humans
here, one who's dead and trespasses and sins, can never bring forth
good fruit. Never. For every tree is known by his
own fruit. For a thorn's men do not gather
figs, nor a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man, out
of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is
good. and an evil man out of the treasure
of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Now let's go back to Psalm 103,
and let's see. So it said over there in Luke
645, a good man out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is good. We know that only a regenerated
man or woman born again by the Holy Spirit of God will give
praise to God. Right? Because we know in our natural
state we never gave praise to God. Look at this. Again, let's read those first
two verses with this in mind. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. Again, we're
only good in Christ. We're only good in Christ and
because of His righteousness. Because again, in ourselves there's
none righteous, no not one. So we see here David proclaiming
this praise from a regenerated heart, beloved. He's born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. He's born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. And what's he doing? He's praising
our great God. And he's ascribing to him all
the benefits that he has. All the benefits that he has. And oh how we are the how we
who are the redeemed of the Lord cry out with David, knowing that
all our redemption, all our salvation, everything we have, comes in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ to us. Let our lips sing praises to
our great God, just as David does here. Let our lips sing,
bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless you, Lord. Glory to You,
honor to You, in all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits. This is soul praise, as Spurgeon
says. This is soul praise. We see David
crying out in adoration to the only one who is worthy of all
our praise. The only one who's worthy of
your praise and mine as blood-bought believers is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one who's worthy.
He's the only one who's worthy, beloved. And we cry out in adoration
to him, don't we? Only Jehovah is worthy to be
praised, so let our lips be filled with adoration for the great
things he hath done for us. For us as believers. Do not forget
his benefits towards you. Do not forget his benefits towards
you. To we who the Lord has saved.
What a great salvation he has wrought. Therefore, let our lips
be filled with praise. Let our lips be filled with praise.
When we awake, let us praise his name. When we pillow our
head at night, let us praise his name. There's nothing wrong
with praising the Lord. Nothing wrong with it at all.
He's the only one do it. He's the only one do it. We can
never praise him enough, can we? But we praise him. We praise
him when it's laid upon our hearts. We praise him when we think about
what he's done for us. We sing praises to our great
God and King. Jehovah, the self-existent One.
Let's read verses 3 to 5 together now. Who forgiveth all thine
iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life
from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and
tender mercies, who satisfy thy mouth with good things, so that
thy youth is renewed like the eagles. Now notice the psalmist,
notice David here is now bringing up some of the benefits. He's
bringing, if he brought up every benefit, he'd be, we wouldn't have a book big enough
for the benefits that the Lord gives his people. So he's bringing
forth some of the benefits that the redeemed soul can give thanks
and praise to our great God for. So David brings some of these
benefits to his mind and his soul in song. He sings of the
blessings he has received. He brings forth some of the choicest
pearls from the gasket of divine love, beloved. And he threads them on the string
of memory and hangs them about his neck of gratitude. Look at this, all our sin pardoned. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities?
all of them, who healeth all thy diseases. So David brings
forth the benefit of divine pardon, divine pardon, which he has received
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And what a cost, what
a cost. The sinless, spotless lamb of
God dies on Calvary's cross for his people. When we read those
words, who forgiveth all thine iniquities, remember the cost. Remember the cost. And then we can cry out when
we think about this wonderful salvation. When we think about the sinless,
spotless Lamb of God going to Calvary's cross to die for our
sins. When we think of Him leaving
the glories and splendors of heaven to come to this world
to redeem our souls, then we can cry with David, bless the
Lord, O my soul. Bless the Lord, because it's
He who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases,
who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies thy mouth with
good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. It's
all Him. It's all Him. Bless His name, beloved. Bless
His name. And the redeemed soul can sing
of iniquity forgiven. Only the redeemed soul can sing
of iniquity forgiven. All our sins forgiven. There's
not one left out. That's amazing. That's incredible. What a salvation, what a benefit
given to the Lord's people. How is it all paid for? By the
precious, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Marvel at
this many-sided is the character of our Heavenly Father. For heaven
forgiven as a judge, he then cures as a physician, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy disease. Oh, sin is rampant. in us, from the top of our head
to the bottom of our feet. David here stirs his soul to
praise and adoration of the One who has loved him from eternity.
He stirs his heart and soul to sing praise to the One who has
forgiven all his iniquities. All. Yes, we who are the redeemed
are sinners Save sinners, but we know that God in Christ pardons
all our sins. All of them. How does he find us, beloved?
What's the state that he finds us in? Ruined by the fall. Dead in trespasses and sins. That's the state he finds us
in. None that seeketh after God,
ruined. He finds us ruined and undone
by sin, lost sheep, lost sheep, by reason of our fallen Adam.
And it is God in Christ that has redeemed our souls. redeemed our life from destruction
and crowneth thee with all that is needful for thee in grace. Look at verse four, who redeemed
thy life from destruction and crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercies. Everything that a sinner needs,
you've heard me say this many times, and I'm going to keep
saying it, all that a sinner needs is found in Christ. All in Him. It's He who has redeemed us from
destruction. And it's all because of His loving
kindness and tender mercies toward us. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Why are we born again by the
Holy Spirit of God? Because we were redeemed at Calvary's
cross, beloved. redeemed by the precious blood
of the Lamb. And again, it is He who saves
us, and what a precious, precious salvation we have in Christ,
beloved. In Christ, we are eternally secure. What a benefit. Eternally secure. And we can be certain of our
salvation, right? Remember our study in 1 John?
We can know that we have eternal life. Right now. Right now. Wonder of wonders. God's people
know. We know it has nothing to do
with us. We know that. It's all what Christ
has done. And our salvation is secure and certain because it's
Christ who saved us. Listen to this verse over in
Exodus chapter 15, verse 26. And said, if thou wilt diligently
hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which
is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments,
and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon
thee, which I have bought upon the Egyptians. For I am the Lord
that healeth thee. My, oh, my. He's the Lord who
heals us. Think of this, too. Give ear
to His commandments and keep all His statutes. We can't keep one commandment,
we can't keep His statutes, but who did it for us? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He did it all, beloved. He did
it all for us. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 33. Isaiah chapter 33. And I'll read what Isaiah 43, 25 says, it says,
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions. It's
God who blotts out our transgressions, beloved. We can't blot out one
transgression. But it's the Lord who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, like it says over there in Psalm 103.
It's the Lord who does this. In Isaiah 43, 25, he says, I,
even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine
own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Fear not remember them. Ever. Look at this in Isaiah
chapter 33. Look at verses 22 to 24. For
the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is
our King. He will save us. Yes, beloved. Thy tacklings are loosed. They
could not well strengthen their masts. They could not spread
the sale. Then as the prey of the great
spoil divided, the lame take the prey. And the inhabitants
shall not say, I am sick. The people that dwell therein
shall be forgiven what? Their iniquity. Let's go back
to Psalm 103. Marvel at that, beloved, who
forgiveth all thine iniquities. Now let's read verses 6 to 8.
The Lord executed righteousness in judgment, for all that are
oppressed. He made known His ways unto Moses,
His acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy." Turn,
if you would, to Exodus chapter 33. Now, if we read these verses
with a view to Christ, then we know that Jehovah has manifested
these sovereign acts of mercy and judgment by redemption in
His dear Son. We do know though also that the
Lord at the request of Moses made all his goodness pass before
his servant in the Holy Mount. Look at this in Exodus chapter
33, verse 12 to 23. And Moses said unto the Lord,
See thou sayest unto me, bring up this people, and thou hast
not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said,
I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now remember this. Let's bring
this home, beloved. Let's bring this home. The Lord
knows every one of his sheep. By name. Every one of them. Even the ones who are right now
lost. He knows them by name. By name. And what have they found
in his sight? The same as what Moses found
right here. Grace. Grace in God's sight, beloved.
Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Now, therefore, I pray thee,
if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that
I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider
that this nation is thy people. And he said, my presence shall
go with thee, and I will give thee rest. God's presence is
ever with us, beloved, even when we don't feel like it's there.
He's ever with us. And one day we will enter into
his eternal rest. Now He's given us rest from our
labors, hasn't He? He's given us rest from us trying
to save ourselves. We know that salvation's only
in Christ, in Him alone. He says, come unto me, all ye
that labor in our heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. I'll
give you rest, and He does. Rest for our souls. Rest for
our souls, rest from our labors. And He said unto him, if thy
presence go not with me, carry us not up thence. I remember
hearing a preacher years ago say, his brother Henry Mahan,
he says, I pray before I go on the pulpit, Lord, don't let me
go where you don't go before me. That's a good prayer to pray. That's a good prayer to pray.
Yeah. Don't let me go, Lord, where
you don't go before me. For wherein shall be no one here,
that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight. Is it not
that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and
thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth. God's people are separated, aren't they? From all the people.
Now we live amongst the people of this earth, but we're an ecclesia,
a called out assembly, beloved. We're a called out people. And the Lord said unto Moses,
I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast
found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. Oh, that's
just magnificent right there. It's just wonderful. And he said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And He said, I will make all
My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. And that's God's elect there. If you're saved,
that's you. He's been gracious to you, hasn't
He? And I'll show mercy on whom I'll show mercy. And He said,
Thou canst not See my face, for there shall no man see me and
live. And the Lord said, behold, there's
a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall
come to pass when my glory passes by, that I will put thee in the
cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass
by. And I will take away mine hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen. I ask you who are the redeemed
of the Lord. What is God's glory but his goodness
in Christ Jesus? There, it's right there, isn't
it? To the born again believer, Christ is what? All, he's all. He's the head and we're the body.
And God's justice and righteousness are as dear to us as his mercy
and his love because the believer is convinced and has been taught
by God the Holy Spirit that God's justice and righteousness have
been totally satisfied by the sacrifice of Christ. And God's justice and law has
been magnified also by the death of Christ. They've been honored.
They've been honored. So how glorious it is to the
believer in Christ, how His mercy shines forth and His graciousness
shines forth in this part of Jehovah's character. He will
by no means clear the guilty without a sacrifice, right? Because
the Scripture says in Exodus 34, verses 5 to 7, it says this,
And the Lord descended in a cloud and stood with them there and
proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering,
abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin. And that will by no
means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children, upon the children's children, unto the third and
to the fourth generation. Praise be to God. Praise be to
God. That Jehovah himself has provided
that sacrifice. The Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah
the Son. Jehovah the Son, and Jehovah
the Father has accepted that sacrifice, hasn't he? He's accepted
that sacrifice. Remember in Genesis when Isaac
asked Abraham, where's the lamb? God will provide himself a lamb,
and he did. God Himself provided a lamb and
it was Himself. Jehovah the Son. Oh my. And Jehovah has accepted and
approved that sacrifice when Christ offered Himself upon the
cross as our substitute before His holy law and justice. Scripture
declares being justified freely by His grace. Freely. Didn't
cost us anything, did it? But what a cost. Freely by His
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to
declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness, God's righteousness, and that's
Christ, that he might be just and justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus, Romans 3, 24 to 26. Let's go back to our psalm now
and we'll read verses nine to 13 together. Look what the psalmist writes
about our great God. He will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins. Praise be to God. Now He rewarded us according
to our iniquities. Again, praise be to God. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. We see here
in these verses that the psalmist under various representations
sets forth the mercy of redeeming grace. It's set forth in picture. And in order to heighten the
representation, he boils his language from images in the works
of nature and the fillings of the human heart. He takes the
resemblance from the heavens to demonstrate that God's grace,
which we know is superabundant, we know it's superabundant grace,
and it far transcends our conceptions, because God's thoughts are not
our thoughts, and God's ways are not our ways. It's far above
us. Far above us. Look what he writes
in verses 10 and 11. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him. As the heaven is high above the
earth. What a vast contrast. What a vast distance. And then look at verse 12, he
then uses another figure from the extensiveness of the earth
and the total impossibility for distant points of the east and
west to ever join. If you start going east around
the globe, you are continually going to be going east. Did you
know that? You will never be going west.
And then if you turn around and start going west, you'll never
be going east. You will continually be going
west. So look at this. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgression for us. This
sets forth the vast and immeasurable distance between the sinner and
his sins. Think of that. We are so pardoned. This vast, immeasurable distance
between the sinner and his sins, which are taken away by the hand
of a fit man. Who is that? That's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to Leviticus
chapter 16. There's a vast distance between
the sinner and his sins, the saved sinner and his sins. They've
been taken away by the hand of a fit man, which is the Lord
Jesus Christ. And they've been carried away, one commentator
said, into the land of forgetfulness. Never to be bought up again.
Never to be bought up again. Now, people do things to us sometimes,
and we have a hard time forgetting, don't we? Oh, we can hold on
to things for years. We ought not to. We ought to
be quick to forgive, but we can hold on to things. Oh, my. Lord, don't do that. Aren't you
thankful God doesn't do that? That doesn't bring up, well,
you messed up over here. He doesn't do that. Our sins
are removed as far as the east is from the west. They never
meet. Covered by the precious blood
of Christ. Look at this in Leviticus chapter
16, this is wonderful. Verses 21 and 22. And Aaron shall
lay both hands upon the head of the live goat, this is the
scapegoat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel. In all their transgression, in all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat, and she'll send him away by the hand
of a fit man into the wilderness. Now remember too, this pictures
our sins being laid upon Christ. When the priest was going, now
there was two, on the Day of Atonement, there was two sacrifices. One would be killed, and the
other one, which is the scapegoat, would be released. And now, this
is important for us, because this is real good here. When the high priest, both sacrifices
would be bought up, they would have to be clean without blemish
at all, perfect, perfect, no blemishes, nothing, nothing. The high priest did not know
Which one was going to be the sacrifice and which one was going
to be the scapegoat? They cast lots. And the lot that
fell upon the sacrifice, that one was sacrificed. And the lot
that fell upon the scapegoat, that one was the scapegoat. But
they both had to be perfect, spotless, right? Nothing in, no blemishes. What
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's both the sacrifice and He's
the scapegoat. And do you see when the priest
lays his hands on there? That's just a picture of our
sins being imputed to Christ. Now think of this, the goat is
still spotless. Isn't he? Our Savior, when He died, He's
a sinless, spotless Lamb of God. Our sins are imputed to him.
He carries them away, just like the scapegoat does. He never
changes who he is. He's God incarnate in the flesh,
beloved. God incarnate in the flesh. So
what a clear picture we have here. And then the fit man also
represents Christ. Look at this. putting him upon
the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of
a fit man. Christ is the only fit man, the
perfect spotless sacrifice. And he takes him into the wilderness.
And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into
a land not inhabited. And he shall let go the goat
in the wilderness, never to be seen again. Oh, my beloved. What a salvation we have in Christ.
The psalmist now takes a, so that's, he's now used the vast
immeasurable distance between the east and the west, and now
the psalmist takes a third very sweet and endearing resemblance
from the feelings of a human heart to set forth the tender
compassion of the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, which
is what our God is called. He's the father of mercies and
he's the God of all comfort. By showing that God's love is
a fatherly love. Full of pity and full of compassion.
Look at verse 13. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. I'll read you in Isaiah. Let's
turn there. Actually, let's turn there. Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah
chapter 49. Let's look there. Verses 13 to 16. Like as a father pitieth his
children, that verse, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
Look at this in Isaiah 49, 13. Sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
O earth, and break forth into singing. O mountains, for the
Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon the
afflicted. Oh, what mercy God has had upon
we who believe, beloved. But Zion, said the Lord, hath
forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget
her suckling child that she could not have compassion on the son
of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet I will
not forget thee. God will never forget his people.
Look at this. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of
my hands. Thy walls are continually before
me. ever before him engravened on the palms of his hands. That's
what that's bringing forth, is that we are ever before him,
beloved. Ever before him. He continually watches his people.
Micah says this, who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth
iniquity and passes by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?
He retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy.
God delights in mercy. He will turn again, He will have
compassion upon us, He will subdue all our iniquities, and I will
cast all their sins into the depths of the sea to be seen
no more as far as the east is from the west, beloved. Oh, they're
gone. The sins of the redeemed are
gone. Now let's read verses 14 to 19. Let's go back to Psalm
130. We'll read verses 14 to 19. For He knoweth our frame, He
remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass
as a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes
over it and is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no
more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him, and the righteousness unto children's
children. To such as keep his covenant,
and to those that remember his commandments to do them, the
Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom
ruleth over all. Now take note in these verses,
we have a great contrast brought forth. Right in these verses
we have a great contrast brought forth. In verses 14 to 16 we
see the frail, perishing, dying nature of man. Look how clearly
this is brought forth. Let's read verses 14 to 16. For
he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. for the wind
passes over it, and it is gone. And the placer of shall know
it no more. Then, look in verses 17 and 19,
and we see the strength and the eternality of our great sovereign
God, contrasted with that which has come before, which is the
frail, perishing, dying nature of man. Now look at this in verses
17 to 19. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him. and
his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his
covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom
ruleth over all." See the great contrast? The first verses, 14
to 16, again deal with the frailty and perishing, dying nature of
man. But then, in verses 17 to 19, we see the strength and the
eternality of our great sovereign God. and how this endears God's
people to our great God. The redeemed soul in Adam is
born dead in trespasses and sins, but in Christ we have eternal
life secured by Him. He is the head again and we are
the body. He's our mediator. And what did
He tell us? Because I live, ye shall live
also. Our Lord tells us that in John
14, 19. Because I live, ye shall live also. And take note and marvel at,
look at verse 17. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his
righteousness unto children's children. How blessed are the
redeem of the Lord, beloved. How blessed we are. Mercy, which
is what we receive from the Lord. And this mercy, the scripture
says, is from everlasting to everlasting. I ask you, how vast is this mercy? How vast is the mercy of God? And how wonderful these words
are to God's people. His mercy towards us is everlasting
in contrast to the frailty of man. And God's mercy to His people
is from everlasting. From everlasting, as one commentator
brings forth from old eternity, the Lord viewed His people as
objects of mercy. and chose them to be partakers
of his grace. And the doctrine of election
is most delightful to those who have light to see it and love
wherewith to accept it. It is a theme for deepest thought
and highest joy." Now think upon this. It says there, but the mercy
of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that
fear him. from everlasting. This brings great joy to the
believer, doesn't it? But the scriptures also proclaim
the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. Upon them that fear Him. To everlasting
is just as precious as from everlasting to the believer. Jehovah never changes, does he? Does Jehovah ever change? The
scripture says he's the same yesterday, today, and what? Forever,
right? That's what the scripture says.
He doesn't change. He's not like us. He never changes. Therefore,
beloved, his mercy to his people, let this sink deep into your
soul, his mercy to his people is without end. It's without
end. There will never be a time when
our Lord has not been merciful to us. And we're singing that
mercy and glory, won't we? And the only reason we're being
glory with him is because of his mercy and his grace in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we know all spiritual
blessings come to us through him, through him. It's the only
way. And we see here that it's without
end as well as without beginning. It's from everlasting to everlasting. We can't even really fathom that,
can we? We really can't. We really can't. It's way past our comprehension.
We read it and we believe it, because God said it. Oh my. And the believer in Christ, those
who fear Him, those who are redeemed by the Lamb of God, those who
are born again by His Spirit, neither their sins or their needs
will ever exhaust the great depth of God's grace and mercy. It
will never exhaust God's great depths of grace and mercy. The
question is, do we fear Him? And that fear is not a slavish
fear, that's a reverent fear. reverent of who he is. The scriptures
declare the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Let's read the last
three verses and we're closed with these. Bless the Lord, ye
his angels, that excel in strength and that do his commandments,
hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord,
all ye hosts, ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless
the Lord, all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless
the Lord, O my soul. So the psalmist says, he stirred
himself up, beloved. Oh, he stirred himself up. Yes. He stirred himself up while contemplating
all the benefits that our great God has bestowed upon him. And
in these last verses, he breaks out with great passion and enthusiasm
for the holy angels, the elect angels, as Paul calls them, to
worship and praise our great God. Then he calls on all the
heavenly hosts to worship our great God and bless his name. Then he calls on all who minister
his word to bless his holy name. Then he calls on all the works
of God in Christ in all places to join in the same. Just praise
his name. Just bless him for his mercy.
In the redeemed of the Lord respond with a hearty what? Amen. Amen. Amen. In praise and glory to
our great God. We sing blessing and honor and
glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto
the Lamb forever and forever. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank
you again for allowing us to gather together and look into
thy word. Oh, how it fills the redeemed heart with joy to see
David just break out in praise and to see the contrast between
the frailty of our human nature in the greatness of who you are,
oh Lord. And then to see that as far as
the east is from the west, that we have been separated from our
sins, oh Lord. Though we're still sinners, yet
we are redeemed by thy precious blood. And in the sight of our
great father, the sovereign great God of the universe, he does
not see our sin, oh Lord. He sees thee. He sees thee, Lord
Jesus. Oh, we praise your name for coming
and dying on the cross for us. We pray that you'd use this message
for your glory. that it would go forth and accomplish
your will, oh Lord. We love you. We who are your
people, we love you because you first loved us. In Jesus' name,
amen.