What a glorious Savior we have.
Took our place. Died for us. Open your Bibles
if you would to 2 Samuel chapter 7. The name of the message is
personal worship. Personal worship. 2 Samuel chapter
7. We'll read where David's prayer
of gratitude and the Lord having a house being built for the Lord. Having David build a tabernacle
for the Lord. The setting of this prayer is
a prayer of gratitude. David in his zeal for God's honor
and glory desires to build a house for the Lord, for the Ark of
the Covenant. And he speaks to Nathan the prophet
about this subject. And the Lord at night reveals
his will to Nathan the prophet on this occasion and commands
him to communicate the same to David. We see this in verses
four and five, it says, and it came to pass that night that
the word of the Lord came unto Nathan saying, go and tell my
servant David, thus sayeth the Lord, shalt thou build me a house
for me to dwell in? And then take note in verse eight
and nine, how David is reminded of the great things which the
Lord has done for him. as his history is traced back
to the sheep coats from where the Lord found him, to his victories over all his
enemies, and to the high standing which the Lord had placed him
in at this time. Look at verses 8 and 9. Now therefore,
so shall thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of
hosts, I took thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep,
to be a ruler over my people Israel. And I was with thee,
whithersoever thou winnest. And I have cut off all thine
enemies out of thy sight, and hath made thee a great name,
like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth." It's
the Lord who did this. David wasn't looking for the
Lord. David was tending sheep. But the Lord found him, didn't
he? Just like he finds every one of his lost sheep. Every
one of his lost sheep. And he made him great. The Lord
made David great. See, everything we know, everything
we have, comes from our great God, beloved. Everything. All the knowledge we acquire
in this world comes from him. Anything we have comes from him. All the blessings that he now
enjoyed, And all the blessings that were opening before David,
the blessings in his family and in his people and in his kingdom
all came from the Lord. Then we see in verses 13 to 17
that Nathan did that which was commanded him to do. Look at
verse 13, he shall build a house for my name and I will establish
the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father and he shall
be my son if he If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him
with the rod of man, and with the stripes of the children of
man. But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from
Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy
kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne
shall be established forever." According to all these words,
and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. I'll see there in verse 16, and
we can see this spiritually, talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thy throne shall be established
forever. That's Christ. That's talking
about the seed of David. Because David died, didn't he,
and his throne went to his son. But this throne here will be
established forever. These words speak of none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ, that one verse there, when it says,
thy throne shall be established forever. Again, it could never
be in reference of David, the son of Jesse, because his throne,
again, was passed on to Solomon. But here, let us see in this
little portion right there, thy throne shall be established forever,
reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and his kingdom. And His kingdom
is forever, isn't it? His throne is forever. It's established
forever in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, again, who,
remember, was according to the flesh the seed of David. So that which God promised came
to pass, didn't it? It came to pass. And it is the
Lord who It's the Lord who is the everlasting kingdom. Turn
if you would to Daniel chapter 2 and we'll look at verse 44. Daniel chapter 2. That's the
kingdom which Daniel prophesied about. Look at this in Daniel
chapter 2 verse 44. Look at this. Daniel 2, verse 44, and this
is speaking about the Messiah. This is speaking about the kingdom
of Christ. Look at this, Daniel 2, verse
44. And in the days of these kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom. Well, he has, hasn't
he? Which shall never be destroyed.
Look at that. Never. Never. And the kingdom shall not be
left to other people. So he's not going to die and
leave his kingdom to someone else, like David did to his son.
Because the Lord Jesus Christ is God. He's God. And it's his kingdom.
But it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.
And it shall stand for what? Ever. Forever. Our Lord's kingdom will never
be destroyed. He will always be king. He always has been king. He was king in glory. He was
born king. And he's king right now, beloved. And he will be forevermore. And
of his kingdom will be no end. And we are subjects of his kingdom.
We are his people, beloved. It's wonderful. And where he
is, we'll be. We'll be with him forever. If
his kingdom will be forever and never be destroyed, we'll be
with him forever and never be destroyed. Isn't that wonderful? Absolutely wonderful. Because
it's that song that Sister Kathy sang, he died for us. He died
as our substitute. Oh my. So the kingdom of the
Lord is an everlasting kingdom. It'll never be destroyed. It'll
never be left to other people. It'll endure forever. Forever. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who
the angel in the salutation to Mary declared that he should
be great. And he is great, isn't he? He's the king of this kingdom
that Daniel spoke of. He's the king that God said,
thy throne shall be established forever. He's the king of kings
and the Lord of lords. He's great, beloved. He should
be called the Son of the Highest. And it's God the Father who's
given him the throne of David. It's God the Father who's done
this. And he'll reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of
his kingdom there'll be no end. No end. That's who saved us. Our king died for his people. You don't really hear in history
about kings dying for people, do you? You hear about people
dying for kings. But you don't ever hear it the
opposite way, do you? That's what our king did for
us, beloved. Oh my. So praise be to God, how sweet
and how refreshing to the believer's soul amidst all the circumstances
of the kingdoms and governments of this world. And of men, let
this blessed thought bring us comfort that the kingdom of the
Lord shall never end. Shall never end. Because it's
based upon he who is the seed of David. And He orders it and establishes
it. In Isaiah the Scriptures say this, For unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given, freely given, and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful. I ask you
who are a child of God, is he not wonderful? Counselor. He's the one we go
to with all our troubles, isn't he? The mighty God. Our saviors are God. The God,
the mighty God, the one true God. The everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace, and he's made peace with God for us by
the shedding of his precious blood. Of the increase of his
government and peace, there shall be no end. the throne of David
and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth even forever the zeal the Lord
of hosts will perform this Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 & 7 again
though in there it says upon the throne of David that's what
we read about in our text isn't it now upon receiving this message
from Nathan Let's continue in 2 Samuel chapter 7. We see that
David goes in before the Lord and offers a prayer of gratitude
to our great God. Let's read verses 18 to 29. Then
went King David in and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am
I, O Lord God? In what is my house that Thou
hast bought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing
in thy sight, O Lord, but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's
house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of men,
O Lord God? And what can David say more unto
thee? For thou, O Lord God, knowest thy servant. He knows every one
of us. He knows the very hairs on the
head. Our head are numbered, beloved.
He knows us. For thy word's sake and according
to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to
make thy servant know them. And oh, has he not done great
things for us, manifested himself in a great way to us? Beloved,
it's amazing. It's truly amazing. Wherefore
thou art great, O Lord God, for there is none like me. There's
no one like him. Neither is there any god beside
thee. All other little g's, little gods, they're all false gods.
There's no other god. According to all that we have
heard with our ears, in what one nation in the earth is like
thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a
people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you
great things and terrible, for thy land before thy people, which
thou hast redeemed to thee from Egypt. from the nations and their
gods. For thou hast confirmed to thyself
thy people Israel to be a people unto thee forever. Well, God
has a people, right? Forever. His elect. Spiritual
Israel. And thou, Lord, art become their
God. Oh my. And now, O Lord God, the word
that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant concerning his house,
establish it forever, and do as Thou hast said. And let Thy
name be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God
of Israel, the God over Israel. And let the house of Thy servant
David be established before Thee. For Thou, O Lord of hosts, God
of Israel hath revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build
thee a house. Therefore hath thy servant found in his heart
to pray this prayer unto thee. And now, O Lord, now, O Lord
God, thou art God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised
this goodness unto thy servant. Therefore now let it please thee
to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever
before thee, for thou, O Lord, hast spoken it, and with thy
blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever. So take note that after David,
take note that David, after Nathan had given him the news, he doesn't
send grateful thanks back to God by the hands of Nathan and
by the mouth of Nathan, does he? No. That would have been
robbing God of his honor. David's own soul, filled with
joy, conveyed that which he had to say to our great God. So we see David comes before
the Lord himself. His business was with the Lord
himself, and therefore he comes before him. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 13, verse 15. Let me say these words as you're
turning there. Beloved of God, you and I have
a man, the man Christ Jesus, who is our precious mediator
before God. And by him we offer up the sacrifice
of praise to God continually, in and through Christ, in Christ
alone. Look at Hebrews 13, 15. By Him, that's Christ. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice
of praise to God through Christ continually. That is the fruit of our lips
given thanks to His name. So it's by Christ and through
Christ Jesus our Lord that we offer the sacrifice of praise
to God continually through Christ. God's people having been made
priests before God by Christ, and our legal and typical sacrifices
having been fulfilled and abolished by our Lord Jesus Christ, our
great high priest, Paul points out what sacrifice we are offered
to God. Beloved, it's the sacrifice of
praise and thanksgiving. That's what we're to offer to
our God, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. I ask you this,
do you give Thanks to our great God for what He's done for you. Do you give thanks to God that
you can come to a place and hear the gospel? Do you give thanks to God for
giving you spiritual eyes and spiritual ears to hear the words
proclaimed and to look to Christ? Do you give thanks to our great
God for sending a preacher of the gospel to you? Do you give
thanks for the brethren? For the brethren? And the sweet
fellowship that we have together? In and through Christ Jesus our
Lord? Beloved, I give thanks for all
of you. I give thanks to our great God for all of you. Vicki and I give thanks to God
for y'all taking care of us. Giving us a nice place to live.
And the fact that we have sweet fellowship with you all, too.
And how quickly has the Lord knit our hearts together. In June, I'll be here three and
a half years, and I feel like I've known you guys for a long
time. And it's wonderful. And look what the Lord's done
in three and a half years, knitting our hearts together. It's absolutely
wonderful. And I thank God for that. It's incredible. that he's taken us and separated
us from the world, brought us together to hear the gospel,
and we have sweet fellowship in him. And beloved, one day
we'll be together forever. It'll be glorious. It'll be absolutely
glorious. And we got a lot to give thanks
for God, don't we? We have a lot. And I give thanks to God for
your love for the gospel. The fact that you love His Word,
and you desire to go forth from this place. It's absolutely incredible, isn't
it? We didn't have a love for the Gospel before the Lord saved
us. But now we do. Now we do. Isn't that incredible? Oh my.
He's so good to us, beloved. Give thanks to our God. He's
so good to us. He's so very good to us. Heed these words. There's no
coming to God but through Christ. None at all. Only through Christ. All our mercies and all our blessings
that we have come to us through Christ and Christ alone. There's
no other conduit. It all comes through Him. And our praise and our thanksgiving
are only acceptable to God through Christ. And who are we in? He's the head and we're what?
The body. It's wondrous. So we offer up
prayers of thanksgiving and praise, don't we, to our great God. Look
what he's done. Marvel. Marvel. It's incredible. It's by Christ
and Christ alone through the Lord Jesus Christ again that
we offer sacrifices of praise to God continually. And God's
people again have been made priests before God through Christ. Scripture says this. For there
is one God and one mediator between God and man. Only one, just one.
One God, one true God, and only one mediator between God and
man. The man Christ Jesus. The man
Christ Jesus. That's the only mediator. That's
the only way that we can be accepted by God, is through Christ and
Him alone. Turn if you would to Psalm 150. Psalm 150. This
is a beautiful Psalm. Paul wrote there in Hebrews 13.15
that we should continually give praises and thanksgiving to our
great God. In all situations. And continually
there just means in all situations. That's all it means. It means
in all situations. We should give thanks to God.
I love this psalm. Look at this psalm, Psalm 150.
In giving thanks and praise, they go hand in hand, don't they?
Because when you're thanking the Lord, you're praising Him,
aren't you? We all are. Look at this. Praise ye the Lord.
Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in the firmament of
His power. Praise Him for His mighty axe.
Well, think of what He's done for you. Think of what He's done
for you. Oh my. He redeemed us with His
precious blood. Saved us by His grace. Praise
Him according to His excellent greatness. He is so great. You cannot measure His greatness.
He is so great. Praise Him with the sound of
the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise
Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments
and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals.
Praise Him upon the high-sounding cymbals. The psalmist just wraps
it up. Let everything that had breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Oh, my. Now a believer in Christ can
never be guilty of giving too much honor, glory, and praise
to our sovereign God. We can never be guilty of that.
We can never ever be guilty of that, given too much. He alone
is worthy of our thanksgiving and of our praise. He's the only
one. And you can never be guilty of giving them too much praise,
too much glory, and too much honor. He alone is the sovereign
God of the universe, and He alone is worthy of our praise. And
he is the one to whom all the glory goes. All the glory goes
to him. Now, when we come to our great
God in prayer and we petition him, we do not come to twist
his arm, do we? We don't come to twist God's
arm. We don't get a group of people going and see if we can
gang up on God and get him to change his mind, because we know
he don't do that. Right? He doesn't do that. No. The believer approaches the throne
of God. And remember this, we can pray anywhere, right? You can even be with your wife
or your husband, you're not talking, you can be praying, right? We
can pray anytime, anywhere, right? And our prayer can be as simple
as, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. It doesn't have to be some long,
drawn-out prayer. Just be walking along and say,
thank you, Lord. No one else knows, you're thanking
them, you're giving them praise. Thank you, Lord, for all you
do for me. You're so wonderful. Anytime,
anytime, right? We just give them thanks. We
approach the throne of grace, what? Knowing our dependence
upon Him. We approach the throne of grace
knowing our dependence on Him, knowing our need, We need Him
desperately. We need Him to help us. And we
can be assured that our great God will help in time of need. And we should petition the Lord
in all things, and we should have a heart of thankfulness.
A heart of thankfulness, knowing that He hears our prayers. He
hears our prayers. And sometimes we approach the
throne weeping, don't we? Just weeping. Just weeping. And he even knows them. Oh, beloved. He knows us. He knows our hearts. He knows
our needs. He hears all things from his
people. He hears our prayers because of the mercy and grace
which we have received in and through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now, a common question asked by those in religion and outright
unbelievers, I've had people ask me this before, They know
that we believe in the absolute sovereignty of God. And I've
had some people ask me before, if God controls all things by
his sovereign will, then why pray? What's the use of praying? What a foolish question. It just reveals people's ignorance.
And I don't say that in a high and mighty way, because I was
like that before, right? But it reveals people's ignorance
of the scriptures. We pray because our Lord's commanded
us to pray. Right? After this manner, our
Father who art in heaven, that's just a model prayer, but like
I say, sometimes we just cry out, God be merciful to me. I
feel like I'm drowning in this situation, Lord. Please help
me. And he does. Sometimes He has us go through
the waters and they're deep. But He's ever with us, beloved.
He'll never leave us nor forsake us. Our Lord's commanded us to pray. And the fact that we believe
that God has predestined all things to come does not hinder
us from praying either, does it? No. No, look at what verse
18 here again, it says here, Then went King David in and sat
before the Lord, and he said, Who am I? O Lord God, and what
is my house that thou hast bought me hithero? We see here in verse
18, a prayer of David. God has told him through Nathan
the prophet that he will not build God's house, but God will
build his house and make his name great in perpetuity. We know that this promise to
David from God is therefore a genuine guarantee that these things will
come to pass. Why? Because God has predetermined
or predestinated that these things will be done for David's house.
They will be done for David's house. And David what? He believes God. He believes
God. He is therefore assured that
what God has promised, he will also perform. And we see David does not doubt
God, but he praises our great God, knowing that he has absolute
assurance from God that it will come to pass. And I ask you,
beloved of God, could it be that true prayer is born of the understanding
that God is absolutely sovereign? Does not true prayer count on
the fact that God is absolutely sovereign? It does, doesn't it? Counts that he's God. That he's
who he says he is. Why pray to him if he's not in
absolute control? And he is in absolute control. We pray to God because we know
he hears his people. And again, we're commanded to
pray to our great God. And we know that he's in absolute
control to do as he pleases, to do as he pleases. And what
do we always say in our prayers? Lord, if it be your will, Lord, if it be your will, just
give me grace and strength, Lord. If it be your will, deliver me
from this situation. But oh Lord, please give me grace
and strength. Oh Lord, please. And we know he hears us. We know
he hears us. Listen to what Brother Tim James
brings forth about this. He says, most of the times in
Scripture, when we see the word worship, it has to do with public
worship. But every time you see the word prayer or pray in Scripture,
it has to do with private and personal worship. Private and personal worship.
Brother Tim continues, worshiping is praising God and thanking
Him. Thanking God for what He has
done and what He has promised. It's a matter of the heart. So
it has little to do with posture and everything to do with giving
God his due. Giving him all the glory. Thanking
him for his mercy and grace towards us. Have you ever heard of the acronym
that's often used given the prayer which is adoration, confession,
thanksgiving, and supplication? These things speak of worship.
They speak of worship. We see here that David's prayer
is an outline of what the believer prays. We pray to God. We see
that David sat down and worshipped the Lord. He worshipped the Lord. Look at verse 18. Then came David
in and sat before the Lord. And he said, Who am I, Lord God?
And what is my house that thou hast bought me hithero? David
sits and prays to God and rejoices in his heart because of the multitudes
of grace and mercy that's been revealed and experienced in his
life. Then he prays, Who am I, O Lord? Who am I, Lord God? You ever thought that? Who am
I, Lord God, that you have mercy on me? Who am I? Every born-again believer
can say this, can't they? Who am I, O Lord, and what is
my house that Thou hast bought me? Oh, what mercy. When we consider that we're sinners
by birth, nature, and choice, and by practice, when we consider
that our God is holy, just, and almighty, it is amazing and astonishing
that He would show mercy to any. It really is, isn't it? And the believer declares even
more that God... The believer declares even more
in thanksgiving and praise that God would have mercy on me, the
chief of sinners. And we all feel that way, don't
we? Who am I, Lord? Oh my. So all believers, like David,
confess our unworthiness of the grace of God in Christ, which
has been bestowed upon us. And we give praise and thanksgiving,
don't we? We give praise and thanksgiving to the mercy that
we've received in Christ. Look at verse 19. And this was
yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God, but thou hast spoken
of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And this is the
manner in which And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? Listen
to what John Gill says about this. He says, we see David continue
his praise and thanksgiving to our great God as he knows that
the raising of him to the throne and the sitting of him upon it was but a small thing in comparison
to what he promised to do for him and his son that would succeed
him in his kingdom. But that he would make him in
house and establish his kingdom, that the throne of his kingdom
should be established forever. That a race of kings should spring
from him, especially King Messiah. Of whose kingdom there would
be no end. So David just continues to give thanks to God. For the
promise of the Messiah is the phrase in this verse, but thou
hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come,
speaks of the Messiah. Speaks of the Messiah, beloved.
And we know that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the question at the
end of this verse, and is this the manner of man, O Lord God? Notice that question at the end
of this verse. David brings forth, do men deal so freely and calmly
with their inferiors as you have with me, God? That's what he's bringing forth.
He knows his unworthiness. He knows the greatness of God.
He knows he's but a worm. And so he asked, do men deal
so freely and calmly with their inferiors as you have with me,
God? Well, we know the answer is no,
right? Man doesn't deal that way with other men. Our great God has mercy on those
who have no merit with him, no merit before him. And this proclamation by David
that our God's gracious dealings with the unworthy are not like
the dealings of man. What does the Scripture declare?
God's ways are not our ways. And His thoughts are not our
thoughts. We see that right there, don't we? Oh my. Let's read verse 20. And what
can David say more unto thee? For thou, Lord God, knowest thy
servant. Verse 20 is a confession that
David's words are not intended to change anything, but rather
they're spoken with an understanding that God knows what is in our
heart. And He knows what we need even
before we ask, beloved. Listen to what the scripture
declares. Psalm 139, 4. For there is not a word in my
tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. And then in Matthew 6, 8, it
says this. Be not ye therefore alike unto them, for your Father
knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask Him. He already
knows. Now let's read verse 21. For
thy word's sake and according to thine own heart hast thou
done all these things to make thy servant know them. We see
in this verse a declaration that of what David knows is by divine
revelation. Just as we proclaim the gospel
is a revelation from God. He must reveal the gospel. He
must reveal the scriptures. The Holy Spirit must illuminate
the scriptures before we even see anything. I was talking to Brother Drew
this week, and he said, man, I was reading some portions of
Scripture, and he said, I was just like, I've never seen that.
And I said, Brother Norm Wells, and I joke all the time, and
Brother Norm says, is that ink still wet in your Bible, Wayne?
It's incredible. And it's true for all of us,
isn't it? We read and go, I never saw that
before. This is marvelous. Well, that's
the Lord illuminating the Scriptures for you, and giving us understanding. He gives us understanding. And
the believers taught of God, right? Turn, if you would, to
John chapter 16. We know the believers taught
of God. We know it's the Holy Spirit who reveals Christ to
us. And we know without Him doing that, we would never understand
the Scriptures. And how does He do it? Through
the preaching of the Word. And then He gives us an understanding.
And we marvel. We marvel. In John chapter 16,
verses 13 to 14, the Scriptures say this. says this how great
when he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all
truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he
shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to
come he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and
show it unto you then turn if you would do Ephesians chapter
1 It's God the Holy Spirit who
reveals Christ to us through the preaching of the gospel,
and it's God the Holy Spirit who continues to reveal Christ
to us as we grow in the grace and knowledge and truth of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We can't boast of nothing. We
don't want to, but we can't. If we're taught of God, beloved,
look at this. Look at this in Ephesians chapter
1, verses 8 and 9. Wherein he hath also abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Right? Heaven made what? No one
unto us. There was a time when we didn't
know this. But praise God, now we know. Heaven made no one unto
us. What? The mystery of his will. According
to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself. Well,
we know the things of Christ now. We never knew anything about
the things of Christ. We may have heard about them. We may
have cooked something up in our imagination of who we thought
God was or who we thought Christ was. But now we know who he is. The Holy Spirit illuminates the
scriptures for us. And then he continues to teach
us. And we grow in the grace, again, in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let's go back to our
text in 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel, chapter 7. Let's read verse 22. This is a marvelous verse here.
All the scriptures are marvelous. Look at this in verse 22. Wherefore
art thou, wherefore thou art great, O Lord God. What a statement. For there is none like thee,
neither is there any god beside thee, according to all that we
have heard with our ears. Beloved, is not like our great
God. He's the one true God, the Ancient
of Days. I'll read a few scriptures here.
Listen to this. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like thee, glorious in holiness? Exodus 15, verse 11.
Then Micah 7, 18. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity? And he's pardoned all our iniquity,
hasn't he? All our sin in and through Christ and Christ alone.
Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passes
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? That's his elect.
He retaineth not his anger forever, for he delighteth in mercy. He
doesn't retain his anger against us because it was poured out
on Christ. The wrath of God was poured out on Christ in our place.
It's like Sister Kathy's saying. He died as our substitute. He
died as our substitute. Oh my. And it says this, O Lord
God of hosts, O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto
thee, or to thy faithfulness round about thee, thou willest
the raging of the sea, when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest
them. Psalm 89, verses 8 and 9. And
then, Psalm 86, verses 8 to 10, it says this, among the gods
there is none like unto thee. And that's little g. Among the
gods, the little Jews, the false gods, there's none like unto
thee. O Lord, neither are there any works like unto thy works.
All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before
thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great
and doest wondrous things. Thou art God alone. So we see. Wherefore, Thou art
great, O Lord God, for there is none like Thee, neither is
there any God beside Thee, according to all that we have heard with
our ears. None, unlike Him. And Solomon stood before the
altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel
and spread forth his hands toward heaven. And he said, Lord God
of Israel, there's no God like Thee. No God like Thee. in heaven,
above, or on earth, beneath, who keep His covenant mercy with
Thy servants, and walk before Thee with all thine heart." 1
Kings 8, 22 and 23. There's no one like Him. And
that's the God who's had mercy on us. In and through Christ Jesus our
Lord. Let's continue to read verses 23 to 29. And what one nation in the earth
is like thy people, even like Israel? 2 Samuel 7, verses 23
to 29. And what one nation in the earth
is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem
for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do
for you great things and terrible for thy land? Before thy people,
which thou redeemest to thee from Egypt, from the nations
and their gods. For thou hast confirmed to thyself
thy people Israel to be a people unto thee forever, and thou,
Lord, art become their God. And now, O Lord God, the word
that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his
house, establish it forever, and do as thou hast said. And
let thy name be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is
the God over Israel, and let the house of thy servant David
be established before thee. For thou, O Lord of hosts, God
of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build
thee an house. Therefore hath thy servant found
in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. And now, O Lord God,
thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised
this goodness unto thy servant. Therefore, now let it please
thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue
forever before thee. For thou, O Lord God, hast spoken
it, and with thy blessings let the house of thy servant be blessed
forever." Oh, we see in verses 22 to 29, David giving praise
and thanks to our great God for his sovereignty and for the salvation
of his people. The last phrase is the reason
for the fact of prayer. Look at this. Oh, Lord God has
spoken it. And with thy blessing, let the
house of our servant be blessed forever. Now, we who are the
people of God, we pray because God has promised because of what
God has promised. That's why we pray. We pray because
he's sovereign. We pray because he's almighty.
And we pray because of what he's promised us. And he has also
fixed that his people will ask him for that which his will will
purpose. Turn if you would to Ezekiel chapter 36. We see this blessed truth brought
forth. Exodus 36 verses 22. And we'll read all the way to
33. Exodus 36, verses 22 to 36. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes,
O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have
profound among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify
my great name, which was profound or profane, I'm sorry, among
the heathen. Which ye have profaned in the midst of them, and the
heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God,
whom I, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For
I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of
all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean. from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart will I give
you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of
flesh, and I'll put my spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them."
And this is what he does for every believer, isn't it? Gives
us a new heart. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. He puts his spirit within us and causes us to walk
in his statutes. And ye shall dwell in the land
that I will give to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and
I will be your God. I will also save you from all
your uncleanness, and I will call for the corn, and will increase
it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit
of the tree, and increase of the field, that ye shall receive
no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall you remember
your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall
loathe yourself and your own sight for your iniquities and
for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord God, be it no one under you, be ashamed and
confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith
the Lord God. In that day that I have cleansed
you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell
in the cities, and the wastes shall be built. And now look
at verse 37. Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired
of by the house of Israel. To do for them, I will increase
them with men like a flock. Now look at that. I will yet
for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. To do for them,
I will increase them with men like a flock. Now God's providential
plan is wonderful in its complexity and simplicity. As detail upon
detail is ordained. We know that. We know that. No
minor detail. There's no minor detail that
God has ordained that his people ask for. Now Paul knew that God would
save the elect. If you read Romans chapter 8
and 9, Paul knew that God would save the elect. He knew that.
He believed that. Because he knew that salvation's
of the Lord. He knew that. And we know that
prayer is worship. And it's praising God. And God
puts a desire on us to pray. He puts a desire to pray for
something in the heart of his people. And we can be sure sometimes
there's things that we ask for out of our own flesh, but there's
things that we ask for that he's ordained will come to pass. That
he's ordained will come to pass for the accomplishment of his
purpose. Sometimes we ask amiss. Sometimes
we ask things according to his purpose. And it comes to pass. And it comes to pass. So we see
then that prayer is not employed to change things, but rather
is employed by God in the accomplishment of His purpose. Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely incredible. And
God has ordained the salvation of His people for my alternative. I was thinking about Kara and
Matt and Sister Barb and Brother Kevin and others of you here,
Sister Bonnie. Sister Diane, who attended here. And for years, people were probably
praying for you. You had no clue. You had no idea. And we pray for all our family
members, don't we, and friends, because we don't know who the
elect of God are. We have no idea. But think of
this. After the Lord saved you, you
found out there were some people praying for you. And they were praying for your
salvation. And they said, Lord, if it be your will, please save
me. Well, when you're a child of
God and you find out people were praying for you, you find out
that that was all according to God's purpose. Isn't that amazing? That is truly, truly amazing. So we pray for all, like Brother
Tim said, we pray for our family, we pray for our friends. We have
no clue who the elect of God are, do we? And God saves whom
he will, when he wills. But we do say, Lord, if it be
your will, oh please, grant them faith to believe. If it's your
will, Lord. Oh my. God is truly gracious
to us, isn't he? He's truly gracious. And remember
this. Someone was praying to the Lord
for your salvation before he saved you. And truly our God,
our great God, ordained that your salvation would be so. That's
incredible. He gave them all the glory. And
what do we say with these facts? Praise your mighty name, oh Lord.
Praise your mighty name. Glory to you. Heavenly Father,
we thank you and praise you for your goodness and grace. Oh Lord,
we know that you are almighty, all sovereign, but we marvel at how intricate
things are and how absolute control you are of everything, Lord.
Oh Lord, we pray you'd use this message for your glory and your
honor and your praise, and if it be your will, Lord, that you
draw on the lost sheep We love you and we praise you. We thank
you. We who are your people, for giving us hearing eyes, or
seeing eyes and hearing ears to look to you, Lord. Glory to
you, honor and praise in Jesus' name. Amen.