Open your Bibles if you would
to Psalm 97. Psalm 97. The name of the message is The Lord
Reigns. The Lord Reigns. Now ask most
people in the world who profess to be Christians who God is and
you will get almost as many answers as the number of people you ask. Some will speak of God as wanting
to save, but not being able to unless you allow Him to. Some
will claim that God takes care of all things, but then proclaim
that Satan has caused storms and such, as their version of
God is not sovereign over all things. He's only sovereign over
some things. Some claim that God is sovereign
over all things in their speech, but not over salvation. They claim God would never violate
your free will, not knowing that man's will is
bound to their nature. not knowing that man is born
dead in trespasses and sins, and that by our birth, and by having a dead nature at
our birth, we will only choose sin, and never choose God. And left to ourselves, we will never seek Him out. Why? Because our will is bound to
our fallen nature. Those versions of God, those
versions of God are figments of people's imagination. They're figments of people's
imagination because the Bible proclaims who God is. A natural
man hates who he is revealed as in Scripture. They hate the God of the Bible
because the God of the Bible is absolutely sovereign. Absolutely sovereign over all
of creation. and absolutely sovereign over
salvation of His people, and none can stay His hand or say
to Him, what doest thou? None. And the sovereignty of God is
a theme of joy for the believer. It's a theme of joy for the believer,
for God's people. Especially when we think of our
God reigning in grace. reigning in grace. And when we
think of the mercy that's being bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus
our Lord. So tonight we'll look at Psalm
97. We're right at the very beginning
of this psalm. The psalmist proclaims God's
sovereignty. God's sovereignty. The Lord reigns. The Lord reigneth. Let the earth
rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be
glad thereof. So right at the very beginning
of this psalm, the psalmist proclaims the sovereignty of God. That's
his starting point. The Lord reigneth. And there's no doubt He proclaims
this in song. Here is the watchword of the
psalm, right here. Reign. Reign. Jehovah reigns. As Lord there
in the text, is Jehovah the self-existent one? And I looked at another
Hebrew thing, Hebrew lexicon today, and it said it's the self-existent
one or the eternal one. So right there it's proclaimed,
Jehovah reigneth. Now the word for reigneth in
the Hebrew means to reign, to ascend the throne, to be or become
king or queen when speaking of a monarch. To reign. It means what it says. It means what it says, despite
what people think. This is what the Bible proclaims.
This is the God of the Bible, the Lord reigning. And what a
joy can be found here for we who believe. What joy can be
found here? What comfort can be found for
the Christian pilgrim who's journeying to Canaan's land? And what a
foundation for the gospel proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ and
the gospel kingdom, the Lord The Lord reigneth. May we who
are the beloved of God draw great comfort from these words here
tonight. And here again is a cause for
great joy. The one who has saved us reigneth. Reigneth. And much rejoicing
has come. Much rejoicing through Christ
in what He's done for His people. And all power is given unto Him
in heaven and earth. The Lord reigneth. It says, The
Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the
multitude of isles be glad thereof. The Lord reigneth. He reigned
in eternity past. He reigns right now. Right now. and He will reign in eternity
future. And there has never been and
there never will come a time when our Lord does not reign. And what comfort again the believer
can draw from this well. This blessed fact, and it's a
fact. The scripture proclaims it plainly.
It's a fact. The one who has saved us, the
one who keeps us, reigns. He reigns. He's always reigned,
and he'll reign forevermore. And the believer in Christ cries
out, Jehovah is my salvation. Jehovah is my salvation. The
Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate in the flesh, has saved me. And what peace fills my heart
knowing He reigns. He reigns. What comfort can we
draw? We have ups and downs in our
lives, don't we? We have doubts and fears that
assail us. The Lord reigns. And He hasn't
stopped reigning. And He never will stop reigning.
Oh, what comfort for the believer. What security for the believer
in Christ. Jehovah rules mysteriously as
man cannot understand the things of God in His working because
His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways.
And Jehovah rules wisely, working out all things according to His
sovereign will and His purpose as He is pleased and He takes
counsel from no one. You see presidents and you see
kings who used to reign, they had counselors. Our God has no
counselors. None at all. He doesn't ask for
any help and he doesn't need any help. He reigns. And he does
as he pleases. He does as he pleases. Jehovah
rules powerfully. No one can stay his hand. No
one. No one can stay his hand. He does as he pleases. In the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And
none can stop his work. None. People have tried, haven't
they? They've been crushed. They've been crushed. They've
been ground to powder. They lie in the grave and he
still reigns. Oh, my. Those Romans, they tried to wipe
out the Christians, didn't they? What happened? He's still reigning. They're gone. They're gone. Their whole empire is gone. Oh. No one can stop His sovereign
will or thwart His sovereign decrees. And Jehovah rules righteously,
beloved. His rule is a righteous rule.
Now certain rulers upon this earth have produced injustice
and oppression and bloodshed and terror. But our Lord, He
rules in righteousness. He rules in righteousness. And
the reign of the infinitely gracious Jehovah brings joy and hope to
His people. Let us always remember, we who
are God's people, that our Lord reigneth. He does not hold the
scepter loosely. He doesn't hold the scepter loosely.
Giving part of His sovereignty to another? No. He never relaxes
his hold of his dominion. Never. And amid all the changing
seasons and all the years which pass in time here on this world,
he works out his sovereign will by his sovereign reign. And again, no, this is a fact. No doubt. is in the psalmist, that the
Lord reigns, and all of God's people rejoice in this wonderful
fact, that the Lord reigns, and they bid others to rejoice with
them. Look at verse 1. The Lord reigneth, let the earth
rejoice, let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. So let's
consider verse 2. It says, clouds and darkness
are round about him, Righteousness and judgment are the habitation
of his throne. Turn, if you would, to Exodus,
chapter 19. In Psalm 97, too, there it says,
clouds and darkness are around about him, spurging comments
on this portion. So the Lord revealed himself
at Sinai. So must he ever surround his
essential deity when he shows himself to the sons of man, or
his excessive glory would destroy them. His excessive glory would destroy
man. Look at Exodus chapter 19, verses
3 to 11. And Moses went up unto God, and
the Lord called him out of the mountains, saying, Thus shalt
thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel,
Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear
you on eagles' wings, and bought you unto myself. Oh, what a great
protector our sovereign God is. Now, therefore, if you will obey
my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then you should be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And
ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children
of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the
people and laid before their faces all the words which the
Lord commanded him. And the people answered together
and said that all that the Lord has spoken we will do. And Moses
returned the words of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud that the people
may hear when I speak with thee and believe thee forever. And
Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord. And the Lord said
unto Moses, Go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow
and let them wash their clothes and be ready against the third
day. For the third day, the Lord will come down in the sight of
all the people of Mount Sinai. Notice in verse 9, he comes unto
thee in a thick cloud. Oh. In this portion in Psalm 97,
too, where it says clouds and darkness are round about him.
Also speaks of Christ's first coming. His appearing in the
form of a servant. His appearing in the form of
a servant and in the likeness of sinful flesh. Yet He's sinless. He's the Lamb of God. He's God
incarnate in the flesh. And only those whom He revealed
Himself to knew who He was. None in their natural state discerned
that this was God incarnate in the flesh. His natural state is enveloped
in darkness and blindness. Man's natural state is enveloped
in darkness and blindness to the things of God, to the fact
of Jesus Christ being the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. And everyone here who's been
born again of the Holy Spirit of God can say amen, because
that's where we were. That's where we were, enveloped
in darkness. And we didn't have a clue who
the Lord was. until he revealed himself and
we even see that in the Jews whom Christ walked among he was
in their midst and yet they knew him not they didn't know who
he was and again we who are the redeemed of the Lord were in
the same place until the Holy Spirit of God regenerated us
and granted us faith to believe and revealed Christ to us gave
us eyes to see and ears to hear the wondrous words of our glorious
Savior Revelation chapter 1 verse 7
the scriptures declare this behold he cometh with clouds and every
eye shall see him And they also which pierced him and all the
kings of the earth shall wail because of him even so amen And
we know that he's coming back to educate execute judgment up
against the wicked And our text in psalm 97 2 proclaims
clouds and darkness are roundabout righteousness and judgment are
the habitation of His throne. Our God rules in righteousness
and judgment. His strict justice must be upheld
and His strict justice must be satisfied. And for the believer,
it is done so in Christ. It's done so in Christ. Satisfied
and at peace. God's wrath and justice. And
Jehovah's throne is fixed upon the The rock of eternal holiness. His throne is the throne of righteousness. The scriptures declare this in
Psalm 97 too. Clouds and darkness are around
about him. Righteousness and judgment are
the habitation of his throne. He's fixed upon the rock of eternal
holiness. His throne is the throne of righteousness. And this is one of his immutable
attributes, beloved. And judgment marks his every
act, which proceeds from the throne. And God's people rejoice
in him and adore him. He is our divine sovereign. And
he's never tyrannical. He's never tyrannical like some
kings are. Jehovah is the one true autocrat. Now, autocrat means a person,
such as a monarch, ruling with unlimited authority. Turn, if
you would, to Proverbs 21. An autocrat means a person such
as a monarch ruling with unlimited authority, one who has undisputed
influence or power, but no ruler on earth is truly an autocrat.
Because where does their power come from? Where does the rulers
of this world, where do they receive their power? From whom? The scriptures make it very clear.
Proverbs 21, I'm sorry, Proverbs 21, verse one. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. There's Jehovah again. As the
rivers of water, he turneth it whatsoever he will. They do whatever
he pleases. Oh, what comfort for the believer.
Now, some rulers among men are what is called a despot, which
means one exercising power tyrannically, a person exercising absolute
power in a brutal or oppressive way. But our Lord is, again,
autocrat in His rule. He has no one vying for His throne. He is the only one in whom absolute
power is safe. He's the only one in whom absolute
power is safe. And He's the only one who has
undisputed influence or power. He's the only one. He's the only
one. Absolute power is safe in His
hands. He cannot err or act unrighteously.
as he is God. And the scriptures declare here
in Psalm 97, verse 2, he rules in righteousness and judgment.
Verses 3 to 5 now, it says, a fire goeth forth before him and burneth
up his enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the
world. The earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at
the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord, the
whole presence of the Lord of the whole earth. A fire goeth
before him, like an advance guard, clearing the way. So it was at
Sinai, and so it must be, as he alone has all power. And his
power consumes all opposition. His power consumes all opposition. Omnipotence is a devouring flame
which burneth up his enemies round about, which we see there
in Psalm 97 3. But God is long-suffering, isn't
it? But when he comes forth to judgment, he will. He will make
short work of the unrighteous. He will make short work of the
unrighteous. There be as chaff before a flame. What happens
when you throw chaff into a flame? Aren't you thankful God had mercy
on you? The psalmist no doubt alludes
to the Lord's dealing with His people also in the wilderness.
In our text, Hawker brings forth that when spiritually considered,
the subject arises to a far nobler view in light of the conquest
of the Lord by His Spirit in the hearts of His people. Only
those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, who are enlightened
to the things of Christ, When they see Christ by faith, then
they learn who God really is. Then they learn who God really
is. They learn that the Bible proclaims,
He who is an absolute sovereign. And they tremble at who He is.
And they tremble in awe that He has had mercy upon them. And the enlightening word of
His grace, the illumination of the Holy Ghost, open light in
the soul and make the sinner tremble in the heart like wax. And it's bought down from the
hardness like a stone. Turn if you would to Jeremiah
chapter 23. Oh, when God regenerates a sinner, it's like a hammer has been taken
to their heart. Their old heart. Like wax is
bought down from in hardness like a stone to all the melting
affections of the love of Jesus. Look at Jeremiah 23, verse 29. Is not my word like as a fire,
saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?
Does not God's word come to the sinner who the Holy Spirit is
drawing and who he regenerates? And is it not like a hammer to
us? Oh my, takes away the stony heart and gives us a heart of
flesh, gives us a heart that seeks after him, that seeks after
him. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
27. And I ask you who are redeemed, did not God break the stony heart
of flesh we once had and like a hammer does a rock. And he gave us a new heart that
hungers and thirst after righteousness. Look at Isaiah 27, verse 4. Fury is not in me. Who would
set the briars and thorns against me? Isaiah 27, 4. Fury is not
in me. Who would set the briars and
thorns against me in battle? I would go through them. I would
burn them together. His wrath and justice against
his people, beloved, has been absolutely satisfied by Christ. by Christ, by the death of Christ
as their substitute. And it is God who commanded the
light to shine of the darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light and the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4, 6. And even
now, where the gospel is preached, in the power of the Holy Spirit,
it burns its own way, doesn't it? It burns its own way, beloved,
irresistibly destroying falsehood, superstition, unbelief, exposing
sin in the hardness of the heart of the sinner, as God wills. And remember that, you who are
redeemed, God willed that you would be saved. It's amazing. And in all this, beloved, the
Lord reigneth. And the redeemed of the Lord
rejoice. Rejoice. Look at verse 5. The
hills are melted like wax at the presence of the Lord. At
the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. States and kingdoms
in this world are utterly dissolved when God decrees their end. States and kingdoms, countries
in this world are utterly dissolved when God decrees their end. Think upon this. The great Greek
Empire. Gone. Gone. The Roman Empire which
spanned Europe and reached into the Middle East. Gone. And yet the Lord still reigns. The Babylonian Empire, a vast
empire, gone. And the list goes on and on and
on. And the Lord still reigns. And note, that God's dominion
is universal. The hills melted like wax at
the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the
whole earth. His rule is a rule of absolute
universal dominion. And His power is felt everywhere. Men cannot move the hills. They
climb them with difficulty. It's not so with the Lord. His
presence makes a clear pathway. Obstacles disappear. A highway
is made, and not by His hand, but by His mere presence. By His mere presence. For the
power goes forth from Him with a word or a glance. This is the
God of the Bible. This is the God of the Bible.
And this is why God's people rejoice at the presence of the
Lord. Think of this. Mountains of difficulty flee
away, flee away at the presence of the Lord. Trials and tribulations
are bearable as He sustains us. And that which seems like mountains
in our lives, and we've all had them, haven't we? They seem like
mountains. And we think, Lord, how am I
going to do this? They fade away at his presence.
And he always delivers his people. He always takes care of his people. Why? Because the Lord reigns. He reigns. Scripture declares
that. Look at verse 6. The heavens
declare his righteousness and all the people see his glory.
The heavens declare His righteousness. The thunders and lightnings,
the storms sent from heaven declare His righteousness, beloved. They
declare His righteousness. They declare His justice, punishing
His enemies. The lightnings and thunders in
the heavens, the demonstrations of His wrath and the instruments
of His wrath all declare His righteousness. And the ministers
of the gospel who are Christ's messengers declare the justifying
righteousness of God. in Christ, which is revealed
in the Gospel from faith to faith. Turn, if you would, to Romans
1, which is revealed in the Gospel from faith to faith, and which
is therefore called the Word of Righteousness in the ministration
of it in Romans 1. Look at verses 16-19. Romans
1, verses 16-19. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. Paul pens this, he's not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. For it's the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believe. To the Jew first and also to
the Greek. Look at verse 17, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed. Oh, in the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith
to faith, as it is written, that just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto Verse
17, now, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. My, God's people by the power
of the Holy Spirit of God, through the preaching of the gospel of
God's free grace in Christ, are given eyes to see Christ, are
given eyes to see Christ. He is made manifest to them.
He is revealed to them, and the people see His glory. They see His glory. Look at verse
6. Again, the heavens declare His
righteousness, and all the people see His glory. All God's people
see His glory. They have it revealed to them
through Christ Jesus our Lord. Both Jews and Gentiles, the body
of Christ, the elect of God, are given eyes to see Him. In
one day though, turn if you would to Revelation chapter 1 verse
7. Do you know that one day the entire world will see him? The
entire world will see him. At his glorious second coming.
It's not some secret coming. No, it's very public. It's very,
very public. Look at verse 7 of Revelation
chapter 1. Now some, some will rejoice and
some will wail. Revelation 1 7 behold, he cometh
with the with clouds. And every eye shall see him.
And they also which pierced him and all the kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him. Even so, a man. Behold, he cometh
with clouds and every eye shall see. My. Let's go back to Psalm 97 with
that in mind. And next we will see in verse
7, those who serve graven idols shall be confounded. Shall be
confounded. Now some people say, well, people
don't worship idols nowadays. Yes, they do. They stand and
bow before Buddha. They pray to a little statue.
They call Mary. People still bowing down before
idols. Nothing new under the sun. Nothing
new under the sun. There's only one mediator between
God and man. That's the man Christ Jesus.
That means everything else is an idol. Everything else is false. Look what Psalm 97 verse 7 says
here. It says, confounded be all they
that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols. Worship
Him. All you gods. Confounded in the
Hebrew means to be ashamed. There be ashamed. Also by implication
to be disappointed. Now think of this. How those
who have trusted in idols on that great day will be ashamed
and disappointed when they learn that those things they trusted
in were dead, lifeless, worthless idols. powerless to save them
or anyone else. Note also in that verse it says,
worship Him. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. We'll read verses 1 to 6. Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 to
6. God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of
all things. by whom also he made the worlds,
who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of
his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins. Wonderful words for
the believer. When he had by himself, Christ
did it all by himself, Oh, this just makes my heart sing, beloved.
When He had by Himself purged our sins, what did He do? He
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on High, being made
so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they. Now remember, in Psalm 97, it
says, Worship Him. For unto which of the angels
said he, At any time thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. And again, I will be to him a
father, and he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all
the angels of God worship him." Same person spoken of in Psalm
97. Worship Him, Christ, God incarnate
in the flesh. God incarnate in the flesh. This
is the cry of every gospel preacher. Turn from your idols, your false
gods, and worship Him. Worship Christ. Worship Christ
who is the one true God. God incarnate in the flesh, the
Lord Jesus Christ, which leads right into our next verse, Psalm
97, verse 8. Zion heard and was glad. We know Zion is the church. Zion
heard and was glad. Psalm 97, verse 8. And the daughters
of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord. Zion heard and was glad. Note the contrast in the previous
verse. Note the contrast in the previous
verse. Confounded be all they that serve
graven images, that boast themselves of idols. Worship Him, all ye
gods. They're confounded and disappointed,
ashamed. Look at Zion, beloved. Look at
the church. Look at the elect of God. Zion heard she was given
here and here. She heard and was glad. And the
daughters of Judah rejoice because of thy judgments. Oh, Lord. Oh, what a contrast. What a contrast. Zion. Has been given eyes to see Christ,
eyes to see who God is. And she rejoices. She rejoices
in His sovereignty. And she also rejoices in His
judgments. And each individual believer
is glad when he or she sees a false system broken up. We rejoice,
don't we? We see idol gods broken down,
the judgments of the Lord, when they fall on false systems and
false gods, bring delight to those who worship the one true
God in spirit and in truth. And in the beginning of Christianity,
Jewish believers rejoiced to see Christ's kingdom victorious
among the heathen, victorious among the Gentiles. They rejoiced.
They rejoiced. We saw that on Sunday morning,
didn't we? We saw that. They rejoiced. to see the heathen
saved through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And just as
the woman of Judah went forth to meet David in the dance, singing
his victory over the Philistine, so shall the church, the bride
sing of the triumphs of her Lord Jesus Christ, her Redeemer and
her Savior. We sing. We sing praises. Our God reigns. Praise his mighty
name. Let us now consider the closing
verses of this psalm, where we see the psalmist proclaim even
more the greatness of God's sovereign rule and power. Look at verse
9. For thou, Lord, art high above
all the earth. Thou art exalted far above all
gods. Just as He always has been in
truth. So He has proved and declared
Himself to be God's people and the psalmist here proclaim this
precious truth for thou Lord art high above High above all
the earth thou art exalted far above all gods And how do we know How do we know this truth because
it's been manifested to every believer by the Holy Spirit of
God when he regenerates And one day the eyes of the whole
world will see this truth as we looked at. Not in the way
we see the truth, but they'll see Him when He comes back. Remember,
we looked at that in Revelation 1, verse 7. It'll be too late. Psalm 97, verse 10. He that loved
the Lord hate evil. He preserveth the souls of His
saints. He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Now
here's a nugget that Hawker brings forth. This is something for
us to examine ourselves. A rule is here given to the judge
of real love. If I love Jesus, I shall love
his people. He that loved the Lord, hate
evil. He preserved the souls of his
saints. He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked. Ochre goes on again, a rule that
is here given to the judge of real love. If I love Jesus, I
shall love his people. If I love him, I love what he
loves and hate what he hates. God's people love the redeemed
of the Lord. And we hate sin more in ourselves
than anyone else. And we praise him who has delivered
our souls, who has delivered our souls. Now think of this.
He's delivered our souls from his law, right? Which we could never satisfy. He delivered our souls from his
wrath, which we could never appease. And he's delivered our souls
from hell. What a Savior. What a Redeemer. It's Jesus Christ, my Lord. Look
at verse 11. Light is sown for the righteous
and gladness for the upright in heart. Light is sown for the righteous.
Well, this is only speaking of those who are made righteous
by Christ. Made righteous by His obedience. Made righteous by being clothed
in His perfect spotless righteousness. And light is sown for the righteous.
Light is scattered all along the pathway of this life for
the righteous. Their night is almost over. One
commentator proclaimed. Now think of that for we who
are journeying through this world. Night is almost over, beloved. I remember when Mary Bell died,
Brother Donny called me about two minutes later and said, well, she left the land of the living,
left the land of the dead and is now in the land of the living.
And she woke up where it's day. I'll never forget that. She's
woke up for it today. Beloved, the night is almost
over. The day is coming and our pilgrimage
is almost done. And each and every day we get
closer and closer to that great day when we will see our Savior
face to face. The full harvest of delight is
not yet ours, but it's sowing for us. It is springing. It will yet appear in fullness
when we wake up in glory. And this is only for those who
are light before the Lord, those who are clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. For all others, the darkness,
the blackness of darkness is reserved forever. Rejoice, ye
who are redeemed. Rejoice. Rejoice. This is pure, unmerited favor. Pure, unmerited favor which has
been shown to you if you're saved. Given to you as a gift from God
in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Look at verse 12, we're
closed with this. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Rejoice in the
Lord, ye righteous. The psalmist had proclaimed for
the earth to rejoice, and here he turns to the excellent of
the earth, those who are made righteous by Christ alone. And
we don't feel righteous, do we? We don't, because we're sinners. But look what the scriptures
proclaim. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous. Well, we know we can never make
ourselves righteous, so praise God, that which is impossible
with men is possible with God. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous,
and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. Those who are
made righteous by Christ alone, he bids to proclaim this wonderful
truth, to rejoice in the wonderful truth that our God reigns, and
give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. If all others fail to praise
the Lord, the redeemed must not, because we know that those who
do not love Christ will not praise Him. The redeemed must not. We cannot. We cannot, can we?
We cannot praise our God. We must praise our God. When
we think of the wondrous salvation that we have in Christ, we must
praise our God. We must give thanks at the remembrance
of His holiness. To think that God has loved us
from eternity will turn a grateful heart to one of praise and adoration
for the great King. He has made us, He has redeemed
us, and He keeps us, and one day He'll glorify us. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice
in the Lord. And then it says, and give thanks
at the remembrance of his holiness. Now, the holiness of God is a
terror to the wicked. It's a terror to the wicked.
But it's a cause of thankfulness to the redeemed, blood-bought
saint of God. Salvation from sin is a priceless
gift, beloved. It's a priceless gift. of our thrice holy God. Therefore, let us magnify Him
and praise Him forever. And let us glory in His holy
name. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank Thee for the time that we've had tonight, the time that
we've had to look at Thy Word, to see who You are from Scripture.
Oh, You reigneth. the self-existent one, the eternal
one, you reign upon thy throne. And Lord Jesus, we praise thee
and thank thee. We who are the redeemed, we who
are purchased by thy precious blood, we thank thee that thou
came down from heaven to satisfy all God's demands in the salvation of our souls.
O Lord, May we leave here rejoicing at the greatness of thy salvation.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.