Well, it's a great honor, as
I said in Sunday school, and a great privilege to be here
with you. I don't think words could properly express how we feel right now.
We're just so thankful to be here. And we already feel knit
to you guys with you. And for the last year, getting
to know each other and we have many years of Lord willing that
we'll get to know each other more. The house was amazing when we
walked in there and saw all the love and care that was put into
it. And the love offerings that we received
to help us out, get settled. I just, I thank you so much. I can't express how I truly feel. And I look forward to growing
in the Lord with you and proclaiming Christ and Him crucified. And
as I say, it's a great honor and a great blessing. Thank you
for such a warm welcome for our family. Today we'll be in First
Chronicles. First Chronicles. The name of the message is the
Psalm of Praise. Psalm of Praise. 1 Chronicles chapter 16. Verse 1, So they bought the ark
of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched
for it. And they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings
before God. And when David had made an end
of the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the
people in the name of the Lord. And he dealt to every one of
Israel, both men and women, a loaf of bread, and a good piece of
flesh, and a flagron of wine. And he appointed certain of the
Levitites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record
and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel. Asked the chief
next to him, Zechariah, Jerel, Shemarath, and Jerel, Methanoth,
and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obediah, and Jeriah, with psalteries and
harps, but asked me to sound with cymbals. And look at verse 7, we'll move
up there. Then on that day David delivered first the psalm to
thank the Lord into the hand of Asp and his brethren. Give
thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name. Make known his deeds
among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto
him. Talk ye of all his wondrous works.
Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in his strength. Seek his face continually. Remember
his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders and judgments
of his mouth. O ye seed of Israel, his servant,
ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones, he is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the
earth. Be ye mindful always of his covenant,
the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, even
of the covenant which he made with Abraham and his oath unto
Isaac, and hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and
to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will
I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance, when
ye were but a few, even a few and strangers in it, and when
ye went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another
people. He suffered no man to do them
wrong, yea, He reproved kings for their sake, saying, Touch
not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Sing unto the
Lord all the earth, and show forth from day to day His salvation. Declare His glory among the heathen,
His marvelous works among the nation, for great is the Lord,
and greatly to be praised. He also is to be feared above
all gods. For all the gods of the people
are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Glory and honor
are in His presence. Strength and gladness are in
His place. Give unto the Lord ye kindreds
of the people. Give unto the Lord glory and
strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.
Bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness. Fear before Him all the earth. The world also shall be stable
that it be not moved. Let the heavens be glad, and
let the earth rejoice, and let man say among the nations, the
Lord reigneth. Let the sea roar in the fullness
thereof. Let the fields rejoice in all
that is therein. Then shall the trees of the woods
sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge
the earth. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. and say, ye,
save us, O God, of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver
us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name,
and glory in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
forever. And all the people said, Amen. And praise the Lord. Here in
1 Chronicles, we see a psalm. And it's a psalm of praise, beloved, We'll look at portions of this
chapter here. We'll be looking at a large portion
of Scripture. But in the context of it, it's a psalm of praise.
A psalm of praise to God. Now the Ark of the Covenant has
come to Jerusalem. And this is the song of praise
which David wrote after having brought up the Ark of God from
the house of Obediah. And the Ark was set in a tent. was set in a tent. And there
was a general offering of sacrifices by David in the congregation
as a thank offering to the Lord. And David blessed the people. And oh, we get thanks and praise
to God for what He has done for us. Then on that day, David delivered
this first psalm to thank the Lord in the hand of Aspen the
brethren. The meaning of this passage is that David committed
to ask the carrying out of the service of the song that congregational
singing was then to be introduced and this beautiful song was doubtlessly
composed by David himself for public worship. So let's look
again at verse 7 to 9. Then on that day David delivered
first the psalm to thank the Lord in the hand of Aspen, his brethren,
give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his people, or call upon his name, I'm sorry,
make known his deeds among the people, sing unto him, sing unto
him, talk ye of all his wondrous works." Now God's people, God's
people are thankful people. We're thankful for what what
Christ has done for us. We're thankful for what God does
for us each day in our lives. And we call upon Him. We call
upon Christ in salvation. We call upon Christ in prayer.
And we call upon Christ in praise. Because He is our King. And we
glorify His name. for the great things He had done
both in our lives and in Providence. And we speak to others of the
great things that He had done. His mighty acts of salvation.
His mighty acts of Providence. We speak of God's absolute sovereignty. And we proclaim His mighty name
and make known among the people His deeds, and how He has saved
His people from their sins. Our God is God, and there is
none else. Glory ye, look at verse 10, glory
ye in His name, in His holy name, let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. Beloved, we are to ascribe all
glory and all honor and all praise to Christ and Him alone for what
He has done for us. He alone is worthy of all glory
and praise. Him alone. Because He has redeemed His people
from their sins. He really did it. There's no
question at all. Some folks say, well, you can
believe and then lose your salvation. They're never saved. Because God will not lose one
of His sheep. He hath redeemed His people from
their sins. We cannot redeem ourselves, but
those who He died for on Calvary's tree, His elect, His chosen particular
people, He has redeemed them from their sins. Have you ever
been around religious folks and they like to tell you what they're
doing for God? They like to let you know all
the things they've done for God? Turn with me if you would to
Matthew chapter 7. Beloved, they're doing nothing for God. Nothing for God. See, because
we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, we give Him
all the glory. We give Him all the praise. But religious folks,
they like the glory. We call them glory hounds. They
like to receive all the glory. And they like to let you know
what they're doing. But beloved, they're like these folks in Matthew
7, verse 21 to 23, and what a chilling portion of Scripture. Not every
one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. He that doeth the will of my
Father which is in heaven. Many, many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not done
all these things? And in thy name have cast out
devils, and in thy name done many wondrous works. And then
I will profess unto them, I never knew you. In the Greek, gnoska,
I never had an intimate relationship with you. He knows them, but
not that intimate relationship he has with his people. I never
knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Oh, beloved, for those who Christ
has saved and redeemed, we ascribe all glory and all honor and all
praise to our mighty King. Why? Because He did it all. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He has saved us. Mercy of God in Christ. If you're
ever saved, it's the mercy of God in Christ. It's not by your
doing. He alone has satisfied the law
and justice of God. He alone has justified His people
from their sins. He alone was raised for our justification. Therefore, we give Him all glory
and all honor and all praise. Turn with me, if you would, to
Revelation chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4. He gets
all the glory, all the honor, all the praise. That's why in 1 Chronicles 16.10
it says, Glory in His holy name. In His holy name. He did it all.
Revelation chapter 4. Look at these marvelous verses.
Verses 8 to 11. And the four beasts had each
of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within,
and they rested not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come, speaks of
his eternality. And when those beasts gave glory
and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth
forever, the four and twenty Elders fell down before Him that
sat on the throne and worshipped Him that liveth forever and cast
their crowns before Him saying, Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy,
O Lord, to receive glory and honor and praise for Thou has
created all things for Thy pleasure. They are and were created. He
gets all the glory, beloved. He gets all the honor. He gets
all the praise. He is the only one who is worthy. Why? Because He hath redeemed
His people from their sins. The God-man mediator. We are
dead in trespasses, and since we cannot get ourselves out of
the pit that we're in, but help comes from above. God Himself
becomes a man. Fully man and fully God. and
dies on Calvary's cross to redeem his people from their sins, and
he did it. He did it. Why? Because he loved us with an everlasting
love. Animated dust is what we are,
Spurgeon said. And yet Christ redeems us from
all our sins, the sinless one. Absolutely sinless in thought,
word and deed. Perfect, spotless, Lamb of God. Dying in the room of sinners. Just like me. Sinners like me. And He did it all. He cries with
a loud voice. It is finished. Nothing to be added. It's done. What do we do? Sinners just look
to Christ. They're drawn by the Holy Spirit. And just look to Christ. Look
and live. He's the only hope. You can't
gain merit and favor in your own works to please God. It's only in Christ and Him alone. Only in Him. And let God be glorified
in all our praises. Let Him receive all the honor
and all the praise. And oh, may we glorify Him. And may He be the center in which
all the lines meet. In our praise and in our thanksgiving,
may He be that center line. Because He deserves all the glory. And He deserves all the honor
and all the praise. Back to our text in 1 Chronicles
16, verse 11. And we'll read to verse 22. Seek
the Lord in his strength. Seek his face continually. Remember his marvelous works
that he had done, his wonders and judgments of his mouth. We
need to remember what Christ has done for us continuously.
This is why we need the gospel preached to us continuously. Oh, ye seed of Israel, his servant,
ye children of Jacob, his chosen one. God has a chosen people. They are his elect, whether folks
like it or not. Some folks say that's not fair.
Brother John and I were talking about that Wednesday night. Some
folks say that's not fair. You don't want fair. You don't want what we deserve.
We don't get what we deserve. We receive mercy instead of wrath. He is the Lord our God. His judgments
are in all the earth. Our God reigns. We'll see that
later on in the text too. Be ye mindful always of His covenant,
the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, even
of the covenant which He made with Abraham, and of His oath
unto Isaac. And hath confirmed the same to
Jacob for a law unto Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying
unto thee, Will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance,
When you were but few, even a few, and strangers in it, and when
they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another
people, he suffered no man to do them wrong. Yea, he reproved
kings for their sake, saying, Touch not mine anointed, and
do my prophets no harm. So let us consider, when we're
troubled, and tempted to despair, Let us look to our great savior.
Let us look to our king, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us flee
to him for refuge and nowhere else. I know when I get in trouble
is when I look to myself and look to the circumstances I get. That's when I get in trouble.
I need to just keep focused on Christ. Because he is the great
king. He is the great redeemer of his
people. And then let us be reminded of his mighty acts. Turn with
me if you would to Psalm 68, 19. It's a little portion of
scripture that I did not know was in my Bible.
You know how sometimes you'll be reading scripture and things
will just light up for you. You think, boy, I just got a
new Bible. But this is one of those verses a few years back. Let us be reminded of his mighty
sovereign acts, of his providence, not only with the nation of Israel,
as our text shows, but what he's done in our lives, too. Look
at this text in Psalm 68, 19, and may we be reminded of this
each day. Blessed be the Lord who daily loatheth us with benefits. Daily, beloved. We don't even
see them. We don't even know the blessings
that occur to us daily. And it's not just a few blessings.
He loaded us down with benefits. Even the God of
our salvation. Daily we're loaded down with
benefits. And remember this, in times of
despair and trouble, that God will not forget his covenant
people. He will never forget his elect. He watches over us
and cares for us. He's loved us from eternity with an everlasting love. Chosen in eternity. And then,
as I said, He becomes a man to redeem us from our sins. And where is He now? He's ruling
and reigning in heaven above. This brings us great comfort
in times of trouble. Like I say, for me, when I get
my eyes off Him and get my eyes on circumstances, boy oh boy,
oh, but when I focus on my King and that all things are occurring
in my life for my good and for His glory, oh, that's when we
find rest. Vicki and I have often talked
about this. When we were in religion, we had no rest, no peace. None at all. Constant doing. Oh, since the Lord is showing
us grace, the rest and the peace that we have, which comes from
knowing that our God is sovereign and in control and that He has
redeemed us and there's nothing for us to do but to look to Him
and rest in Him. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful
Savior. Remember the wondrous works of
the Lord. Remember what he's done. In this Psalm and Chronicles,
it exhorts us to remember the wondrous works. And then we're reminded of the
mighty providential works that he did with Israel. How he made a covenant with him
and he kept it. We are covenant people of God,
as the elect of God. He hath redeemed His people. Verses 19 and 22 in the same
chapter here show us how God mightily defended Israel. He
mightily defended Israel, which is a picture of how He defends
us, and cares for us, and watches over us. Look at verses 23, the next portion
we'll read, verses 23 to 32. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
Show forth from day to day His salvation. Declare His glory
among the heathen, His marvelous works among all nations. And
this is a continuous thing here. Declare what He's done. Look
to Him. This gives us peace and hope.
Why? For great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised. He also is to be feared above
all gods, for all the gods of the people are idols, but the
Lord made the heavens. And Lord, there is the self-existent
One, all through here, the self-existent One, the One who dwells in eternity. And again, 27, glory and honor
are in His presence. Strength and gladness are in
His place. Give unto the Lord ye kindreds
of the people. Give unto the Lord glory and
strength. Give unto the Lord the glory
due unto His name. Bring an offering and come before
Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Fear before
Him all the earth. The world also shall be stable,
that it be not moved. Let the heavens be glad. Let
the earth rejoice and let man say among the nations, the Lord
reigneth. Our God reigns. And no one can usurp His throne. No one can usurp His authority.
He is God. He reigns. Let the sea. You go out in the sea. Brother, you'd be not in the
sea. You marvel at it when you're
on there. Scripture declares, let the sea roar in the fullness
thereof. Let the fields rejoice in all
that is. This portion of Scripture just, may we marvel at His sovereignty
through this. They proclaim the sovereignty
of God. And we're to sing forth in praise
and thanksgiving to our God. For He reigns, beloved, He reigns. We can look out and see everything
going on in the world and think, oh my goodness, the Lord reigneth. He reigns. Verse 25, great is the Lord. Verse 26, 6, the gods, the people
are idols, manufactured in their minds. Our minds are idol factories
before we're saved. We manufacture all these things. They're idols. They can't save. Think of the Catholic Church
with all the shrines and all the statues. Useless idols. Worthless. And it's a god of their imagination? It's not the god of the Bible? Gods manufactured in the minds. False gods who can do absolutely
nothing. But oh beloved, praise his mighty
name, beloved. Our God reigns. He reigns. May that bring us
great comfort. He reigns. Our God, verse 29, our God is
all-powerful. He's all-powerful. Give unto
the Lord the glory due unto His name. Bring an offering and come
before Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of His holiness. He reigns. He is the Lord of
glory. Verse 27. Glory and honor are
in His presence. Strength and gladness are in
His place. He reigns. He's absolutely sovereign. That whole section there can
be summed up, the Lord reigns. The Lord reigns. He's supreme. There is no other king but Him. He is the King of kings and the
Lord of lords, and may we praise His mighty name. Verses 33 and 34. Then shall the trees of the woods
sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge
the earth. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good. And look at this, beloved. For
his mercy endureth forever. Forever. Give thanks unto the Lord, for
he is good. His mercy endureth forever. Ever. It will never subside. As I said, we don't get what
we deserve. We receive mercy. And where is the mercy of God
found? Only in Christ. Only in Christ. No mercy outside
of Christ. Remember the ark? They were only
safe in the ark. Picture of the mercy, a picture
of Christ. Beloved, His mercy endures forever. God will have mercy on His people
in Christ. Turn with me if you would. Let's
look in Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 2, Grace be to you and
peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is written to believers. Robert Hawker said a whole lot
of errors could be straightened out if folks would look at the
context of letters and see that these are written to believers and to those who would believe.
Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. It's nowhere else. Nowhere else. According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame, sinners, without blame, before him in
love. Heaven predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. If you're saved, it's by the will of God. It's
God's will. Man's will is bound up. We come
into this world dead in trespasses and sins. If you're saved, it's
by the will of God. to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the blood, in
whom we have redemption through His blood. There's nowhere else
we can have redemption except the blood of Christ. According to the riches of His
grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according
to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself, that
in the dispensation of the fullness of time, he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are in earth, even in him, in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
If you're saved, it's by the mercy of God in Christ. First Timothy says this, verses
12 to 17. Turn there if you would. God will have mercy on his people
in Christ and him alone. And what's our cry? Our cry is
save us, oh God, save us. We can't save ourselves. 1st Timothy chapter 1 verses
12 to 17. And I thank Christ Jesus, our
Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful,
put me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, and
a persecutor, and injurious. But I obtained mercy. That applies to everyone who
believes. But I obtained mercy. Mercy. He said, I did it ignorantly
and unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant
with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful,
sane and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world, to what? To save sinners. And what does
Paul say? Whom I'm chief. As we looked
at in Sunday school, as you grow in grace, you grow in the realization
of how much you're a sinner. Again, how but for this cause
I obtained mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to everlast in life. Again, I obtained mercy. In verse 16, mercy is given,
I obtained it. Now unto the King Eternal, again
here's the praise and glory, the doxology. Now unto the King
Eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and
glory forever and ever. He gets all the glory and he
gets all the praise. Back to 1 Chronicles 16. Verse
35. Remember the story of the publican
and the sinner? And the publican's up there bragging
about what he's done, such as the people in Matthew 7 we looked
at. Bragging about what he's done and that he tithes and he
fasts and all this. And then the sinner's over there
saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Look at verse 35 in 1 Chronicles
16. And say, Ye save us, O God, of
our salvation. This is our cry. O save us, and
gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we
may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. Oh,
this is the believer's cry. Save me. Save me, Lord. I can't
save myself. We're brought to the end of ourselves
when we're brought to Christ. And just like the sinner cries,
he cries, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And so the believer
cries, save me, save me. Oh, Lord Jesus, I can't save
myself. And see, we're made willing to
do that. We naturally will not do that. Naturally, we'll shake
our fists at God. Oh, he makes his people willing.
And he draws us with cords of love. And we cry out, save us. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
a savior of sinners. Has God, the Holy Spirit, shown
you that you're a sinner? Oh, may He make it so, if it's
His will. Because everyone here who's saved,
we know we're sinners, in desperate need of Christ. Think of the... on this. He saved us from all
our sins. Not just some. Past, present,
and future. All. We were locked up in the prison,
the prison house of sin with no way to get out. Chained. And the chains have fallen and
the doors swung open We're free in Christ. Free in Him. Free from the guilt of our sins.
Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter 6. Free from the guilt of sin. Free
from the penalty of sin. The payment which God demands
is paid, but not from the presence. Not until we get the glory. Oh,
then there'd be no sin. Romans chapter 6, verse 18 to
23. Being then made free from sin,
ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak out in the manner of
man because of the infirmity of your flesh, for as ye have
yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity
unto iniquity, even so now yield your members servants to righteousness
unto holiness. For when ye were servants of
sin, and we were, you were free from righteousness.
What fruit have ye then in these things, whereof ye are now ashamed?
For the end of these things is death. The wages of sin is death.
The payment for sin is death. And Christ dies in the room instead
of his people. But now, being made free from
sin, free from the penalty, free from the power, Oh, but now being made free from
sin and become servants to God. You have your fruit and the holiness
and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ, our Lord, flee to Christ. He is the only hope for sinners.
He is the only hope. Beloved, He's done it all. It
is finished. The payment that God demanded is paid in full. And God is satisfied
with the sacrifice of Christ. He's satisfied in no other but
Christ. He's done it all. And how did
he do it? He redeemed his people with his
own precious blood. He gave his life in the room
instead of sinners. Why did he do this? Because he
loved his people with an everlasting love. And they were given to
him by the Father. And He must. He knew exactly
what He had to do. He must redeem His people from
their sins. And He did it. He accomplished. He is a successful
Savior. Praise His mighty name. Oh, give
Him all the glory. Look at verse 34. Oh, give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. and say, Save us, O God, of our
salvation, and gather us together. And He does. Let there be kindred,
tongue, and nation, and deliver us from the heathen, that we
may give thanks to Thy holy name, and glory in Thy praise. Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel forever and ever. And all the people
said, Amen, and praise the Lord. And here before us we have a
summons to thankfulness and to praise. with a prayer in verse 35 and
a doxology to close it out. This wonderful psalm of praise
and thanksgiving. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.
Why? Because He did it all. He gets
all the glory, all the honor and all the praise. Give it all
to Him. And all the people said Amen. May we meditate this week on
this. If we have trouble and despair, may we meditate on the
wondrous things He has done, and that He hath redeemed His
people from their sins. May God grant you faith to believe.