Well, good morning. Turn with me to Psalm 147. Psalm 147. Pray the Lord would be pleased to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Let's begin in Psalm 147. Look at verse 16. Here it says, he gives snow like wool. He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels. Who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word and it melteth them. He causeth his wind to blow and his waters to flow.

You know, sometimes, just like In recent days, the snow comes and it shuts down businesses and schools and the roads. But in a few days, typically in just a little while, most things return to normal. The snow, the ice, it all melts away with no sign that anything has even happened.

I can tell you I'm fascinated by the snow, but I can also tell you I don't know much about it. But I know this, the Lord brings the snow. Maybe you remember back in the book of Job, there when the Lord answered, Almighty God answered Job out of the whirlwind. And he said, he asked a few questions of Job, One of them was this. He said, Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Where were you, Job, when I laid the foundations of the world, when it broke forth and issued out of the womb? When I said to the sea, the Lord spoke to the sea, and he said, hitherto shalt thou come. but no further.

You ever think about that? Maybe you've been to the ocean and there that water comes. It just comes up to a certain point. The ocean and all of its strength and vastness, all of its power, it comes to that certain point and it stops. Why is that? Well, the Lord decreed it. God who is sovereign decreed it. Just like everything else in this world, not just the ocean, but all things.

In verse 22 of Job 38, he asked Job, he said, have you entered in to the treasures of the snow? The treasures of the snow, that which hides in the clouds, We don't even see it. It's up there in the clouds and we'll see nothing of it until he's pleased to send it. All by his sovereign hand.

Over in Romans 11, verse three, it says, the depths and the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. Hid there until he's pleased to reveal it. Job, have you entered into the treasures of the snow?

Well, ultimately, that's what led me to this passage here in Psalm 147. Consider for a moment the work of our Lord just in nature. Just one thing, consider the snow. I looked this up, it says snow is formed, snow is formed when ice crystals in the clouds stick together and they become snowflakes. And if enough of them stick together, they'll become heavy enough to fall to the ground. Now that's what science says about snow. Isn't that interesting?

Well, here's what I'm truly interested in. What does God's word say? What does the word of God say? It says this. He gives the snow. Who gives it? He does. He alone. Everything I need to know. about the snow and where it comes from is right there. Right here in God's word it says he gives it. It comes from his hand. It says he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. Every single grain of ice that descends from the skies It comes from God. It comes from his hand. It says, he casteth it forth like morsels. He cast it forth. Remember back there when David fought Goliath and he put that stone in that sling and he cast it. There was only one destination for that stone. and it was right between the eyes of Goliath. Its path was certain. The path of every snowflake, every last one of them, is certain. It's ordered by Almighty God. It's His eyes. And if we read on in our text, we read of his code. I can tell you, the older I get, the less a fan I am of the code. I truly like warmer weather. But scripture says, he sends his code. It's his. And he sends it where he is pleased to send it. He is sovereign. Almighty God is sovereign over all things. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world, this entire world, and everyone who dwells on it, it's all His. Even the cold.

Spurgeon said this. He said, when we feel the cold nipping our limbs and penetrating our garment, it should console us and make us willing to endure its hardness when we remember this. It's his cold.

Well, read on. It says he sends out his word. He sends out his word. The thaw, there's a thaw coming. Warm weather. Warm weather, it'll soon be here. And we can rest assured of that because he sends it. He sends out his word and he melts it all away. He causes his wind to blow. Again, His providence in all things. Consider the ease in which He does all these things. By His almighty power, He does all these things with ease.

It's mentioned here in this passage, it says He gives snow like wool. Like just reaching into a bag of wool and just pulling some out Here it is. He sends it like wool. Those little flakes that fall. He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes. He casts ice like morsels. We raised hens, laying hens, when the boys were little. And I can remember they'd reach in, their little hands, they'd reach into that sack of feed, and they'd just cast it like it weighed nothing. Barely enough, barely big enough to get a handful of it. Just cast it out. Our Lord casts the hoarfrost like ashes, just tosses it out there.

And think about that. Think about that ice. Not many years ago, the biggest tree on our land, we woke up one morning and it was laying on the ground. All the result of that ice sticking to that tree, tiny little granules of ice with the weight of it brought that mighty tree down. Telephone poles and electric poles broke into like toothpicks. His ice. His ice.

I think about how those salt trucks, those men that drive those salt trucks, all night, all night, pushing and scattering salt, trying to get rid of that ice. All that work, all that labor, all that noise, Isn't that us by nature? Isn't that us trying to put away our sin? All that work, all that labor, all that noise, accomplishing nothing. Our sin, we can't get rid of it. Or we might be able to make, we might be able to clean up this outward appearance a little bit, make it look a little better. But we cannot get rid of it. We cannot. We can't even truly make a den in it.

But in his time, in his time, the Lord sends his wind. And he melts it. He melts it away. Salvation is not our labor. Salvation is not by man's doing or dying. Salvation is of the Lord. We can make all the noise we want. We can make a lot of racket. We can do all those things that men say we should do. But it will not put away sin. Sin's gonna be there until the Lord's pleased to put it away. He sends forth his word.

Think about this. Think about the works of our Lord. This world spins at over 1,000 miles an hour, but not a sound. Not a sound. It's effortless. He does it. He does all these things at his will and at his command. And the frost and the snow just disappear. You know, in just a few days, just a short amount of time, the flowers will start budding up out of the ground. They'll spring forth. We'll start to hear the birds chirp. We'll hear the frogs at night.

Well, I'm not here to talk to you about nature this morning and weather this morning. Let's consider the spiritual application quickly of this word. Again, we read back there earlier that the heavens declare what? The heavens declare the glory of the Lord. The firmament showeth his handiwork.

Look at verse 19 and 20 again back there in Psalm 147. He showeth his word unto Jacob. his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. He showeth his work to Jacob, his statutes unto Israel.

Here the Lord speaks of his people, and he refers to Jacob. Jacob, that one whose name is supplanter, thief. That's who God is pleased to save. He sends forth his word. He shows it to all people, Jacob. That should give us all hope. That should encourage our hearts.

We read, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And listen, the question is not how could God hate Esau? That's very simple, but the real question is how could God love Jacob? Only by his grace. only by his mercy and love, only by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider his word. He sends forth his word. He sends it to Jacob. That's what we just read there. He sends forth his word, the living word, that word which heals. that word which gives peace to the heart, that word which goes forth in power, in the power of his spirit, that word which abides in his people. It's the living word.

The Lord Jesus Christ, he is the living word. God sent forth His Word. He sent forth His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that Word which was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld Him. We beheld Him as the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.

He sent forth His Son. his son who made himself a sacrifice for the sins of his people. He laid down his life for his people. Consider the revelation of his word. It says, he showeth his word. He reveals his word to his people, to his elect. He sent forth his word to Israel, to Jacob,

Paul writing to the Thessalonians, he said, you who are troubled. You who are troubled. Are you troubled? Does that get your attention? Does that speak to you? You who are troubled. We can identify with that, can't we? He says, you who are troubled. One word. Rest. Rest. Rest in the work of His Son. Rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed.

And I tell you, unless He's pleased to reveal His Son to us, we'll never have rest. There will always be something more to do. Most of us can identify with laboring under the work of the law. Men say things like this. They'll say, well, if I do enough good to outweigh the bad, everything will be all right.

If that were even true, if that were even true, how would we ever know? enough good had ever been done. Scripture says there's none righteous, no not one. Scripture says that our best works are filthy rags in the sight of Almighty God. There is only one place, there is only one person in whom we truly can rest and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, rest with us.

The Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty God, he sent forth his son in power. In the power of his spirit, he says, just rest. Rest with us. When the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed, we'll have rest. Think about Simeon of old. There he was in the temple. He was waiting. Scripture says he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Waiting on the Lord Jesus Christ. It was revealed to him that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. And then one morning, one morning the parents brought in the child Jesus to do unto him according to the law. And for the first time, Simeon sees him. The Lord Jesus Christ was revealed to him. And when he was, Simeon took him up in his arms. And he said this, let thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. To see him, to have Christ revealed, he saw Christ.

Well, over in 1 Peter 1, It says, gird up the loins of your mind and be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The revelation of Him. Christ revealed. In 1 Corinthians it says, for after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God. by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believed. That's why we preach this word. That's why we preach the gospel, that God might be pleased to reveal himself through the preaching of his word. To reveal Christ in us, to reveal Christ to us, How? By the preaching of his gospel, his word.

Well, back to our text again in Psalm 147. We read of his praise. It says, he hath not dealt so, verse 20, he hath not dealt so with any nation. And as for his judgments, they've not known them. Praise ye the Lord. Oh, so many reasons to praise him. Praise him for his electing grace. He said, Jacob have I loved. Oh, he could have passed by. He could have passed by Jacob. He could have passed by any of us and been right and just in doing so. But God in mercy has been pleased to save some. Praise Him for revealing His Word, His truth to us. Praise Him for delivering us. He has brought us from death to life. He's delivered us, He's delivered His people, His sheep, His church from the wrath to come.

You know, in the dead of winter, it can be an ugly time. no leaves on the trees, there's no flowers, the grass has turned brown. We just read that. But then he causes his wind to blow. In John 3, 8, it says, the wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof. But you can't tell where it's coming from or where it's going. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. His wind, His Spirit, it's invisible. Can't see it. But I tell you, you can see and feel the effects of it. His wind, His Spirit, it's sovereign. The wind is beyond man's control. You know the wind doesn't consult with us or ask us where it should blow, does it? It bloweth where it listeth. It blows where it pleaseth.

Listen to this passage. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he. He does what he pleases in earth, in heaven, and in all deep places. The wind, the Spirit of God, it's irresistible. You know when the wind, just earthly speaking, this wind, when it blows, it can knock everything over in its path, conquering everything in its path. And when the Lord, when When Almighty God, when He's pleased to send forth His Spirit, it's going to conquer even the most rebellious sinner. It's irresistible.

Well, turn with me to another passage of Scripture. Turn to Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel 37. His wind. Again, the thought of His wind. Ezekiel 37, look, beginning with verse one. It says, the hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones and caused me to pass by them round about And behold, there were many in the open valley. And lo, they were very dry. A valley of dry bones. No life, there's no life there.

Look at verse three. And he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live? What a question. What a question. Can these old, dry, dead bones live? Can there be life in a place where there is nothing but death? What's the answer? What's the answer to that question? Well, look at the rest of this verse three. The reply, O Lord God, thou knowest There is one, there is one who knows. He's the one who gives life. He's the one from whom all life flows.

And the spirit of the Lord said, preach to them, preach to them. False religion says, give them something to do. What's the Lord say? Preach to them. Preach to them. Declare the truth to them. And the Lord God said, I'll cause breath to enter into them. I'll give life. Here again, where there's nothing but death, there's gonna be life.

Look at verse six, he said, I'll lay sinews upon you and I'll bring up flesh upon you and I'll cover you with skin. I'll put breath in you." That's what he does. And only he can. The work of salvation, it's his work. He said, you shall live. and you shall know that I am the Lord.

Verse seven, I prophesied as I was commanded. I preached to those dry bones. We read this earlier. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. You know, one of the last commands he gave this prophet, he said, Say to the wind. To the wind. I ask you, whose wind is it? It's the Lord's, isn't it? Say to the wind, come from the four winds and breathe, oh breathe, and breathe upon these slain that they might live. That word breathe, it means blow. Isn't that what we just read here in Psalm 147? He causes his wind to blow. Breathe and blow upon these slain that they might live.

And he said, I prophesied as I was commanded and breath came unto them. And what was the result? Life. Life. They lived. He caused his wind to blow and the result was life. God gave life here. He gives life. Life through his son. Life through the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our life. In John 10, our Lord spake and he said, I am come that they might have life. and that they might have it more abundantly.

Well, turn back one more time here to Psalm 147. 147, look at verse 16. You think about this when you look outside today. He giveth snow like wool. He scattereth the hoar frost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels. Who can stand before his cold? Verse 18, he sendeth out his word and melteth them. He causeth his wind to blow in the waters to flow. You know water when it's frozen. It's perfectly still. It's motionless. But here's another characteristic of it. It's cold and hard as a rock. That's our hearts by nature. They're just the same. cold, frozen, with no warmth, no love of God.

But when the Lord is pleased to send forth His Word, when He sends forth His Word in power, convincing man of sin, of righteousness, judgment, it breaks and melts. that cold, stony heart. The waters, we just read that, the waters flow. The spirit blows upon it. And just like we read there in the Valley of Dry Bones, Lord, would you cause your wind to blow upon us, to break these stony hearts to breathe upon these cold, frozen hearts and give life. Breathe upon these slain that they might live.

May I pray the Lord would be pleased to bless His word.