Psalm 33 this evening. As I usually
do when I look at a psalm, I try to find one of the verses and
use that for a title. And I'm going to use for a title
what is said in verse 9. Psalm 33 verse 9. For he spake, that is the Lord,
the Lord God Almighty, he spake, And it was done. He spake and
it was accomplished. He commanded and it stood fast. No one going to move when he
says stop. He commands and everything he
speaks, the Lord doesn't speak in a way of invitation. The gospel
is not an invitation. A lot of people say, well, the
gospel is an invitation. It's not an invitation. It's
command. God doesn't invite people. A
king commands his servants. Commands his servants. So God
speaks and it's done. Spoken. Decreed. Finished. What did he say on Calvary's
tree? It is finished. He spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. There's nothing need to be added
to our salvation. It's done. It's finished. It's complete. We are complete
in Christ. Christ is all. Now what great
comfort this is to a guilty sinner in need of mercy. His word, his
promise toward his people cannot fail. All the promises of God
that are exceeding in great and precious promises cannot fail. Not one word of God's promise
can fail. It says in Isaiah 42, God cannot
fail. The Lord Jesus Christ, God our
Savior, cannot fail. Cannot fail. God cannot change. There's something God cannot
do. He cannot change. I'm the Lord, I've changed up.
He cannot lie. It's impossible for God to lie. All the promises of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ are yes, and in Him, and are amen, and to
the glory of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are persuaded,
as Abraham was, all that God had promised, he's able to perform. You see, he spake, And it was
done. He commanded, and it stands fast. It stands fast forever. Remember
in our study in the book of Joshua, it's been several years since
we went through the book of Joshua. Joshua is a picture of the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Joshua actually means Savior,
but his dying words to the people of Israel Before the Lord called
him home, after his work was finished, he said, Behold, this
day I'm going away of all the earth, and ye know in all your
hearts and all your souls that not one thing hath failed, but
all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning
you, all are come to pass unto you, not one word hath failed."
Not one. Not one. We can believe every
promise that He has given unto us in every 66 books of the Bible
full of His promises. And because God cannot fail,
His Word cannot fail, the Word of the Lord is right and all
of His works are done in truth. Now let's take a look at a few
of these verses. Rejoice, verse 1, rejoice in
the Lord. in the Lord. It says that again
in verse 21, for our hearts shall rejoice in Him. We have great
reason to rejoice in the Lord, don't we? As Paul writes to Philippians
chapter three, to the Philippians there in chapter three, we are
the true Israel of God, which worship God in the spirit, that
rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no confidence, no confidence
in the flesh. So we have great reason to rejoice
in the Lord and his people do because he's given us a right
heart. Oh, ye righteous. Now, We're
not righteous by anything we do, are we? Never mistake morality
for righteousness. Never mistake religious doing
ceremony for righteousness. All of our righteousnesses, as
Isaiah says, are filthy rags in God's sight. Christ alone,
O you righteous, How are we made righteous? Only in Christ. Blessed
is that man whom the Lord imputeth righteousness with our works. Again, quoting Philippians, where
Paul said in chapter three, that we count everything lost, dung,
and ruined, that we may win Christ and be found in him. Not having
my own righteousness of the law, that's what Saul of Tarsus trusted,
but that which is through the righteousness of Christ is to
His faithfulness. That's our righteousness. Our,
as the believers, personal righteousness is Christ. Isn't that good news? He's made unto us righteousness. He's the Lord, our righteousness. So we rejoice because we've been
made righteous. God made Him to be sin for us.
Who knew no sin that we might be made, what? The righteousness
of God in Him. And then it says in verse one,
four, praise, and that would include worship. That would include
faith. Praise is commonly for the upright. Praise and worship is comely.
And that word comely there means proper. It means proper. It means
suitable. It means right. It means pleasant. It means proper. The Father seeketh
such to worship him in spirit and in truth. Praise and worship
is proper for the upright, those who have been Uprighted. You
remember what happened in Adam? In Adam we fell, didn't we? How are we going to be uprighted?
God created man upright, scripture said, but we fell and Adam all
died and Adam all sinned. How are we made upright? How
are we made righteous? I think of one scripture come
to mind, Romans chapter 5, by one man's disobedience, Romans
5, 19, by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by
the obedience of another shall many be made righteous. How are we made righteous? In
Christ. He is the Lord, our righteousness. We have sin put away. Turn back
one page. Psalm 32, verse 1. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
That's a blessed man. You think about that. All the
sins that you've ever committed or will commit, they're not charged
to your account. because they've been charged
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he answered fully for them.
Satisfied God's law and justice for us. Put our sin away by the
sacrifice of himself. So we've been uprighted, we've
been uprighted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, praise the Lord,
verse two, with the harp. Sing unto him. Sing psalms of praise unto him.
You can use instruments to sing praise unto Him, or you can sing
praise unto Him without instruments. But look at verse 3. Sing unto
Him a new song. This is the song of redemption.
Sing unto Him a new song. Turn a couple pages. Psalm 40. Psalm 40. Turn there. Sing unto
Him a new song. And I love all the references
that are given there. It's a new song of redemption.
Worthy is the lamb that redeemed us. Worthy is the lamb. Psalm
40 verse 1. I waited patiently for the Lord. Verse 1, Psalm 40. He climbed
unto me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of
a horrible pit, out of my reclaimed. He set my feet upon a rock, established
my going. He put a new song in my mouth. He did that. He put a new song
in my mouth, even praising to our God. Many shall see it in
fear and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man that makes
the Lord his trust, respected not the proud. nor such a turn
aside to lies." Let me just read this one to you. We've read this
many times. Psalm 98, 1. Oh, sing unto the
Lord a new song, for He hath done marvelous things. Psalm
98, 1. His right hand and His holy arm hath gotten Him to victory. Sing unto the Lord a new song.
He hath done marvelous things. Christ's right hand, the right
hand of God's righteousness, has accomplished all things for
us. Now look at verse four. For the word of the Lord is right. Now when we think about the word,
we think of Christ, the living word. In the beginning was the
word and the word was with God and the word was God. The word
is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. For
the word of the Lord is right refer to the living word, the
Lord Jesus, also to the written word, the written word of God.
Now what a privilege we have, the inspired, inerrant, infallible
word of God. All scriptures given of God.
Holy men of old spake as they were moved by God. The word of
the Lord is right. And the reason it's right and
truth is because it's his word. Can it be anything but right,
correct, true, everlasting? Not only His Word is right, but
all of His works, all His works are done in truth. They're done
in truth. Everything He does, He does in
truth. The Word of the Lord, and we could say this way, the
decrees of God, The acts of God, the counsel of God, the purpose
of God is always right. Whatever the Lord does is right. It's right. Shall not the judge
of all the earth do right? Yes, he will. Whatever God does
is right. He said, I've spoken it. I bring
it to pass. I purposed it. I will do it. The word of the Lord shall stand
forever and ever. His works, all of His works,
all of His works. Boy, He's done a lot of works,
hasn't He? He's done a lot of works in creation. created all
things by the word of his power. In providence, the works of his
providence. You think about his providence.
Every day we see the unfolding of his eternal providence. And
his providence is simply the fulfilling of his eternal decrees. What God had decreed from eternity,
we see falling out in the lines of providence. Providence, what
God brings to pass. Some people say, well, that was
providential. Well, everything was providential. Everything comes to pass by his
decree. And they're always done. They're
always done in truth. You see that? Verse four, they're
always done in truth. There is no lie in God's word,
no sham in his works. Whether we talk about creation,
it's perfect. He created a perfect world. Oh,
it's marred because of sin, but he's gonna make a new heaven
and a new earth where as well as righteousness. His works of
providence are always exactly on time and they're right. His
works of salvation, they always abound in truth. Always abound in truth. For hope of eternal life, that
God cannot lie, for hope of eternal life from God who cannot lie,
from God which hath promised, Titus chapter one. God promised
and God cannot lie. Our hope of eternal life in our
blessed Savior. Look at verse five, he loveth.
What does the Lord love? He loveth righteousness. He loveth
holiness. He hates iniquity. God hates
iniquity. He too holy looketh upon sin
with favor. He loveth righteousness, and
we can rightly say, because the Scriptures bear this out, other
Scriptures, he hateth iniquity. He loveth righteousness. He loveth
justice, judgment. The earth is full. Now here's,
the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. The Lord is good.
The Scriptures say that repeatedly. The Lord is good. The Lord is
good. The Lord is good. But the earth
is full of His mercy. Someone said, if the earth is
full of the Lord's mercies, what must heaven be like? If the earth
is full of His mercies, His mercies, the scripture said His mercies
are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness. He
loveth righteous judgment. The earth is full of God's goodness. God's goodness, the earth is
full of God's mercy, God's truth, God's right. Justice and judgment
are the habitation of His throne, but He is a just God and Savior
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse six down through verse
nine speaks about by the word of the Lord, by the decree of
the Lord, By the Lord Jesus Christ, all things were created. It says
in John 1, by him were all things created. Nothing was created
without him. By the word of the Lord, by the
Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty, the heavens were made. Now you
think of the vastness of the heavens, the vastness of the,
we have our solar system, which is, I don't know, billions of
stars. But our solar system is just
one of millions and billions. You know, Scripture said that
He knows each star by name. He created them. That tells us
something about the vastness of our God. God's not in the
universe. The universe is in Him. By the
word of the Lord were the heavens made, the heaven of heavens.
All the host of them, the host of stars and planets and solar
systems, the host of them by the breath of His mouth. God is the only one that can
create. Men create things out of what
He created, wood or steel or different things. But God created
all things. He's the creator of all things
by the breath of His mouth, by the will of His mouth, by the
purpose of His mouth. In all things, according to His
eternal purpose, which he purposed in the Lord Jesus Christ before
the foundation of the world. In the original and old creation,
all things were made by him, created by him, by the word of
his power, by the breath of his mouth. And in the new creation,
that is in the new birth and regeneration, all things are
made and created by the word of his power. He made us new
creatures in Christ Jesus, all according to his will, of his
own will. Beget he us with the word of
truth. Just like as God commanded there to be light, and there
was light, God commands the light of the gospel to shine in our
hearts. And we see the glory of God in the face of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That all the evidence of the
world See, it says, verse 8, let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Every creature should bow in reverence unto the Lord, reverential
fear, holy and reverent is His name. Let all the earth fear
the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of Him. Man is so depraved that there
is no fear of God before his eyes. God said all the inhabitants
of the world should stand in awe of Him. Should stand in fear
before the Lord our God. Verse 9, for he spake, salvation
in Christ does stand fast. It's certain, and secure, and
everlasting. For he spake, and it was done. He commands, and it stands fast. Salvation is of the Lord. When
he speaks a word of salvation to a sinner, it's done. And it commands, and that command
is eternal. Whatsoever the Lord does is forever,
forever. He spake, and it was done. He commands, and it stands forever. He said, I give my sheep eternal
life, and they'll never perish. It stands forever. It stands fast, because it stands
in Him. Look at verse 10, verse 11. Here's
a contrast. The scripture often gives us
things by way of contrast. The Lord bringeth or frustrated
the counsel of the heathen to not. He make the devices of the
people of non-effect. Men can bring all the counsels
together they want to bring to try to bring this to pass and
that to pass. They're not gonna come to pass
without the decree of God. The Lord brings their counsel
to nothing. He makes all the devices of the
people of none effect. None effect. You reckon the United
Nations has any effect on the counsel and decree of almighty
God? No, he brings the counsels of
the heathen to nothing. All the inhabitants of the earth
are at nothing in his sight. The flip side of that is this.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The will and purpose
of God, the decrees of God, he worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will, Ephesians chapter one. The counsel of the
Lord, the decrees of the Lord stand forever throughout, Standing
forever with the thoughts of His heart, the decrees of His
heart, to generation after generation after generation. His will, whose
will is going to be done? His will. He taught us to pray,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Blessed is that nation
whose God is the Lord. Verse 12. Here's that blessed
man again. Blessed is the nation whose God
is Lord and the people of that nation whom he has chosen for
his own inheritance. He's chosen us. Our Lord said, you didn't choose
me, I've chosen you. Hold your place there. You remember
over here in Psalm 65, turn over there. Psalm 65. Blessed is the nation whose God
is the Lord and the people whom he hath chosen. God had chosen
a people. God elected a people unto salvation. You remember Psalm 65, verse
four. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach unto thee that he may dwell in
thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,
even thy holy temple." God, by his sovereign elective choice,
chose the people unto salvation. We call that God's electing love. Jacob, have I loved. Esau, have
I hated. He said, all that the Father
hath given to me, they'll come to me, and those that come to
me I'll never, I'll never, no never cast them out. The people whom he hath chosen,
he's chosen us. We didn't choose him, he chose
us. When did He choose us? According
as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His own will to the
praise of the glory of God's grace. Ephesians chapter one,
that's what I just tried to quote. Verse 13, the Lord looking from
heaven And he beholdeth all the sons of men, verse 13. What does
he behold? When he looks from heaven, what
does he see? Same thing that he saw in Genesis
chapter 6. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's
what God sees. The Lord looked from heaven to
see if there were any that did understand. You remember Psalm,
I think it's Psalm 14. Let me read it to you. The Lord
looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if
there were any that did understand and seek God. They're all gone
aside. They're all together become filthy.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Not one. The Lord looked from
heaven and behold all the sons of men. He sees them as they
are. The way God sees things is the
way it really is. And he looks from the place of
his habitation. The place of his habitation.
Over there in the book of Isaiah, I can't remember exactly where,
From the place of His habitation, God inhabits eternity. God inhabits eternity. Think about that. From the place
of His habitation, He looked upon the inhabitants of the earth. God is high and lifted up. Verse
15, He fashioned their hearts alike. He considers all their
works. All the work collectively of
all men that ever lived, of all nations, all heaped together
and all put it together, what do they account for? Dumb. Dumb. Rubbish. Away with it. It's filthy rags. He fashions
their hearts alike. He considers their work. He considers
it to be sinful. Verse 16, man in his best state is altogether
vanity. There is no king, there is no
president, there is no sinner saved by the multitude of a host. You can have the biggest, strongest
army, old Vlad over there What's his last name? Putin, isn't it? He's got a vast, large army. You reckon that's going to save
him from the righteous judgment of God? No, sir. There's no king, no president,
no dictator saved by the multitude of the host. A mighty man is
not delivered by much strength. So you've got a nuclear bomb.
Big deal. God can bring that to nothing.
Nothing. A mighty man is not delivered
by much strength. Verse 17, a horse. Back in ancient
times, a horse was considered a very powerful animal. And it is compared to our strength.
You get around a horse. Man, they're strong. They're
strong. Them old workhorses, my grandfather
cleared with a team of workhorses back in 1911. He cleared 80 acres
of sagebrush and lava rock with horses. Why'd he do that? They were strong. But a horse
is a vain thing. It's okay for plowing, but it's
a vain thing for safety. A horse is a vain thing for safety,
neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. So a man does have big muscles,
lift a lot of weight. That's nothing. And a horse,
strong, bold animal, not going to deliver any. A horse
is a vain thing for safety. Might be okay for plowing, but
not for safety, not for salvation. Neither shall he deliver any
by his great strength. We are delivered by the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's our deliverer, in whom we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin according
to the riches of his grace. Delivered them from going down
to the pit, I found a ransom. He is our Deliverer, and He delivers
us by His great strength. You see that? He delivers us
by His great strength. Verse 18. What great strength we have in
the Gospel. Verse 18, Behold, the eye of
the Lord is upon them that fear Him. The Lord looketh from heaven
and beholdeth all the sons of men. Behold, the eye of the Lord,
the eye of the Lord, the all-seeing, all-knowing eye of the Lord is
upon His people. The eye of the Lord is upon them
that fear Him. The eye of the Lord is upon them
that hope in His mercy. I like what Hagar said when she
fled from Sarah out there in the wilderness and she cried,
Thou, God, seest me. God sees us. The eye of the Lord
is upon them that fear Him, them that believe Him. The fear of
the Lord is to believe the Lord. It's to worship the Lord. It's
to submit to the Lord as God of all things. And upon them
that hope. hope in his mercy. Christ is our hope. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. We have a good hope through grace, a good hope through grace. Christ is our hope. We hope in
his mercy, his mercy, not by works of righteousness, which
we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us to deliver
them. The Lord is going to deliver
his people to deliver their soul from death. Remember in the Revelation,
our Lord said, I am He that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive
forevermore. I have the keys of hell and death.
He delivers our soul by a ransom. Deliver them from going down
to the pit. God said, I found a ransom. And that ransom is
the blood atonement of Christ. He's going to deliver their soul
from death. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the resurrection and
the life. Now this body's going to die,
but our soul has eternal life. And he's going to give us a new
body one day, deliver their soul from death. He said, because
I live, you shall live also to keep them alive, to keep them
alive in famine. We are living in this world,
and it's a world of famine. but he keeps us alive. My God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory. Verse
20, our soul, our soul waiteth for the Lord. Now, is he worth
waiting for? Our soul waiteth for the Lord. I remember when I, when our boys
were little, And when it was quitting time,
and them little boys knew that daddy was coming home soon, they
were waiting for something. They were waiting for daddy to
come home. Oh, they got so excited. How
much more so, our soul, as we wait upon the Lord. As we wait
upon the Lord, for He is our help. He is our help. Our Lord said, come boldly unto
the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in our time of need. There's a good reference there,
Deuteronomy 33, 29. Deuteronomy 33, 29, you can go
and read that. Christ is our help. He is our
shield. He is our defense. Our hearts
shall rejoice in Him. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say, rejoice. We rejoice in Him because we've
trusted His holy name. God's given Him a name which
is above every name. No other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. His holy name. We've trusted
His holy name. The Lord Jesus Christ. We've trusted His holy name. Verse 22, let thy mercy, O Lord. Let thy mercy, O Lord. Be upon us. The Lord's mercy, it is the Lord's
mercies that were not consumed. Mercy is God not giving us what
we do deserve. The weight of sin is death. Let
thy mercy. I don't want what I deserve. I want mercy. You remember the
publican cried, Lord, be merciful to me, thee sinner. And the Lord
said, that man went down to his house justified. The Pharisee
bragged on himself and was condemned. The publican condemned himself
and was justified. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon
us according as we hope in thee. We hope in him. He's all our
hope. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing, Romans 15, that ye may abound
in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Trust in the
Lord at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us. He's our deliverer, delivered
us from all our sin.