I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles now and turn with me to the book of Psalms 136. Psalm 136. I felt led to preach
the message I just preached, setting forth beautifully by
God's Word. Or God's Word beautifully setting
forth, let me say it like that. The difference between grace
and mercy. Again, I want to look at each
of these verses and let us remember this. Grace is the Lord giving
us what we don't deserve. Grace is God giving us what we
did not deserve. Mercy is the Lord not giving
us what we truly did deserve, wrath. With that in mind, Psalm
136, and in this psalm, the glory of the Lord's mercy
to his people is marvelously set forth. It declares that his
mercy toward his people endureth forever. And the mercy of God not giving
us what we did deserve was gloriously set forth in creation, it's set
forth in God's providence, and it's set forth in God's salvation. Now this particular psalm May
have been, because I'm going to say may, because there are
different places where the phrase, His mercy endureth forever. But it may have been sung. This psalm may have been sung.
2 Chronicles chapter 7, verses 1 to 6. I'll read this, if you
want to turn, fine. 2 Chronicles 7. Now when Solomon
had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven. and
consumed the burnt offering, the sacrifices, and the glory
of the Lord filled the house. And the priests could not enter
into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled
the Lord's house. And when all the children of
Israel saw how the fire came down, the glory of the Lord upon
the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground
upon the pavement, worshiped. Praise the Lord, saying, for
He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Then the king and all
the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. And King Solomon
offered a sacrifice, 22,000 oxen, 120,000 sheep. So the king and
all the people dedicated the house of God, and the priests
waited on their offices. The Levites also with instruments
of music of the Lord, which David the king had made to praise the
Lord, because His mercy endureth forever. And David praised by
their ministry, and the priests sounded trumpets before them,
and all Israel stood. So seeing how the Lord moved
upon His people to sing and praise by this glorious song of adoration
and thanksgiving to the mercy of God. Thankful that the Lord
did not give His people, in themselves, what we all truly deserve. Back in Psalm 136, verse 1, Oh give thanks, in everything
give thanks, the scripture says. Jehovah, the Lord, the I am that
I am, the triune God, thankful unto the Father in His electing
grace. Thankful unto the Son in redeeming
grace. Thankful unto the Holy Spirit
in regenerating, in sealing, in teaching, in keeping grace. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord
for He is good. He's good. Singularly good. None good. But God, that's what
the Lord said, Matthew 19, 16, 17. Behold, one came and said
unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have
eternal life? What good thing shall I do? that I may have eternal life. And he said unto him, why callest
thou me good? There's none good but one, that
is God. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for
his mercy endureth forever. It is the good pleasure of God. Show me your glory. I will be gracious and I will
show mercy. I will not, according to my good
pleasure, to a people of my choosing, I'm not going to charge you with
your guilt. One of these days, we're going
to understand that fully. And in that day, forever thank
God. Thank you that you didn't charge
me with my guilt. Malachi 3.6 concerning the Lord's
mercy that is unchangeable. It doesn't change. I think about how many times
God has been pleased to show mercy to all of us, all of us
like this. And how many times have we, and
I do say this, I mean this, I mean this, we've all done this. I'll
never do that again. Lord, I'll never do that again.
Don't say that. Don't say that. Don't say that. Don't make a vow to God you can't
keep. Don't do that. I'm just thankful. Lord, that
you've been pleased to not charge me with my guilt. Malachi 3.6,
I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, that's
why you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Thank God for his unchanging
mercy. Verse 2 and 3, O give thanks
unto the God of gods. For His mercy endureth forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of
Lords, for His mercy endureth forever. He's the only one that
matters. Let me say it like that. The Most High God, God Almighty Supreme,
who is above all that is called God or worshipped as God in this
world. I keep going back to where the
Lord brought me from. I'm going to tell you something.
There was a God, a little G, God that I worshipped. Actually,
it was me. It was me. Because He was the
God of my imagination. He was no God. I called on Him. Prayed to Him every day. Every
night. Every night. Thanks be unto God, who is the
God of gods and the Lord, capital L of the little l, nobodies. Deuteronomy 10, 17, for the Lord,
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, for the Lord, your
God is God of gods and Lord of lords. A great God, a mighty,
a terrible, which regardeth not person, nor taketh reward. He's fair. He's fair. Almighty God has redeemed His
people fairly. Fair. My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me? Remember the answer He gave?
For you're holy. You're holy. Why was Christ forsaken? Because God is good, God is just,
and God is merciful. Almighty God, He does not pervert
His justice like human judges do, you know, with plea bargaining. No plea bargaining with God.
Just, and His mercy endures forever. Verse 4, to Him who alone doeth
great wonders. Why? Because His mercy endureth
forever. He does marvelous things, marvelous
miracles that can only be said to have sprung directly from
His absolute will and purpose, power, all these great wonders. What's going on around us right
now? What's happening right now in
all this world? Things that we don't even realize
is going on. I'm not talking about going overseas
and seeing what's happening. I'm talking about right here
in Katy, Fairmont, Clarksburg. What is God doing in everything
around us? Whatever He's pleased. Things
that we don't even know. I don't know what He's doing.
I have no idea. what the Lord is doing. But I
can tell you this, to him who along doeth great wonders. What has He kept us from? Let
me just mention something to you. How many of us came here
today in a car? All of us. I don't think anybody
walked today. What did God keep us from? What
did He protect us from? Neal, you were in that wreck
here last winter, or winter before last, whenever it was. Think
of the great wonders that God has done. He could have taken
you out right now. You're sitting right here. Why? Because his mercy endureth forever. Look at verse five and six. To
him that by wisdom made the heavens for His mercy endureth forever.
To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters for His
mercy endureth forever. God Almighty who by wisdom, by
Christ Jesus the Lord, made the heavens to declare His glory
and show His handiwork. in order that He might show forth
His enduring mercy. Colossians 1.16 says, By Him
were all things created that are in heaven, in earth, visible,
invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, power,
all things were created by Him, and listen to this, for Him. The universe, created by the
Lord Jesus Christ is His property. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. And on this earth was created
the theater upon which He, as the humble servant of Jehovah,
in absolute wisdom and power would accomplish His purpose
to display His perfections as being the Redeemer and Savior
of His people before the world was ever formed. All of this
in the good pleasure of Almighty God. God Almighty made heaven
and earth that the Lord Jesus Christ might display His mercy. Save His people. Romans 11.33
says, Oh the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God. How unsearchable are His judgment
and His ways past finding out. What do we know, as I said a
moment ago, what do we know about what He's doing? We don't know anything. We don't
know anything. His Word declares. Everything
that I have done in creation was according to My mercy to
you. Again, we say, Lord, as You say
it is, it is. Though we don't see it, that
doesn't mean it's not so. He positioned the Scriptures,
says 4 verse 6, to Him that stretched out the earth above the waters.
Why did He make dirt here? Why is there dirt where we're
standing right now? This is not an ocean where we're
standing. Why is the United States shaped like it is? Why? Because
He positioned this ground and this earth according to His mercy,
He put dry ground exactly where He did according to where He
was going to place the people. He put them exactly where He
did and ordered their existence in due time. He's going to call
them out of darkness to declare and manifest His mercy. Isaiah 44, 24, Thus saith the
Lord thy Redeemer. And He that formed thee from
the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things. And stretcheth
forth the heavens alone that spreadeth abroad the earth by
myself. I've often thought how marvelous
it is that God, when He raised up a place, He put all of us
and our families and family before that, put everybody right here
in this area. Why? Because this is where we're
going to collectively have a people that will meet together. He raised
up a pastor. Why did he put Scott here? Why? Why did he put Scott Richardson
here? Because his mercy endureth forever. 7 to 9, to him that made great
lights, for his mercy endureth forever. to rule by day, for
His mercy endureth forever. The moon and stars to rule by
night, for His mercy endureth forever. Mercifully. He put great
lights in the sky to remind us of His enduring mercy. The sun, the scripture says,
to rule by day, the greater light. That's what Genesis 1.16 says.
Oh, but what a glorious type. Let me tell you what's so sad.
We see the sun. Boy, it sure looks good out there.
Boy, that sun's shining. Isn't that nice? You know what
that sun says? That there is a son of righteousness. That Almighty God has been pleased
through him to show mercy to his people. Every time we look
at the sun, we behold the manifestation of the rich grace and mercy of
God to His sheep. He says also, in the moon, verse
9, the moon, the lesser light, that's what the scripture says,
but a picture of the church which receives all of its light from
the sun. Song 610 says, Who is she that
looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the
sun? terrible as an army with banners. She's like the fair moon at night.
What is the moon doing? Y'all see that full moon here
three or four days ago? Man, that big old moon, wasn't
that beautiful? What was it doing? It was reflecting
the light of the unseen sun. Where was the sun that night?
I don't know, I couldn't see it. But I can tell you this,
it's there. Here's the moon reflecting the
light. The church reflecting the sun
of righteousness. And any fairness in the moon
is all due to the sun. Why did Almighty God set a church
in this world that He created? Put the dirt where He did. Why
did He do that? Because His mercy endureth forever. And the stars, the scripture
says, there, in verse 9, the stars to rule by night, for His
mercy endureth forever. We're in a place right now where
we see through a glass darkly the night, the night season. The fullness of the day star
has not completely been made manifest. One day it will. But
right now, while we're here in this earth, and we look and we
see some stars up in the... What are those stars saying?
The stars set forth that God, in His mercy, endureth forever. What did the Lord say concerning
the stars in Revelation 1.20? Who were they? Who were those
stars that He held in His hand? Preachers. That's what he said,
the pastors. He said the angels of those churches,
right to these seven churches, and to those pastors, those stars
that he held in his hand. He had candlesticks and stars. What did he say? He said the
candlesticks were the churches, the moon. And he said those stars
are the pastors. And he said they're in my hand.
Jeremiah 3.15, I'll give you pastors according to mine heart.
which will feed you with knowledge and understanding. So Almighty
God put a sun, and He put a moon, and He put stars out there to
set forth that His mercy endureth forever. Verse 10, To Him that
smote Egypt in their firstborn, for His mercy endureth forever. You know what this begins? It
begins the second point. His mercy is exhibited His enduring
mercy in providence. God is just. And in absolute justice, He smoked
all of the firstborn in Egypt, revealing the penalty of sin
is death. Here's what He did. To him that
smoked Egypt in their firstborn, What did he say? I'm God. The soul that sinneth is going
to die. But in the firstborn in Egypt
being smitten, how was the enduring mercy of God exhibited? The firstborn in Israel were
not smitten in themselves, but in a substitute. You take a lamb,
a goat, slay it. You take that blood and you put
it on that door, side post, top. And you get behind it. You get
inside that house. And I'm going to pass through.
The Lord Himself passed through. And He said, when I see the blood,
I'm going to pass over you. But where the blood was not,
death was found to be in that house that night, in the firstborn,
all of them. The scripture says, he smote
Egypt in their firstborn for his mercy endureth forever. 11 and 12, and he brought out
Israel from among them. for His mercy endureth forever.
With a strong hand, stretched out arm, for His mercy endureth
forever. In mercy, He brought Israel out
as a brand that was plucked out of the fire, setting forth God's
good pleasure in electing, redeeming, separating grace to deliver His
people out of the bondage of sin and death. That's what He
was showing. When they came out of Egypt, What was God really
saying? I'm going to deliver you. I'm
going to deliver you by the Redeemer. A picture, that's what Moses
was a picture. He was a picture of Christ Jesus the Lord. Brought
him out with his hand of power and purpose and will. And did
it irresistibly. When they went out. How many
Egyptians were trying to stop him? None. None. What did they do to him? They gave him gold and silver.
They gave him all their jewels. He said, take this and leave.
We want you out of here. That's how they went out. Powerfully. Willing. In the day of God's
power. Why? Because His mercy endureth
forever. 13-14. To Him which divided the
Red Sea into parts. For His mercy endureth forever.
And made Israel to pass through the midst of it. For His mercy
endureth forever. God opened up the Red Sea. And
when He opened up the Red Sea, what was sent forth? The smitten
Savior. The Savior Himself. who was wounded,
bruised, ironed, smitten of God. That's what it said. That Red
Sea was magnificently opened up and there was the safe passage
of God's people. There was the passage for the
bride herself, the merciful abasement of the servant of Jehovah, the
wounding of God's Lamb. There's the freedom of His people. 15 to 20. But overthrew Pharaoh and his
host in the Red Sea. For his mercy endureth forever.
To him which led his people through the wilderness, for his mercy
endureth forever. To him that smote great kings,
for his mercy endureth forever. And slew famous kings, for his
mercy endureth forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his mercy endureth forever. And Og, the king of Bashan, for
his mercy endureth forever. and gave their land for a heritage,
for His mercy endureth forever, even a heritage unto Israel His
servant, for His mercy endureth forever. The Scriptures reveal
that nothing short of the enduring mercy of God slew the enemies
of God. Sin, Satan's self, this world,
all have been powerfully overthrown. He took them all, nailed them
to His cross. He led the nation of Israel as
He leads His people today through the world as pilgrims. Remember
whenever, you'd have to go back, we preached on this whenever
we were talking about Jephthah. Remember when Jephthah, people
would ask him, won't you be our leader? And Jephthah was leading
the people. They were going to have to go
through the land of Sihon and Og, those kings. They said, at first they told
Israel, you know, no, you're not going to go. And they told
Jephthah, you know, you try to come through here, we're going
to destroy you. And Jephthah wasn't looking for
a fight. He wasn't looking for a fight.
But they came out, and they said, well, we want a fight. OK. OK. And Almighty God gave them
a mighty victory over these kings right here, Sihon and Og. What
did He do? He took their land. He took it.
God gave us this. This is ours. What did He do? What are we doing right here?
We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Gave Himself
for us. Given us a heritage, verse 13.
Even a heritage unto Israel, His people. What do we have? We have God Himself. That's what
He told Abraham. He said, Abraham, I am your Great
reward. Wow. His mercy endureth forever. And then lastly, His mercy endures
forever, showing us in creation and in providence everything
that Almighty God has ever done. Raising up, putting down, victoriously
delivering out of the bondage of sin, self, rebellion against
Him, Conquering all things, for His glorious mercy endures forever. And lastly, His mercy endures
forever when we behold salvation. Verse 23, Who remembered us in
our lowest state. Now buddy, we could go a long
way right there. For His mercy endures forever. We think about that thief. I
love thinking about that thief. Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. That's Luke 23, 42. Lord, remember
me. Why did that thief ask that question? Why did he ask it? Because God's
mercy endures forever. I'm not going to let you perish.
I'm not going to let you perish. That thief was short for life,
I can tell you this right now, and we are too. Lord, would you
remember me? Almighty God has remembered His
people from before the foundation of the world. Before He created
heaven and earth, He remembered us in Adam's fall. When Adam
rebelled against God, justly, God put him in hell. It had been
it. It had all been over. But even in Adam's rebellion
against God, God's mercy endureth forever. He took the skins of
animals. When Adam and Eve would cover
themselves in fig leaves, God's mercy, God's mercy slew an animal,
picture of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the shedding of
blood, without the shedding of blood, no remission, and clothed
them, a picture of being clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
remembered us in the fall. He remembered us before we were
ever converted while in this life and called us out of darkness
and watched over us while we were yet dead in trespasses and
sins. I cannot make that statement
without thinking about myself, how the Lord has preserved me. Oh, I, you know, I just suffice
it to say that Almighty God watched over me because He was pleased
to not allow me to die in my sin and rebellion. Why? Because
His mercy endureth forever. Verse 24, and hath redeemed us
from our enemies, for his mercy endureth forever. Redeemed us
from all that was against us, bearing all of our griefs, carrying
our sorrows, smitten, God afflicted. Why? Because his mercy endureth
forever. Who giveth food to all flesh,
for his mercy endureth forever. He giveth food To all flesh,
everybody that's in this world, the Lord provides. Provides for
the birds. He gives food to all. He causes the sun to shine and
the rain to fall on all. Why? Because found within the
masses of humanity, there is a remnant. according to the election
of grace, and elect people that Almighty God is going to surely
call out of darkness. I sure am glad the Lord provided
for me when I didn't have sense enough to get out of the rain,
when I didn't know Him, how He provided for me. Whenever God
sent manna and quail into the camp of Israel, why did He do
that? Because there were some within
the camp that he knew in covenant grace and mercy, and all the
rest were able, for a while, to enjoy the benefits of God's
mercy to His people. Oh, but what that physical food
represents to God's people is the glorious provision of the
Lord God Himself, the Bread of Heaven, feasting upon Him, His
broken body, and His shed blood, drinking from the fountain. If
any man thirst, Anybody thirsty here? He said, come unto me.
Out of your belly will flow rivers, living water. And lastly, O give
thanks unto the God of heaven, for His mercy endureth forever. This blessed psalm ends just
like it began, how thankful we are for the mercy of Almighty
God that He's shown us in creation, in providence, in salvation,
All that he's done, he's done for the glory and honor and praise
of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the eternal good of his people. There's not one thing in this
world that has ever happened, ever been created, ever done,
not one thing that was ever done that was done for any other reason
but for this. His mercy endureth forever. May the Lord bless the word to
our hearts for Christ's sake.