What a glorious gospel we have
to proclaim. There was a missionary who was
explaining the gospel in a village, and he asked one of the ladies
who was listening what she understood of what he'd been saying, because
it was coming through translators and other things, and she turned
to him and said, he die, or me die, he die, Me no die. It's a glorious picture
of the gospel, isn't it? He died, me no die. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
we do pray that you would once again be the teacher, as you
have promised, of your people. And the promise is also accompanying
that, Heavenly Father, that great will be the peace of thy children.
And so we do pray that we would have our eyes once again turned
to see the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our peace and has wrought
peace. With you on our behalf, Heavenly
Father, and in him, we stand perfect and complete before you,
and we pray that you would be the one, yet again, who just
reminds us and shows us the blessed Holy Spirit might come, that
we might see the Lord Jesus Christ in this passage of Scripture.
We pray in his name and for his glory. Okay, let's turn back
to Psalm 40. I want to look particularly at
a couple of verses in it, but I want us to just try and get
the picture of it all. The Lord Jesus Christ, verse
1, waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and
he heard my cries." God the Father heard the cries of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Isaiah 53 says, he saw the travail
of his soul, and God the Father was satisfied. I've waited patiently. If anyone knows me at all, and
my dear wife will confirm it very happily, I'm sure, I'm impatient. The Lord Jesus Christ has perfect
patience because perfect patience requires perfect faith. If we
had perfect faith, we'd have perfect patience, wouldn't we?
Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. All of our issues and
problems come from unbelief and impatience is one of them. That's
why Paul said, I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. Verse two, we've spoken about
some of this before. He brought me also out of a horrible
pit and out of miry clay. A horrible pit is a deep well
over which a stone was placed. It speaks of the prison of darkness. And out of the miry clay, This
is the pit that sin places us, the pit that the Lord Jesus Christ
went to to rescue us. The miry clay is a reference
to a cesspool of mud and human excrement. Our sins put us in difficult
and sad situations. Your sins have separated you
from your God. And all of the Lord's children
can speak of that as a daily occurrence, but this is a different
matter altogether. He brought me up out of that
horrible pit, and he set my feet upon a rock and established my
goings. The reality is that the Lord
Jesus Christ experienced hell in those hours of darkness. For
every one of his children, for everyone that was in him, he
experienced hell in the totality of hell's wrath. No man will
ever experience hell in the totality of it, which is why hell, according
to God, goes on forever and ever. But he brought me up, he brought
me up out of that and we'll find out why he brought him up. The
reason he brought him up of course is that the wrath had been finished
and the sins are gone and the punishment is satisfied and God
is satisfied with the punishment that he inflicted upon his son.
And he set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. It
speaks of the resurrection. It speaks of the fact that he
is satisfied for the joy set before him, the Lord Jesus Christ
endured that cross and went to Calvary Street. And what was
the joy that set before him? The establishment of all of his
goings with all of his people, the bride, all of what pertains
to us world and rejoicing in God and our rejoicings now are
just but a foretaste and but a pledge of what is to come. how God establishes the goings
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Another psalm says, To him belong
the issues from death. All of what issued from his death
is in the hands of him, and he established his goings. It hath
put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it. and fear and
trust in the Lord. That's the new song of all believers
isn't it? The new song of all believers
is praise unto our God. See the gospel is always fresh,
the gospel is always for sinners, the gospel is always news, it's
always good news, it's always glorious. That's how it comes
to us all the time and that's why we need to have the fresh
manner all the time. I need to hear the Gospels. I need to hear
about the Lord Jesus Christ. I need to hear about why he came,
why he died, what was the reason for his death, what was the reason
for his resurrection, where he is now and what he's doing right
now. It's always new, isn't it? It's
always fresh. The Jews in the desert, were
at wanderings found the manna from heaven loathsome and light
bread. God's children will never find
it that way. It's always new, the good news, and it's the songs
of heaven, isn't it? He has put a new song in my mouth. God is making all things new. I've got a history in this earth
which is shameful and horrid in so many ways, but I've got
a history that's written in heaven. I've got a new history. And it
says that I walked before God, obeying his law absolutely perfectly
in heart and soul and mind and strength. And I did it before
God in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my history. That's my
history, isn't it? That's why the believers are
said to have boldness in the day of judgment. Boldness in
the day. We look forward to the day of
judgment because our judgment is gone. The Lord Jesus Christ
bore the punishment of God for every one of my sins and God
says they're gone. Sinners will sing, brothers and
sisters. Sinners will sing. Let's go on to the next verse.
He's put a new song next part of this verse. That's why we
praise him. We're here to praise the Lord
Jesus Christ. Many shall see it. Many shall
see. I'll see the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have on our pulpit something that we've had here for, I don't
know, at least a decade now, I think, isn't it? Sir, we would
see Jesus. I want to see Jesus. I want you
to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Many shall see it. There's no
possibility that it won't happen. Many shall see it. Many shall
see the glorious works of him. They'll perceive it, that's what
that word means, to see it means, and they'll gaze upon it. They'll
be witnesses unto him. It's just like the woman at the
well. She went back and said, come
and see a man. Come and see a man. Come and see the Lord Jesus Christ.
Come and see what he did on Calvary's tree. Come and see the fruit
of his redemption. Come and see. If you're going
to come and see the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to have
to come and see him crucified. You're going to have to come and see
him on the cross of Calvary. That's why Paul went to those
Corinthians, didn't he? And he sought to know two things
amongst them, and that's Jesus Christ and him crucified. Many shall see. We have a promise
from God, don't we? Many shall see. Many won't, but
many shall see. Many shall see and fear and shall
trust in the Lord. There is a fear that is the beginning
of wisdom. There is a reverential awe of
God that he creates in the hearts of his people and they will not
trifle with God and they will not trifle with his word. Many
shall say that it's a fear that is a treasure according to the
scriptures, the fear of God. There's also a fear, isn't it? I fear coming into the presence
of God with one tiny spot of my own righteousness and one
tiny spot of my own works. The robe of the Lord Jesus Christ
is a robe without a single stitch in it, isn't it? robes His people
in His righteousness. They are and have the very righteousness. God, I'm frightened. I hear and
see people that say they're going to come to God on that day. They're
going to boast about what they did. The Lord Jesus Christ warns
us in Matthew 7 that they come that day with their works and
He'll say, I never knew you. I never knew you. And He'll say
those horrible words. depart from me. I never knew
you. I was never in relation. Many
shall see. Many shall see. Trust Him. We trust Him only. We have all
of our eggs, brothers and sisters in Christ, in one basket. I know
whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He is able to
trust Him. Do you trust Him? Trust Him. as providing everything
that God requires of me. He looks to his son for, and
everything that God requires of me, I look Many shall see him. They'll see
him in the horrible pit and the miry clay, and they'll see him
raised. Verse four, blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud,
nor such as turn aside to lies. The blessed work of God by grace
in the hearts of his people. What happens when you trust him? You don't respect the proud,
and you'd have no respect for those that turn aside to lies. There is a proud man that is
far more dangerous than all the proud men I ever see out there
on the streets. And he's right here. If the Lord
has done a work in your life, you'll have no respect for the
proud man that you are. You'll have no respect. Listen
to what the Lord says about what we are. Man thinks that he's
something special in this world. That's what Satan told us in
the garden. You'll be like God. You will,
won't you? Listen to what Psalm, just over
the page, Psalm 39. Sure, verse six, surely every
man walketh in a vain show. That means empty show. Surely
they are disquieted in vain. He heapeth up riches, and knoweth
not who shall gather them. Listen to what the previous verse
says. Behold, thou hast made, God has made my days as a handbreadth,
and mine age is as nothing before thee. Verily, every man at his
best state, every man at his best state, is altogether vanity. lies, what lies we tell others
about ourselves, what lies we tell ourself again and again. We do all have a pride problem. We walk in vanity and the Lord
must continually strip us and such are the trials that his
children go through in this world. There is a stripping process
again and again and all the props of our lives have to be removed
so that we're just left clinging and resting in the arms of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go on, I'd like us to see
some of these remarkable verses together. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done. See, what are the lies?
The lies are all the works that man has done, aren't they? The
lies are all the things that man has created in religion to
dethrone God. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done. Everything, everything
over this creation has a divine done stamped on it, doesn't it?
No one under God are all his works from the foundation of
the world. He declares the end from the beginning. Thou hast done thy thoughts,
and this is remarkable, isn't it? He's declared that we're
vanity in the previous Psalm, and he says, and thy thoughts,
which are to us food. Everything that the Lord Jesus
Christ did in his earthly ministry is a divine us. He said to John
the Baptist, it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness at
his baptism. Everything that the Lord Jesus
Christ did is related to the us. He has thoughts towards us.
He thinks of us. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee, or I would declare and speak of them. They are more
than can be numbered. Verse six, sacrifice and offering
thou didst not desire. He has no pleasure in it, he
has no satisfaction. Every time they brought a lamb
to the slaughter, it was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, but
as soon as they'd finished selecting that lamb and slaying it, they
had to get the next one ready. Morning and afternoon, morning
and afternoon, year by year they had to. There's no satisfaction
for God in them. All of the satisfaction is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Sacrifice and offering. I do
love what David said in Psalm 51, that glorious psalm of repentance
and brokenhearted. He says in verse 16 of Psalm
51, for thou desirest not sacrifice, else I would give it. Thou delightest
not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God, the sacrifices
that God brings in the hearts of his people, are a broken spirit,
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. He won't despise the broken and
the contrite heart that he creates in the hearts of his people.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou
opened. This is one of those glorious,
glorious pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ in the volume of
the book. He speaks of it in Isaiah chapter
50. I love these pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah
chapter 50. He says in verse four, the Lord
God has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know
how to speak a word in season to him that is weary and wakeneth
morning by morning he wakeneth my ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God has opened mine
ear and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. So
this was the beginning, wasn't it? This opening of the ear is
this covenant arrangement. I gave my back to the smiters. My cheeks to them that plucked
off the hair, I hid not my face from shame spitting, for the
Lord God will help me. Therefore I shall not be confounded.
He won't be confused. Therefore I have set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. The Lord
Jesus Christ on Calvary 3 is not looking for your sympathy,
brothers and sisters. He went there as a sovereign
king and he set his face like a flint there. And we'll see
more of that as we go on in this psalm. Let's go back to this
glorious thought of the servant who had his ear bored through.
Turn with me to Exodus chapter 21. It's beautiful, it's a beautiful
picture of the Lord being a servant. Everywhere the Lord deals with
his people, he always comes as the one who serves his people.
You might recall the context of this, of course, is that the
law had been given in Ezekiel, Exodus chapter 20. And then he
reminds them that they're not to make any graven images. And
then he says in verse 24, you're not to build an altar. When you
build an altar unto me and shalt sacrifice thereon burnt offerings
and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, thy oxen, in all places
where I record my name, I will come unto thee and I will bless
thee. What a great promise. But if you make an altar, if
you make me an altar of stone, you're not to build it out of
hewn stone, and you're not to lift your tool up upon it, or
if you've polluted it. Neither shall you go up by steps
upon mine altar. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ
in one event. That woman at the well came to
the Lord Jesus Christ. in one event, didn't she? You
don't go up to the Lord on steps. People say to me, I've asked
people, are you ready for heaven? They say, well, I've got some
things to do. You go to the Lord Jesus Christ
wholly and at once when he comes to you. But in chapter 21 we
have this glorious picture of the servant and it's a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's clearly stated in Isaiah
chapter 50 and in Psalm 40. Now these are the judgments that
thou shalt set before them. If you buy an Hebrew servant,
six years shall he live, shall he serve, and in the seventh
he shall go out free for nothing. The idea, of course, is that
if you lost everything by your sin and by the circumstances
of life, you became absolutely destitute. What you did is you
sold yourself. You sold yourself to a person
and you paid off your debt. They paid your debt and then
you paid off your debt by your service to them. That's the picture,
isn't it? And the law set a limit to that
amongst Hebrew people. There was a seven-year limit. If he came in by himself, verse
three, if he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If
he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. So if
he came in as a married man, he took his wife out with him.
If, verse four, the master had given him a wife, and she had
borne him sons and daughters, the wife and the children shall
be her masters. The master gave him the wife,
and the children and the wife still belong to the master. He
can go out by himself. So you see the picture, isn't
it? If you come into this situation of service and you have been
given a wife and you've been given children, then you have
a choice, don't you? You are free to go. You are free
to go. And if, this is the Lord Jesus
Christ, and if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master,
my wife and my children, I will not go out free. Then shall his master bring him
unto the judges, and he shall also bring him to the door, and
unto the doorpost, and his master shall bore through his ear with
an oar, and he shall serve him forever. Who's the master? It's God the Father. Who's the
wife and the children? They're all of the children of
God, aren't they? And he comes as a servant, doesn't
he? And he says, I will not go out
free. I love my master. You see, the
Lord Jesus Christ loves his people. He doesn't have to have love
extracted from him. He is love. And that's exactly
what he said in the Garden of Gethsemane. You might recall
that great crowd came to arrest him. They arrested him in the
night, and they bound him. And he spoke those words, didn't
he? He says, I am. He said to that
crowd with Judas there, he said, I am God. And Judas and the whole
lot of them fell down as dead men. And then he turned to them,
and they took him. And he says, you can have me. You can have me, but you let
these ones go. He loves, he says, I love my
master, I love my wife, and I love my children, and I won't go free. I love my master. What a saviour, what a saviour
we have. Verse 7, Then said I, Lo, I come
in the volume of book. It is written of me, I delight
to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. And here we have a picture of
the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly and fully obeyed
every jot and tittle of the law. He came, he didn't come to destroy
the law, he came to fulfil it, to complete it. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to all who believe. It's as far
as the law can go. It meets the Lord Jesus Christ
and meets him on Calvary's tree and it says enough, enough. And
we know what he preached, don't we? We know what he preached,
verse nine. I have preached righteousness.
That's the great preaching of the Gospel, isn't it? We're preaching
the very righteousness of God. We're preaching the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're not for one moment
preaching the righteousness of men. You can't have both. That's why the psalmist said,
I will speak of your righteousness and your righteousness only.
He hasn't hidden it. See, it's not hidden. The message
of the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't done in a corner. He preached
it openly and proclaimed it publicly. It's not hidden. I've not hidden
no righteousness within my heart. He's proclaimed it. That's what
he did in Jerusalem. Every time he met the Jews, he
just proclaimed the righteousness of God, didn't he? I've not hidden
it with him. I have declared. That's what
the gospel is, isn't it? It's a declaration. It's not
an offer saying, if you do something, then God will do something. It's
not a bargain. It is just a declaration of the
glory and the righteousness and the sovereignty and the sin-bearing
death of the Lord Jesus Christ and his glorious resurrection.
I have declared thy faithfulness. This is what we declare, isn't
it? God is faithful. You have a book in front of you,
brothers and sisters in Christ. God is faithful, as if every
word was signed with the blood of his Son, saying, Amen, this
is true. And that's why we love his word. He is faithful. I've declared thy faithfulness.
I've declared thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness. I haven't concealed thy grace. look what he does is you go through
the gospel accounts you'll see again and again and again everyone
he came to who was brokenhearted and needy every single one Jew
and Gentile every single one went away with him having served
them and they could do nothing for themselves I have not concealed
thy grace and thy truth from the great congregation. His gathering
his people is always a great congregation because of the greatness
of he who is there with us. And then he says in verse 11,
withhold not thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving
kindness, let thy grace and thy truth continually preserve me. Does that preserve you? Does
that comfort you in this world? Does that comfort you when you
sin grievously? Does that comfort you when you're
dismayed and distressed by the circumstances around? They preserve
me, his truth, his grace. They continually preserve me,
he said. And the reason he spoke of this
preservation is the next verse, and I want us to look here for
a few minutes before we close. It's such an incredibly significant
verse. It speaks of something which
is infinitely important. He says in verse 12, for innumerable
evils have compassed me about, innumerable evils have surrounded
me. And then look what our Savior
goes on to say. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of my head, therefore my heart fails me. The heart
failing him is a picture of what happened in Gethsemane's garden,
when he took that cup from the father, and he looked into that
cup, and on that cold and dark night, he sweated great drops
of blood, and they fell, and he looked into that cup. And
it was a cup that the father had given him. And it was a cup
that he drank to the end. Not a drink left in that cup. And what was in the cup, brothers
and sisters? It tells us here in this verse, doesn't it? What
was in the cup? Mine iniquities were in the cup. Mine iniquities. of all of God's people were in
that cup. I want us to see some verses
that speak of this, one that we love to quote so often because
it's such a glorious picture of the Gospel. I think Norm mentioned
it earlier in verse 21 of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. For he hath made him
sin for us. Now we've got to say at the very
outset, the Lord Jesus Christ never sinned, nor could the Lord
Jesus Christ ever sin. God cannot sin. He did never sin. he did never sin listen to what
it says for he hath made him to be in our version is in italics
he's made him sin for us who knew no sin he had no we know
what sin is we don't know the full explanation He never knew
sin. He walked for those 33 years
in this earth and he never ever sinned once. He loved God perfectly
and completely and he loved his neighbor as himself. He never
sinned, not even a sinful thought. And the remarkable thing is that
his family lived with him for all those years and they didn't
have a clue. And the people of Nazareth saw
him there for all of those years, a sinless carpenter, and they
didn't have a clue. He's only ever known. by revelation. God made him to be seen for us,
for us. I love that little word for.
It means on behalf of, it actually literally means one who hovers
over, just like a hen hovers over her chickens to shield and
defend them. That's what he did. That's what
he's doing on Calvary Street. All the wrath of God fell on
him. And it fell on us, but we're in him. And he bore it. God has
made him sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. That's the righteousness that
we proclaim, isn't it? Again and again and again, we
can proclaim his righteousness. His righteousness. So let's go
back to some other psalms that speak of this with such clarity.
There's one that I love that I haven't quoted very often.
It's in Psalm chapter 18. The point that the psalmist is
making here is that God in righteousness, in faithfulness, in salvation,
in truth, put all of the sins of God's people on his son. You
listen to what he says. in Psalm 18 verse 23, I also
was upright before him. There's only one person who's
ever been able to say that, the Lord Jesus Christ. I was upright
before him and I've kept myself from mine iniquity. Have you
ever kept yourself from your iniquities, brothers and sisters?
You can take my place here if you have. None of us have ever
kept ourselves from that, have we? He did. I've kept myself. Do you see
what he's saying? He's actually kept himself. He's
preserved himself from those iniquities and he calls them
his at the same time. They were put on him on Calvary's
tree. In Psalm 38. I'd love to have time to read
it all because it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He says, O Lord, rebuke me not
in thy wrath, nor chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine
arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presses me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. For mine iniquities have gone
over mine head, and as a heavy burden they are too heavy for
me. My wounds stink and are corrupt
because of my foolishness. I am troubled and bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all day long. It says in verse 18 of
this psalm, for I will declare mine iniquity and I will be sorry
for my sin. How sorry do you have to be for
your sin for it to be an acceptable sorrow before God? as sorrowful
as the Lord Jesus Christ was. He caused my sin again and again
throughout the Psalms. He came because of a union with
his people, a union that was forged in eternity in what is
called the eternal covenant of grace. It's the covenant, he
says in Hebrews 13, the covenant in his blood. God made him. He bore our sins. In Psalm 69, he speaks again of the fact that
these sins are our sins. I'm sorry, I'm on the wrong part
of the passage. Let's go to Psalm 69 and verse
5. He says, Save me, O God, for
the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, and
there's no standing. I come into deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat
is dried up. Mine eyes fail while I wait for
my God. They that hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of mine head. They that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I restored that
which I took not away. That's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did. He restored everything that we need in relationship
with God, and he didn't take it away at all himself. Our sins
have taken it away. I restored that which I took
not away. O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are
not hid from thee. If you're going to preach righteousness
in the great congregation, you're going to have to preach the righteousness
of God in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're going
to preach the love of God, you have to preach the love of God
in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're going to preach
the holiness of God, you have to preach the holiness of God
in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're going to preach
the justice of God, a just God and a Saviour is our God, then
you have to preach the act of God, to put his son to
death. It was a holy act of God. I think I said it last week and
it needs to be said again and again. The two great words of
the cross and the words of the gospel are substitution and satisfaction. The Lord Jesus Christ standing
in my place before God and delivering to God perfect holy righteousness
and the Lord Jesus Christ bearing on Calvary's tree the wrath of
God in me. He says, I love my master. I love my wife. I'm going to serve you forever.
You can have me and let these go free. and so on. 40 verse 13 says,
Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help
me. Let them be ashamed and confounded. that seek after my soul to destroy
it. Let them be driven backwards
and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate for
a reward of their shame that say unto me, aha, aha. That word aha, aha is a conjunction
of two words. It means behold, this one is
cursed. And that's exactly what the Jews
did. That's exactly what they thought when they saw him hanging
on the tree. Why were they so anxious to get him crucified
when they were stoning people to death and killing them in
all sorts of other ways? Why were they so anxious? Why did
they pursue Pilate when Pilate wanted to let him go? Because
they were desperately getting crucified. Because according
to the law, cursed is everyone that is crucified. Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. That's why they were so anxious.
They were so anxious. They were so anxious to have
him killed by a curse of death that they were prepared to break
every law, every law of their own, every law of decency, every
law, and to break every, get Pilate to break every Roman law. Listen to what it says. Christ
has redeemed us, Galatians 3.13, Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us, as it is written. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. And what's the result of it?
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles. The blessing of Abraham, all
the blessings of Abraham of God, the blessings of the Spirit coming
upon them, the blessings of Abraham that we might receive, we might
be made recipients. I love my master, I love my wife,
I won't go out free. As much as he prays for those
who will be saved, He speaks on the cross of those
who won't be saved. And know and remember the picture,
brothers and sisters. There was the man in the middle
cross. There he was on the middle cross, and on one side, on the
right-hand side, was that thief who was saved that day. Today,
he'll be with me in paradise. That thief experienced the new
birth on Calvary's tree. He recognized that he was the
Lord. He wanted to preach to his friend
or his fellow robber, didn't he? He said, this man's done
nothing wrong. He owned what he was and said,
we're deserving, we're getting exactly what we deserve. And
he looked at that broken body covered in the excrement of men
and covered the grace of God in the salvation,
and the other man experienced the same things that day and
heard the same things, and remained cursing. What a mercy when the
Lord causes us to sing the songs of heaven about the Lord Jesus
Christ. What grace it is. Verse 16. Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee. Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, the Lord be magnified. Every attribute of
God is magnified in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
every attribute of God is magnified in the preaching of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ to His people, isn't it? It's His righteousness. We're not going to hide it. It's
His salvation. It's His grace. It's His truth. The Lord be magnified. Let's
say it continually, the Lord be magnified. But I am poor and
needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and
my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God. The Lord be magnified. He die, or me die? He die, me no die? Let's pray. Now, Heavenly Father,
we do pray that you would cause your name to be lifted on high,
Heavenly Father, that you would be seen in your dear and precious
Son, magnified before the eyes of your people. And now, Father,
we do pray that we would be led of you to proclaim this in the
great congregation. Oh, our Father, wherever you
are present and your Son is lifted high, there is a great congregation. We thank you for the gathering
of your people. We thank you for the proclamation
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray, Heavenly
Father, that you be merciful to us here to those that can't
be with us and to those that we love and care for in this
world that have so much Heavenly Father that causes us to cry
out for you to be merciful and to be gracious unto them. Bless
your word to our hearts and Heavenly Father as we take these elements
that remind us of that shed blood and that broken body. May we
be reminded Heavenly Father of what your word says about what
transpired on that extraordinary day where our sins were laid
on him and he called them his own and he suffered all the wrath
of God for them until the justice and the mercy of God cries out,
it is finished, paid in full. What a glorious Saviour we have,
our Father. Magnify Him before our eyes yet
again and again and again. Do it continually, our Father,
for we pray in Jesus' name and for His glory.