Now this psalm speaks in very
eloquent language of the old creation. And I call it the old
creation because God made this world a long time ago. Still
looks new, doesn't it? Still looks like it renews itself
constantly, doesn't it, by his providence. But he made this
earth many thousands of years ago, made it in the beginning,
and put man in a garden of paradise on this earth. And this all reminds
us of how wonderfully sufficient and pleasant and beautiful is
everything that God makes. He provides. He creates. And what He makes and provides
for us is wonderful and beautiful. The old creation is a picture
of the new creation. It's a picture of the kingdom
of God. In all of this, It says in verse 31 there, the Lord shall
rejoice in his words. He made this earth and he said,
it's good. Well, he shall rejoice in his
new creation too, his people. He delights in his sheep. As
in the old creation, Christ is all in the new as well. And we'll
see that in both. Who is it that causes the springs
of water to bubble up from the earth? So that the little bunny
rabbit has a pool to drink from. That's Christ. Without him was
not anything made that was made. And by him all things consist. And he's also the water of life
in my pitiful soul. I have something to drink. I
have refreshment for my soul. And it's the same one. The same
provider. The same creator. The same sustainer. The same God, of all mercy, sustains
me in this desert world. He's given me that water of which
he told the woman at the well, if you drink of this water that
only I can give you, you'll never thirst again. He causes it to
well up within us, doesn't he? In an endless spring, as he promised
in John 4.14, whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give
shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. So
you see how all of these elements, just water for an example, let's
look at the different ones, the many elements of God's old creation
that are mentioned just in this psalm. And not all of them are
mentioned here. In verse two, he speaks of light.
Light, our Lord clothes himself in light, as with a garment. There's light. He created the
sun, and he himself is typified by the sun. He rises upon his
earth and shines and gives light to all that he's pleased to give
it to. He's also the light in his spiritual
kingdom. John was given a glimpse of the
new earth. David here is singing of the
old earth, the earth that we live in now. John saw the new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness in Revelation 21, 22. And listen
to what he said about it. I saw no temple therein, for
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it, and
the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine
in it, for the glory of God did lighten it. Who's that? Who's
the glory of God? The Lamb is the light thereof.
He's the express image of God, the very glory of God. There's
going to be a new heaven and a new earth one day, as John
describes there and in many other places in Revelation. There's
already a new me. God already has shined in my
heart to give the light of the knowledge of his glory in the
face of his son. He makes all things new. He shines
his light. He makes everything beautiful
in his time. By the light of his countenance,
when he shines upon us, I can say with David right now, the
Lord is my light and my salvation. You see, the old creation, what's
the light thereof? The sun that he made, and it's
pictured by him. In the new creation, the lamb
is the light thereof. But already my light is the lamb,
because he shines in my heart. The Lord is my light and my salvation,
whom shall I fear? And my prayer is what David prayed
in Psalm 4, 6. Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon me. So when we see the sunshine,
let's pray that. Thank you for your son, Lord,
but I need even better light than that. I need the light of
your face to shine upon me, the light of your mercy. And it's
my Savior who gives that light. Shines in his face the glory
of God is seen in his face 2nd Corinthians 4 6 I Walk by his
grace in the light of his word For it's a lamp unto my feet
and a light into my path every day every hour We live not by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from his mouth.
It shines. It's like his light on our way to Himself is the
light and it says in our song he get he wears it like a garment
He dwelleth in a light under which no man can approach except
in Christ the light of God So just in that one thing this
is the light we see healing all that he is to us in verses three
and four there are clouds and wind and fire mentioned and Who
can see a cloud in the sky and not remember how that the Lord
followed his people with a pillar of cloud by day to comfort them,
to protect them from the heat of the sun. Vicki and I were
walking this morning. The sun was beating down on us,
a little cloud. Just one little cloud floated
over. It felt like somebody turned the air conditioner on. What
a blessing that is. Who can build a fire in their
backyard without thinking of that pillar of fire that followed
them by night and not only gave them heat and comfort, but protected
them from wild animals and from enemies. The wind he speaks of there, when the wind rustles the leaves
of a tree, his people honor the Holy Spirit of God. blows where
he pleases and gives life to any will. In the creation, in
the old creation, we see the new and we see him who is himself
the creator of both. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. And that doesn't just mean he
made us from the dust of the earth. He made us a new creation
in himself. Verse 5, it says, who laid the
foundations of the earth that it should not be removed forever. The earth is established by God. He laid the foundation of it.
And man is not going to be able to destroy it. Quit worrying
about it. God's going to have to do it. The one that made it,
the one that set it up is going to take it down. Not me, not
you. Go ahead and build that fire
in your backyard. It's not going to end the world. Just like the old creation, God's
kingdom is steadfast and sure. It has a foundation. It endures. And its supply and all of its
elements cooperate to provide a home for his creatures for
as long as he is pleased. We have this earth until God
gets ready to fold it up. It can't be moved until He Himself
removes it. And His kingdom, His kingdom
is also forever. You see the picture. His new
creation shall not pass away. The foundation is established.
And the foundation is Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3.11,
Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ. the chief cornerstone of all
that God makes, all that's good. Verses six and seven, look at
this. The Lord execute his righteousness. That's verse 103. Look at verse
104, verse six. Thou coverest it with the deep
as with a garment. The water stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled, at the
voice of thy thunder they hasted away." You know what that's talking
about, don't you? When the water stood above the mountains? That's
when the Lord flooded this earth. This speaks of His judgment of
this earth in the flood. And we think of judgment as God
destroying people. But God didn't just destroy people
in the flood, He saved people in the flood too. His judgment
is both. And just like then, just like
in that old flood, Christ is the judge of all the earth, and
he is the one who makes the difference in men, who lived and who died
in that flood. Christ was the difference, wasn't
he? The ark. Whether that judgment falls upon them or upon another
is in his hand, and he is the another. He is the ark upon whom
the flood of God's judgment falls and protects all who are in Him. And all judgment is committed
unto Him and His kingdom as well, insomuch that it is His wrath,
it's the wrath of the Lamb that sweeps all others away. And it's
those who find grace in His sight who are safe, just as in the
flood. He Himself is the ark. His righteous
character and attributes as the God-man are the planks of which
it's built. And it's pitched within and without
with His precious blood. And when the wrath of God comes
for you, if you're His, you're only born up by the ark. You're
born up by Christ and not swept away. In verses 8 and 9, God promised,
look at verse 8, They go up by the mountains, they go down by
the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou
hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn
not again to cover the earth. God sent judgment once, but not
again. He promised, didn't he? What
a blessed promise that is. Never again to flood the earth
as he did then, but again a picture of wonderful spiritual things.
This is a picture of God's promise of the gospel seen in the rainbow.
Judgment falls one time. One time. And you who are in
the ark, who are safe under the blood of Christ when judgment
comes, you need never fear. There's no more judgment for
you. He's not going to flood it again. He did it one time. God's promise is in the sky.
The rainbow is in the sky. Everyone can see it. And His
gospel is all over this earth. This thing wasn't done in a corner. Wrath is spent and there is no
more. And you're either in Christ or
you're not. My Savior bore all of my judgment,
all of the wrath of God against me. Justice is satisfied. No
more flood. That's what the rainbow picture
is. The satisfaction of God. How He's well pleased with His
Son. He's not going to rain judgment on me. Judgment already fell
on Him that I was protected. My Savior bore it all. No more
flood. No more death. When a dark cloud
floats over your head, rest easy. It's not filled with wrath. It's
filled with blessing because you're in His Son. Verses 10-13,
He sent the springs into the valleys which run among the hills.
Isn't this language beautiful? They give drink to every beast
of the field. Can you picture all the little,
the big rivers, the raging river. The big river that you cross
up in Louisville, and the big rivers down in Texas I used to
see, I didn't even want to get on those, but then you got the
little creeks and streams that flow, and the still waters that
the Lord provides. By them, they give drink to every
beast of the field. The wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the
heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.
He watereth the hills from his chambers. The earth is satisfied
with the fruit of thy works. The earth is satisfied. Talk
about the rainbow. God is satisfied with his son.
So is the earth. So is his people. And that's
what he's talking about here. God has a world because he has
a people. God so loved the world, that's his land. And that world
is satisfied with him too, what he provides. God sends water. He's still sending water, isn't
it? But not a great flood anymore. It's little drops of water that
distill into rivers and creeks and streams and lakes. His word
is like the rain that falls, he said. It shall not return
unto him void, but shall prosper in the thing whereto he sends
it. And His words shall flow like streams and springs through
this earth, and it is the Word of Life. All of God's creation,
His new creation comes to drink from that life-giving river of
water of life which flows, John said, from the very throne of
God and of the Lamb. Christ Himself. He's the Word. He's the river. He's the water
of life. To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternity. We experience His love and grace
and are refreshed. How? How do we drink of Christ? How do we enjoy Him? How do we
partake of Him? How is our soul refreshed? By
the Gospel of Christ. By His Word. Verses 12-15, By
them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which
sing among the branches. He watereth the hills from his
chambers. The earth is satisfied with the
fruit of thy works. He calleth the grass to grow
for the cattle, and the herb for the service of man, that
he may bring forth food out of the earth, and wine that maketh
glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and
bread which strengtheneth man's heart. This water is not only
refreshing and life-giving that we just talked about in verses
10 through 13, But it is the water which also gives life to
the food that we eat. It provides the food. That which
flows from the throne of God is our meat and our drink. It gives life. You know, when
you read of the herbs that spring up here for the service of man,
we don't need herbs. We're not going to die if we
didn't have any herbs. They string up because of the
waters though and the food and even wine is mentioned Aren't
you glad I thought about this aren't you glad that god didn't
just put everything we need to live in the water He could have
done that he could have made it so that the water contained
all the nutrients that we need to survive And we just drink
water and go but he didn't do it that way aren't you glad?
I like water, but it doesn't have a lot of flavor We have
herbs and spices Fish and cattle we have hamburgers and pork chops
French fries and a glass of wine every now and then they God provides
all of that all of that is from his hand water is good But I'm
glad I don't just have to live on water and what does this signify? What's the spiritual meaning
of that Christ is the water of life, but we don't just survive
on Christ. We enjoy We don't just get by We are richly
provided for. Not just our needs, but our wants.
There's even herbs and spices. Whenever you eat a donut, think
about how sweet the Savior is to your soul. Whenever you eat
a steak, think how delightful and sufficient Christ is to give
strength to our weak hearts. Think about this. Christ is everything
to everybody. in the Kingdom of God. Everything
comes from Him. Look at verse 28, and we won't
skip that far down, but with regard to what I just said. He's
everything to everybody. Look at verse 28. Thou givest
them they gather. Thou openest not hand. And they
are filled with good. Christ. Picture that. Christ,
the Son of God, opens His hand. What is it that you need? Can
you picture Him with His hand open? What is it that you need
tonight? Where are you going to get it? Do you know where to get it?
Do you need more faith? Go to the One that gave you that
faith that you have. Do you need wisdom? James said, if any of
you lack wisdom, go to Him. Ask Him. He gives to all men
liberally and upbraideth not. It will be given you. He opens
His hand. And this is not just speaking
generally when it talks about wisdom. Wisdom to make a specific
decision. Do you need that? Where are you
going to get that? Do you know where to get it? Comfort in sorrow. Relief in pain. Christ opens
His hand. Every one of his creatures are
satisfied Did you notice the language though in the beginning
of verse 28 That that he gives They gather Whatever he gives
Is good and we take it up Whatever he gives we gather it
But what if He gives sorrow? What if He gives pain? What if
He gives trouble? If He does, gather it up. Take
it to yourself and praise Him. He only gives what's right. He
only gives what's good. He only gives what's necessary.
May He give me grace to believe that in my heart. And when it
comes to honoring Him We'll need His grace to do that.
Let's go back to verse 16. The trees of the Lord are full.
The cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted, where the birds
make their nests. Here's the next thing that He
provides. A home. Isn't that beautiful? Water from
the very throne of God flows the pure river of water of life.
And everything that we need is supplied. Everything that we
eat, when we're thirsty, even things that we don't need, but
we sure do like. All in Him. But also, because
of that river, the birds have a tree and straw to build a nest
and be safe and raise their young and sit there and sing of the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that beautiful? They make
their nests, and that's for the stork. The fir trees are her
house. And all of the thousands of other species of birds that
he doesn't mention here, they all have a little different way
of doing it. They all have a little different
place to live, but God provided every one of them with what they
need. The high hills are a refuge for
the wild goats, verse 18. The rocks for the cones. I think
a pony is a little rabbit. I'm not mistaken This talks about how that in
God's creation everybody has a home everybody Our Lord Jesus
Christ had no place to lay his head So that I can lay mine down
in peace and sleep and rest in him Every little crab in God's ocean
has a rock to crawl under or a shell to live in. Every bird
finds something to build his nest with and has the wisdom
from God to build it. Nebuchadnezzar says, look what
I built. And God put him out in the field like an animal to
show him who built, who gave him the wisdom to build what
he did. And he's given us wisdom in his kingdom to build our house
on a rock. He taught us to do that, didn't
he? Don't be a fool. Don't build
your house on the sand. Build it on the rock of ages,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Where do we get wisdom to do
that? Verse 24, we'll skip down a little
bit now because we just have to. Well, let's read it anyway. Verse 19. He appointed the moon
for seasons. The sun north is going down.
He controls every bit of that in his kingdom also, in his old
creation and his new creation. The Lord Jesus Christ runs it
all. Thou makest darkness. He is the
light, but he makes darkness too. Sometimes he hides himself. And it's night. where all the
beasts of the forest do creep forth. When Judas went to betray
him, it says that the Lord dipped the sop and gave it to him, and
said, that thou doest do quickly, and he went out to betray our
Lord Jesus Christ, it says, and it was night. He created that
too. He caused that too. He made that
happen too. But great light shines in that
night, doesn't it? Because of that night, We're
saved. The young lions roar after their
prey and seek their meat from God. You think you're strong
enough to do it on your own? Even the king of the jungle gets
his meat from God. I don't care how big an old boy
you are, if you're going to have something to eat, you're going
to get it from Him. The sun ariseth. They gather themselves together
and lay them down in their dens, and then man goeth forth to work.
You notice how he arranged that? You know, we're not so scared
of animals now. Once in a while, you know, we tangle with them,
don't we? But back then, I imagine it was especially a blessing
that when I get up to go to work, the lions are going to sleep.
That's a pretty good arrangement. I like it that way. The man goeth forth to his work.
unto his labor until the evening." You know, the sun arises, it
says there in verse 22, and we go to work. And when do we stop? In the evening. You know, he
made us to work. You know why the sun comes up and goes down?
That's a work day. Not anymore, is it? Not anymore. We're so soft now, aren't we? So soft. Oh Lord, verse 24, how manifold,
how manifold are thy works. In wisdom hast thou made them
all. The earth is full of thy riches. You know, this reminds
me of something, I bet it does some of you too. Here he is cataloging
all the beauties and glories of God's own creation and how
they picture his new creation, his kingdom. And he just stops
and says, Oh Lord, How manifold, look at what you've done. Oh,
the wisdom, the wisdom in which you made all of these, with which
you made everything. The earth is full of your riches.
Does that remind you of when Paul is talking about the kingdom
of God and he just stops and says, oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding it. When you think about
what He's done in making us new, and providing everything we need,
and giving us a home in Christ, giving us life in Him, blowing
with His Holy Spirit upon us, and we're born again in the Spirit. All that He's done is described
and pictured here in this psalm. We just gotta stop and say, oh
my, look at Him. Look what He did. Oh, the riches
of His grace. Oh, the wisdom with which He
saved us. Oh, when you turn on the faucet and
water comes out of it, instead of taking that for granted like
I did today, and you did too, let's think about how richly
God supplies all of our needs. And then let's think beyond earthly
things. What is it that we really need?
He's rich in that too. He's rich in mercy. God is rich
in mercy too. Paul wasn't just talking about
bread and water when he wrote in Philippians 4.19. My God shall
supply all your need. How? According to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. It's Christ Jesus who opens His
hand and the little field mouse has a few kernels of corn to
eat out in the field. And it's Christ who opened His
hand to me and said, Thy sins be forgiven. It's Christ who opens his hand
and said, fear not little flock. It's my father's good pleasure
that I give you the kingdom. I was a child of wrath, even
as others, but God was rich in mercy. For his great love wherewith
he loved me. And he sent his son. Herein is
love. Not that we love God, but that
he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our
sins, not to provide it, not to try. He came and propitiated
our sins with his precious blood. How manifold. That word means
many and great. David said his mercies are new
every morning. He's plenteous in mercy. Manifold,
many and great. Look at what Paul wrote. Turn
with me to Ephesians chapter 3 and think about our text as
we read this. I'll be through in just a little bit here. Think about our text. When you
think about the manifold riches of His grace and you look at
how this earth, everything is coordinated and cooperates and
everything has what it needs. Many in great are His mercies.
Ephesians 3 14 This is what you know Paul said
I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He
says to the church at Ephesus I'm gonna hit my knees before
God because I'm gonna ask him for something for you Of whom the whole family in heaven
and earth is named That he would grant you according
to the riches of of His glory. What are we talking about in
our psalm here? Didn't He just say, oh, how rich,
how manifold. According to the riches of His
glory, that He would strengthen you with might by His Spirit
in the inner man. What did He say about bread that
strengtheneth the heart of man? Paul is saying, oh, that He might
give you that bread of life that strengthens the soul. that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ
which passes knowledge. See how manifold, how many and
great are His mercies, and how great that love, that heart of
love, the heart of Christ from which all of his mercies flow,
surpasses knowledge, that you might be filled with all the
fullness of God, like all of his creatures are filled every
day and every night with all that he provides. Now unto him
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think." You see how this corresponds with that word, manifold,
and how in the previous verses we were talking about them The
riches of what he's done. Unto him be glory according to
the power that worketh in us. The end of verse 20. According
to the power that works in us. Unto him be glory in the church
by Jesus, by Christ Jesus throughout all ages. World without end. Amen. Let's look back at our Psalms.
So is this great and wide sea wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts, small and great in his kingdom,
small and great. There go the ships, there is
that Leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein. We go to
the store and get us a little goldfish bowl, about like that,
you know. Buy a couple goldfish and put
some water in that thing. Put those goldfish and put some
gravel on the bottom, you know. And you sit there and kind of
delight in that. There's little fish. Let's feed
them. Let's put some food in there. God makes an ocean. And puts a whale in it. And then
another one, and then another one, and then another one. Until
there's thousands of them. and little fish, and little crabs,
and jellyfish, and everything imaginable, creatures we still
hadn't seen yet. And he delights in that, he looks
at it, he feeds them, and he delights in it, he glories in
that. These all wait on thee, verse
27. All. Wait upon thee. And then we put our big britches
on and say we're a self-made man. There ain't no such thing. You're waiting on Him whether
you know it or not. And even if you know it, you
forget it every once in a while, don't you? You're waiting on
Him. You're waiting on Him for your
next meal. You're waiting on Him for your next breath. And
when you're hurting, you're waiting on Him for relief. And when you're
lost, you're waiting on Him for life. These all wait on Him. And He gives them what they need
in His time. You see that? When He gets ready,
He withholds it, and then in His time, He may give it, if
He's pleased And whatever you give, whatever
He gives, that's what we'll gather. His people now, we'll take it
up, whatever it is. It's from Him. If it's from Him,
it's good, isn't it? Thou openest thy hand, and they
are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face, they are
troubled. Thou takest away their breath,
and they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy
Spirit, and they are created. And I reneweth the face of the
earth. He's going to make everything new. He makes all things new. This old body's going to go back
to the dust, but He's going to give me a new one. He's going to make it like His
glory is. The glory of the Lord shall endure
forever. The Lord shall rejoice in His
works. We build a house or something,
you know, we stand back and look and say There's nothing wrong
with taking a little pride in that, nothing wrong with that But remember who provided everything
that it's made out of and who gave you the wisdom to do it
Don't pull a nebuchadnezzar The Lord He makes everything. Without
Him was not anything made that was made. And He looks at it
and delights in it. He looketh on the earth and it
trembleth. He touches the hills and they smoke. I will sing unto
the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praise to my God
while I have my being. In my meditation of Him, let's
look at these, let's slow down a little bit on these last two
verses. My meditation of him shall be sweet. I will be glad in the Lord. David is saying this, looking
at all the things that God made, and knowing what it means, knowing
the spiritual truth behind this. My meditation, do you ever, oh,
this is so rare these days, isn't it? Be still and know something. Be still and just think. Think on these things, Paul said,
the things of Christ. Forget about this earth for a
while. Forget about your interests and your projects and your responsibilities
for a while and just meditate on Him. Just look at the beauty
of what He's done and think, what a glorious God it is that
we serve. And it'll be sweet. David says
here, when I see all of this that God has made, I'm going
to think about my Savior and all that He is to me and all
that He's done for me. And it's going to be sweet. It's
going to be sweet. And then this last verse may
seem negative. Let the sinners be consumed out
of the earth. Boy, that's kind of terrible.
That's negative. No, that's a positive. That's
a good thing. If this world that God has made
is so wonderful, and the new creation that it pictures is
so wonderful even now, think about what it's going to be like
when there's no sin in it. Think about what his creation,
what he has done is going to be like when there's no sin. No sin. You've never experienced that,
but you fix it with your hands. That's what David's saying here.
Look how beautiful, and just think how beautiful it would
be if I didn't mess it up. He thought he was talking about
somebody else, didn't he? No. No. He's talking about all of
us. Talking about all of us now.
No sin. Remember how Paul said for me
to live is Christ and to die is gain. If living is Christ, how is death
gain? I'll tell you how. No more sin. Christ with nothing in between. Nothing to ruin our experience
of him. Nothing to hinder us from worshipping
him like he's worthy to be worshipped. No dark glass through which to
view his great glory. That's a pretty good prayer,
isn't it, Lord? There's nothing negative about that. The sting
of death is sin, but thanks be unto God, which giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, let the wicked
be no more. That's what he said. Let the
wicked be no more. And that includes this wicked,
wretched heart of mine. No more. No more. Change this vile body and fashion
it like unto your glorious body. This corruption longs to put
on incorruption. The whole creation groweth and
travaileth in pain together. Waiting for what? The adoption?
To wit, the redemption of our body? And we look for that day when
we shall indeed be raised incorruptible to the praise and the glory of
him who is clothed, he said in verse one, with honor and majesty. One of these days we're going
to see him in his honor and majesty, face to face, no sin. So we pray with David, Lord,
take it away. Let's pray together.