Psalm 65. I considered moving on to Psalm
66 after we saw the first four verses of 65, but I felt like we should just finish
this psalm first. The title this evening of the
message is The River of God. And we'll see that in the language
of the psalm. Verse 5 is where we left off
now. It says, By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer
us, O God of our salvation, who art the confidence of all the
ends of the earth and of them that are far off upon the sea. Now the first four verses we
need to briefly review so that we'll see the context of this.
These first four verses, as we saw, reveal that central to everything
and everybody is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw
the effects of the cross Godward. Praise, service, prayer, worship,
faith. You're going to be praised. You
inhabit praise. The vows that Men make to you,
they're gonna perform, they're gonna live for you, they're gonna
serve you. You hear our prayers, we cry to you. And then people
come. People come from all the ends
of the earth. He said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men.
And he was, and he has, and we come. And we worship, we believe
on him, we come to him by faith. And then we saw the effects of
the cross manward. To sum up the effects Godward,
God gets glory, great glory, from the crucified Redeemer.
Because Christ gave himself for sinners and purged away their
sins, as we saw in that pivotal verse. And then we saw the effects
of the cross manward. Blessing, blessed, blessed, that's
the first words our Lord, we have recorded of him when he
opened his mouth. He sat down and taught them and
he opened his mouth and he said, bless it. He pronounced blessing
upon his people in the very beginning of his ministry on this earth. And here, that's how this begins
here in the effects of that purging away of sin, the effects of the
cross manward, blessing. Electing love blessed is the
man whom thou choosest that's where Paul began in the chain
of grace didn't he in Romans chapter 8 whom he did for know
Those that he chose from the beginning in love set his affection
upon Blessing electing love irresistible grace when he chooses you you're
coming to him. He's gonna make sure that He's
not going to choose you and set his affection upon you and send
his son for you and then let you go That's the kind of love
they talking about in religion but not in the Word of God. That's
not love. Irresistible grace. Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee.
And then the rest of that verse four there, we get to live with
him forever. That's a pretty good effect of
the cross right there, isn't it? And that's what he said,
I'm going to prepare a place for you so that you're gonna
live with me forever. I'm gonna come back and get you
and you're gonna be with me from now on. when that happens. So, the effects of the purging away
of the sins of a people. We see how that, the effects of that Godward and
manward. And to sum up the manward effects
of that, the best of everything good that there is. God did his
worst to his own son. that we might have all of his
best, bring the best robe, kill the fatted calf, the best one. Everything hinges around our
sins being purged. That's God's greatest glory.
And you and I are going to be singing about it forever. Worthy
is the lamb that was slain. He redeemed us. And so that's
the first four verses in verse five David describes all of this
more generally in the rest of this song. Just beautiful the
whole song of course is the same theme that all of scripture is.
He describes this and begins this beautiful aspect of this
wonderful song that he sings. He writes for the glory glorifies
God in every verse of it. God does terrible things David
said. Terrible things. And we don't
use that word the way it's used here now. When we say the word
terrible, it has a bad connotation. We say, well, that was a terrible
thing for you to say or a terrible thing for him to do. And you
know the meaning of that. But it's important now when this
this word here, you might think, well, OK, I understand that.
But the best way to understand it When you've got a word that
was used thousands of years ago, it may have been used a little
bit differently than it is now. That's true in a lot of cases
with words. So the important thing and the best way to understand
what they're saying is look at how it's used in different ways
in the scripture. And we see that here. The very
definition of it here is to cause astonishment or awe. He does things that astonish
people. He did when he was on this earth,
didn't he? When he walked, his words were astonishing. The miracles
were astonishing. His doctrine, they said, is astonishing. They were astonished at his doctrine. And that's what this word means. It seems in the scripture that
even God's perfect angels are in awe of the things that God
has done. And we haven't changed context
here, it's the things that pertain to the purging way of our sins.
That's what God has done in this world. Listen to this, 1 Peter
1.10, let me read this to you. You can, of course, jot it down
and look at it or turn there now if you'd like, but let me
read it to you. 1 Peter 1.10, of which salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
should come unto you. Salvation, grace. Listen to these
key words and get what Peter is talking about here in this
context. Salvation, the grace that has come unto you. Searching
what? They were looking into it. The
prophets were looking into it. Searching what? Or what manner
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ. The
Gospel has always been the same. The testimony of God to them
concerned the sufferings of Christ. They understood that, they knew
that, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed
that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the
things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you. What things? Christ's suffering
for sinners. The same thing that's in the
context of our text tonight, the purging away of sins. That's
what it's always been about. That's what it's about now. That's
what it's always going to be about. That's what it's going
to be about in eternity. The lamb that was slain is going
to be praised. It's always been and always going to be about
that. The gospel preached unto you, which the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven. Paul said, I didn't receive it
from men. It's not of men. It's God's gospel. which things
the angels desire to look into. Even they're in awe of the sufferings
of Christ. How can God become a man and
come down here where we are and undertake for us and suffer for
our sins in our place? Even the angels are in awe of
that. And this is the means by which
God has bestowed his mercy on sinners. He said, I'll have mercy.
And so he obligated himself to come and do the only thing that
will result in mercy for sinners, the sacrifice of himself. And so by that means, by the
only means there is, by Christ offering his very soul for our
sins, the suffering and death of Christ, the fact that God
forgives sins at all is terrible. in the sense that this text uses
the word awe-inspiring. Listen to this. Psalm 130 and
verse three, if thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who
shall stand? There's our condition. If God
takes us as we are and considers us as we are in our flesh, in
ourselves, we fall. But there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be, you know what the next word is? It's
exactly the same word that's in our text, translated terrible
there. But here, that thou mayest be feared. You see how that explains
what the word means. He's done things that cause sinners
to fear, to be in reverence and awe of him. And what's, Like
what? Well, the fact that the Son of
God died for our sins. And the fact that even if you
back up more and say, well, God had mercy at all, ought to cause
us to be numb with adoration and worship. What if I could go into a hospital
and touch anybody I wanted to? Just walk down the hall, you
know, you got cancer patients, You got pneumonia, you got whatever,
you got different diseases. What if I could just go wherever
I wanted to and touch somebody and they'd be completely healed?
Jump up right there and go home, check out. Can you imagine the
attention I would get? Wouldn't take long, would it?
People would be in absolute awe of me like they were of our master
when he came and did that very thing. That's what he did. He
walked around just healing people with a touch or with a word.
And they thronged him, the masses thronged him and they cried out
for mercy unto him. But what about this? They wanted
physical healing. What if all that mattered to
people is what ought to be all that matters to people? The forgiveness
of sins and the glory of God in Christ being sent to pay for
the sins of his people. That's what this whole universe
is all about. What if all people cared about
was spiritual healing and the glory of God in accomplishing
that? And there was somebody, what
if there was somebody, if that's all people cared about and there
was somebody that could just walk around, go around in this
world and just say it and sins would be forgiven. And that's
the very thing everybody's interested in. Now, you know, it's physical
healing and personal wealth and things like that. That's what
they preach about now from the pulpits. But what if all that really mattered
is what really matters? And there was somebody that could
make it happen with a touch or with a word. Well, we don't have
to imagine that. There is somebody there. He did
do that. He said, thy sins be forgiven
thee. And they were. That's what Christ does. When
he said to that man on that bed that day, thy sins be forgiven
thee. That man's sins had always been forgiven by God. God was
never intended to hold him accountable for his sins. But that day, that
day, that very moment when Christ spoke in power to him, he experienced
the forgiveness of sins. Does that cause you to reverence
the Son of God? God's done terrible things, things
that cause sinners to be in absolute awe of him. And David said in
that psalm we just read, the fact that he forgives sins, how
he ought to be feared for that. How we ought to reverence somebody
that can just speak. And the one thing that we got
to have is ours. Forgiveness. Mercy. Righteousness. Salvation. If that doesn't cause you to
fear Him, then you just don't see your sin. You just don't
see it for what it is. You don't understand. You're blind. Like we all were. And as the verse also says, Christ
is the confidence of all the ends of the earth, because there
are those in all of the earth that know that he's able to do
this. They know who he is. They know
he can speak and forgive sins. They know that sins are purged
away by his precious blood, and we're confident in that. Paul
said, I'm persuaded that he's able. That's confidence. That's
godly confidence. They know that his precious blood
is sufficient to make sinners clean. If he shed his blood for
me, I'm whole. They know of his perfect righteousness
wherein a sinner can stand wholly before God. That's that best
robe. They know that God can be just
and justify them because of Christ and his perfect soul-redeeming
life and death. His sacrifice for sin. I'm confident
Aren't you? That's what David said. He's
the confidence. I'm not confident in my beliefs,
in my doctrines, in my denomination, in my family, you know, heritage. My daddy was a Baptist and his
daddy was a Baptist and I'm a Baptist. And so he is the confidence of all the
earth. Have you experienced his grace?
You know what I'm confident in? I'm confident in that which I've
experienced. That's when I can tell you I
know something's true. I know it is. I've seen it. I've
experienced it. And so that's the question. Have
we experienced the grace of God in Christ? If so, There's nothing
to argue about anymore, is there? I'm just trying to get, to just
get the word to people that'll listen, that Christ is all, that
he's able, who he is and what he did. It's not up for debate,
it's just clear and plain in the word of God, for everybody
that's interested. It's like he said, come and drink,
it's that simple, drink. If you're thirsty, drink. There's
nothing to argue about in that, is there? Well, I don't know,
what kind of water is that? It's the kind that gives life,
that's what kind it is. Then verse six, which by his
strength setteth fast the mountains, being girded with power. And
I noticed when I read this verse now that everywhere we look in
the word of God, that's what those who write about our Redeemer,
that's what they talk about, his power. The fact that he's
almighty to save. Religion's always talking about
how badly God wants to do things for you. Have you noticed that?
I don't really listen to them much anymore, but I used to,
and I know what they still say. I know what people say that talk,
you know, that think they, you know, know what they're talking
about. It's about how bad God wants to do, you know, things
for you. The scriptures tell us what great
things God has done for sinners. by his power, by his almighty
power. Religion talks about a love that
wants to. God's book tells of power that
did. Paul said, they have a form of
godliness, but they deny the power thereof. And that's what
David's talking about here. The one that set the mountains
in place said, if you come to me, I'll save you. Where are you going? The one who upholdeth all, he
put every star in every world where it hangs. And there it
still is. He upholdeth all things, the
word says, by the word of his power. He is the one. By the word of his power. That
very word of power spoke to me and said, they'll be as white
as snow. That's why he's my confidence. Because he's the one that does
all things well. And he said, you come to me,
I'll make them white. And when I look at him, I have
no doubt that my sins are gone. I try not to look at myself because
that's when doubt comes. But when I look at him, I'm confident. I'm confident. And then verse
seven, which still is the noise of the seas, the noise of their
waves and the tumult of the people. You see how seas, waves and people
We've seen before in the Word of God how the seas, the waves
illustrate in our picture of the masses, the people of the
earth. It says, He stilleth their noise and their tumult, their
unrest. He calms it. The disciples saw
that firsthand, didn't they, in a physical picture of calming
the actual seas. That's what He does with people,
too. You talk about power. He stilleth the noise of his
people. How does he do that? By giving them what they're crying
for. Now, I don't recommend always
giving your children what they want in order to, is it too harsh
for me to say shut them up? You ever wanted to shut your
children up? Did you know the quickest way to do that? Give
them whatever they're crying for. Now, I can say I don't recommend
always doing that, but that's the quickest way to do it right
there. You know how God hushes his children, quietens us, stills
us, calms us, shuts us up? He gives us what we're crying
for. All of it. Mercy, grace, peace, comfort,
rest, provision. Do you lack anything? God shuts up his enemies also.
In his good time. But the main point here is this
now. Sometimes the right way to steal your children is not
to give them what they want. In fact you might say it's just
the opposite. Sometimes that's necessary. But
here's the here's the lesson here I believe. However. You quieten them. Whatever's
necessary in order to make them be still and quiet. It's up to
you to do that. It's on you to do that. With the nations of this world,
it's up to God. He's the one that does that.
And he knows how to do it. And I want to get to verses 9
and 10. Look at verse 9. Especially in closing, because
this is so beautiful. Verse 9, Thou visitest the earth
and waterest it. Thou greatly enrichest it with
the river of God, which is full of water. Thou prepares them
corn when thou hast so provided for it. You see how he quietens
us and stills us and calms us and calms our tumult? We get upset about things, but
he gives us everything we need. When we realize that, we hush,
don't we? We quiet then. And just saying
thank you, Lord, thank you. And singing his praises. He gives
us everything we need. Thou crownest the year, verse
11. Look at verse 10. Thou waterest the ridges thereof
abundantly. Thou settest the furrows thereof.
Settlest the furrows thereof. Thou makest it soft with showers. Thou blessest the springing thereof. This is what we enjoy in right
now as believers. If you're one of his now, you've
known him for a little while. If he's purged your sins away,
as David said in the beginning here, now you're just enjoying
all that he is to us, all that he provides for us. And we see
these earthly pictures here of the rain and the corn and fullness
of this earth that he's provided for us. This is the word of God
for one thing, isn't it? His gospel is compared to the
rain in Isaiah 55, 10, you know that. For as the rain cometh
down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but
watereth the earth. What that's saying there is it
returns not thither until it has done what he sent it down
here to do. But watereth the earth and maketh
it bring forth and bud. We can just count on it every
spring, can't we? We see those beautiful little
yellow flowers, buttercups or whatever they are coming up and
then you start seeing those pear trees getting white and beautiful
and then the red buds start blooming and that's what God does. He sends the rain down and the
spring showers and causes it to warm up a little bit. It bringeth forth in buds, that
it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, and all
the vegetables begin to grow. And he said, so shall my word
be, my gospel, the truth, the story, the tidings of Him
purging away our sins. That gospel we read about in
1 Peter a while ago, of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, why
He suffered, who it was that suffered, and what he accomplished
when he did. That's how his gospel is. He says, it goes forth out of
my mouth and it's not gonna come back until it has accomplished
what I please and it shall prosper. It shall prosper. Paul said he
always causes us to triumph when the savor of Christ is put forth. It shall prosper in the thing
whereunto I sent it, God said. The sweet savor of our Lord Jesus
Christ is the provision of this whole earth, the gospel. And then, of course, Christ himself,
he's still with us in this world. Christ in us is our hope of his
glory. He said, I won't leave you comfortless.
I will come to you, and he does, he has, he will. And that's what
David's describing here too. God's river flows through this
world. Are you glad for that? Are you
grateful for that? The river of God is flowing through
his garden. It's Christ himself. This world
is a desert place, but there's a river. There's a river. David talked about it in Psalm
46, four. He said, there is a river. The streams whereof make glad
the city of God. That's us, his people, Zion,
the city, the church. It makes us glad because his
river flows. The holy place of the tabernacles
of the most high. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that
right early. We worship him early, that is
anxiously, eagerly, and he's our early helper. He's eager to bless us. He delights to show us mercy.
It pleases him to comfort us and make us happy. All of God's blessings flow to
sinners through Christ. He's the river
of God. And as he said, he springs up
within us. He flows to us and springs up
within us and makes manifest and experienced every blessing
of God in our very souls. We are said in this book to be
trees planted by this river. by the river of God. A tree gets
all of its nutrients through that water. It drinks in that
water and everything it needs is in there. A plant, whatever
it is. And the water has got to come
to the tree. You seen any trees crawling down to the river lately?
Me neither. And we get all we need through
Christ. That little song that we sang,
it had been a while since we sung it. Jesus Christ is made
to me. All I need. All I need. We get everything we need. Righteousness
comes to us by Christ. It's His righteousness. He is
the Lord our righteousness. Peace, that peace which passeth
all understanding, dwells in our hearts by faith
in Christ. Wisdom. Christ is the wisdom
of God. He said, if you lack any, ask
me. I got it for you. I got some. Forgiveness. We're forgiven by grace through faith in Him.
Sanctification. Redemption. Love. God's love is where? In Christ. Faith. He's the object of our faith
but the scripture says what else about him concerning faith? He's
the author of it too. And thank God he'll finish it.
He doesn't just give it to us and then let us run with it.
We experience it and we do exercise it and we live it. But he authors
it and finishes it and he's the object of it. Looking unto him. the author and finisher of our
faith. The water also, let's consider this just for a minute,
the water comes from his throne. Scripture talks about us being
like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth
his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The river of God is
life to us, and prosperity, and health, vigor, our strength. And that water comes from his
throne. John said in Revelation 22.1, he showed me a pure river
of water of life. That's that river of God David's
talking about. It's a singular river, it's the
river of God. And John said, he showed it to
me, it was pure. And John said, I know this, that
water is life. Life. And it was clear as crystal. There was no impurity in it.
No guile. Clear as crystal, and it was
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. God's blessings don't flow to
us out of God's best wishes for us that he wants for us but can't
give us unless we let him. You see what I'm saying? The
source of our blessing from God is not a heart of want-to, a
heart of best wishes. They flow to us in and by and
because of Christ and they flow from his throne. They flow from
the throne of his power, his authority, his sovereign bestowment
of his blessings. He blesses whom he pleases and
curses whom he pleases. He has mercy and he hardens and
he does it from his throne. He said, I will. have mercy on
whom I will. That's sovereignty. That's prerogative. That's distinguishing authority. And so it's important for us
to understand this river flows from his throne. And so if you're
planted by the river, thank God. Thank God. Don't give you bragamony
and say, oh, you know, I'm so blessed of God. I made my decision
for Jesus back then and this and that. God had to plant you
by his river Let's give him some glory, how about? Let's give
him all of it, shall we? All of it, because he deserves
all of it. His river flows through this
world because he is pleased to have it so. And if I benefit
from it, if I draw his blessings from that river, he was pleased
to plant me there and bless me and his son. Thank God. It flows from the throne. As
I mentioned a while ago, the tree can't go to the water. The
sheep's not coming home. You can't come to me unless my
father draws you. Lazarus can't come out unless
somebody gives him life. The water must come to the tree.
And so, even so, our good Samaritan came where we were. He came where we were. That's
grace now. And he poured in oil and wine
and he picked us up and carried us and paid everything necessary. Paid our way. The Holy Spirit
is that wind that blows where he pleases. And God turns the
rivers of water as the heart of the king, whithersoever he
will, he said. And this river of God in our text, who's turning
it? Who's guiding it? Who's controlling
it? Who's the one to praise and honor
and glorify if we're drinking from that river? The sovereign,
gracious God that sits on the throne. If you're planted by that river,
bless God. Bless His name forever for that.
Isn't it beautiful language that describes what Christ is to us
in our text? Look at it again. Let's just
read it. You visit the earth, Lord. You
water it. You greatly enrich this earth with your river. It's
full of water. He's plenteous in mercy. Thou preparest them corn when
thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the Ridges thereof
abundantly thou settlest the furrows thereof High and low
of degree in this world. It don't matter who you are We're all debtors to his grace
They'll make us sit soft with showers. Isn't it beautiful?
You remember how we this was so long ago. You won't remember
it probably I don't know how I can I don't remember much what
I said about it, but in the book of Job it says that God sends
the little drops of water upon this earth. And we thought about
that and how that if God, think about all the water that fell
today. If God had just dropped it all at once, it would have
knocked this earth out of the sky, wouldn't it? But no, he
sprinkles it on us. Like I do my tomatoes. I don't
get the hose, you know, with that spray thing and shoot them
with it. I sprinkle, I get a little can and sprinkle it on them.
That's what God's doing to this earth. He's sprinkling his water
on it. making it soft and blessing the springing thereof. We're
enjoying springtime right now. And you crown the year with your
goodness. I pray he'll do that this year
for us. Whatever else happens this year, may this year be crowned
with the goodness of God upon this church and upon everybody
in here right now. That's my prayer. And thy paths
drop fatness. Lusciousness just an abundance
of luxury That's what that is increase Ample provision they
drop upon the pastures of the wilderness. This is a wilderness
in it Our Lord himself is like a root out of dry ground wouldn't
he? when he came into this world. He still, the river of God runs
through the desert. That's what that word is, the
wilderness. And the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with
flocks. The valleys also are covered over with corn. They're
just covered with it. And they shout for joy. And they
also sing. His garden flourishes in this
world, though it's in the wilderness. That's what he said right there,
it's in the wilderness. I'd hate to have to try to plant a garden
in a desert, wouldn't you? That'd be tough. It's not tough
for God, because he just sends his river through, and we have
everything we need. The hills are just covered with
corn, and that's just symbolic of everything we need, everything. And all that benefit from his
perfect abundant provision. It says they're shouting for
joy. And they're singing his praises. This song you think about everything
that this song says about our God. It says in the beginning
he heard our prayers. You remember that we talked about
that. He purged our sins away. He blessed us in that he chose
us in electing love. He caused us to come to Him.
Blessed is that man whom the Lord chooses and causes. He has
arranged it so that we're going to dwell with Him forever. We're
dwelling in His house with Him. And while we're here, until we're
actually in His presence, enjoying the very face-to-face experience
of what it will be, to dwell with Him in glory. In the meantime, He's showering
His blessings down upon us. He rains down His favor and love
upon us in Christ, insomuch that we just have to shout and sing. Isn't that beautiful? Have you
ever really been really thirsty or hungry? I've asked you this
before and think about it again. When you're really deprived now,
not, you know, I'm, you know, feeling a little growl in my
stomach. When you've really, you know,
you just kind of forgot you've been working hard and you just kind
of forgot about lunch or whatever. Or maybe you're so thirsty and
you haven't had a chance to get a drink and You took a drink
or ate something, whatever the case, and you could just feel
the change in your body, just immediately, can't you? You can
just feel it going into your veins and your muscles, just
almost immediately. Well, I drink of the river of
God. I feel the change, don't you?
I feel the change. I experience the strength and
the fulfillment. Now understand, it's not a fancy
of the imagination. It's not just a feeling, but
it's an experience based upon His truth, and it's felt in the
heart. I feel that He's my strength.
I know that He is. I've experienced that. I've experienced
the fact that I don't have any apart from Him. I feel rested
and at peace in Christ, don't you? It's not just a doctrine,
it's not just some words hanging on my wall or in some big dusty
book somewhere. I feel it every day. He's my strength and my rest
and my peace and my fulfillment, my happiness. Our Lord Jesus
Christ said, my meat is to do the will of my Father. Well,
we're not there. But I'll tell you this, we have
meat that this world doesn't know anything about, don't we?
Sure enough. We're not like him, but we're
not like we were either. We're not like them. We're not
like this world. We're not of this world. We're
new creatures in him. I'm in him and he's in me. And
his flesh is meat indeed. And his blood is drink indeed.
And that's what I'm shouting about. David said we're gonna
shout. And that's why we sing of him.
No wonder David said in Psalm 34, eight, oh, that's a big word,
oh, oh, taste and see that the Lord Taste. That's our exhortation
to all sinners. Oh, taste. Drink. The spirit and the bride say
come. And let him that's thirsty take of the water of life freely.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that
trusteth in him. You know how we can say that?
Because we trust him and we're blessed. Oh, taste how blessed
we are. Thank God for our Lord Jesus
Christ and all that he is to us. Let's pray.