May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's turn to Psalm 118 and we'll
read verse number 1. Interestingly, the first verse
and the last verse in this psalm are the same. So the verse reads, O give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good, because his mercy endureth for
ever. It is a good thing always to
be able to give thanks unto the Lord. All of us have many things
to thank the Lord for, many things in our natural life, and it would
be a great blessing if we also have cause to thank God for his
goodness to us in our spiritual life. So the psalmist tells us
here, instructs us, O give thanks unto the Lord, and the reason,
for he is good, and that because his mercy endureth
forever. Well, I wonder tonight whether
we can give God thanks for his mercy toward us. The hymn writer says, mercy is
welcome news indeed to those who guilty stand and every true
believer needs mercy. And it would be a great blessing
for us tonight if we can look into our hearts and realise that
because of our sin, because we have offended God, because we
disobeyed God, we need mercy. I wonder if we find ourselves
in that position tonight. We realise that we do need mercy. We do need God's blessing. We
do need his favour. And perhaps we can find those
occasions when before God we've come and prayed that very wonderful
prayer which is attributed in that parable to the publican,
the tax collector, who came and said, God, be merciful to me,
a sinner. You see there was in that man's
situation a conviction, a conviction that he'd sinned and a realisation
that he needed mercy. Well it would be a great favour
in our lives today if we recognise that we have sinned before a
holy God and therefore we need mercy and that mercy of course
is the forgiveness of our sins and perhaps we've never prayed
for mercy before if we haven't it's because we've never realised
our need What a blessing it is if the Holy Spirit has given
to us the understanding that we are a sinner and that we do
need forgiveness and therefore we do need God's mercy and to
be able to come and say even tonight the Lord is good because
he's touched my heart, he's shown me in some measure what I am,
a needy sinner. Well, it is the work of the Holy
Spirit, it is the work of Almighty God to direct us and to convince
us of our need. And when we're convinced of our
need, to cause us to come and to cry unto God, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. Well, may we all be able to look
into our lives and see whether there have been those occasions
when we have come before God with that plea. God be merciful
to me, a sinner. It's a great blessing if God
brings us into that situation. And every true believer comes
there. Every true believer stands before
a holy, righteous God and has to confess they are unrighteous,
has to confess they've disobeyed God, has to confess they've come
short of the standard that is set before us in the Word of
God. And unless God has mercy upon
them, they will be eternally lost. And the Holy Spirit works
in our hearts to this end. It has an effect. It has an effect. May cause, perhaps, sleepless
nights. We may perhaps be really concerned
where we shall spend eternity. Have you pondered that? Have
you asked the question, where shall I spend eternity? Eternity is before us all. None
of us can escape it. Every person that is born into
this world possesses an eternal soul. That means a soul that
never dies. And therefore every soul will
live forever. And every soul will either spend
eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. what a blessing when
the Holy Spirit makes us spiritually alive so that we have a concern
to know how it stands with our soul in answer to that great
question is it well with our soul? I wonder if we're concerned
about it and what a blessing if by the favour of God we can
say it is well with my soul. And we will only be able to say
it is well with our soul if we have received the mercy of God. If we have received the realisation
that God has looked upon us, looked upon us and blessed us
with a great and wonderful gift of eternal life. It's something
that you and I cannot merit ourselves. It's something that you and I
cannot receive ourselves because of our own ability. It's something
which we receive from the good hand of Almighty God. And we come and say then, mercy
is welcome news indeed to those who guilty stand. Well, what
does mercy mean to us tonight? The psalmist tells us here, oh,
give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. He tells us why,
because his mercy Endure it forever. You see, we're all here tonight,
aren't we? Every one of us has disobeyed God. Every one of us
has sinned. Every one of us needs God's mercy. And what a favour it is if we
can realise that God has had mercy upon us. And God has had
mercy upon us if there's been a beginning. And if that beginning
is to reveal to us our sinful condition before a holy God. We come and recognise that where
unrighteous needs no proof. No, we sorely feel the effect
of the curse, the effect of sin upon us. And what a mercy tonight
if we realize, therefore, that the Spirit of God has come upon
us. There we were, careless, unconcerned,
happy to just carry on in this vain world with no real concern. about the condition and the state
of our soul. But what a blessing if the Holy
Spirit has come into our heart and given us that spiritual life
or made us aware of our need and then directed us to the only
way of salvation. The only one who can save us. What a blessing then to be directed
to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We may have often
spoken about Jesus. We may have often heard about
Jesus. But what does the name of Jesus
mean to us? Can we say in agreement with
the hymn writer, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's
ear. Well, the name of Jesus will
be sweet to you and me if we are a convinced sinner before
a holy God and need the great blessing of salvation. What a mercy then to be directed
to the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it nothing to you? All you
that pass by, in effect, you and I read the Word of God, have
read the Word of God. What does Jesus mean to us? Is
he indeed the one thing needful? What a mercy when the Holy Spirit
shows us our need of a Saviour. The Holy Spirit has convinced
us of our sinful condition and directed us then to the situation
that we need to be delivered from the wrath to come. The wrath
of God upon sinners is to condemn them to endless perdition in
hell. But what a mercy if we realise
the mercy of God. that he hasn't dealt with us
as our sins deserve. It's a great blessing, isn't
it? To realise we have a compassionate God, a merciful God. And it's a blessing when the
Holy Spirit brings us into the condition and the situation that
the Apostle Paul describes when he wrote to the Romans. and the
description is very simple and he said this O wretched man that
I am who shall deliver me what a blessing if you and I have
stood guilty before God and have had to cry out from our heart
O wretched man that I am we haven't thought we're a good person we
haven't thought we're a perfect person we haven't thought that
we really should be given the gift of eternal life that we've
earned it no such thing we're guilty before a holy God and
so to be brought to that confession to mercy it's a wonderful blessing
to be convicted of our sin and to stand before God as a guilty
sinner, needing salvation. If you and I come there, this will be the effect. Oh,
give thanks unto the Lord. The Lord it is has come to me. The Lord it is who has made me
spiritually alive I was dead. I was born dead. The mercy of God has made us
spiritually alive. That's why when the Apostle wrote
to the Ephesians, he was able to say, and what a blessing if
it's true of you and me. And you hath, he quickened, made
spiritually alive who were dead. there's been a change and you
know it's a dramatic change from someone who is dead to someone
who is alive naturally speaking it's not possible spiritually
speaking it's not possible to give ourselves life but what
a blessing it is if the Holy Spirit comes and gives us the
gift of eternal life. It's something that you and I
can never merit. It's something you and I can never work for,
to achieve. It's the wonderful free gift
of God. Well, what a mercy then, if tonight
we can look into our heart and trace the blessed work of the
Holy Spirit and therefore be able to come and say, oh give
thanks unto the Lord. We will give thanks unto the
Lord for his mercy. If he has looked upon us, we
will come and concur with the psalmist for he is good, amazingly
good. to such an unworthy person. Perhaps
we've sinned, we might say, against light and knowledge. Naturally
speaking, we may know what is right and what is wrong, and
we follow the way which is wrong. We've turned our back upon God. We wanted to enjoy ourselves. we wanted to please our flesh
we haven't been concerned about pleasing God but what a mercy
if it is true the appointed time rolls on a pace not to propose
but call by grace and that means to call us out of the state of
darkness in which we were born into the glorious light of the
everlasting Gospel. And so the psalmist says here,
because His mercy endureth forever. And it's really interesting and
very instructive to realise that the next three verses really
reiterate this great need for mercy. And he says, let Israel
now say, that his mercy endureth forever. Let the house of Aaron
now say that his mercy endureth forever. Let them that fear the
Lord say that his mercy endureth forever. And what a blessing
tonight, if you and I can add our name and say, in our case, let his
mercy endureth forever. You know, the psalmist tells
us his testimony. His testimony is here. I called
upon the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set
me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. I will
not fear. what man can do unto me well
you and I stand before God you and I answer before God doesn't
matter what people think you may appear very upright and honest
and straightforward person but the great question is whether
you possess the life of God in your souls whether you've been
in distress because the psalmist tells us here I called upon the
Lord in distress when it's a mercy if we're distressed because of
our sinful situation because of the things that we've thought
the things that we've said the things that we've done have caused
us to come into this situation before a holy God And we've had
to call upon his name. That means we've had to pray
to him. We've had to cry for mercy. I
called upon the Lord in distress. I wonder whether you have been
distressed before God, fearful of where you may end up because
of your sins. distress what a mercy is that
distress has had a good effect and has called you caused you
to call upon the lord the lord tells us to call upon him in
a day of trouble and that will be trouble in distress you'll
wonder how the scene will end you perhaps be fearful of going
to sleep at night in case you wake up in hell in the morning. And so here we have then this
great statement, I called upon the Lord in distress, the Lord
answered me. What a mercy we have a God who
answers our cries, who answers our prayers. but you see it emanates
true prayer emanates from our heart it's not just a theory
it's not just something which is in our head it's not something
that we just respond to satisfy our conscience it's because the
work of the Holy Spirit has convinced us of our terrible need before
a holy God and has caused us therefore to come to this situation
to call upon the Lord in distress you see no one else knows apart
from you and God whether you come into a position like that
and if you have you all have reason to come and say oh give
thanks unto the Lord for He is good because his mercy endureth
forever. Because his mercy has caused
you to cry unto God. His mercy has caused you in your
distress to come to God and then to hear from him that he's put
away your sins. And as a result, the psalmist
says, and set me in a a large place, a place of blessing, a
place of favour, a place of communion with God. How humbling it is
to realise that we have such a God that we can come to. And
then he tells us, the Lord is on my side. If God answers your
prayer, God hears your cry. You'll have the evidence that
God is on your side. And that's amazingly humbling,
isn't it? To think that almighty God is on our side. Almighty God
has caused us to cry unto him. Almighty God has turned our affections,
God-ward, away from the poor things of time to the eternal
blessings centred in the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is on my side. You know,
it's a wonderful favour, isn't it? When you and I have the evidence
which we will have let me be clear about this real religion
is not negative real religion is positive you may say what
do you mean by that? what I mean is this we have the
evidence in our very soul that God has commenced his great work
there that we're a different person. Whereas we care nothing
for the things of God. We only cared for the things
of time. God has changed us. We're a changed person. What
are we? We're a new creature. We're a
new creature. God has given us the blessing of divine life. Now, with that wonderful favour,
surely we come and can understand how the psalm is commences and
ends this psalm. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. You will desire really to give
thanks unto the Lord for his good, because his mercy endures
forever, because His mercy has found you. His mercy has come
to you. Where you are, what a blessing,
what a favour. Oh my friends, much causes are
not to praise God. And the Psalmist tells us, in
this psalm it's a beautiful psalm I hope you appreciate it as we
read it down and he tells us it is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man you and I want to be encouraged
through the Word of God you know people can say things say things
perhaps just to allay any fears you will need God to speak. You will need God to confirm
to you that it is well with your soul. You will need God to come
and speak to you and tell you the blessed Saviour died upon
the cross at Calvary to pay the price of your sin. And what a mercy if by His grace
you come and stand at Calvary and by faith view the Lord Jesus
Christ paying the price for your sin that it's taken away, it's
washed away in the precious blood of the Redeemer. Well what a
mercy then it is to have that trust in the Lord and again it's
the glorious gift of God what a mercy to have a God who does
convey to us his mercy and in conveying his mercy to us he
conveys to us his love and we stand amazed that Almighty God
should love such an unworthy person we might say such an unworthy
wretch as we are. Because when the Holy Spirit
convinces us of our sin, we don't stand as a little sinner, we
stand as a great sinner. We stand as a condemned sinner.
We stand as a sinner needing mercy. Oh, what a blessing it
is then when God looks upon us and hears our crying. Here's
our cry because the work of the Spirit causes us to cry to God
earnestly. It's not something which is just
a formal statement. Nothing wrong in formal prayers.
But when the Holy Spirit works, prayer becomes a reality. Prayer becomes the life of God
in your soul. It's the breath of spiritual
life. You need breath naturally to
live. You need prayer naturally and
you need prayer spiritually to live. What a blessing therefore
if God has given prayer. He does. He gives us prayer and
it is from Him. and we can come and thank Him
for it. That's why the psalmist says,
Oh, give thanks unto the Lord and you will give thanks unto
the Lord. If God gives you prayer, prayer
to plead for mercy, prayer to confess your sins, Prayer to
come to God and not holding anything back and to rejoice in the great
truths of Scripture like where we read, if we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And that may evoke the question,
how am I to be cleansed? you see we don't learn everything
immediately the scripture tells us we learn here a little and
there a little line upon line, line upon line precept upon precept,
precept upon precept but what a blessing it is when the Holy
Spirit then leads us line upon line and leads us from that condemnation
from that confession of our sin, to turn to the Saviour, to seek
unto Him, to come unto Him. Oh, my friends, the Gospel is
glorious invitations. Whosoever will, says the Word
of God. Oh, what a blessing when the
Spirit gives us a willing spirit. You know, we're very stubborn
in our nature. We're very stubborn, really,
to come to God. we're very stubborn to pour out
our heart before God but what a blessing when the Holy Spirit
enables us so to do so that we come and understand the great
truth if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and
how is that achieved? It's through the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's through the sin-atoning
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's because the Lord Jesus Christ
paid the price necessary to take away our sin, to redeem us. The Scripture tells us those
beautiful words, redeemed. with the precious blood of Christ. Come back then. May God give
us faith to come to Calvary and see there the suffering Saviour
dying in that agony in order to redeem your soul and my soul. What a price had to be paid. It wasn't trivial, was it? It
was the greatest price that could ever be required and the greatest
price ever given. The Lord Jesus Christ, the second
person in the Trinity, the true God, willing to sacrifice His
life so that you and I might receive life. What a great and
glorious exchange. What a wonderful transaction. What great mercy of God to save
a wretch like you and me. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. produce in our
heart that real desire to give thanks to the Lord. Your desire
to honour and glorify His name, to think that the Almighty God
was willing to die on your behalf. He bore the punishment instead. What a Saviour! What a God! What a Gospel! Well, may it be true of each
one of us to be able to come and say, for he is good. He is. He is good, but you and
I don't want to say it just with a head knowledge, just as a bold
statement. We need to be able to say it
because the truth comes from our heart. for he is good and his mercy
endureth forever never fails we fail we fail we sin and we
sin oh my friends the heart is deceitful about all things and
desperately wicked and the devil is at our shoulder encouraging
us to sin, encouraging us to turn away from God, encouraging
us to do those things which are wrong and those things which
are evil. But what a blessing it is that
when there is so, the Holy Spirit of God directs our eyes to the
suffering Saviour at Calvary and to see there The Lord Jesus
Christ giving His life, shedding His blood, that life blood, in
order to redeem our soul, in order to pay the price for our
soul, our sin. Oh, what a God. It's a wonder,
isn't it? the glorious gospel that we have. Yes, and further on in this same
psalm, the psalmist then says, save now, I beseech thee. You know, real religion comes
to that time when we must know that God is on our side. We must know that God is, that
God is saving us. and it comes like that we want
to know now save now I beseech Thee O Lord I beseech Thee send
now prosperity well it's a mercy isn't it when
God brings us to a position where we bow on knee to God as our
Lord and Master we don't bow down to the devil Oh, my friends,
how often we have. How often perhaps we still do.
What a mercy when His grace comes and directs us to the cost of
our salvation. And we see how the blessed Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't stand back. He endured the punishment
instead. The punishment for sin has to
be punished. The debt has to be paid. The
debt has to be taken away. And it's only done through the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for He is good. He is good, isn't He? Amazingly
good. Wonderfully good. And to think
then, because His mercy endureth forever. He hasn't dealt with
us as our sins deserve. No, His mercy is there. He's
heard our cry. He's given us the cry. He's produced
that cry in our heart. It's all of His goodness. It's
all of His mercy. It's all of His love. Do we not
understand? how wonderful a Saviour we have. The Lord knows about us. The
Lord knows all about us. And in Nahum, that little book
we read, a well-known verse, the Lord is good. The Lord is
good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. And he knoweth them
that trust in him. There we have a stronghold. The
Lord holds us up. The Lord strengthens us against
all the temptations of the devil. And how wonderful it is if God
has put into our heart that cry, that new song. That wonderful
blessing, isn't it? We read that in the 40th Psalm. You will know it's a psalm I
often refer to. It's a very wonderful truth. I waited patiently for
the Lord. Sometimes He waits to be gracious,
my friends. Don't give up! I waited patiently for the Lord
and He inclined unto me and heard my prayer, my cry. He brought
me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the M�ori clay. place the situation that you
and I get ourselves into, and set my feet upon a rock, established
us upon Christ, that glorious rock, and established my goings. And then there was a wonderful
change. What a mercy if you and I know
that change. And he hath put a new song A new song. We didn't know it before. But
now through the grace and mercy of God we do. The new song in
my mouth. What is it? Even praise unto
our God. You'll have cause to thank and
to praise God. You'll understand then what these
words mean. O give thanks unto the Lord. Just like David did and tells
us here. hath put a new song in my mouth,
even praise unto our God, many shall see it, and fear, and shall
trust in the Lord. Blessed is the man that maketh
the Lord his trust. and respect is not the proud,
nor such as turn aside to lies. Well, what a mercy God enables
you and me to trust in the Lord and to rejoice in such a statement
as this. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord. Well, we might ask the question,
do you know what that means? Have you been there? Do you want
to be there? Is it your concern to be there?
Is it your prayer that you might be there? O give thanks unto
the Lord and to be able to testify from your heart. The Lord hasn't
dealt with you or me as our sins deserve. And therefore we come
and say for He is good. He is good. because his mercy
endureth forever. He has been merciful to me, and
I desire to come and to praise and honour his great and glorious
name. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord
for his good, because his mercy endureth forever. Amen.