May it please God to bless us
together this morning as we turn to his word. Let's turn to the
book of Psalms, Psalm 126, and we'll read verse 3. Psalm 126,
and we'll read verse 3. The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. Well, it's only a short psalm,
and I just thought we'd read the whole psalm just through,
see the context then. So from verse one in Psalm 126,
when the Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion, we were like
them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter and our tongue with singing. Then said they among
the heathen, the Lord has done great things for them. The Lord
has done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again
our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that
sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth
bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing
his sheaves with him. The word of God is very comprehensive
and it really comes and meets the needs and the cases of every
true believer. No one can be too low, no one
can be too high, but the Lord comes and applies his word. And we should be very, very thankful
and very, very humbled to realize that we have such a God, a God
who knows exactly what each one of us needs in our spiritual
life, of course, as well as our natural life, because we have
a great God. And when we think of that, it's
really good to meditate upon the greatness of God, because
he knows each of our spiritual need. And he knows that because
he knows all about us. He knows what we're thinking.
He knows our every thought. Nothing is hidden from this great
almighty God. And yet we live in a world where
so few people have any appreciation of the greatness of God. Well,
it would be good for you and me today if we have some understanding
a spiritual understanding of the greatness of this wonderful
God, the God who created the world, the God who is alive forevermore,
the God who knows all about each one of us in the smallest detail
in our thoughts, let alone in our physical life. It's good
to appreciate the greatness of God. because it puts God high
and lifted up just like Isaiah saw him, and it puts us in our
right place, low in the dust at his feet. Well, we should
be thankful that the word of God, as I've said, is very comprehensive. And here in this short psalm,
it's a song of degrees, It's a song of praise, it's a song
of thankfulness to realise the work of God. And so the psalmist
tells us when in his life there was a when, a time when the Lord
blessed him. I wonder if you and I today can
look into our lives And it's always good to look into your
life and look into my life and examine ourselves before God. And to see what God has done
in our souls, in our spiritual life. Well, the psalmist was
able to declare when the Lord turned again the captivity of
Zion, we were like them that dream." Obviously, if they were
captives, they were probably in those days put in dungeons,
pretty unpleasant places. They weren't able to free themselves. They weren't able to escape.
And yet, you see, the Lord it was who was able and did indeed
deliver people in a most amazing and wonderful way. We may remember
the occasion in the life of the Apostle Peter. when God came
and delivered him. It was a wonderful occasion,
and we're told about it in the twelfth chapter of the Acts of
the Apostles. And we're told this. Peter was kept in prison, but
prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Peter was there in a natural
situation. And it's a good illustration
for us today to realise that there are those people who are
spiritually bound. They're in a place of darkness.
And it's good if the Church of God do indeed pray for deliverance,
that they may be brought out of that condition of darkness
into the glorious light of the gospel. Well, just reversing
then back to this situation, Peter was physically in prison,
but the church prayed for him. And when Herod would have brought
him forth the same night, see God is never late in his deliverance. the same night, Peter was sleeping
between two soldiers bound with two chains, and the keepers before
the door kept the prison. So it would seem no possibility
of deliverance. And sometimes in our spiritual
lives, there seems no possibility of deliverance. But we read here,
and behold, It's good when we read that word, behold, because
we are to take notice of it. It's an important situation.
The angel of the Lord came upon him and a light shined in the
prison and he smote Peter on the side and raised him up saying,
rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands. And the angel said unto him,
gird thyself and bind on thy sandals. And so he did, and he
said unto him, cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And
he went out and followed him, and wist not that it was true
which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision.
And when they were past the first and the second ward, they came
unto the iron gate that leadeth into the city, which opened to
them of his own accord. And they went out and passed
on through one street and forthwith the angel departed from him. Well, we have here a very wonderful
occasion, a physical occasion, when the Lord came and delivered
the apostle Peter and brought him out of prison. And when you
think of it, there were these soldiers either side of him,
and yet you see he was chained, and the chains fell off. They
would have been heavy chains. They would have clattered to
the ground. It didn't wake the soldiers up. You see, the Lord
kept them asleep. And it's good to see the wonderful
deliverance that God brings about. That was in a physical situation. But it gives us a picture with
regard also to spiritual situations. Because the Lord comes and when
the Lord delivers There is deliverance. And so we can read here, when
the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, that was a general statement,
but also individually to God's people who may be in captivity. Captivity because of their sin,
because they have offended God, because they have disobey God
and therefore they find themselves in this place of captivity and
that often means they're not really able to pray as it were. Don't seem to find any liberty
in prayer, any access in prayer. It's hard work. It seems as though
they're just prying to a brick wall And there's no evidence
of acceptance for their prayers. When the Lord turned again their
captivity, we were like them with dream, like their dream.
And you may say, well, how does that apply to us today? I believe it applies in this way.
When you and I perhaps praying or trying to pray to
God and there doesn't seem to be any access at the throne of
grace. It seems really as if our prayers
bounce back to us. There's been no deliverance,
there's been no blessing and then what a wonder it is when
The Spirit of God comes and directs us to what is missing in our
prayers. You may say, well, I don't think
anything's missing. Well, it may have been because
you and I thought we could just come and pray and expect our
prayers to be answered. And yet, you see, there is a
very wonderful and blessed secret, because we approach unto God
our Father through the merits of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our prayers are heard for Jesus'
sake. And as we pray, we come to God
the Father through his Son and our Saviour, the great and wonderful
High Priest, pleading his merits. And that's how we are blessed
with access to the throne of grace. And it's when that liberty
is recognised, it's then that our captivity is turned When the Lord hath turned again
the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. There's
suddenly a new picture, a new vista. There's spiritual freedom
as we approach Almighty God through the merits of his Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, bear in mind then, the
figure that we have in that deliverance of the Apostle Peter. In prison,
didn't appear to be any possibility of deliverance, but the Lord
came. In the middle of the night, when
it was the most dark, and that may be so in our spiritual
lives, when it's the most dark and appears to be no light, where
the light shines through our Saviour. And then you see, you'll
understand the wonder of this verse. The Lord hath done great
things for us, whereof we are glad. And it's good, of course, when
it comes in a very personal way. And we can say, the Lord hath
done great things for me, whereof I am glad. You see, these things
are between your soul and God. Other people don't observe it. But the Lord knows what he will
do. And it's a wonderful thing to
be blessed with deliverance, spiritual freedom. The Lord has
done great things for us. We're off. We are glad. Now,
every true believer needs to have the evidence of
God doing great things in our spiritual life, turning us from
captivity, delivering us from the prison house, and bringing
us out into the glorious liberty of the gospel of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. What a blessing that is when
the Lord turns again our captivity. There's very many wonderful words
in the Bible to encourage us and to direct us and we should
be very thankful that we can see and observe God's great love
and mercy toward us. In Isaiah's prophecy, in the
12th chapter, we read from the beginning, and in that day, thou
shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry
with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. You see, there's the testimony. of a child of God. And if we
walked in an opposite direction from God, if we listened to the
devil and have followed what he wants us to do, we can believe
then that the Lord was angry with us. And so says Isaiah,
though thou wast angry with me, and anger is turned away and
thou comfortest me. There's no comfort when you and
I walk contrary to God. That means in an opposite direction.
That means away from God. There's no comfort there. You
and I might think, well, I'm going to please myself. I'm going
to enjoy myself. I'm going to do this, and I'm
going to do that. You won't find any true comfort
to your soul. You'll find you get farther away
from God. Well, says Isaiah, Behold, God
is my salvation. And it's wonderful when the Lord
directs us to that great truth to realise, as Jonah said, when
he was in the whale's belly, when he came to that great statement,
the Lord brought him to it. Salvation is of the Lord. He couldn't produce it himself.
He'd run away from God. He didn't want to hear God's
voice. He didn't want to obey God's
voice. He ran away. But God knew where Jonah was. And God knows where we are. And so Jonah was brought to that
wonderful position to be able to say salvation, that means
the saving of his soul, is of the Lord. And it's a wonderful
blessing if the Lord brings us there. You won't get there yourself,
but it's a wonderful thing if God brings you there. And then
you'll be able to join and say, behold, God is my salvation. And you'll be able to understand
this truth. The Lord hath done great things
for us, great things for me, whereof we are glad. And he goes
on, Isaiah, I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah
is my strength and my song. He also is become my salvation. There was a change and there
is a change in the life of the true believer when God becomes
our salvation. There's an amazing change. And
there's an amazing change in the life of a true believer when
the Lord comes. And Isaiah tells us, therefore,
what a mercy when you and I have therefore in our spiritual experience,
because of what's passed, therefore, with joy shall we draw water
out of the wells of salvation. Yes, it's good news. The water
of life, we rejoice in it. And then he says, and in that
day, shall you say, praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare
his doings among the people, make mention that his name is
exalted. The true born-again believer
wants to exalt God for his great salvation. You won't be a silent
believer because you will desire that God receives the honour
and glory for his salvation which he has brought to you, so that
you will say, the Lord has done great things for me and my friends
every work of grace, every free unmerited favour emanates from
God himself. To God be the glory. And in that day shall ye say,
praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among
the people, make mention that his name is exalted, sing unto
the Lord, for he hath done excellent things, and anything relevant
to our souls Eternal good is excellent and you will rejoice
in God's work for he has done excellent things. This is known
in all the earth. And then he goes on even to greater
desire cry and shout thou inhabitant of Zion for great is the holy
one of Israel in the midst of the Great is the Lord and worthy
to be praised. And so here we have the Lord
hath done great things for us whereof we are glad. Well this morning it would be
good if we pause just and examine our spiritual life and to discern
that we have The evidence in our soul that the Lord has done
great things. And we can say we're off, we
are glad. Sometimes these great things,
we're not always glad of. Because sometimes, in fact, I
suppose always, the Lord puts his finger upon us and stops
us. in our mad career, following
the ways of the world. And we're not very happy because
we quite want to enjoy all the pleasures of this vain world. But what a mercy it is when Almighty
God, and let's not lose sight of that, Almighty God, stretches
out his hand and stops us. Yes, we plan this. We plan that. The Lord comes and shows us those
plans are not good plans. They won't lead us nearer to
God. They'll lead us away from God. And we can observe then the hand
of God upon us, directing us and blessing us and teaching
us. What a mercy. It is then to have
such a kind and gracious God as this. It is good to be able
to rejoice, surely then, in this great and wonderful word that
the Psalmist brings to us. The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. Well, I hope you are glad. I
hope you have reason this morning to be able to find in your heart
a movement of the Spirit where He's caused you to consider your
ways, caused you to ponder where you are. I read that seventh chapter in
the Gospel of Mark. It's a very beautiful chapter
and it sets before us the wonder of the work of God. And it tells
us about the Lord opening ears to hear the word of God. Now, let's be very clear. God
opens ears. You and I can sit and you and
I can listen to many servants. We can read and hear the word
of God read and we just take it into our head. It doesn't have any effect upon
us at all. Our life hasn't been changed.
We continue on until until a time when God gives us what we can
refer to as spiritual ears. Spiritual ears, so that our ears
are opened to spiritual things. Now that's a great and wonderful
blessing when that occurs. We read that about towards the
end of that seventh chapter where there was a man who had an impediment
in his speech and they besought him to put his hand upon him
and he took him aside, put his fingers into his ears and split
and touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he
sighed and said, Ephrathah, that is, be opened. And straightway
his ears were opened, and a string of his tongue was loosed, and
he spake plain." Well, the work of God, the work of God. And it's wonderful when that
occurs in our spiritual life. And it's good if you this morning
can look into your hearts and realize there has been a time
when your ears have been opened and you've listened with new
ears. New ears. And you bless God for
it. And you know the result will
be, and it's in the last verse of this chapter, and that's why
I read the chapter, the last verse, and were beyond measure
astonished, saying, He hath done all things well. He maketh both
the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. He hath done all things
well. I wonder this morning whether,
as you sit here, you could echo those words and
say to the Glory of God, he hath done all things well. That's
a great statement, you know, because we need to be able to
say it when things don't appear to be going well, when they appear
to be going in an opposite direction. And you may say, well, how can
I ever say that? Everything seems to be going
in the wrong way. We have to realise that these things are
spoken in the light of eternity. And that's when there's a difference. It's not in the light of time,
because time will finish. For you and me, and of course
the whole world will one day finish. Time will not go on forever. But you and I will go on forever.
Our soul will go on forever. So therefore we need to be brought
to that spiritual condition to realise that although things
naturally appear to be against us and don't appear to be working
out for our good, to realise the Lord is instructing us, the
Lord is teaching us and why is it because of his love to our
soul. He hasn't taken us and put us
on the rubbish heap, which we deserve. But in love to our soul, he's
drawn us to him. He showed us where we've been
going, perhaps. Yes, the wrong way. The wrong way. And yet, you know,
we read in this psalm, the steps of a good man are ordered by
the Lord and he delighteth in his way. Yes, our steps are ordered. Not the steps that we want and
go in, but the Lord orders our steps. He leads us in the right
way that we might go to a city of habitation. And therefore
when the Holy Spirit shows to us that he's dealing with our
souls, he hasn't left us, he's dealing with our souls. And then it is that we can agree
with this statement, he hath done all things well. You won't
argue with God's dealings with you. And let me again reiterate,
it's when we have eyes that direct us to eternity, we then understand
this great truth. If you're still in time, in your
thoughts and mind, you won't appreciate this. But when the
Lord shows you the vastness of eternity, and the wonderful blessing
of eternity to the children of God, and the wonderful work of
the Holy Spirit to bring us to that place and that position,
to make us ready for our eternal home, It's very different from
our natural home. And it's the work of the Spirit
of God. And we can then understand and
bless God for such a statement. The Lord hath done great things. You see, they're great things.
When the Lord comes and touches the heart of a poor sinner, to
direct them to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a great
thing. It's not a little thing. It's
not something you and I would do ourselves. It's the work of
the Spirit of God. The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. You'll be glad the Lord hasn't
cast you out. You'll be glad the Lord's taking
you in hand. You'll be glad the Lord's looked
upon you in love to your soul. You'll rejoice in this great
and wonderful, merciful God. Yes, it's a great blessing, isn't
it? You know, in an earlier psalm, Psalm 18, it's a well-known psalm.
It's quite a long psalm, but in the second verse, the psalmist
David tells us this. Well, let me read the first verse.
It's worth reading. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock. and my fortress,
and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler, that
means a small shield, my buckler, and the hoard of my salvation,
and my high tower. So that's a glorious description,
isn't it? And what a blessing if the work
of the Holy Spirit is such in our lives that we can come and
say, the Lord has done great things. He's revealed himself
to me in this way, and I acknowledge how great God is. The Lord is
my rock, an unmovable foundation. Bless God. And my fortress. And my deliverer. My God. Oh, what a mercy when you and
I can come to this great God and say, my God, my God. We only say it when we have the
evidence that God is dealing with us as sons and daughters
of the most high God. And that means he doesn't leave
us to wander on in this vain world. No, the Lord puts his
hand upon us and shows us where we are going. I will trust my
buckler and my shield, the hoard of my salvation and my high tower. Yes, that high tower is a wonderful
place, a refuge for sinners. The gospel makes known it is
found in the merits of Jesus alone. Nowhere else. The high
tower. And so he says, I will call upon
the Lord. who is worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from my enemies. It's wonderful. What a blessing
if we come and maybe all come, all come to this position and
say, who is worthy to be praised. And if he is worthy to be praised,
we would desire to praise his great and glorious name. And because we are glad. We're glad of what he's done
for us. We're glad of what he's doing
for us. See, the true believer has two
lives, a natural life and a spiritual life. And both of those lives
need food. One, the natural man needs natural
food. The spiritual man needs spiritual
food. And spiritual food is found in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, what a blessing it is to
feed upon Christ. And the Lord Jesus tells us very
straightforwardly and very honestly, In the sixth chapter of John,
when he tells us, except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood
of the Son of Man, there is no life in you. It's a very straight
word, a very solemn word, a very true word. And it means what
it says. And it means that if we do not
feed spiritually on Christ, remember, there is no life. We're dead. we're spiritually dead. What
a blessing it is then when the Lord Jesus is a spiritual and
precious and glorious and wonderful reality. So then we come and
say with our spiritual eyes, by faith, one thing I know, whereas
I was blind, But now I see. Well, can you answer? Can you say that this morning?
It's a good thing if you can. It's a blessing if you can. You see, you had that one desire. One thing I know. One thing I
know. Whereas I was blind, now I see. The Apostle Paul, when he wrote
to the Ephesians, he expanded on this position, really, and
he tells us from verse 17 in the first chapter of the Ephesians,
he says, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory may give unto you the spirit of wisdom, this is spiritual
wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of him referring to
Christ. And he says this, the eyes of
your understanding, spiritual understanding, being enlightened
that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. The apostle so often directs
us to the things which are to come to the true believer. And this is the wonderful hope
that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints and
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us who believe. according to the working of his
mighty power." Well, what a blessing. If the Holy Spirit has come and
given you and me faith, God-given faith, to believe in the great
truths of the gospel, because then, you see, this will be true. The Lord has done great things. Faith to believe, great things. Yes, which he which he comes
on to say of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ. When
he raised him from the dead, there's our hope in a risen Christ. He rose from the dead. The grave
could not hold him. It was impossible. If Christ
did not rise in the dead, there'd be no hope for you and me. And
what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us forward who
believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him
in his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all
principality and power and might and dominion. And every name
that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which
is to come and has put all things under his feet and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church, which is his body.
the fullness of him that dwelleth all in all. The hymn writer says, a fullness
resides in Jesus our head, whichever abides to answer our need. Every born again sinner has a
need and that need is only fulfilled in the knowledge of Christ, which
is more valuable than gold. Gold perishes. The knowledge
of Christ is eternal. Oh, then the Lord has done great
things for us. We're off. We are glad. And so
he goes on. Turn again. Our captivity. Oh, Lord, as the streams in the
south turned around, From following your own way to following the
Lord. Follow that right way which leads
to glory. The Lord Jesus has set before
us a wonderful example. The church of God is encouraged
to take up our cross and to follow him. Turn again then. Our captivity, O Lord, as the
streams in the south. And then the last two verses
are very good and direct us to the reality of real religion.
They that sow in tears. That means we're sorry for our
sin. We sow in tears, shall reap in
joy. The gospel is good news. It's joyful. There's nothing
morbid about the truth of God. It's good news. They that sow
in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, the seed of the gospel, shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Well, my friends today, I hope
we can rejoice together, that all of us can rejoice in this
grand and glorious statement. The Lord hath done great things
for us whereof we are glad. And great things principally
refer to our spiritual state because they have an eternal
value which is so much greater than the value of time things. So may we search our hearts to
see if this is true. And if we can't find anything
there, then it is true. May we pray earnestly unto our
God that he will remember us as the dying thief said on that
cross, Lord, remember me. It's not a long prayer, is it? Lord, remember me. And the Lord told him, this day
shalt thou be with me in paradise. He didn't cast it off and say,
well, that's of no value. He wanted the Lord to remember
him. And every true believer wants
the Lord to remember him. So may we rejoice in this great
statement, the Lord hath done great things for us, great things
for me, whereof we, whereof I am or are glad. Amen.