I please God to bless us together
this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to the book
of Psalms, Psalm 48, and we'll read the last three verses, 12,
13, and 14. Psalm 48, and reading the last three verses, 12, 13,
and 14. Walk about Zion, and go round
about her. Tell the towers thereof, Mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider
her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for ever
and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. The psalm starts, with a wonderful
statement, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in
the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. And it ends
with these words, for this God is our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide even unto death. It's an infinite mercy if we
can agree from our heart with such words as these that the
psalmist speaks. We're not told who the psalmist
is, we don't know when this psalm was written, but what we know
it was ordained by the Holy Spirit of God and therefore it speaks
to our hearts today. May it truly do so as we consider
it together. therefore really the psalm is
speaking about the greatness of God and the church of God
and the favour it is to be able to consider such a great God,
this God who we pray may indeed be our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. Well I wonder tonight if that's
our prayer or if we're very casual in our situation, in our life. But the favour is that if God
is our God, he will be our guide right down to death and then
we shall end in glory to be forever with the Lord. However, we are
on the earth at the present time. And as we walk on the earth at
the present time, we should be concerned about our spiritual
life. And it is for that reason that
the psalmist expresses such statements as this, that we are to hear
his words, the word of God, and to walk about Zion and go round
about her, tell the towers thereof, Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider
her palaces." Now, we'll come to the reason and the description
of those just in a moment. But we have this statement, and
what is the reason for that? This is so necessary for us to
recognise. The reason is told, that ye may
tell it to the generation following. you may tell it to the generation
following. It is therefore to describe those
things that the Spirit of God reveals to our souls, that we
should not just keep it to ourselves. There's a very sad position where
people say, well of course I'm not really one that speaks about
these things. Well, you're not following the Lord if that's
so. You're following your own plan. God receives honour and glory
as the Church of God tell it to the generation following.
That's one of the great lacks in the day and age in which we
live. It's not the expression of the
greatness of God and what he does and what he's doing. and how we value him, and what
we think of him. Oh, what a sad day it is, isn't
it? If you really consider us, our life, and how we walk on
this earth, and yet we have such gracious words of God, such clear
scriptures to encourage us in the right way. Well, first of
all then, in order for us to be able to tell the generation
following, There must be something to tell, mustn't there? And again,
that's one of the problems today. People have nothing to tell.
Nothing to speak of. They have no experience spiritually. They're null and void. They're empty. They're just an
outside shell with no life within. And therefore the silence. Well,
they can speak about chapels and people and everything else.
But you see, there's that great lack of spiritual conversation,
speaking of those things which are revealed. And so the psalmist
tells us, walk about Zion, go round about her, tell the tales
thereof. Well, what does Zion represent? It represents the living church
of God. The living church of God. Zion
represented really then the church of God, the temple was therein.
But now there's no temple, but there is a church of God. And
there is that which sets forth the true doctrines of the word
of God. And that's what you and I are
exhorted to do today. to walk about Zion, walk about
the Church and the doctrines, to consider the truth of God. That means to study the truth
of God prayerfully and carefully, desiring that we may have the
truth of God revealed to our souls and the truth which directs
us to the suffering Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. My friends,
all our walking about Zion, walking in the church, should direct
us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, may we be found then in
this way, walking about Zion, up and down, considering the
truth of God, considering his word, considering what it contains,
what it sets before us, Religion is not just coming to chapel
and then going home and forgetting all about it. True religion is
a daily religion. It's a 24-7 religion. And you
and I may therefore not come and leave chapel and forget what
we've heard and never speak about it and never consider the Word
of God. one service to another, apart
from perhaps we might read a few verses each day and think we've
done our duty. And that's the shallowness today,
for the most part of the Church of God. What is that? It's an
emptiness. Therefore, we should thank God
that we have this gracious exhortation, which it is. It's a gracious
exhortation. The Lord speaks to our souls.
What a mercy it is when God speaks to our souls. In such a word
like this, walk about Zion. Go round about her. Examine her. Examine the truth
of God. Examine the doctrines of God.
Those things which we believe. Those things which you believe.
Perhaps you don't believe anything. In which case you've got nothing
to look at. Nothing to examine. Blessing is if we have a desire
to examine the things of God. And it really comes down to a
very simple statement, that we might grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They're familiar
words no doubt to most of us. They're words which are often
spoken. But again, do they come from our hearts or just from
our head? How relevant it is to know that we have such a desire
we might grow in a spiritual sense, grow in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And so we are then to
follow this way, go round about and tell the towers thereof. Tell the towers, those things
which are around us, those things which we may be concerned about,
to not be silent, to tell the tales of what we've seen, how
the Lord has revealed himself unto us as he does not unto the
world. There are so many exhortations
in the Word of God to honour our God. And yet there seems
such a backwardness in the day and age in which we live to honour
our God. seems that every excuse is raised
so that the Lord is not proclaimed, he's not spoken about, he's not
exalted. So here we have this wonderful
statement, walk about Zion, go round about her and tell the
towers they're off. And then he moves on and he says,
mark ye well her bulwarks. Mark ye well her bulwarks. And this means to mark it in
our heart, with our heart. Mark it with our heart. The bulwarks,
what are bulwarks? Well they are things which strengthen. Bulwarks around a building, strengthen
the building. And there are bulwarks in the
things of God, which by God's grace strengthen our faith. And my friends, what is the greatest
bulwark? greatest bulwark, the strength
in our faith. What is it? I was asked you young
people tonight, what's the greatest strength, the greatest bulwark
that can strengthen your faith? Sure it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the King in Zion. He's King in the church. He's
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And if you and I are to
walk about the church and to consider the doctrines, our thoughts,
our hearts should be moved to consider the King of Kings, to
have right views of our God, that he might be lifted up and
exalted as the great God. Again, often today, people have
little views of God. They seem to have no real understanding
of how great he is. We know that Isaiah saw the Lord
high and lifted up. May you and I have that high
view of God. The higher the view we have of
our God, the greater we will appreciate and understand his
amazing favour and blessing. in looking upon us, and showing
his mercy, and showing his loving kindness. And so we are to mark
ye well at bulwarks, not to just pass them by. Look at them carefully,
study them. The bulwarks of our God, and
one of the great bulwarks are the promises of God. the promises
of God to the needy soul. God's promises are so strengthening. Now, there's much to read of,
isn't there, with regard to God's promises. They are indeed so
great. They are so many, aren't they?
We can read them right from Genesis to Revelation. and may we see the blessing of
them. Realize that we have a God who
is the Lord. As the psalmist started here,
great is the Lord and great is to be praised in the city of
God. This is the great God that we come before, this one who
speaks his promises, his promises to us. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. Gracious Gospel invitations,
bulwarks are they not, to strengthen our faith. Encouraging words,
so we don't give up. Encouraging, isn't it, to a needy
sinner, to be strengthened with such a word as that. To come
boldly unto the throne of grace. It's a promise that we may find
help in time of need. God's promises. Seek ye the Lord. Again, a wonderful encouragement
to seek the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while
he is near. The Lord, my friends, is near. He's not far off. You may feel it sometimes, but
this is a bulwark to the Church of God, to realize that there
are those Wonderful promises. The Lord has said he will help
us all our journey through. He will grant us that grace,
as Paul said, but my God shall supply all your need according
to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. My friends, that's a strength,
isn't it? That's a bulwark, isn't it, to
us as we journey on. To think that this great God
will supply all our need. All our need. Now that doesn't
mean to say that that will be supplied that you think or I
think is a need. But my friends, God will supply
all the need that we really have. God knows your need. He knows
my need better than we know ourselves. and to think that he's promised
God will supply all your need. And it's very special as you
read in Philippians 4 verse 19, but my God, my God shall supply
all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Oh, we have a God who will not
fail. What a great bulwark this is,
isn't it? promises. And then to realise
we have a God who watches over us. He watches over us day by
day. He watches over us in our providential
life. Again, He knows what He's doing
to you and to me. He knows the path that He has
ordained for us. He's watching over us. way we
go cannot be wrong if Jesus be but there. He led them forth
by the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. As we then walk about the church
and we see these promises and we see these favourable statements
to us to be able to come casting all our care upon him. casting all our care upon him,
for he careth for us. Isn't that a wonderful realisation
that God's watching over us? He's caring for you, he's caring
for me. Amazing, isn't it? How encouraging. As you and I
walk about Zion and we mark ye well her bulwarks. Yes, we mark
them well and The bulwarks are the promises of God and they're
centred really in the covenant of our God, the covenant of his
grace, the wonderful promise of God, his faithfulness, which
will not fail. Mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider
her palaces. When you and I think of a palace,
we think of something rather beautiful, don't we? In an architectural
way we think of something beautiful. Well, as we may consider a palace,
a palace is often a place where treasure is kept. Surely these
views of a beautiful building and a place of treasure gives
to us a very clear picture of none less than the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Word tells us where our treasure
is, there will our heart be also. Where is our treasure today?
Is it in what Christ has done? Is it in the promises that Christ
has given? The blessing then is that we
might indeed be found considering her palaces, considering what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done. Indeed, the Apostle Paul tells
us, doesn't he, in the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, I think it's
the third verse, consider him, consider him, consider her palaces,
consider the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing greater is there to think
about as we walk about Zion, walk about the Church of God,
Considering the doctrines of God, the truths of God, the doctrines
concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. Consider her palaces. Well, do we consider the Lord
Jesus Christ? It's not something that we just
do once a week, you know, we should be found considering Him
day after day. Because what is there to be seen?
In a natural palace there's a beauty, my friends, the beauty of Christ
far exceeds any earthly palace. The Church of God, as we read
in the Song of Solomon, she saw the beauty in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And what did she say? She said,
He is altogether lovely. Altogether lovely. So suitable
to her case. Well, what a blessing if you
and I have that same understanding that the Bride of Christ had
when she spoke in the Song of Solomon and she said, his mouth
is most sweet, the words that the Saviour speaks. If we're
considering him, consider the words that he speaks. If you
and I walk up and down in the church, in the Bible, for the
Word of God. We walk up and down in it. It's
a great blessing to walk up and down in the Word of God. Not
to just read it without any spiritual concern, but to walk up and down
in it. Do you know what that means?
Do you understand that? Walking up and down in the Word
of God. Looking around as you read it. pondering it, to see the blessing
the words contain, and to recognize the truth of these words. His
mouth is most sweet. My friends, there's nothing more
blessing than to receive a word from the Lord Himself. His mouth is most sweet. But again, what a necessary thought
it is to be able to evidence that as we may walk about the
church, walk about Zion, walk up and down in his word, to have
his word spoken into our hearts. To be able to remember what he
said, what he's done. Well tonight, I wonder if you
and I can concur with this statement, because it's true in our spiritual
experience. His mouth is most sweet. Why is that? How would you answer
that tonight? Would you be able to agree with
the bride described here by Solomon? And say, yes, I can agree with
that because the Lord has spoken to me. Because the words which
he has spoken are sweet. This is the blessing of God,
isn't it? This is walking out, such a word
as this, to walk about Zion and to consider her palaces, to consider
the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's exhortation really,
isn't it? And then as this bride viewed
the Saviour, let us not forget How she had, as it were, turned
her back upon her God. Yeah, she'd come into a slovenly,
sleepy condition. Lukewarm, a loud-as-sand situation. The Lord had come to the door.
He'd knocked at the door, but she was too lazy. She'd got into
bed. She wasn't going to get up again. My friends, what a sad condition.
How true it is today, that much of the Church of God today Lukewarm. But nonetheless, God was merciful. She didn't stay there. She realised her condition. And then she longed after the
Saviour. She longed to find Him. She'd gone about the city. She'd
gone about Zion trying to find the Saviour. Well, it wasn't
quite as easy as that. It wasn't quite as easy as that.
She went and heard the preaching of the gospel, the watchman.
They smote her. I wasn't comfortable. And my
friends, the living child of God, if you and I realize we've
been in a lukewarm condition and been wandering around, and
then the word of God has come and struck into our heart. And we read, they smote me, they
wounded me. The keepers of the walls took
away my veil from me. There wasn't any hiding. Everything
was revealed. We stand naked before Almighty
God. He looks at your heart, He looks
at my heart. But then you see, the Church
of God, the Church saw the extremity of this person and they asked
her a very important question. They said, what is thy beloved?
more than another beloved? O thou fairest among women, what
is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge
us?' Well, tonight that question was put to us, that we are to
walk about Zion, and that we might consider her palaces, we
might consider the beauty of the Saviour, and the Church of
God may come to us and say, What is your beloved more than another
beloved? How would we respond tonight?
What would our testimony be? Well, she gives a wonderful description,
I won't go through it tonight. It's a great truth, as you read
from verse 9 down to the end of the chapter. But just to read
the last verse. His mouth is most sweet, yea,
He is altogether lovely. She could see no fault in the
Lord Jesus Christ. She could find no fault with
his dealings with her. She was really walking about
Zion. She was considering the palaces
of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was able to come and having
given this glorious description, she then makes this final statement.
is my beloved, and this is my friend. Oh daughters of Jerusalem
and my friends, what a wonderful blessing if you and I can come
there and be able to declare as we walk around considering
the palaces, considering the beauty of Christ, that we're
able to describe it like this. This is my beloved, This is the
one. This is the one who's saved my
soul. This is the one who's died upon
Calvary's cross for me. This is the one who's washed
away all my sins. This is the one in whom my hope
is built. My hope is built on nothing less.
This is whom I'm looking to be with throughout eternity. This
is my beloved. And this is my friend. We don't
want to go to glory and be with a stranger, do we? Someone that
we don't know. Someone that we've had no consideration
of. Someone that we haven't met with.
Someone we haven't confided with. Someone we haven't communed with.
You know, the children of God don't get to glory and find Christ
a stranger. They will be able to extol him. and be able in measure to come
in, and be able to say, this is my beloved, and this is my
friend, O daughters of Jerusalem, testifying to the church of God,
so that his name might be honoured and glorified. Walk about Zion, go round about
her, tell the tales thereof, mark ye well her bullets, consider
her palaces. Now you see, having come to this
position, having then been blessed with this good walk and this
good investigation and this good evidence of the Lord's greatness
and glory and beauty, then here we have this great statement,
ye may tell it to the generation following. How necessary such a statement
as that is. How very necessary such a statement
as that is. And we read together a number
of scriptures which so encourage us in these things. And to realise
that we have such a God that we can trust in and be able to
tell people of that trust. But I trusted in thee, O Lord,
I said thou art my God. To remember then that we have
such a God that we can indeed trust in. And to tell that indeed
to the generation following. And Psalm 78 speaks to us in
these words. We will not hide them from their
children. And what is this, Asaph tells
us, Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to
the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable,
will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known
and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their
children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord
and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done. Well, this is a statement again
of Asaph, as he was moved by the Spirit of God. We will not
hide them, hide these great truths from the children, from the young
people in the day and age in which we live. There is perhaps a ignorance
in these things and a great lack of speaking the things of God. how backward we are, how we dishonour
our God, how we ignore his mercy and his favours and his love.
We ignore acknowledging what he's done for our soul, acknowledge
what he's done in our life in Providence, acknowledge when
he's answered our prayers. Do we tell it to the children? Well, says Asaph, we will not
hide them from their children, showing to the generation to
come the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wonderful
works that He has done. It's a very comprehensive statement
that, isn't it? What wonderful works has the
Lord done for you, my friend? What has He done for your soul? Have you spoken of it? This isn't
for our honour and glory, my friends, it's for the honour
and glory of God. That God who has been so gracious, so kind,
to take notice of such unworthy sinners. And so here we have
this gracious word, this gracious exhortation, and so important
it is. And in the 71st Psalm we also
read similar words. when the Psalmist says, O God,
thou hast taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared
thy wondrous works. He didn't have anything to be
ashamed of, did he? Now also, when I am old and grey-headed,
O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto
this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Surely the concern was there
to honour and glorify his great and glorious God. That should
be our concern today, for the blessing of the young people,
the young people in age and the young people in grace. My friends,
it should be our constant concern and desire to be able to declare
these truths and perhaps We might look at ourselves and think,
well, I've got nothing to say. I've got nothing to declare. If that should be so, my friends,
all pray mightily unto God, that he will come and visit your soul,
that he will reveal himself unto you as he does not unto the world.
that he may reveal to you that beauty in Zion, that you may
be able to declare him, that he may show to you his hands
and his side. He may show to you those wounds
which he suffered for your salvation. You may have the evidence that
he has died on your behalf. He's washed away all your sins
in his most precious blood. Oh, this is the great and important
things in our lives. This is the necessary thing that
you and I must have. You know, the hymn writer says,
and it's a great truth, and it's a wonderful truth if you and
I can say it, he said this, I could from all things parted be, but
never, never, Lord, from Thee. What does that show us? It shows
us how he valued Christ. He valued Christ. Do you and
I value Christ in the same way today? It's a great statement,
isn't it? Well, what a mercy if you and I can honestly declare
it indeed to the generation following this truth. Tell it, tell it
to the generation following, the people that are following
on, to declare what he's done for our souls. Oh, what a blessing
it is. to have such a God, a God who
is so kind, a God who is so merciful, a God who does not deal with
us as our sins declare. You know, God's prophet Joel,
that short prophecy also homes in on this testimony. And he
tells us, as he began his prophecy, the word of the Lord, not the
word of man. the word of the Lord that came
to Joel, the son of Pithuel. Hear this, ye old men, and give
ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your
days, or even the days of your fathers? Tell your children of
it, and let your children tell their children, and their children
another generation. He is to tell them this, that
which the palmer-worm hath left hath the locust eaten, and that
which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten, and that
which the canker-worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. Awake,
ye drunkards, and weep, and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because
of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. Well, here's
Joel, then, a servant of God, speaking like this, tell ye your
children of it. and let your children tell their
children and their children another generation to hand down from
generation to generation the greatness of God, the things
that the Lord has done for our souls so that his name may be
honoured and glorified not only of course in our souls but also
in the things of providence because the Lord is a God of providence
and a God of grace The Lord does deal with his children in love
and mercy, and he does hear and answer prayers. My friends, if
you and I are children of God, there must be those occasions
when God has heard our prayers naturally and appeared for us. Blessing it is, we have the evidence
of God's mercy and love toward us, in not dealing with us as
our sins deserve. Now Moses, that man of God, as
he came down to the end of his life, he was concerned that Israel
might remember the work of God. He was really concerned about
it. My friends, may you and I be really concerned about those
who are following on. May know the work of God. And so he tells us this, in the
sixth chapter of Deuteronomy. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one Lord. And thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all
thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall
be in thy heart. And he tells us, and thou shalt
teach them diligently unto thy children. Well, diligently unto
our children the words of the Lord, the work of the Lord. And
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house. Talk
of them when thou sittest in thine house. And when thou walkest
by the way. When you go out for a walk to
speak about the things of God that he's done. And when thou
liest down, and when thou risest up, really it means every opportunity
we are to speak to the children. And thou shalt bind them for
a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between
thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house,
and on thy gates, and it shall be when the Lord thy God shall
have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers,
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to give thee great
and godly cities, which thou buildest not." And he goes on.
All these things are to be declared to the children, to those who
are following on the generation that is to come, that ye may
tell it to the generation following. Well, it's a wonderful blessing,
isn't it, to be found like this, to be able to tell it indeed
to the generation following, you know. And just finally, Moses
again speaks in the 11th chapter, very similar words. He says,
therefore, shall ye lay out these my words in your heart and in
your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand. that they may
be as frontlets between your eyes. He's really saying that
these things need to be before us. You see, we live in an age,
don't we, so many material things are before us that crowd out
the things of God. But here, my friends, is the
pattern which is set before us in the Word of God. And ye shall
teach them your children, speaking of them with our citizen in thine
house, When thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up, and thou shalt write them upon the doorposts
of thine house and upon thy gates, that your days may be multiplied
in the days of your children in the land which the Lord sware
unto your fathers to give them as the days of heaven upon the
earth." Well, how relevant it is in the day and age in which
we live, all of us, my friends. to be able to tell it to the
generation following. It's a wonderful blessing and
favour if the Lord has blessed us with that wonderful privilege
of walking about Zion, the Church of God and to observe the greatness
of our God and the blessedness of the Saviour and all the doctrines
which are encompassed in those great truths and to mark them
all out and to tell them to the generation following. And then
finally he says, for this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. Now the psalmist had his complete
confidence in his God. And what a mercy, my friends,
if you and I have our complete confidence in our God. Remember what? David said in
the 23rd Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. What was that? Confidence in
his God, wasn't it? And he tells us, he maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. The Lord was with him. The Lord
was leading and directing him. This God is our God forever and
ever. It's not a God that fades away. He's not a God of wooden stone.
He's the living God, the true God, the eternal God. This God
is our God. Now, you and I would only be
able to declare Him to be our God if we've been blessed with
this personal experience of walking about Zion and observing those
things which are there and considering them. and being blessed with
them, so they fed our souls. So we're able therefore to come
with a personal testimony, for this God is our God forever and
ever. This is the reason. Our confidence in Him is in our
God, because of what He's shown to us, because of what He reveals
to us. Friends, God does reveal Himself
to His people. He does reveal Himself. What
a wonderful thing it is. My friends, it's things, when
God reveals himself to us, we don't forget those occasions. We don't forget what he's spoken
to our hearts because they are from God and they've been applied
with power from on high. God, as it were, writes in our
heart his word. And it's like an iron pen writing
in the rock. An iron pen writing in the rock,
it leaves a mark, it's an indelible mark, isn't it? It's there, it
can't be erased. And that's so true with the things
of God when he speaks and works in our heart. Sometimes, you
know, there have been those people that have come down to old age
We may perhaps have been very muddled on the things in this
world, but it's been most remarkable when we've seen people like that
who've been clear in their minds with regards to the word of the
Lord. You see, it's been inscribed
in their heart. It's the Spirit's work and it's
there. And as such, there is that humble
confidence to be able to come and declare, well, by the grace
of God, I can say this. For this God is our God forever
and ever. He will be our guide, even unto
death. The Psalmist David was able to
declare it. And in the 89th Psalm, we also
read a very similar word as that, which is encouraging for us And
we read, I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right
hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me, thou art
my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Again, I believe
the spirit of God brings us to that place where we can say,
my father. Because of his work in our hearts,
Because as Christ has been revealed by the Holy Spirit, we can come
down and say, yes, my Father, for this God is our guide forever
and ever. He will be our guide. Just think
of that. As you and I come, and by God's
grace, we put our hand in the hand of our Savior. And he leads
us safely on. He won't make any mistake. in
your journey of life. We make mistakes because we do
not come as we should, committing all our way unto our God. We
often try and plan our own life. But my friends, may we come,
as the psalmist said, casting all your care upon him. Why? For he careth for you. Isn't
that humbling to think of that? That God cares for us. And He
cares for us so much that He's revealed Himself unto us as He
does not unto the world. Well, today, tonight, do we see
any beauty in Christ? Do we see any suitability in
Christ? Do we see the need for Him to
stand in our place? The need to take all our sins? because we cannot rid them ourselves. No, but we should thank God tonight
that we have such a saviour who is so willing, so willing to
die that we might receive that great gift of eternal life. He
might give his life that we might receive life. Now, if you and
I have a good hope in his grace, a good hope in his mercy, feel
a little of his love in our heart, being touched by the good hand
of our God, be able to recognise His grace within us, to be able
to come in and say with a holy confidence, He will be our guide. He will be our guide even unto
death. Write down my friends, to the
end of our journey, He will not leave us, I will not leave the
nor forsake thee." What a wonderful blessing it is to have a God
who does not leave us, who does not forsake us. Whatever our
condition, His promises are firm and true. He is faithful. And to come then back to this
first verse and be able then to declare, Great is the Lord
and great is to be praised. And may we all come there May
we all know what it is to bow down before our God with this
great desire to honour him, to exalt his name. Great is the
Lord and greatly to be praised. May we know it and may we desire
to be able to exalt his name. And so as we come together tonight,
to think on these words, gracious words, aren't they? To walk about
Zion, not be stationary, to move around, viewing the glories of
God, viewing His great work, the great work of salvation,
viewing His great favour of choosing lost mankind, looking to see His amazing love
to unworthy sinners, His great mercy, His shed blood, His atoning
blood, redemption, all our sins washed away, My friends, aren't
they great views? Aren't they great things to consider?
Aren't they glorious things? And so, may the Spirit of God
lead us into this path that we may have the evidence, the evidence
of God's work in our souls. There's nothing more important
in our lives than to see God's work in our souls. His work, His work, His work,
will stand. His work will bring a safe home
to glory, but it's so important that we have the evidence of
it in our souls. And friends, if we do not, may
we be found pleading earnestly that God will reveal himself
unto us as he does not unto the world, so that we may be able
to say that he is our salvation, sound to my soul. I am thy salvation. It's a personal application.
It's a personal word. And my friends, it comes with
the power of the Spirit of God. The blessing is, you and I cannot
resist that power. Oh no. That Spirit's work will
be performed, but it will be performed for this reason. bring
honour and glory to his great and holy name. And so here we
have this statement that he may tell it to the generation following. Oh may there be many who may
be able to come and to declare what he's done for our souls.
Come all you here that fear God and hear what he has done for
my soul, all the glorious times. My friends, and it's a wonderful
blessing to be able to declare what he's done for our souls.
There's a wonderful blessing in that. It's a relief to be
able to honor our God for what he's done for us. And what has
he done? He's given his life that we might
have life. What a debt we owe to that great God. And the Lord
tells us, or at least in the Old Testament, but it is the
Lord's, those that honour me, I will honour. And those that
despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Many people have despised the
greatness of God. They'd be more concerned about
their own skin, more concerned on putting on Christ, more concerned
about what people think, than what the Lord thinks. My friends,
may hearts be moved to be amongst those who are led into this path
that they may tell it to the generations following and have
that good answer in their hearts. For this God, this God who has
revealed himself to me, this God who has spoken to my soul,
This God who has given me a hope in his mercy, this God is our
God. And to say this God is my God,
forever and ever, he will be our God, even under death. And
you see with that evidence, we can have that confidence that
he will be with us throughout our life and take us safe into
glory to be forever with the Lord. Amen.