May it please God to bless us
this morning as we consider his word. Let us turn to the book
of Psalms, Psalm 115 and we'll read the first verse. Psalm 115
and reading the first verse. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake." This was the prayer of the psalmist
and what a good thing it will be if this is our prayer. Our prayer, our concern that
God receives the honour and glory due to his great and holy name. It's not that which is to us,
but it's that which is for the honour and glory of God. And so we see this statement
that the psalmist says, not unto us, Oh Lord, not unto us. Now, naturally of course, we
often seek honour and glory for ourselves. And a word like this
is so needful, especially perhaps in the day and age in which we
live, because we live in a very material day. And so often, people
are looking around that they might receive acclamation and
encouragement perhaps from other people in things in this life. But you see, the great and important
issue to the Church of God is that in our lives our concern
might be that God's name might receive the honour and the glory. This is no new theme. This is
the Old Testament theme. It is a theme throughout the
Word of God. It is that which is so, so necessary
for us to remember, and especially as we think of the great favour
the Church of God has with regards to the blessing granted to us
through the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is important that we always
have that in our view. I'm sure that would influence
our lives very much if we had before our eyes what the Saviour
went through in order to save our souls. Truly, Paul was so
right when he said that we might consider Him, and not just when
we gather together for worship, but day by day, as we go about
our various callings, whatever that may be, to consider the
Lord Jesus Christ so that He might be lifted up and honoured
and glorified. We read together that chapter
in Ezekiel, or at least part of that chapter in Ezekiel. And that spoke really in a very
similar way where he said, the prophet spoke and in the 22nd
verse he says, therefore say unto the house of Israel. He
was told to speak to the house of Israel. This wasn't to the
heathen people. It was to the House of Israel
in a specific way. Thus saith the Lord God. And
he again confirms it wasn't as it were his words, it was the
word of God. I do not this for your sakes,
O House of Israel, but for mine holy namesake. And then he goes on, which ye
have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went." Well, that's
a very striking and searching thought, isn't it? Because today
we move among the heathen of necessity. We live in the world
and we live amongst the heathen. And so we have this statement
here, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whether ye
went." And I suppose we might think, well, I don't think that's
true of me. I don't think I profane the name
of our God. Sometimes we do it inadvertently. That means that we go along,
as it were, with the spirit of the world We follow the inclinations
of the world. We follow, perhaps, the things
that they follow. And, in effect, what is that
profaning? The name of the Lord. You see,
the religion of the Church of God doesn't stop when Sunday
finishes. It doesn't stop when we meet
with the world. The religion of the Church of
God should be that which is 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
And we should therefore be concerned that our lives do demonstrate
and do show forth the praises of our God because of what He
has done. because of his great love for
our worthy sinners, because of the great redemption which he
has granted to his church. These are the things which should
dominate our lives and our thoughts and our conversations. Because
these are the things which bring honour and glory to our God. Let us not forget then what is
said here, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory. That was this real prayer. And
over that there might be a continual prayer with us, not just something
in passing that we acknowledge as a true word, about that, it
might be the name of our God. Thy name give glory. Give glory
to God. Give glory to God. We'll come
on to this in a moment for His mercy, but give glory to God
for the many things that we receive day by day. How reluctant we
are, is it not true, reluctant we are to give glory to God. How many people today, in the position that you and I walk
in, would have any knowledge that we were professing the name
of Christ? You might say, well I hope my
walk testifies to that. Well I hope it does. It would
be a terrible shame and disgrace if our walk did not demonstrate
whose we are. But also, might our conversation
demonstrate whose we are in desiring to give glory to God. And that means not to take credit
ourselves. When people say, oh that was
well done, you've done very well, Do we give credit to God? Do
you give credit to this great and holy name for the help he's
given to us? Most of us I guess have taken
exams in our life and well, no doubt there have been those failures
but also there's been perhaps those successes and people may
have said Oh, well done. Has our response been to give
glory to God? Or have we credited ourselves
with our ability? Now, here was his prayer. Not
unto us, O Lord. And the psalmist repeats it. It was so important, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. Of course that doesn't just relate
to exams that we might take. It relates to many things in
our lives, doesn't it? We might think perhaps quite
small things. And you women might think of
it when you cook and you cook a good meal. And the response
is, well that's well done, we really enjoyed that. Again, is
glory given to God for the help given in preparing that meal. This is very easy to take credit
ourselves. And that's just what the devil
wants. The devil doesn't want the name of God, honoured and
glorified. So then as we carry out our working
life, those things which we are able to do and we are commended
for, do we instantly give God the glory. You see we find ourselves
today relatively living in a dark place. And perhaps it's principally
because the Church of God's light is not very bright. It's not
shining very well. And there isn't that concern
like the psalmist had here for the glory of God. and that we're
content to carry along and live our life and hopefully we're
able to just carry on without people causing us too much problem. Perhaps we think today, well,
we don't find there's very much persecution. Well, to the large
extent, in our country today there's not. But it may be because
we're not honouring our God in the way that we should. Because
if we were more to acknowledge the help and the glory of God,
would that not perhaps bring into our lives persecution? You only have to follow really
the lives recorded in the word of God, how they were able to
testify of the help God had given, especially the life of the Apostle
Paul. He was not backward, was he,
in proclaiming what the Lord had done for him, the help he
received, wherever it was. Yes, before a few or before a
multitude, he was very moved by the Spirit to give a good
testimony of what the Lord Jesus Christ meant to him, how he was
converted, how he'd been encouraged and how precious the Lord was.
This was his life. This was a testimony of the Apostle. And we shouldn't think that those
days have ceased. We should recommend that these
days are the same. And we need therefore to show
forth the honour and glory of our God. And so we have these
words here this morning. Not unto us, O Lord, Not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. Here's that. Has there ever been your prayer
or my prayer? Have we ever prayed like that? See, many of these psalms are
prayers. And they're there for our example. To show to us how we should pray
and what we should pray for. And often we may find that we
don't follow it out as we should. Ezekiel in an earlier chapter
recalls what happened with regards to Israel. He tells them why
deliverance came. He says, but they rebelled against
me and would not hearken unto me. They did not every man cast away
the abominations of their eyes." Their eyes, don't forget that.
Neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. That means the
idols of the world. Then I said, I will pour out
my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the
midst of the land of Egypt. but I wrought for my name's sake
that it should not be polluted before the heathen among whom
they were in whose side I made myself known unto them in bringing
them forth out of the land of Egypt." The Lord demonstrated
very clearly before that heathen land that he was the Lord and
Israel were brought out very gloriously and very wonderfully
and the prophet goes on to say wherefore I caused them to go
forth out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness
and I gave them my statutes and showed them my judgments which
if a man do, he shall even live in them." Well, it's a wonderful
testimony that we have in the word of God how the Lord did
come and did deliver his people and it was for a purpose. And
that purpose was for his honour and for his glory. Now you may
remember that in the Acts of the Apostles there was that king
Herod. And of course, Herod was not
a good king. And we read what happened in
the end of Herod's life. You know, the people were praising,
praising this king for what he'd done. And we read, and upon a
set day, Herod, arrayed in royal apparel sat upon the throne and
made an oration unto them and the people gave a shout saying
it is the voice of a God and not of man. And what was he doing? He was taking glory to himself. Glory to himself. We might say
well I'm not a king and I'm not arrayed in robes and I don't
take that position myself. Well, just be very careful and
analyse your life, because it may be that people do exalt you
for what you've done, and you may take credit yourself for
it, rather than giving credit to
God. What happens to King Herod? immediately the angel of the
Lord smote him. Why? Because he gave not God
the glory. It's a very striking word, isn't
it? That comes very close to us, doesn't it? In our lives,
perhaps there have been many occasions when we should have
given the glory to God. We should have given the glory
to God. But we didn't. Well, have we
been struck down like Herod was? And what happened to Herod? And
he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost because he did not
give glory to God. He took it himself. I really
feel today, the most important consideration, in the world in
which we live, it's so easy to take glory to ourselves, rather
than giving glory to the Lord God. Now, God is a jealous God, and
God is jealous for His glory. We're apt to forget that. We're
apt to place God alongside ourselves and think that we are equal with
God. The truth is, we are very small. And God is very high and
great. And God is very holy. And we
are very unholy. and how we ought to then realise
the relevance of such words as this, the prayer as this, not
unto us, O God, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. Now, he gives us then two points
in particular why we should give glory to God. For thy mercy and
for thy truth's sake. for thy mercy. That's why we
should give glory to God for his mercy. Well, there are many
things in the mercy of God. The mercy of God in our physical
being. The mercy of God toward us that
we are able to gather here this morning to worship. Well, are we given thanks for
the privilege we have of being here this morning? And do we desire to give God
the glory for the privilege which is ours? We shouldn't forget
that there are millions and billions in the world who do not enjoy
this favour and this privilege, but are happy to go on in their
own way, Well, do we give glory for this
mercy, for this favour, for this blessing of being able to come
here for our very being, for our health, for our strength? Sometimes we forget to thank
God until we're ill and we suddenly realise we haven't thanked God
as we should have done. We haven't thanked God for his
mercy. We haven't given God the glory for his mercy to us in
giving us health and strength every single day. As we wake up in the morning,
it's because God has given us health and strength. Some more,
some less. But nonetheless, in measure,
All of us here this morning are blessed with His mercy. We're
not lying on a bed, are we? That we can't get up from. We
all got up this morning. We've all come here. Do we give
God the glory for this great blessing? My friends, let us
not forget He is worthy of all honour and all glory. Not only then we might say this
natural being and health and strength and the comforts of
our natural life. Again, it's so easy to just absorb
these things. Warm homes, heating in our homes,
clothes to wear, so that we can keep warm. We've got more than
rags on our back, haven't we? very many comforts we have. Do we give glory to the Lord
for his mercy to us in this respect? These are all natural things,
but they're all given to us by the good hand of our God. Then,
more especially, do we give thanks to the Lord for his mercy in
granting us the truth of the gospel. Again, there are many
people in the world today who have never heard of the gospel. Week by week, you come, you hear
the gospel, week by week. Do you thank God for it, for
his mercy to you, that you weren't born in some place where the
gospel had never reached. To give thanks today for this
mercy. You have heard the gospel. And then, what a blessing if
the news of that gospel has penetrated into your heart. and you've been brought to that
knowledge of your need of a Saviour. What has that been? That's been
the moving of the Spirit of God. As the Apostle wrote to the Ephesians,
and you hath he quickened or made alive who were dead in trespasses
and in sins. Have you received that mercy? Have you given God the glory
for it? And it's come, and it's true of you today. You're able
to say, yes, by the grace of God, I have been quickened into
life. What a mercy. for his name, for his truth's
sake, thy name, give glory. Now it's nothing in you, was
it, that brought that about? It wasn't your strength, it wasn't
your ability, it wasn't your will, it was the will of your
gracious God. Come and say therefore, I believe,
if that has come into our hearts, We shall be moved to pray like
this. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name. Give glory for thy mercy, for
thy mercy in showing me my true state, my true state. And then, what cause for blessing
and praise to God if he has led you to the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you have, by God-given faith,
beheld the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. You have beheld the Lamb of God
as your Saviour? What is it? The mercy of God. Have you deserved it? Have you
merited it? The mercy of God. And so then,
is it your concern to come and say, but answer thy name, give
glory for thy mercy in revealing the Lord Jesus Christ to my soul
as my salvation. Oh, what a blessed situation,
what a blessed favour. That is, and it is because of
God's mercy. That Jesus has been made something
to you, and he's been made to you your
Saviour and in saving your souls what the Lord Jesus passed through.
Yes, it was a great cost and it would be a great blessing
if God is merciful and reveals to us something of that great
cost of our salvation. The value, the importance, the
wonder of it Almighty God should have condescended to come into
this world for that divine purpose of revealing Himself to our souls,
of dying for us upon that cross at Calvary. Oh, what a mercy
this is, isn't it? Now, moved by the Holy Spirit,
which it is, you and I, my friends in this place, are in this place
because we've been moved by the Holy Spirit. And because we've
been moved by the Holy Spirit, our concern must be then that
the Lord's name may be glorified. And you will desire, I believe,
truly and honestly, that you won't receive any acclamation
because of it. And you'll understand why the
psalmist spoke in these words and repeated them. Not unto us,
O Lord, not under ashes, but you can almost imagine him fearful
of claiming any glory himself, fearful of getting any acknowledgement
that was any good in himself. No, he was concerned for the
glory of God. But unto thy name give glory
for thy mercy. Well, a mercy then in the Spirit
of God revealing the Lord Jesus Christ to us, as our Saviour,
and revealing to us the great cost of our salvation. And you
know, if that is so, you know where you'll be, won't you? You'll
be at Calvary. You'll be at Calvary. Yes, you'll
be seeing what the Saviour did. By faith, you'll be looking to
the cross. By faith you'll see that the
burden of sin rolled away. By faith you'll see the Saviour's
glorious, wonderful, atoning death, able to deliver from all
sin. Yes, your view, the streams of
mercy there, the streams of mercy revealed, in the shed blood of
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Unto thy name. Yes, and it won't
be hard then to exalt the blessed Saviour for what he's done. And
the Spirit of God will move us in this way. Yes, unto thy name. Saint, give glory for thy mercy. the means of His grace. Grace
will take on a very different aspect. It may be a familiar
word, grace. Grace of course is the unmerited
favour of God, but when the Spirit of God applies His work in our
hearts, grace becomes real, this unmerited favour. and you will
stand amazed and you will bless God for it and you will praise
God for it and you will come like this and say but unto thy
name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake it'll
be when the Spirit of God shows you where you've been a wretched,
hell-deserving sinner And you're brought to that place where you've
got no hope in yourself. And then you look to the Saviour.
Oh, the mercy. What is it? Free and sovereign
grace. A precious theme. You'll bless
God for it. You'll praise God for it. And
then there will be the hope of His mercy in bringing you safe
homes of glory. God's people are looking forward
to their eternal home. This is not our rest, we will
read, this is not your rest, it is polluted. We read that
in Micah, it is polluted and this world is a polluted place
and it will be a blessing when the Lord God through his mercy
shows you how polluted it is and directs you to that heavenly
place of glory which is pure, where there is no pollution there,
there is no sin, eternal happiness, peace, eternal peace, what a
place that is, and Jesus in the midst. Yes, that will be glory
Be glory for me. The mercy of God, surely cause
to praise Him. Unto thy name give glory. Not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us. No, but unto thy name. Give all the honour and all the
glory. For that great plan of salvation,
for all that the Lord has done, in looking upon us from the moment
we were born to the present moment of time and then looking forward. Yes, putting all our trust in
Him. What a blessing it is. We read together the favour of
those who trust in the Lord and the psalmist went down that list
that we read together. And he spoke about Israel. Oh Israel, trust in the Lord. House of Aaron, trust in the
Lord. You that fear the Lord, trust
in the Lord. And he was able to declare he
is their help and their shield. And if we're able to declare
these words that the psalmist commenced this chapter with,
also we will be able by faith God-given faith, the mercy of
the Lord give us that faith to be able to come and say, yes,
ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help
and their shield. And what did the psalmist go
on to testify? The Lord hath been mindful of
us. He will bless us. There was the
evidence of that which had occurred, and the confidence of that which
would occur. As the Lord has helped us hitherto,
can we not be encouraged to believe he will help us all our journey
through. And as the hymn writer said,
give us daily cause to raise new Ebenezers to his praise.
That of course refers to that stone that was taken and placed
to be a reminder that the Lord had helped them hither to. Good
thing if you and I have occasions and perhaps things that we are
able to place that remind us of the Lord's goodness, of the
Lord's mercy. Remind us to praise and bless
His name. So here, He will bless us. He will bless the House of Israel.
He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear
the Lord, both small and great. This is the word of God. This
is the truth of God. That's why we have this continuation. And for thy truth's sake. That's a great reason. for us
to come and give glory to God for the truth's sake and this
is the truth of God we have here before them the confidence that
the psalmist had that he proved the help of God and he believed
that he would continue to prove it the Lord would therefore not
leave him and he was able to come and say yes he he will bless
them that fear the Lord both small and great He won't leave
us. He won't forsake us. And that
will mean, what that will mean is this. We shall be blessed with spiritual
growth and a greater knowledge of Christ. And I believe that
will be the concern of the living soul. It will be a pressing the
order mark set before us in the gospel. It will be a concern
to know more of Christ. that we might spiritually grow
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ and for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. And we have a blessing, don't
we, in the truth's sake because there are so many prophecies
in the Word of God which have been gloriously fulfilled. It's
God's truth being performed. What he has said will come to
pass. What he has spoken to you and
to me in our spiritual life will come to pass. The Lord cannot
fail. What he has spoken will come
to pass. And also perhaps things in providence
in our lives, promises he may have given, come to pass. Why will it come to pass? because
God is true. God is true. Yes, he will not
forsake us. He cannot forsake his people
because he's promised to bring them safely through for thy truth's
sake. And so we have great reason,
do we not, this morning to echo this prayer from our heart, not
unto us, O Lord, Not unto us. No, Lord, let me not take any
glory or any praise. But, and may this be a real,
real prayer, but unto thy name, the name of Jesus, the name of
our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, unto thy name give glory
for thy mercy. Do you know it? Do you praise
God for it? and for thy truth's sake. Do
you thank God for it? May you have confidence, therefore,
to rest in God's truth, knowing that His Word will never fail. Amen.