Let us commence our worship this
afternoon with hymn number 904, tune Astley Park, 705. O Lord, with shame I do confess
my universal emptiness, my poverty and pride. I cannot keep Thee
in my sight, nor can I think one thought aright, unless Thy
Spirit guide. Hymn 904 I do confess my universal emptiness,
my home of beauty and pride. I cannot leave thee in my sight,
Nor can I take one foot aright, Unless thy spirit dies. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, I cannot think and feel the air.
Nor can I sing in heav'nly cheer. But bless the Lord be kind. O God, keep it well, the spirit
of it, we cannot bear, the proudest genocide. ? The Lord God raised to life the
dead ? ? But He who raised Him self-willed me ? ? And for death
sinners died ? ? And then this mighty Jesus be
? ? And all salvation and glory ? ? Create in power and will
? ? Thy grace, O Christ, can change
the world ? ? Give freedom joy, and freedom go ? ? And this the
final hour of our lives ? We read together this afternoon
two psalms. Firstly, Psalm 86 and then Psalm
145. Psalm 86. Bow down thine ear,
O Lord. Hear me. for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am holy. O thou my God, save thy servant
that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord,
for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant,
For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and
ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call
upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplication, In the day of my
trouble I will call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me. Among
the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord, neither are there
any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made
shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify
thy name. for thou art great and doest
wondrous things. Thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth. Unite
my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my
God, with all my heart. and I will glorify thy name forevermore. For great is thy mercy toward
me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. O God, the proud are risen against
me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul,
and have not set thee before me. that thou, O Lord, art a God
full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous
in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and have mercy
upon me, give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son
of thine handmaid. Show me a token for good, that
they which hate me may see it and be ashamed, because thou,
Lord, hast holpen me and comforted me. Now Psalm 145. I will extol thee,
my God, O King, and I will bless thy name forever
and ever. Every day will I bless thee,
and I will praise thy name forever and ever. Great is the Lord,
and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy
works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious
honor of thy majesty and of thy wondrous works. The men shall
speak of the might of thy terrible acts, and I will declare thy
greatness. They should abundantly utter
the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy. The Lord
is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy work shall praise thee,
O Lord, thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the
glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy power. To make known to the sons of
men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord upholdeth all that fall,
and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee. Thou givest them their meat in
due season. Thou openest thine hand, and
satisfyest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all
his ways and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon him, to all them, to all that call upon him in
truth. He will fulfill the desire of
them that fear him. He also will hear their cry. and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them
that love him, but all the wicked will he destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise
of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and
ever. May God bless to us the reading
of his holy word, and help us to pray. Dear Lord, almighty God in heaven,
we do ask once more for thy help to come before thee. Dear Lord,
teach us what we need. You give us each the hearts of
prayer, Lord, we pray that we might each be enabled to pour
out our hearts unto Thee. We thank Thee, Lord, for Thy
word. We thank Thee that Thou wilt hear the cry of those who
call upon Thee, that Thou hast promised to deliver all those
who call upon Thy holy name. Lord, we do pray that we might
to be given more faith in our prayers. Lord, may we be kept from wavering,
may we be kept from unbelief. Lord, help us to acknowledge
that with God nothing shall be called impossible. Lord, do increase
our faith. Lord, may we be found more often Do give us, Lord, that humility
that we need, that humility that is not within us by nature. Lord,
may we be humble before thee. May we know that thou art high,
though the Lord be high, yet fully have respect unto the lowly. Lord, make us lowly. Keep us
lowly. Lord, keep us from the pride
within. Keep us from thinking something
of ourselves. May we become like thy servant
Paul, though I be nothing. Lord, may we be nothing in ourselves. Lord, may we have that hope in
the great Saviour, The four great sinners. O Lord, we pray that
we might have our all in Thee, that all our trust might be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
keep us from trusting anything short of Thee. Keep us from trusting in an arm
of flesh, and trusting in others. Lord, keep us from a sandy foundation. Lord, may we each be found upon
the rock that is Christ. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
forgive anything amiss in our service here this morning. Lord,
do take away from our minds anything wrong in thy We pray that there
might be something that remains with us. We especially pray,
Lord, that each one of us, in thy time and in thy way, might
be brought feelingly to realize that we are sinners, that we
have come short of the glory of God, that the wages of sin
is death. May we know that gift of God
repentance, and forgiveness, and eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Lord, we do pray that each one
of us might know these things for ourselves. We do pray, O
Lord, that we might each be taught by the Holy Spirit. Lord, make us teachable, and do lead us into thy truth.
That which we see not, do teach us, Lord, we pray. You do lead
us in the way everlasting. We pray, O Lord, that we might
each be kept from false confidences, kept from being deceived, kept
from putting off the things of God. Lord, that we might be found
seeking earnestly after The Lord, if thou hast not already put
within us each an urgent presence, that we might be found striving
unto that hope that is set forth in the gospel. Lord, we do pray
that we might each have that preparation
for eternity, in so much the more as we see the day approaching. Lord, we would bear before Thee
each one. Once more we pray for the children,
the little ones, and the young people. Lord, we do pray that
Thou wouldst indeed bless them and teach them of the truth as it is in Jesus. You help them day by day, show
them what is right and wrong. Keep them from the many evils
that are about. Lord, we do pray that there might
be those raised up, a generation full of them. We pray for those in the midst
of life with responsibilities in their employment, in the family, in the church, in all various
pathways that we are reaching. For they'll know us the things
that we have need of. They'll know us all that of ourselves
we are insufficient. We pray that we might find our
sufficiency that is of God. We pray for those who are older,
those who feel a weakness, an affliction, Those, Lord, who
must, have been drawing near the end, although we do not know
when that time will come for us each. We pray, Lord, that
we might each know and feel Thy presence, know that safety on
earth and after death, the plenitude of heaven. May we each have that
place prepared for us above, and all whatever pathways we
are called to walk on this earth, May it be, but rather rejoice,
because your names are written in heaven. And all we do, pray
thy blessing in the church. We pray, my dear friend, thy
servant, the pastor, that you strengthen and sustain him in his ministry here and wherever
he preaches in thy name. Lord, as there has been that
time of great sorrow and bereavement and loneliness for him, we do
draw near in a special way. We do pray that he might be truly
upheld, to find that underneath are the everlasting arms, that
he know thy blessing in his own soul. May there be that power
effect by the preaching of the Word. May he have that encouragement
that he has not spent his strength in vain. May there be that time
of real spiritual prosperity. Lord, we pray for the deacons. We do ask, Lord, that thou wouldst
help them and uphold them in all that they do. The Lord do help them each in
their other responsibilities, the committees, and all that
that means. The Lord do help them and give
them wisdom and grace in all these things. Lord,
we do pray that there will be unity and peace in the church.
May there be that. Seeking after peace and pursuing
May there be that endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit.
May there be that flowing together of love with each other and the
Lord. And we do pray likewise for each. The cause of truth, wherever
thy people gather. And all we are in a low place,
though we have so much to be thankful for. Though we are thankful
that there are those They're here and there, and they're gathered
into the church here below. Lord, we pray that we might yet
see more. We pray that as we see these drops of mercy falling
around us, we might see indeed the great showers of blessing.
Lord, it is Thy work alone, and we do not deserve it. Lord, we
pray for us, for Jesus' sake, according to the riches of thy
mercy. Lord, we do pray that we might
yet see better days in those places that are brought very
low. Lord, turn us again, cause thy
face to shine, and we shall be saved. Lord, as we see continually
those The churches are being closed down. Lord in thy mercy
could it please you that there might be many gathered in, that
we might not have to close chapels but to open them. All these things to our poor
unbelieving hearts seem almost impossible. Lord thou art able. These things have been done in
the past. We do pray that thou wilt yet look upon us in mercy.
and hear the cry of the little man, and yet grant that real
revival in the churches, in our nation, and with ourselves personally. We do pray for thy people, especially
who suffer in poverty, those who are persecuted, those living
in warfare, in famine, in hardship, Lord, how much we have in our
own land to be truly thankful for. How easy it is, Lord, for
us to take these things for grant. Help us, rather, to give unto
thee the glory that is due unto thy name. We pray for those in
mission we were, and those who seek to be a help to thy people.
We pray for the Mombasa Mission, FGA, and others There are many,
no doubt, not known to us, who seek to take thy word to various
parts of the earth. Lord, as we think closer to home,
we think of the villages, the cities, the towns in our own
land, and what a falling away from thy word. How few there
are to be found with that desire to worship thee. Pray, Lord,
that the uncertain, changing, solemn times we are living through,
might be used of many to consider what shall be the end of these
things? What must I do to be safe? They'll all gather in,
many, from the highways and the hedges that might be compelled
to come in, to bring back those who have gone away from thy house,
and may there be that which causes them to return, and keeps them
to thy house once more. Nor do any have a particular
need, any who are sad, cast down, lonely, any who feel to be forgotten. Nor may they hear thee say, O
Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. Lord, we do pray for Thy blessing upon Thy Word this
afternoon. Lord, how we need Thy help. We
pray that Thou wouldst open our hearts to receive the Word, open
our eyes to see and our ears to hear. Lord, may Thou worship the poor
sinful creatures be acceptable in thy sight. Lord, we do pray that each one
of us might know thy forgiveness, might be found washed in the
blood of the Lamb. So Lord, now do help us each. We think, Lord, once more of
our family, those in our government, those who have the authority
May we all be helped to pray for them and continue in prayer.
In all what sad and solemn days we are living through. Nor is
there a purpose for us to be placed upon the earth at this
time. May we be among that, a very little remnant. Lord accept thou
has left us a very little remnant. We should have been like unto
Solomon, like unto Gomorrah. Lord, help us to go on in prayer,
to pray without ceasing, to pray with faith, that those in the
authority over us might have their eyes open to know the one
true, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. We pray for our
new Prime Minister in the cabinet, Lord, in all their confusion,
all their need. Lord, do show them what to do.
Help them to do what is truly for our good. Lord, we pray that
we might be kept from further falling in the ways of evil. Those things even, Lord, that
have been brought into law recently, perhaps now for many years, that
are contrary to thy word might be turned back, and that we might
once more have those laws which are founded upon thy word. And so, Lord, do we hear our
poor prayers, make up for that which we have failed to ask for,
and Lord, do we forgive our every sin, we ask all things, For Christ's
sake. Amen. Hymn number 612, tune Gadsby
830. In every believer two armies
are seen, the new man of grace and the old man of sin. In Christ he is perfect and free
from all guilt, yet in himself evils are both seen. and felt, hymn 612. ? I hear that old praise song in
the meadow still ? ? In my city so fair, where the fields are
green ? ? In my city so fair, where the fields are green ?
? And the roots be undone ? ? As
one in the lowly ? ? As one in the lowly ? ? With the angelic
host ? ? As in the first place ? ? Rejoice, world, rejoice ?
? And rising in glory as in all
the world ? ? May you rise, Jesus, and reign forevermore ? ? And mortals shall flee ? ? Let
sin and death save him ? ? And mortals shall flee ? ? For there
may be one day ? ? Our God and King ? ? In the manger of his heavenly
abode ? ? Yes, such is the power of the Lord ? ? His eyes on all the need ? ?
Are his only sting ? ? For the sin and temptation ? ? That makes
us human ? ? This Christmas time ? ? God our
Lord ? ? Have mercy tonight ? ? Heavenly peace ? ? On him ? ? Heaven and earth ?
? With praise ? of the world. The dependence upon the Lord
for his help would ask you to turn to the first psalm that
we read, Psalm 86, and reading verse 15. Psalm 86, verse 15. But thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion and gracious. long-suffering, and plenteous
in mercy and truth. But thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. This morning we had a man full
of leprosy. This afternoon we have a God
full of compassion. What a difference, what a contrast
between the two. What a vast distance there is
between the poor leprous, filthy, vile sinner, and the great, almighty,
holy, holy Lord God of heaven. And yet, what is the truth of
the gospel? But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes were far off and made nigh by the blood of Christ. The text we have before us here
speaks of mercy, of plenteous mercy. Mercy that a God so full of compassion
takes knowledge of men, women, boys and girls, full of sin.
That is the beauty of the gospel that we have. It's a gospel for
sinners. It speaks of the love of Christ
to sinners. And that is our only hope. As we said this morning, we can
have no hope within anything that we have done or could do
ourselves. It is all of grace. A God full
of compassion and gracious. We have, I think, five times.
I think it comes in the Psalms each time. A God full of compassion. David here, of course, writing
this psalm, knew these things personally for himself. David, as we touched on this
morning, knew what trouble was. He knew what need was. He knew
what it was to feel that he was a sinner. And he knew the Lord's
love and compassion and kindness to him. He knew the Lord's long
suffering. How many times he stumbled and
fell. And we haven't got any stones
to throw at him for that. But he found a God full of compassion,
gracious, long-suffering, plenteous, in mercy and truth. David, as he comes to this psalm,
he says, I am poor and needy. What does the poor and needy,
the sinner need? Perhaps that is how you come
to chapel this afternoon. The poor and needy. You need
a God full of compassion. A God who is able to do for you
all that you need. Do those things that you perhaps
don't even know that you need. But he knows all things. He knows
what is for your good. I am poor and needy. It just
comes to my mind concerning the poor and the needy. Just to pause
here for a moment, perhaps this that describes you well. Perhaps
you are like that one who is hungering and thirsting after
Christ. When the poor and the needy seek
water and there is none. Well, it might be one of you
that there is none, still seeking rest and finding none, going
to look for the sign of a cloud Again and again, there is nothing. When the poor and the needy seek
water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst,
ready to give up, ready to perish, feeling without hope. I, the Lord, will hither. I, the God of Israel, will not
forsake. I will open rivers in high places,
The Lord has promised this God full of compassion, has promised
that those who are poor and needy will be delivered. There will
be that answer to your poor sighs and groans. David, hear, bow
down thine ear. O Lord, hear me, for I am poor
and needy. For David with all his needs,
he perhaps Felt that he couldn't lift up so much as a word up
to heaven. We think of a little child going
to their parent. And that parent bows down their
ear to hear what that little one has to say. Perhaps too afraid
to say anything out loud. Perhaps they can't get a word
out. Perhaps they're upset. That parent bows down their ear
to hear what they have to say. And so we have it here. The Father
which is in heaven, bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me. For I am poor and needy. Notice this, as David pleads
with the Lord to hear his poor prayers, hear his groans, his
sighs. He doesn't say, I have done this,
I have done that, I have done this, it is worthy that thou
shouldest hear my prayers. He just says this, I am poor
and needy. Well, not to go over what we
tried to speak from this morning, but we have to come just as we
are. We have to come as poor and needy
sinners because that is what we are. And it is poor and needy
sinners whom the Lord delights to have mercy upon. I am poor and needy. be merciful
unto me. You notice how David speaks in
such a personal way. He needs the Lord to be merciful
to him. It is he who feels his need of
mercy. He sees the God full of compassion,
plenteous in mercy. He believes that God is full
of compassion and has all these. great gifts to bestow upon his
people. He says, let me know them for
myself. Speak to me, say unto my soul
that I am thy salvation. Well, may you and I know more
of this personal religion. Speak to me as the hymn in the
Young People's Hymnbook. And every verse ends with these
words, O speak to me, O let us ever hear thy voice in mercy
to us speak. Be merciful unto me, give ear
unto my prayer. I will call upon me for thou
wilt answer me. What a wonderful thing that when
we come to almighty God with our poor You feel all prayers
that we perhaps cannot even think of as prayers that the Lord has
promised to answer. It does not mean that his answer
will be what we expect. It does not mean that he will
say yes to everything that we ask for. He has promised to answer
all those that call upon him in truth. How great is his goodness,
for thou art great. and doest wondrous things, thou
art God alone. We have here one who is poor
and needy, and the great almighty God of heaven, Father, Son, and
the Holy Ghost. And it came in, I think, the
other psalm that we read, His great goodness. his great goodness,
his greatness towards all that call upon him. For thou art great, great is
thy mercy toward me. We want to pause here, quickly thinking
of this text, a God full of compassion. And as it comes in verse 30,
The great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my
soul from the lowest hell. Here it speaks of a great deliverance. It speaks of one who is running
headlong into hell and delivered from it, delivered from the power
of death by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thou hast delivered
my soul. Well, how many here can say the
same concerning yourselves, leaving aside David? Do we know these
things personally? Thou hast delivered my soul from
the lowest hell. You go through to Ephesians chapter
two and you see Once we were like this. Once we were going
in the ways of sin and death. Once a slave to sin and Satan
and we liked it well. Once we were without hope and
without God in the world. It keeps coming in, but now in
Christ Jesus. Ye who sometimes were far off,
but made nigh. Thou hast delivered my soul. What do we have? Here we have
the compassion of God. I think it's Job chapter 33. Job was one, like David, who
knew what real trouble was. Job was one who was chaste and
sore, who knew The great trouble without and within. But he speaks
of the Lord's dealings with his people. If there be a messenger
with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand to show unto
man his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him. A God full
of compassion and gracious. Then he is gracious unto him.
And saith, deliver him. that from going down to the pit,
or as we have it in the psalm, to the lowest hell, that I have
found a ransom. So to speak, with the Lord's
help for a few moments, particularly of our text as it concerns the
Lord Jesus Christ himself, the ransom that was paid for sinners,
we are told, right through the Old Testament as it was prophesied,
concerning the Messiah, the one who would come to deliver, to
save his people from their sins. And in that day, what a day it
was. And in that day, there should
be a fountain opened, the house of David into the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness. A fountain open
for sin and for uncleanness. A fountain open for unclean sinners. A fountain open for those who
are full of leprosy. There is that fountain, open. The fountain is open for sin
and thousands. Its virtues have proved. A God
full of compassion. Well, is it your desire that
he will take you and plunge you therein and wash you from guilt
in his blood? The ransom price that was paid,
the Lord Jesus, as he came to this earth, he was born that
he might die. And he died that we might live,
that all that leprous souls might have an eternal life, that I
have found a ransom, that what the Lord Jesus had to endure,
that that price, that debt of sin might be paid. And you know, this morning we
considered a little of how much the debt of sin that we owe. And you know, I'm sure if we
had more than a glimpse of our own sin personally before a holy
God, then I'm sure if we had any more than a glimpse it would
crush us. And yet just think of what the Lord Jesus had to
endure for each one of his sinful people, each of that multitude
that no man can number. But he was to pay that ransom
price, he was to deliver that great multitude from going down
into the pit. You know, we've been thinking
today of sinners full of leprosy, full of sin, a God full of compassion. That's just on sacred ground for a moment. Consider the Lord Jesus in his
suffering. It was indeed, I think, in one
of the psalms, the messianic psalms that speaks of the sufferings
of the Lord Jesus, Psalm 69. And there we see set forth, though
a psalm of David, we see the sufferings that the Lord Jesus
would have to endure. The sinking into deep mine, the
deep waters, the floods, the overflow. But then he says this
later, a reproach. Verse 20, Psalm 69, reproach
that hath broken my heart and I am full of heaviness. Have you ever known what it is
to have your heart broken considering the sufferings of the Lord Jesus?
Considering that great weight of sin that he bore, the darkness
that he had to walk through. That one who had done no sin,
neither was any guile found in his mouth. The reproach that
hath broken my heart. You know, by nature, none of
us are very good at dealing with reproach. And how much the Lord
Jesus had to endure, we can never know. that his dear heart was
broken to when he bore the curse for you. There we have that great
difference, that contrast. He and me, when he bore that
curse for you, reproach hath broken my heart and I am full. of heaviness. Well, there are
times in our lives when we come into places where we feel heaviness,
where we feel to be weighed down, perhaps with our situation, perhaps
with our troubles and trials, perhaps with our sin, the great
burden of sin, that weight that we cannot manage. We think of
what the saviour bore, in the gloomy garden that I am full
of heaviness, as it was said concerning the Lord Jesus in
the garden of Gethsemane. As he went forth, as he was really
forsaken by those who followed him, they could not keep their
eyes open. He began to be sorrowful and
very heavy. Perhaps this afternoon one of
you is sorrowful. Perhaps another one is very heavy.
Perhaps you're both. Think of the Lord Jesus. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing
if we were able to walk a little, a few steps into the Garden of
Gethsemane, to see the Lord Jesus and his sufferings, and to have
that little hope that it was for us. In those times when we
may feel to be afflicted, that we might feel pain and to realize
what pain and what sorrow and distress the Lord Jesus endured. He endured the hiding of his
father's face, the wrathful anger, the justice of God poured out
upon him as he saw that which we would have to bear. No wonder
he says, I am full of heaviness. And there is that hymn that says
that his way was much rougher and darker than mine. And you know, we sometimes have
a rough and dark path to walk to, to walk through. Where are we to go? To a God
full of compassion, to a Savior who walked a way that was much
rougher Much darker than us. Did Christ my Lord suffer? And
shall I reply? Reproach hath broken my heart,
and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none. And for comforters, but I found
none. And those times when we feel
to be forsaken, we feel to be alone. Remember these three words,
as the Lord Jesus endured such great sufferings. And there was
none, but there was none. So we see, as it was told in
the book of Job, deliver him from going down into the pit. Oh, I have found a ransom. We're back into Psalm 86, I was
delivered my son. from the lowest hell. But thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion, and gracious, and long-suffering, and plenteous
in mercy and truth. We see each of these things set
forth in the Lord Jesus in what he has done for each of his people. This was compassion like a God,
that when the Savior knew the price of pardon was his blood,
he pitied that ne'er withdrew, that God, that full of compassion,
him having loved his own, he loved them even to the end, that
love that took the Lord Jesus to the cross, and that kept him
there upon the cross as he laid down his life. as we sang at
the end this morning, that it is finished. It is finished. All that work of salvation was
finished. Completed. Nothing more to be
done. A God full of compassion. That
poor, wretched sinners, full of sin, might have hope in that
One who is plenteous, in mercy and We had it again in the other
psalm that we read, Psalm 145. Here, this is a psalm of praise. Here, David is lifted above to
see the goodness of the Lord, great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised. I'm sure, I don't point any fingers
in saying this, but I'm sure we don't praise God as we should. If we had right views of our
unworthiness and our nothingness, and right views of His greatness,
then I'm sure there would be more praise in our hearts. But it's a wonderful thing if
we can speak of His praise. Notice that it says here, that
one generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare
Thy mighty acts. Do we speak of Thee? Greatness, the wonders, the wondrous
works of the Lord, from one generation to another. Do we speak to those
around us of what the Lord has done for us? Do we speak of his
great goodness in raising us up to a home in his mercy? Then there is this, they shall
abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall
sing of thy righteousness. Looking back to what the Lord
has done, looking with rejoicing to what the Lord is, how he has
delivered his people from the lowest hell. And again we have
these words, so similar to our text, the Lord is gracious and
full of compassion, slow to anger, Or in other words, long-suffering
and of great mercy. Well, we think of how through
the Word of God, particularly in the Old Testament, there were
those in the Lord's chosen people. How often did they slip and slide
and turn back? How often did they forsake the
Lord, turn away from him, Turn to idols, to put their trust
in something else. We have it just a few psalms
before, I think Psalm 78. It's a long psalm, otherwise
we might have read it early. And it speaks of the Lord leading
his people, the chosen people of Israel, as he led them through
the wilderness, and all the great wonders that he wrought on their
behalf. It's easy for us just to mention the plagues, to mention
those things that were sent when the children were in captivity
in Egypt, and just to pass over them, what it must have been,
what great miracles they were, and what a separation there was
between the children of Israel and the children of Egypt, and
just to mention one. When there was that plague of
darkness over the land of Egypt, we are told it was a darkness
that could be felt. But we are also told that the
children of Israel had light in their dwellings. What a distinction,
what a separation. A God full of compassion, a God
plenteous in mercy and truth. And it says here in Psalm 78,
marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the
land of Egypt, in the field of Sam, and he divided the sea.
He caused them to pass through and he made the waters to stand
as a heap. He led them forth, the pillar
of cloud, the pillar of fire. All these things that the Lord
did, he opened the rocks, the streams gushed out. What wondrous
The deliverance as the Lord wrought for his people. And then we have
this. After this long list of the Lord's
goodness, and they sinned yet more against him. By provoking
the most high in the wilderness, and they tempted God in their
hearts. Yea, they tempted God, they spoke against God. We read that the Lord heard this,
that Ant was wroth. They believed not in God and
trusted in his salvation. To come a bit closer, a God full
of compassion, a God long-suffering. What about you and I? We have
seen in our own little way the Lord's wondrous works. We have
seen little of his dealings with us. How easy it is, and we can
easily provoke the most high. We can tempt God, we can speak
against him. We can forsake him. We can say
those things that we should not say. We can try to go our own
way. We can fight against God. We
can put our trust elsewhere. The Lord solemnly reproved the
children of Israel for their backsliding, for their falling.
You know, right through this chapter, and indeed, you can
read much the same in Nehemiah chapter nine. The children of
Israel, the Lord did all these things, and then they slipped,
and the Lord in mercy restored them, and then they slipped,
then they fell again, and the Lord, in his long suffering and
mercy, forsook them not. The Lord gave them their own
design. But then again, while the meat
was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God, it came upon them. And so, we have the ups and downs
of the children of Israel. And we each have the ups and
downs in our lives. But may we be kept from those
times of falling. May we see this. Though there
are those times when we might speak against God, though we
might tempt Him, there are those times when our hearts are not
right with Him, neither steadfast in His covenant, verse 38 in
Psalm 78, but He, being full of compassion, forgave their
iniquity and destroyed them not. And then this, yea, many a time,
that turned he his anger away, and did not stir up at all his
wrath, for he remembered that they were but flesh. He knows that we are yet in a
body of sin, and though we must not be careless, though we must
never seek to have that tender heart that trembles at the approach
of sin, yet we will find that we still will falter and fail,
but He is a God full of compassion. He is able to forgive the iniquities
of His people. He has promised to forgive all
their iniquity, even those who turn back and are limited to
the Holy One of Israel, even those who have seen such great
wonders and yet have turned back. And yet we see The God who is
merciful, and gracious, and long-suffering, and full of compassion, and plenteous
in mercy and truth. So we have those words back in
Psalm 145. The Lord is slow to anger and
of great mercy. The Lord is nigh. and to all them that call upon
him. Well, may there be in each of
our hearts that calling upon his name, calling upon him in
truth. And perhaps you say, well, there's
no point in me trying to pray. I don't get any answers to my
prayers. The Lord won't hear my prayers. Don't take it from me, take it
from the word of God. What did we read? He will fulfill
the desire of them that fear him. He also will hear their
cry and will save them. And when the Lord says he will
do something, then he will do it. When he says he will hear
your cry, then he will hear your cry. not like us when we might
say one thing and do another. Hath he not said, and shall he
not also do it? The Lord preserveth all them
that love him. And again there is the opposite,
that all the wicked will he destroy. Those who are his, those who
have been brought to love him because he first loved us. The
Lord will preserve them all. He will keep them to the end. He will land them safe in heaven
above, that come in. O blessed of the Lord, wherefore
standest thou without? And the other side of it, that
all the wicked will he destroy. Then will he say to those on
his right hand, the sheep, Come, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. You say to those on
the left, you depart from me into everlasting fire. You're
prepared for the devil and his angels. It comes to my mind,
I haven't thought to mention this, but I mentioned this somewhere
not so long ago. concerning those words at the
end of Matthew's gospel, concerning the end times. And we are thinking
of the new king and the coronation. And it says, that then shall
the king say, in that last great day, and we must all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ, that then shall the king say,
in that day, We'll listen to him then. We
might think we can live our lives on this earth and we won't listen
to what the king of kings says. When it comes to the end, we
will have to listen to him then. Then, shall the king say in that
day, what will he say to you? What will he say to me? Will
it be come? Or will it be depart? Dear God, full of compassion,
None of us, if we are among those whom the Lord will say come in
that day, none of us can say we have done anything to deserve
it. It is all on the grounds of the
love and compassion of our God, who chose a people to all eternity,
who loved that people with an everlasting love, and drawn them
by that love to himself, that thou, O Lord, are to God full
of compassion, and gracious, and long-suffering, and plenteous
in mercy and truth. Well, many things really within
this verse. It has not been on my mind to
try to open up each of these things individually, but just
to speak in a few little ways of the compassion of God. But just in closing, what do
we have at the end? This is a good prayer for each
of us. It's a good prayer for you younger
ones. Show me the token for good. In other words, show me that
this great almighty God who is full of compassion, who has all
these blessings to bestow, show me that I am one of his. Show me some token, Lord, for
good, some token of thine. special love. Show me that I
am born of God and that my treasure is above. It's very personal. Especially you young ones, I
pray that you might yourself know these things as you go forth
into life. There are many things that would
draw you aside. May you be brought to a seeker
tope. Was it Rahab who sought a token? Show me the token for good. Show me that I am one of thine. Show me that there is that place
prepared for me in heaven above. Show me that all those sufferings
of the Lord Jesus was for my sin. Well, may it be so for each
of us, whether we are young or old. that we have that token
for good, that we have that good hope through grace. And it is through grace and through
nothing else that the Lord should ever have mercy upon us. But thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion and gracious, long-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth. May the Lord forgive anything
amiss. Amen. We'll close with hymn 1053, tune
Blainewurn 894. Love divine or love excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art. Visit us with thy salvation. Comfort every sinking heart. Hymn 1053. God is surely joy of flesh, dear
flesh from death. Kiss him out, thy God, our hope
bearing, All thy faithful bless his breath. Jesus, now our home and pasture,
now the bounty of the world. ? Visit us with thy salvation ?
? Love will never change thee, O God ? In the rain thy passion spills
into ev'ry job well. ? Let us look ? ? In the evening
air ? ? Let us find ? ? Thy glorious rest ? ? Take away ? O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of ? Hail, all hail ? ? The Savior's
beginning ? ? Since the dawn's early lighting ? of thy new creation, you have
told me, make me free. Let us sing of old salvation,
earth and living, shipwrecked, grinding, Age of glory, age of glory, Hail,
all hail, hail, his day cometh. ? Embrace us, our present glory
? ? Lost in wonder, love, and praise ? Dear Lord, we ask for Thy forgiveness
for anything amiss in our worship today. We do pray, O Lord, that
there might be something that remains with us, that we might
each be brought to see a need of a savior, that we might find
Thee to be a God full of compassion, that we might at last be received
into Thy glory. The Lord help us each in the
way we have begun. Watch over and keep us. The Lord
do prepare us for eternity. The Lord forgive our many sins.
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love
of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with us all. Amen.