Let us turn again to God's word
in the psalm we were reading, Psalm 136. And I want really
to take for a text this morning the refrain that we have throughout
the psalm. In that sense we have a a 26
fold text because the text is in every verse of the psalm that
refrain for his mercy endureth forever and it is a favorite
of the psalmist many times we find this expression being used
in various psalms if we go back for example to the opening words
of the 106th Psalm, Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto
the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. And then again in the opening
part of the 107th Psalm, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he
is good, for his mercy endureth forever. And yet again If we
turn to the 118th Psalm, the opening words, O give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good, because His mercy endureth forever. And then again in the last verse,
verse 29 of that Psalm, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He
is good, for His mercy endureth forever. It is a remarkable thing
that we read of then here where we have mention of God's enduring
mercies. And it is one of the great words
of the Old Testament, one of the great Hebrew words, it's
the word Chesed, and it's really so full and so pregnant in meaning,
it's very difficult to bring out all that is contained in
that one word. It has the idea of God's compassion,
and God's forbearance, His loving kindness, His covenant faithfulness,
His sovereign grace, His sure mercies. All of these various
ideas are to be found in this single word, the mercy of God. His mercy endureth forever, says
the Psalmist. And we can think of it very much
in terms of covenant faithfulness. We think of the language of Isaiah
55, where we have that great promise in verse 3, I will make
an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David. The everlasting covenant. is
equivalent to the sure mercies of David. And David, of course, is very
mindful of those mercies when we find him praying to God in
Psalm 51, that great penitential psalm, he had committed terrible,
terrible sins. But he prays to the Lord, have
mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according
unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions."
All his hope, all his confidence there then, centers in the mercies
of God. And those mercies are very much
part of the glory that belongs unto the Lord God. And we see
it in the sense that the prayer of Solomon at the dedication
of the temple, We have the record there in the fifth chapter of
the second book of Chronicles, in 2 Chronicles chapter 5, those
last two verses. Here we are, the opening as it were of that temple
that had been built to the Lord. And we're told at verse 13, it
came even to pass as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make
one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. And when
they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and
instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good,
for his mercy endureth forever. And then the house was filled
with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, so that the priest
could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the
glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. And God
comes, you see, in association with that mercy, his mercy that
endureth forever. And we can think also of the
experience of the man Moses when he's praying for the children
of Israel, remember they made the golden calf so soon after
receiving the commandments of God they sunk into the most gross
idolatry under his brother Aaron and God would disinherit them
but now Moses is the man who stands as it were in the breach,
he's the mediator for them, he pleads with the Lord God that
he will yet grant pardon and that he will appear and not disown
and reject his people but yet forgive and restore them and
go before them and so we have that appearance that the Lord
gives to Moses to reassure him in Exodus 34 Verse 5, Now the Lord descended
in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the
name of the Lord. For what is his proclamation
of the Lord's name? The Lord passed by before him,
and proclaimed the Lord. The Lord God merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
unto the third and to the fourth generation. We're told how Moses
made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped.
We worship then that God of great mercies. Taking up then this
theme that is so evident throughout this psalm, the enduring mercies
of God. And first of all, to say something
with regards to the true God himself, and then secondly to
see how his mercies are there in all his works, in creation,
in providence, and in grace. But first of all I want to begin
with God Himself, because this is how the psalm begins, O give
thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. Immediately we're reminded
of the covenant God, the Lord, and we're reminded of His goodness. He's the mark of God, He's a
good God. He's a good God. Psalm 119 and
verse 68, thou art good, and thou doest good. Everything that
God does is good. And this good God is the only
God, the only true God. And so here, in the verses that
follow, verses 2 and 3, O give thanks unto the God of gods. for His mercy endureth forever.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord of Lords for His mercy endureth
forever. Oh, there is none other but this
God who is the One who is good and the One who delights in mercies. And those who deny Him, what
are they? They are fools. The fool says
in his heart There is no God. All this God, He is the Great
God. He is altogether above and beyond whatever we could begin
to comprehend. We cannot really find Him out
at all. The language that we have there
in Job 11, Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find
out the Almighty unto perfection? It is high as heaven. What canst
thou do deeper than how? What canst thou know? The measure
thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the seas. The language that we have there
of that man Zophar, speaking in a sense of how God is altogether
incomprehensible. This God, there is none like
him. There's a great mystery when
we begin to contemplate just who God is. And we see it, of
course, in the doctrine of God. We see it in the great truth
of the Triniton. We know that God is one. There
is one only living and true God, Hero Israel. The Lord our God
is one Lord. And yet He who is one Lord is
also three persons in the Garden, the three that bear record in
Heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost and these three are one or we cannot begin to understand
that mystery the mystery of God and of the Father and of the
Lord Jesus Christ it is only in and through Jesus Christ that
we can begin to understand the wonder He is the image of the
invisible God and we can only know God then in and through
him and what does the Lord himself say it is life eternal if we
do but know this God it is life eternal to know thee the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent to know anything
of this God is to know his mercy his compassion his forbearance
all that this refrain tells us concerning God. And how it has
pleased God to reveal Himself. Oh, He reveals Himself, of course,
in all His works. He reveals Himself in that great
work of creation. Remember the language that we
have in the 19th Psalm concerning the glory of God in
the heavens the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
showeth his handiwork day unto day uttereth speech night unto
night showeth knowledge there is no speech nor language where
their voice is not heard their line is gone out through all
the earth and their words to the end of the world what is
the psalmist saying there? he is simply declaring the truth
that God reveals himself in creation And it is because God reveals
himself in creation that men are without any excuse, as we
are told in the opening chapter of the epistle to the Romans. Because those eternal realities
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and his Godhead. God reveals himself. and so we see it here as the
psalm begins to unfold verse 4 to him alone who doeth great
wonders for his mercy endureth forever to him that by wisdom
made the heavens for his mercy endureth forever to him that
stretched out the earth above the waters for his mercy endureth
forever to Him that made great lights, for His mercy endureth
forever. The sun to rule by day, for His
mercy endureth forever. The moon and the stars to rule
by night, for His mercy endureth forever. What is the psalmist
saying then? He's speaking about we see God
in creation. We behold Him in the works of
His hands. He has created all things. And
in that creation, of course, we see all the three persons
of the Godhead. Again, in another psalm, Psalm
33, by the Word of the Lord were the heavens made. And all the
host of them by the breath, or the Spirit, of His mouth. All the Word is there. Even the
second person in the Godhead, by the Word of the Lord, in the
beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God, and the same was in the beginning with God,
and all things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is there moving upon
the face of the waters as we read in Genesis 1. He has made
all things by the breath of His mouth. He spoke and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. In his works of creation then
God declares himself. He manifests something of his
greatness, something of his glory. And of course it all builds up
ultimately to man who stands at the apex of all that great
work of creation. You know the language that we
have in the 8th Psalm concerning man. What is man that thou art
mindful of him and the Son of Man that thou visitest him? Thou
madest him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet. all sheep, and ox, and yea, and the beast of the
field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever
passeth through the paths of the seas. Now God has given creation
into the hands of men that they may use it. I know that men might abuse it,
but now of course we live in a world in which men are worshipping
the the creature more than the creator. Alas, for modern man with all
his folly, O Lord our God, how excellent is thy name in all
the earth, says the psalmist. But man stands there in God's
place, as it were, all things put under his feet, that he might
make use of these things for the good of himself, in the fear
of the Lord. God is the God of creation, and
we see His gracious provision there. We see His mercy even
in the works of creation. But not only in creation, but
again God in His providence reveals Himself. And we have mentioned
surely of God's providences when we come to the end of this psalm.
Who giveth food to all flesh, for His mercy endureth forever,
we read at verse 25. He watches over all His creatures
by His providence. He is the one who governs the
world. He has given that great promise after the floods, the
language that we have there in Genesis 8, while the earth remaineth
sea, time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day
and night shall not cease. That's the promise of God. He
watches over His creatures and makes every provision for them. And we can trust that Word of
God not to be troubled by what men say continually concerning
what they now term global warming and all that goes on in this
fallen world where God is denied. Again, we see it, don't we, to
comfort us. Here in the words of the Psalms,
in Psalm 65, we have that lovely passage at the end of that particular
psalm, how God visits the earth. Verse 9, Thou visitest the earth
and waterest it. Thou greatly enrichest it with
the river of God, which is full of water. Thou preparest them
corn, when they were so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges
thereof abundantly. Thou settlest the furrows thereof.
Thou makest it soft with showers. Thou blessest the springing thereof.
Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness. And Thy paths drop
down fatness. They drop upon the pastures of
the wilderness. and the little hills rejoice
on every side, the pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys
also are covered over with corn, they shout for joy, they also
sing. All inanimate creation is there
and acknowledges God. That's what the psalmist is saying.
It is God who preserves His creatures. Again, Psalm 36 and verse 6,
O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast, who giveth food to all
flesh for his mercy endureth forever. This is the God that
is to be known the God who has revealed something of his greatness
and his glory in the great work of creation how he made all things
out of nothing but how he also reveals himself in his providential
government reigning over all the affairs of men and of nations. And so, what does the Lord Himself
say in the course of His own ministry here upon the earth? Well, remember the language that
we find there in His Sermon on the Mount, in the 6th chapter
of Matthew. Matthew chapter 6 and verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. Is not
the life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold the
fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not
much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not,
neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that
even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field which
today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, Shall He not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith? God grants us faith. He is the One in whom we live
and move and have our being, and He is that God who is good.
He is that God who is a merciful God, and provides for all His
creatures, every good, every perfect gift cometh from above,
and cometh from Him the Father of lights. in whom is no variableness
nor any shadow of turning. And so David, David says in the
psalm, doesn't he, I have been young and now I'm old, yet have
I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed-begging branch. Are we wise? Oh God, have mercy
upon us and make us wise to believe that he is that God who is good
to all his creatures. and manifest himself and his
great faithfulness in his works of providence. Go in the end
of the 107th Psalm, who saw his wives, and will observe these
things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."
And that word, lovingkindness, it's the same. It's the same
word that is rendered mercy here in our text this morning. It's
that word heseth. As I said, it's one that's so
full and pregnant in meaning, there's not an English word adequate
really to translate it. And so a variety of words are
used in the Old Testament. It's the steadfast love. It's
the covenant faithfulness of the Lord God. It's loving-kindness. or that
we might be wise then to observe God's hand in His good providences
towards us. He reveals Himself then, this
God, reveals Himself in creation, reveals Himself in providence. But then, surely here, primarily
we see how He is the God of grace, He is the God of salvation. And
so we have this great section from verse 10, right through
to verse 24. Let's read through those verses,
omitting the refrain. And we see just what's being
said. Verse 10, 10 that smote Egypt in their firstborn and
brought out Israel from among them with a strong hand and with
a stretched out arm 10 which divided the Red Sea into parts
and made Israel to pass through the midst of it but overthrew
Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea to him which led his people
through the wilderness, to him which smote great kings, and
slew famous kings, Zion king of the Amorites, and Og king
of Bashan, and gave their land for an heritage, even an heritage
unto Israel, who remembered us in our lowest state, and has
redeemed us from our enemies." Well you see what's being spoken
of here, historically of course, it's Israel. And it's the salvation
of Israel that's being spoken of. We have this continual narrative
in these verses we've just read, and it's a narrative of the history
of the children of Israel at the time of their deliverance
out of the bondage that was Egypt. And our God himself is the one
who brings them out and brings them through the Red Sea. and
through the wilderness and ultimately brings them into the land of
promise, that was their blessed heritage. Yet, how right and
appropriate it is, as the psalmist is recounting all this history,
that in each statement he breaks off into this refrain, for his
mercy endureth forever. at every step in their experience
every step of the way they knew that enduring mercy of God they
knew His loving kindness every part of the way how did He bring
them out of Egypt? in verses 11 and 12 why is mercy
endures forever? it was an act of mercy How was
it that He made a way for them through the Red Sea? Remember the situation they're
in there, the mountains on either side and the pursuing armies
of Pharaoh behind them, and the great sea before them, and no
way of escape, but the Lord God in His mercy makes a way through
the midst of the sea. And as the chariots of Pharaoh
pursue them, so the Lord God causes the waters to return and
they see their enemies dead on the seashore all the mercy of
God and so again verses 16 through 20 is leading them through the
wilderness and destroying all those who
would rise up against them and why so? because of his mercy
again we have the refrain over and over. And then ultimately
they enter into the inheritance in verses 21 and 22. He brings them into that land
that he had promised to their fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob. And why? Because of his mercies. That's the context, that's the
historical setting of the psalm, that's what David is speaking
of. But really, the salvation that
we have here is something greater than the salvation of ethnic
Israel. Is it not to be understood in
terms of God's spiritual Israel, ultimately? The church of the
Lord Jesus Christ. What we have here, in a sense,
is that great gospel salvation. Remember what that's rooted in.
It's rooted in that revelation that God has given to us in the
person and work of His only begotten Son. Psalm 85 and verse 10, mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. In the Lord Jesus Christ we have
the fullest revelation of God, that final revelation,
that that is spoken of in the opening language of the epistle
to the Hebrews, God who at sundry times and in diverse manner spake
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the
brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, when he had by himself, by himself
made that great sacrifice for sins, mercy and truth, coming
together, righteousness and peace, kissing each other. God's seen
to be a just God and yet a saviour, a just God and the one who justifies
the ungodly. Or were to think surely here
in terms not just of the history of the children of Israel. We
have to understand the psalm in that spiritual sense, ultimately
directing us to the Lord Jesus Christ and His great work. We
know that they're not all Israel that are of Israel. Israel is
a typical people in the Old Testament. And He's not a Jew which is one
outwardly. And circumcision is not that which is outward in
the flesh, but it's that which is in the spirit. It's in the heart of me. The
language that we have there in Romans chapter 2 at verses 28
and 29. And we're right, aren't we? We know we're right when we understand
all this history in the Old Testament, in terms of what God is doing
in this gospel day, this day of grace. Paul, writing there
in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 11, tells us all these things
happened unto them for ensembles, for types, as the margin says,
or figures. And all is written for our admonition
upon whom the ends of the world are cast. And it is clear, in
the former part of that 10th chapter of 1 Corinthians, that
Paul is speaking of the very history that we have here in
Psalm 136. He's speaking of Moses, and deliverance
at the Red Sea. These are the things that happened
unto them for example, and they're written for us. upon whom the
ends of the world, this Gospel, die. They're written for us in
this Gospel, die. Oh, the wonder, you see. We're
those who are the true seed of Israel. We're those who are the
children of Abraham. And again, you remember that
lovely passage that we have at the end of the prophecy of Micah. We've quoted it or read it many
a time. Who is a God, like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have compassion on us.
He will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to
Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old." Well, we are those who are the
seed of Jacob who became Israel. We're the children of Abraham. And here we have the truth The
truth to Jacob, the mercy to Abraham. We can only do justice
to what we have in this psalm by coming to the New Testament
and what the Lord God himself has done in the person and work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That great work of redemption. And the language that we have
as we come to the end of the psalm verses 23 and 24 who remembered
us in our lowest state for his mercy endureth forever and that's
redeemed us from our enemies for his mercy endureth forever
oh he remembers us in our lowest state when he causes us to see
what we are really We scarce know anything of ourselves till
the Lord really begins to deal with us. And when the Lord deals,
what does he do? He turns a man to destruction.
He brings us to the end of ourselves. We see our complete and utter
inability to do anything. We have to learn in experience
the truth that salvation is of the Lord, in every sense, the
purpose of God. election in the Father and that
that was procured by God the Son when He came to make that
great sinner turning sacrifice. It's the purpose of God, it's
what the Son has purchased for sinners and it's that that must
be brought as a reality into our souls by God the Holy Spirit. We have to come then to that,
the end of self. Thou turnest man to destruction.
and sayeth, return ye children of men. And how do we return?
It is of the Lord's mercies. He remembered us in our low estates. You remember the language of
Jeremiah there in Lamentations 3. I called upon thy name, O
Lord, out of the low dungeons. or we have to call out of the
low dungeon, out of the depths of our soul despair, we have
to call upon Him. And what do we call? We call
upon that God who is a merciful God. We think of the publican, those two men who go to the temple
at the hour of prayer, the Pharisee so full of himself and so full
of all that he is, all that he's done, Thanks God, you see, that
he's not as other men are. He's so much better than others. And then the poor publican, standing
afar off, unable to lift his eyes to heaven, striking upon
his breast, crying out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Literally, it says there, God,
be merciful to me, the sinner. all we have to plead for that
mercy he remembers us in our lowest days why? because his
mercy endures forever and I'm sure you're aware that that word
that we have on the lips of the publican there in in Luke chapter
18 is literally the word propitious be propitious the idea of God turning away
his anger and his wrath. And how is it? It's in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the propitiation for our
sins. Not that we love God, but God
sent forth His Son to be the propitiation for our sins, His
mercy. For His mercy endureth forever. And we think of the mercy thing,
in the Old Testament, there in Exodus chapter 25, the mercy
seat, which forms that covering for the Ark of the Covenant. And there in the Ark, of course,
the Ten Commandments, and the mercy seat covering the
Ten Commandments, and the very place where God says He will
come and meet with His people. There's the commandments beneath,
there's the Lord God Himself above. And that law, that holy
law that brings conviction to the soul of the sinner, that
law that shuts the mouth of the sinner, that law that causes
us to see what we are, that ministration of condemnation, that ministration
of death, and yet all covered by the mercy, sir. And always
that reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of course it
was there at the mercy seat, as we are told in Leviticus 16,
that the high priest on that great day of atonement was to
go beyond the second veil. The only time he could ever enter
into the Holy of Holies, but he must go with the blood of
sacrifice. And He would sprinkle there the
blood before the mercy seat and upon the mercy seat. He would
make atonement for the sins of Israel. And it all points ultimately
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the mercy seat. He is the
mercy seat. I've said it many, many, many
a time, I know, but I say it again, Hebrews 9. and verse 5
where we have mention of some of the furnishings in the tabernacle
and amongst them the mercy seat Hebrews 9.5 Paul speaks of the
cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy seat and that word
mercy seat It's a Greek word that's used on just one other
occasion in that particular form. It's used in a certain form there
in Hebrews 9.5, and then it's used in the same form, just one
other time, in Romans 3.25. Whereas the Apostle is speaking
of the Lord Jesus, he says, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation,
is how it reads in our Authorized Version, a propitiation. for
our sins but it's the same word, we could render it mercy seat
He is set forth to be a mercy seat all the great redemptive work
of the Lord Jesus Christ who remembered us in our lowest state
for His mercy endureth forever and hath redeemed us from our
enemies who are enemies And in many ways, chief of those
enemies are our sins, ourselves, what we are in our fallen nature.
He's redeemed us from all that, for His mercy endureth forever. The Lord Jesus Christ, the good,
the gracious God that's revealed to us, ultimately, in the person
of the Lord Jesus. No man has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He
hath revealed Him. Oh, what a revelation it is.
Remember how we see Him there in the end of the book of the
Revelation in chapter 19, how He has on His vesture and on
His thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Well, it's the same one who is
here in the Psalm, isn't it? we see him here in the second
and third verses O give thanks unto the God of
Gods for his mercy endureth forever O give thanks to the Lord of
Lords for his mercy endureth forever O that name written on
his vesture upon his thigh King of Kings and Lords of Lords It's
in the Lord Jesus Christ that we find that mercy that is the
refrain that runs right through the psalm, that one that we come
together, of course, to worship, that one by and through whom
alone we can approach unto the Lord God, the only mediator.
Oh, we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. but one tempted in all points
like as we are. What does Paul say? Therefore
let us come boldly to the throne of grace, to the mercy seat,
that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in every time
of need. For His mercy endureth forever. Oh the Lord, bless this psalm
to us if it please Him.