Well, let us turn to the psalm
we were reading, Psalm 85. I'm directing you to the words
that we have here at verse 10. Great text, Psalm 85, verse 10. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Psalm 85, 10, mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. The psalm divides very nicely
for us because the first seven verses are clearly a prayer how the Psalmist addresses himself
to his God, Lord. He says, Thou hast been favourable
unto thy land. And so he continues to address
God through to the words of verse 7, when he says, Show us thy
mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. Well, if the first
seven verses are the prayer, In the final verses from verse
8 through 13, we see how God answers that prayer. He says
there at verse 8, I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
for He will speak peace unto His people and to His saints,
but let them not turn again to follow. Is that a way consider
our prayers. When we prayed, we want to say
with the Psalmist, I will hear what God the Lord will speak.
We speak and God answers. Isn't that the point and purpose
of our prayers? Do we really expect answers to
our prayers? The great Puritan divine Thomas
Goodwin preach a number of sermons under that title, The Return
of Prayers. And we should be those who are
expected, that we should look and watch and wait. We do not
utter any prayer in vain. God does not say to the seed
of Jacob, seek ye my face in vain. And so here in the psalm
we have this very simple division. We have the prayer, In the opening
7 verses and then from verse 8 through to 13 we have the expectation
that there will be an answer to that prayer. And of course,
text this evening is found in that latter part of the Psalm, Mercy and Truth
are met together, Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth. Righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord
shall give that which is good. Oh, He will answer the prayers
of His people. Let me just say a little with
regards to what we can ascertain here concerning the time when
the psalm was written. It does appear that it was written
upon the return from the Babylonian captivity. How the psalmist acknowledges
God's goodness in that. Lord thou hast been favourable
unto thy land. Thou hast brought back the captivity
of Jacob. And remember how it was by the
proclamation of Cyrus the Great, the Persian emperor. How the
Lord raised up this man and he's spoken of, he's named in Holy
Scripture. Many years, nearly 200 years
before he made that proclamation. It's the prophet Isaiah who speaks
of him there at the end of chapter 44. that saith of Cyrus, he is my
shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem,
Thou shalt be built, and to the temple thy foundation shall be
laid. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before
him. And I will loose the loins of
kings to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates
shall not be shut. I will go before thee, and make
the crooked places straight, and so on. The Lord raises up
this man and he makes the proclamation. A way is made then for the children
of Israel to return. They'd been taken into exile
by the Babylonians, but that empire had passed. And now it
was the Persians. And so, remember the opening
verses of the Book of Ezra. a mention of that proclamation
that Cyrus makes and so Ezra and others they return and there's
the rebuilding of the Temple of the Lord there in Jerusalem. And the significance of that
event, the restoration, it is typical And it's all typical
of the spiritual work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It all ultimately
has its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, we see
that quite clearly in the language of the prophet, the prophet Isaiah. There in chapter 35 of his book,
he speaks clearly of the restoration Chapter 35, verse 8, he says,
And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called
the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over
it, but it shall be for those awayfaring men. No fool shall
not err therein, no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast
shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord
shall return. and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy
upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." You see, not clearly
speaking of restoration, the return, the coming again to Mount
Zion, Jerusalem, being peopled once more. But then, that's the
end of that 35th chapter. But earlier there, At verse 6
Isaiah says, Then shall the lame and lepers enhance, and the tongue
of the dumb sing. For in the wilderness shall waters
break out, and streams in the deserts. All these things that
he's saying in the former part of the chapter, the eyes of the
blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped,
and so on. and all of that of course is
ultimately fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ when in Matthew
11 John in prison beset by many doubts and uncertainties concerning
Jesus of Nazareth is he really the Christ? The Baptist sends
his disciples to the Lord and what does the Lord do? Well he
actually quotes those words that we just made reference to in
the earlier part of Isaiah 35. He quotes those words as being
proof that he is the Messiah. There's a connection then between
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and what the prophet goes on
to say concerning the restoration of the Jews. There's type and
there's anti-type. the fulfillment is to be found
in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here, coming to the
psalm, the psalm's written at the time of the restoration.
God has been favorable to his land, they've been brought back
out of captivity. But the psalmist really goes
on to speak of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and surely
that's what we see in the words that I read for our text this
evening. These words at verse 10, mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. These words refer to various
attributes in God. You speak of God's attributes.
How He's a holy God, a righteous God, a just God. How He's a gracious
God, a loving God, a patient God. And what do we have here? We see the divine attributes
in God accomplishing the great work of salvation. And there's
a wonderful harmony. All that God is, is ultimately
revealed to us in that greatest of all God's works, the salvation
of sinners. God reveals himself. And how
does God reveal himself? He reveals himself in his works
and he reveals himself in his word he has manifested something
of his glory in the work of creation in the work of providence we
often refer to those words in the 19th Psalm the heavens, the
starry heavens declare the glory of God the firmament, the vast
universe shows his handiwork day on today, night on tonight
show us knowledge and God's life goes out into all the world all
his creatures men everywhere see the wonderful works of God
though the Apostle reminds us there in the opening chapter
of Romans that all men even if they have not the word of God
they are without excuse it's a fool who says there's no God
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world says
Paul are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even
his eternal power and God and they're without excuse they will
be judged in the light of that revelation that we have of God's
majesty and his glory and his might in the work of creation
but then also God reveals himself in his providences
and are we not reminded of that here in verses 11 and 12 truth
shall spring out of the earth righteousness shall look down
from heaven yea the Lord shall give that which is good our land
shall yield her increase doesn't God make provision for man in
the way he orders events in the earth. How the seasons of the
year, they come and they go. God is pleased to visit the earth
and to grant a blessed harvest and an increase. Now the psalmist
can rejoice in these works of God. Look at the language that
we have previously in the 65th Psalm. In Psalm 65 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 Thou hast 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 years with Thy goodness, and Thy paths drop 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. And God is a faithful God. And
we see His faithfulness in His providential government, in spite
of what atheistic men say. I have no thought of God. But
God is sovereign in all these things. He's given that word
of promise after He visited a terrible judgment upon the earth in the
universal flood. He has now assured us while the
earth remaineth, sea time and harvest, cold and heat, summer
and winter, day and night, shall not cease. So it shall be till
the great burning day. when Christ himself returns again
in power and glory. All of this then is God revealing
himself, making himself known in his works. He's the almighty
creator of all things. He's the faithful God of providence. But of course ultimately, ultimately
God reveals himself in his words. And what is his word? Well, we
have law, we have gospel here. Isn't that really the sum and
substance of what the word of God is? Law and gospel. And God is revealed in the law.
When we read the opening words of Exodus 20, the giving of the
Ten Commandments, God spake all these words, saying, I am the
Lord thy God, and so forth. How does He begin? He begins
by declaring Himself. Isn't there that sense in which
the commandments are really a revelation of God? It's God declaring something
of His character. That's why the Lord is good. the commandments. It's holy,
it's just, it's good. It's a revelation of God and
of course we don't only have the Ten Commandments in Exodus
20, we have them again there in Deuteronomy 5, some 40 years
later. They've now been preserved through
all the wilderness wanderings. And that unbelieving generation
had passed away. Remember when they came out of
Egypt they were brought to the borders of the promised land
and they send forth the the twelve spies and only two are faithful
men Joshua and Caleb or they speak well and they can enter
in and take the land but the ten other spies they give an
evil report all the land is full of walled cities there are giants
in the land and the people are afraid They're in unbelief. And that
unbelieving generation must pass away. 40 years, wilderness wanderings. And yet all the time God is watching
over them. He's proving them, as it says
there in Deuteronomy 8. But there of course, when they
come ultimately to that promised land again, There's a retelling
of the commandments. They're repeated in Deuteronomy
chapter 5. It's interesting what Moses says
as he recounts those laws of God. Deuteronomy 5 verse 24, Behold,
the Lord our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness,
he says. He showed us His glory, His greatness,
His holiness, His righteousness. God has shown Himself in the
commandments. God has revealed Himself. That's
what Moses is saying there in Deuteronomy 5.24. Does God reveal Himself in His
works? Yes, He does, but He reveals
Himself principally in His words and the law of God. is a revelation
and in that law we see some of his attributes so remarkably
how he's a holy God and he's a just God who will by no means
clear the guilty he's a righteous God but then we have that full and that final
revelation of God when we come to the gospel It's there in the
Lord Jesus Christ that we have the image of the invisible God. The law was given by Moses, grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Now that is the final revelation. with the coming of the Lord Jesus God who at sundry times and in
diverse manners spake in time passed unto the fathers by the
prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son says
Paul whom he hath here appointed heir of all things by whom also
he made the worlds who be in the brightness of his glory and
the express image of His person upholding all things by the word
of His power. He is the brightness of the Father's
glory. He is the express image of God. The image of the invisible God. Now, we have it of course when
we think of the Lord Jesus, think of His teaching, we've been started
to consider those words in the first part of Matthew
5 the opening words of the Sermon on the Mount that sermon that
runs right through chapter 5 and 6 and 7 and then when we come
to the end of that seventh chapter when Jesus had ended these sayings
we're told the people were astonished at his doctrine astonished at
his teaching for he taught them as one having authority and not
as the scribes." Or never man spake like this man. His teachings,
his words, his doctrine, all of these part of that revelation
of God and all authenticated by the great miracles. What do
the miracles do? They reveal the authority of
this man. Oh, no man can do these miracles
that thou doest except God be with him, says Nicodemus. And
that first miracle there at Cana in Galilee, this beginning of
miracles did Jesus, it says, and He manifested His glory unto
His disciples. In the miracle, He manifest His
glory unto the disciples. They believe in Him. His teachings. Repeatedly, of course, it's a
word that's rendered in the gospel's doctrine, his doctrine. But it's
his teachings, it's the things he's saying, all authenticated
by the miracles, the mighty works that he's able to perform. But
then, all the life of this man. Never man spake like this man,
never man lived like this man. Oh, this high priest, how he
becomes us. Holy, righteous, undefiled, separate
from sinners, made higher than the heavens. Peter in his preaching before
Cornelius there in Acts 10 says of Jesus of Nazareth, he went
about doing good. He went about doing good. That is God-like, you see. That
is God-like. Thou art good and thou doest
good. We read in the 119th Psalm at verse 68, that's what the
Psalmist says of God. Thou art good. Thou art a good
God. And what does a good God do?
He does good things. And that's what we see in the
life of the Lord Jesus. He went about doing good. His life is such a wondrous revelation
of the very character of God. And then His death. Oh, the death
that He dies. He is obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. What a death! What a death is
that death of the Saviour! There we have the fullness of
the revelation. When he lays down his life, he's
glorified in dying. He's glorified in dying. Doesn't he say to his own, well
to the Jews he's speaking really. When he utters those words in
John 5, search the scriptures, in them you think that you have
eternal life, and these are they that testify of me. The Old Testament is what he's
referring to. There were no New Testament scriptures
when he uttered those words. The scriptures consisted of the
books of the Old Testament from Genesis through to Malachi. These
are they that testify of me. And the Old Testament speaks
of it. The Old Testament speaks of his death. And that's what
we have really in the words that I've read as a text this evening.
Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. It's in this psalm that we see
the mercy of God, and the mercy of God to sinners. I referred to the fact that the
psalm appears to have been written as they came back from the Babylonian
captivity after those 70 years in exile. They're rejoicing here,
they're thanking God, in the words of the Psalm for His great
goodness. Lord, Thou hast been favourable
unto Thy land. Thou hast brought back the captivity
of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity
of Thy people. Thou hast covered all their sins,
Selah. Thou hast taken away all Thy
wrath. Thou hast turned Thyself from the fierceness of Thine
anger. Oh, mark those those words in verses 2 and 3 and the Sila
between those two verses and the significance of the Sila
now true it's probably something that is associated with the way
in which the Psalms were to be sung in the worship of God in
the temple but it is said that it indicates some sort of pause and Does the poorest not lend
an emphasis to the truth that is being declared? The restoration
from Babylon, as I said, is a wonderful type and it's a type of a far
greater deliverance. It's what God has done in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's forgiven the iniquity of
his people. All their sins are covered. Or
does he not in some measure remind us of the language of David earlier
in the words of the 32nd Psalm concerning the blessed man whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered? Blessed is the
man unto whom the Lord imputed not iniquity, and in whose spirit
there is no guile. This is what we're We are told
of them here in the verses in the second and the third verse
of the psalm God's great mercy to sinners and yet we know this
that God in forgiving sins must be true to himself He is a just God and a righteous
God and He can by no means clear the guilt His justice demands
that the payment must be made. The soul that sinneth, it must
die. Oh, remember when God declares
Himself again to Moses there in Exodus 34, when Moses has
asked God to show him His glory. And now the Lord God proclaims
his name before Moses. At the end of chapter 33 it says,
To God I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And God says, I will
make all my goodness to pass before thee. I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee. and I will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious and I will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy. He asks for God's glory, God
speaks of His goodness and His mercy. And then again, as he continues in the 34th chapter,
we're told at verse 5, how the Lord descended in the cloud and
stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And 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 the fourth generation always
a merciful God but he's a just God he's a gracious God but he's
a holy God he must be true to himself and true to all that
he is and without the shedding of blood there can be no remission
of sins such is the character of God and in the cross we see
God so true to himself he's gracious to sinners and
that's really what we have in the text mercy and truth are
met together righteousness and peace have kissed each other
God is just and God is the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus
that's what the apostle says in that portion that we read
in Romans chapter 3 interesting isn't it that portion it struck
me as we were reading through that just now the words that
we have in verse 21 how the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and
the prophets what struck me was this that When Paul is speaking
of the Lord and the prophets, he's speaking, of course, of
the books of Moses. He's speaking of the books of
the prophets, Isaiah amongst them. And now, continually there
in the Old Testament, we find the gospel of the grace of God.
It's manifested. It's witnessed. In Moses, it's
witnessed in the prophets also. It's here in the psalm. It's
here in the psalm. And what do we see in the text?
We see, as I said, God's attributes in the great work of salvation. God is a just God. And yet, He
is the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. And do those
who come to faith in the Lord Jesus, they are sinners? He justifies
sinners. He declares sinners to be righteous.
And yet, in declaring sinners to be righteous, He's still a
just God. How can that be? It's all because of what we witness
in the Lord Jesus Christ and that revelation of God that we
have in his person and in his work. Or there is of course a wonderful
harmony in all that God is. Here is where the Lord our God is one Lord. He is one. And yet Though one is three persons,
three distinct persons, and yet the three are one and the one
is three. And there's a wonderful harmony
there, we can't comprehend it really. There's a wonderful relationship
in all that God is, as triune, God is love. That relationship
between the three divine persons, but in a sense what we have here
in the text is a meeting in God which is such a strange meeting
really, a strange harmony mercy and truth are met together righteousness
and peace have kissed each other it's not strange that mercy and
peace come together, mercy and peace
come together in the favoring of sinners in the salvation of
sinners God is merciful and those sinners who were in a state of
enmity and alienation they are at peace with God, mercy and
peace coming together and that's nothing strange and it's not
strange either that truth and righteousness meet together as God is pleased to destroy
the wicked. His justice is done. He acts
in truth. He's righteous in all his judgments. But in a sense what we have in
the text is what are seeming opposites coming together and
harmonizing. Mercy and truth. It doesn't say
mercy and peace. and then it says righteousness
and peace not righteousness and truth it's attributes that seem
in some ways contrary one to the other that meets together
and harmonize and that you see is the wonder really of the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ that in the salvation of sinners God
is a just God He acts in strict accordance with His justice,
with His law and yet He saves sinners John says doesn't he in that
lovely passage at the end of the opening chapter of that first
general epistle 1 John chapter 1 and verse 9 if we confess our
sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I love that. Or we might expect John to say,
if we confess our sins, He is gracious and merciful to
forgive us our sins. And He is that. He is that. He's
gracious. He's merciful. Ready to forgive. Full of pardons. But no, John
says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful. and He is just. God's faithfulness to Himself,
all that He is, is a holy God. God's strict justice, it's all
on the side of the sinner. How is that? It's because of
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that wondrous revelation
that we have when we contemplate His work upon the cross, when
we think upon Him. All presently we'll come to the
Lord's Supper, and how the Lord says this, do in remembrance
of me. We're to remember Him, we're
to think upon Him. But as we come and we partake
of those elements, the broken bread, the cup, the cup of blessing,
the cup of salvation, the sweetness of the wine, do we not desire
to think on better things? all that is said before us here
the wonder of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ mercy and truth
meeting together righteousness and peace kissing each other oh there is a wonderful meeting
there of all that God is and all his holy attributes all his
gracious attributes, everything that God is, coming together,
harmonizing. But then also, can we not discern
this in the text? The sinner can meet with God.
That's the other thing that we see here. The sinner can meet
with God. Can't these words be understood
in a spiritual sense? Look at what he goes on to say.
In verse 11, truth shall spring out of the earth and righteousness
shall look down from heaven. Oh, there's a meeting here of
heaven and earth. God is the one who dwells in
the highest heavens and here we are living in this fallen
world. The world's full of wickedness.
All that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust
of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father it's
of the world the world's in the wicked one and yet truth springs
out of the earth and righteousness it says looks down from heaven
isn't it the sinner being reconciled to God here Oh, remember the
great desire of Job. He says, neither is there any
daismon betwixt that might lay his hand upon us both. The daismon
betwixt us he wants. One who can lay his hand upon
us both. One who can lay his hand upon God. And one who can
lay his hand upon the sinner. That's the man Christ Jesus.
Oh, that's the heavens dropping down Righteousness. Again, that lovely verse. I was
going to say Isaiah, the book of Isaiah is full of lovely verses,
but the Bible is full of lovely verses. But Isaiah 45, drop down
your heavens from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness,
let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let
righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it."
All that wondrous thing that God has done in the salvation
of sinners. There's a meeting here then between
God and the sinner, and it's all in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ, that revelation that God has given to us of Himself
in the person and the work of the Savior, His obedience unto
death. Now the The noun that we have
in the text, truth, is actually derived from the verb to trust. And we could, I suppose, render
the word as mercy and trust are met together. Righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. Mercy and trust, it's faith.
Mercy and trust meeting together, righteousness and peace. Isn't
that justification? Being justified. Paul says by
faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The great message that is being
proclaimed there in the Acts of the Apostles Paul in his preaching in Acts
13 concerning Christ by him all that believe are justified he
says from all things that they could not be justified from by
the deeds of the law how he preaches justification we have it of course
so clear in that portion that we were reading there in Romans
3 verse 26, He says, to declare, I say, at
this time His righteousness, that He might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law of
works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. We don't
have to do any law-keeping. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes. Now that doesn't
mean of course that we are to live an antinomian life. Let us sin that grace may abound,
God forbid. If we know what it is to be clothed
in that righteousness of Christ will desire to live a life that
is to his honor and glory, a life that is pleasing in his sight.
But is that our great desire that we are found in him? Paul's desire, not having mine
own righteousness, he says, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. mercy and truth are met together righteousness
and peace have kissed each other all in the Lord Jesus all in
his person all in his work that one who was calm and finished
the transgression and made an end of sin and made reconciliation
for iniquity and brought in everlasting righteousness Oh, what a prayer
is this. Can we not pray with the psalmist
here in verses 6 and 7? Wilt thou not revive us again,
that thy people may rejoice in thee? Do we need to be revived
and refreshed again and again? Show us thy salvation, O Lord,
or show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. Can
you say in all sincerity that's your prayer tonight? You would utter it with the psalmist,
you would plead as we have it here before us in the Word of
God. Will thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice
in thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and
grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God's, the Lord's,
will speak. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Oh, the Lord
be pleased then to bless the word to us. Amen.