Even then, as I read through
it again, I thought how suitable it is to the day in which we're
living. We trust that there's some application,
even in the opening words. Lord, thou hast been favourable
unto thy land. Thou hast brought back the captivity
of Jacob, that we not be those in some measure feeling ourselves
to be in a sort of captivity, unable to gather in the usual
fashion for the worship of God. And as I read through the psalm,
it struck me as being one that's so suitable. The Lord bless it
to us then tonight. I want to draw your attention
in particular to the words that we find here in verses 10 and
11. Psalm 85, verses 10 and 11. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall
spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down
from heaven. Now the psalm quite naturally
seems to divide into two parts. As with many of the psalms, it's
a prayer. Certainly the opening part, the
first seven verses of the psalm are in the form of a prayer as
the psalmist addresses himself to the Lord. And then the second part of the
psalm from verse 8, in a sense, might be said to be God's answer
to that prayer. The psalm begins, I will hear
what the Lord will speak. I will hear what the Lord will
speak. For he will speak peace unto
his people and to his saints, but let them not turn again to
fallen. We should come before God in
prayer with that expectation that God will indeed hear us
as we speak to him. He will graciously draw near
and speak to us. And doesn't God speak that peace
through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, that great work
that He accomplished by His obedience unto the death of the cross. As we see, the psalm historically
was obviously written after the return from the Babylonian captivity. Isaiah speaks of that awful calamity
that befell the children of Israel, living probably about a hundred
years before the actuality of the Babylonian captivity. He speaks of how God would take
them there into exile, but Isaiah also speaks of restoration. For example, in the language
that we find at the end of Isaiah 35, see words that clearly speak
of that great day when they were restored again to the promised
land. God says at verse 8, An 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 thereof. It shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransom 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. Or God would indeed
return his people to the ransom of the Lord. They were to be
those who would again be found worshipping God in Zion, and
it speaks there of the way that the Lord made for them, as it
were, through the desert. And yet, when we look at the
previous verses in that psalm, we see quite clearly that the
events that are being described, the historical events, are also
typical, because ultimately, Those things that are spoken
of in Isaiah 35 concern the Lord Jesus Christ. The words at verse
5, For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams
in the desert. Now those words are alluded to
by the Lord Jesus in the Gospel. in Matthew 11 at verse 4 following,
when John the Baptist sends his disciples to Christ, go to the
Lord Jesus, and John wants to know, is he truly that one, the
promised one, the Messiah, the Christ of God? And the Lord says
to those disciples, go, show John a guy. And then he refers
quite clearly to those verses that we just read in Isaiah 35
and verses 5 and 6. And so the restoration from Babylon
is to be understood in terms of Christ It is Christ, of course,
in all of the Scriptures. And it is Christ here in the
words that I read as our text. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. What is
the matter, the subject matter that we have in these verses? It is that of God's attributes. God's attributes. What I want
to seek to address tonight is something concerning the harmony
of those divine attributes. And to do it, in a sense, in
a threefold way. To speak of the attributes of
God in terms of his great works of creation and providence, And
then as God has revealed himself here in his word, and then finally,
in that great salvation that was wrought by the Lord Jesus
Christ, the harmony of the divine attributes, even at the moment
we're minded with regards to our current situation of some
of those attributes, God's judgment. We've said it many a time, God's
judgment has come upon the earth in the pandemic. But as God sends
judgment, so that judgment is mingled with mercy. And the fact
that we can still meet in this fashion and have done so over
these past weeks is a reminder that in wrath the Lord remembers
his mercy. But thinking tonight then of
these divine attributes, first of all to see how God's attributes
are known in his works. He manifests his glory in creation
and in providence. When we think of the great work
that God did when he made all things out of nothing you know
the language of the samis many times we've referred to those
words in psalm 19 the heavens declare the glory of god and
the firmament showeth his handiwork day on today utterance speech
night on tonight showeth knowledge there is no speech nor language
where their voice is not heard they're lying their line is gone
out through all the earth from their words to the end of the
world. In them, he has set a tabernacle for the sun. All God's majesty,
God's power, God's might, is to be seen in all that we witness
around about us, in all the world, in all the vastness of the universe. And there is in God's creation, such a revealing of God that
men are without any excuse. The invisible things of Him are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead says, for therefore they are
without excuse. The fool says in his heart there
is no God. Their eyes are blinded. All God
has revealed Himself. in creation, his majesty and
his might. But also, God reveals something
of his attributes in his work of providence. And isn't there
some allusion to that here? In verse 11, truth shall spring
out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good, and our land shall
yield her increase. Why, even as they came again,
into that land of promise, they could anticipate that God would
send them good harvest. It was ever a land flowing with
milk and with harvest, and they had been removed because of their
sins, but now God had restored them again. Think of the words
that we have in another Psalm, in Psalm 65, verse nine, they'll
visit us the earth and water us. They have rightly enriched
us with the river of God, which is full of water. They have prepared
us some corn when they were so provided for it. They have watered
us the ridges thereof abundantly. They have settled us the furrows
thereof. Thou mak'st it soft with showers, Thou bless'st the
springing thereof, Thou crown'st the year with Thy goodness. The
night 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 sing. O how the psalmist
is there celebrating God's faithfulness in his work of providence. He had once destroyed the wicked
earth by means of that universal flood. But he had given a promise
that he would never do that again while the earth remained. Seed
time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter shall not cease. All God's attributes there are
to be recognized in the work of creation, the work of providence,
the glory and the greatness that belongs unto God, the mighty
God, the maker of heaven and earth, that God who is faithful
and favors this earth and makes his son to rise both upon the
evil and on the good, sends rain upon the just and upon the unjust. But then, Ultimately, God reveals
Himself in special revelation. And what is that special revelation?
Why, it is the Word. The Word of Truth. The Scriptures. The Oracles of Heaven. That that
we have before us tonight. And we can divide God's revelation
in His Word into those two parts. We have law, and we have gospel. And we see God, of course, in
the law. That is what the law is, really.
It's a revealing of God. Remember the opening words of
Exodus 20, where we find the Ten Commandments? God spake all
these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God. As God speaks,
what is he doing? He is revealing himself. And he reveals himself there
and something of his character, his attributes, in the giving
of the Ten Commandments. Remember how those commandments
are repeated in Deuteronomy chapter 5? After the 40 years, wanderings
in the wilderness, they're now on the borders of that promised
land and the commandments are recounted. And what does Moses,
say there, Deuteronomy 5, 24. Behold, he says, the Lord, our
God, hath showed us his glory and his greatness. As what God
did in the Lord, he showed them himself his glory and his greatness. And how is it seen why the Lord
is holy and the commandment holy and just? and good. In the law
we see those attributes of God. He is the Holy One of Israel.
He is righteous. He is just. These are all attributes. He is a God who will by no means
clear the guilty because sin must be punished. That's what
God's holy law demands. Or there is in a revealing of
God in terms of the Lord of God, which we find here in the Scriptures. But we see God fully, and we
see God finally in the Gospel. John 1, 17, the law was given
by Moses, but 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." Oh, what
a wondrous revelation is that that we have when we come to
the record concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the Old
Testament is leading up to that. Paul says to the Hebrews, God,
who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by his Son. These last days. That is the
final revealing of God. No more revelation. No more revelation. Whatever the Mohammedan might
say, their prophet is a false prophet. God has spoken in these
last days, fully and finally, in the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. And see, we're going to run out of time
in 10 minutes, it's telling me. I'll carry on, but then if I
overrun, I'll have to restart. I was just going to say that
when we think of Christ we have of course the record in the gospel
of his teaching. He preaches, we have that record
of the Sermon on the Mount, and then at the end, when he had
finished all these sayings, the people were filled with amazement,
because he spoke with authority, not as the scribes and Pharisees. And thus, his teaching was authoritative. So also, the miracles were such
a vindication of his ministry. We're told in John 2 as he performs
that miracle at Cana in Galilee turning the water into wine.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and
manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him. All his preaching then, his miracles,
his life, his death. What a revelation! Such an high
priest became us, says the Apostle Paul, who was holy, righteous, pure, undefiled, separate from
sinners, higher than the heavens, And we see it in the life that
he lived, who went about doing good. Why, the psalmist says
of God, thou art good and do us good. And we see the good
that God has done here upon the earth in the great work, the
accomplishments of the Lord Jesus Christ, who became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. And here, in the words
that we're having as our text, we read, Mercy and truth are
met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. It's all
speaking to us of Christ, and particularly of the harmonizing
of all the attributes of God in the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Why, here we see that God is
merciful, and he is merciful to sinners. Verse two, thou hast
forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all
their sin, see thou, thou hast taken away all thy wrath, Thou
hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. And yet we know that though God
forgives iniquity, covets it, takes away his wrath, yet he
must always be true to himself. We've already made some reference
to the language that we have previously in Exodus 34, and
there at verse 35, the following. When the Lord proclaims his name
to Moses, 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 guilt, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children and upon the children's children unto the third and to
the fourth generation. Oh yes, God is a merciful God,
but by no means will he clear the guilt. There must be the
punishment of sin itself. That brings us really to God's
attributes revealed to us in that great work of salvation.
In the Lord Jesus Christ we see all of these attributes, love,
mercy, grace, justice, righteousness, holiness, all coming together
in the cross. We see how God is true to himself
and yet God is gracious to sinners. He is just and he is the justifier
of them that believe in Jesus. Oh, what a strange meeting is
this in God. Now, there is of course a perfect
harmony in the Godhead. We must never forget that. God
is one. Ero Israel the Lord our God is
one Lord. Though God be three persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, there are not three Gods, there
is one God. And the perfect harmony in all
that God is And now we have that revelation, of course, when we
think of the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that he has done.
We see all the persons of the Godhead involved. Oh, it is the
Father who elects a people and chooses them in Christ before
the foundation of the world. It is the Father who sends the
Son. The Son comes to accomplish that great work of salvation.
It is the Son who, whilst here upon the earth, speaks of the
coming of the Holy Spirit, how it is expedient that He go away. If He go not away, the Holy Spirit
will not come. The Spirit must come, and He
comes as the Spirit of Christ to reveal the things of salvation. All true Christians this may
boast. The truth from nature never learned that Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost to save our souls are all concerned. there is a
harmony, a perfect harmony in the Godhead. And it is not strange
really that mercy and peace should meet and agree. There's nothing
strange in that, that God's mercy, God's peace should meet to favor
and to save, nor is there anything strange that God's truth and
righteousness should meet and agree in justice to destroy the
transgressor. But what do we read here? Here
it seems that what would appear to be opposites meet and harmonize. This is the wonder of the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the fullness of the revelation
of God that we see in him. Mercy and truth, it says. are
met together. Not mercy and peace, mercy and
truth are met together. And it doesn't say truth and
righteousness, but it says that as mercy and truth are met together,
so righteousness and peace have kissed each other. All these
attributes, they come together in the Lord Jesus Christ, in
that great work of salvation. It's not only God's mercy and
God's grace, the great love of God to sinners that we see, but
all the attributes of God are on the side of the sinner. John
says there in the opening chapter of his first general epistle,
if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well,
mark what he says. God is faithful and God is just. as well as loving and merciful
in the forgiveness of sins. That is the great meeting that
we have. God's attributes all coming together. Mercy and truth
have kissed each other. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the
earth and righteousness shall look
down from heaven. And then finally, tonight, to
say something with regards to how the sinner meets with God. Because what we have here in
verse 11 surely is to be understood in terms of the experience, the
spiritual experience of those who are reconciled. to God in
Christ. Here is the meeting of heaven
and earth. Truth shall spring out of the
earth. Righteousness shall look down from heaven. All this is a reconciliation
of sinners. Again, I think of that verse. I think I've mentioned it many
a time. It's one of my favorite verses
here in the Word of God. there in Isaiah 45 and verse
8. Drop down your heavens from above
and let the skies pour down righteousness, let the earth open, let them
bring forth I was just speaking really of
how the sinner ultimately meets with God. And what struck me
was that in this verse, in verse 10, mercy and truth, the word
truth here is from the Hebrew word that means to trust. mercy and trust, we might say,
are met together. And trust, of course, is faith. And then we have righteousness
and peace, kissing each other. And doesn't that suggest to us
the truth of justification? That justification that is by
the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. being justified,
we're told by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. What is that peace? Is it not
the Lord as it were coming and kissing his people? This is the
great message of course of the of the apostles in the Acts where
we have that record of Paul's sermon on the day of Rari, not
the day of Pentecost, that's Peter, but we have Paul's sermon
at Antioch in Acts 13.39 where he declares that by Christ all
that believe shall be justified from all things that they could
not be justified from by the deeds of the law. All that believe
in Christ are justified. And that was what Paul himself
had experienced. That was his great desire to
be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of
the law. but that which is through the faith of Christ. All the
attributes of God, how they all come together so wonderfully
in our Lord Jesus Christ. And we see that God is indeed
a just God and a Savior. 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. Well, the Lord be pleased to
bless the content of this psalm to us. That lovely sixth verse,
will thou not revive us to gain, that thy people may rejoice in
thee? Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and
grant us thy salvation. That's the heart's desire of
each and every one of us tonight. By the Lord, be pleased to bless
His Word to us.