As we turn to God's Word again,
I want to direct your attention for our text to the closing verse
in Psalm 138. The Psalm that we read, Psalm 138
and verse 8. Remember, it's the Psalm of David,
the man after God's own heart, And here he says, the Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth
forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. We observe here, in the grammatical
construction of this verse, that we have two different cases.
And we see that in the Divine Name. In the opening clause we
have the definite article, the Lord's. It's in the nominative,
it's a statement of fact that David is making there in those
opening words, the Lord's will perfect that which concerneth
me. But then, in the second part
of the verse, it's the evocative. It's not Thee, Lord, now, it's
O Lord. David isn't making a statement
concerning the Lord his God, but he is actually speaking to
his God. He's praying. What we have here
is a cry for mercy. Thy mercy, O Lord, Endureth forever,
he says, forsake not the works of thine own hands. and as we
come to consider the verse tonight I simply want to follow that
very simple division to consider these two points first of all
David's confession the statement at the beginning in which we
see something of his faith and his confidence in God and then
in the second place to consider David's cry He begins now not
to speak of God, but to speak to God. He cries out and calls
upon God for his mercy. Let's follow then that simple
division. First of all, considering something
of David's confession of faith. The Lord, he says, will perfect
that which concerneth me." It is a remarkable statement in
which we see much of the confidence that David has with regards to
God and the character of God and all of God's dealings with
him. And we think of the New Testament
and what Paul says concerning faith. Remember the language
there in Romans chapter 10 at verse 9. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Well isn't this, that's confession
unto salvation. David says, with such an assurance
the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. And so we can
go on at the end to make this particular petition to the God
that he has such confidence in. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. All we know is that God will
not forsake the one who has begun that good work in him. is going
to fulfill all his goodwill and pleasure. Oh, the Lord take such
a delight in his own works. Forsake not, says David, the
works of thine own hand. That faith that David has is
not something that he has managed somehow or other to weave out
of his own bowels like the spider might weave a web. No, what he
has, that faith that he has, is that faith of the operation
of God. And it is this that gives him
such confidence. It's God's work. And God does
not, God will not forsake His own works. Joseph Carroll observes
how all men love their own works. Men doubt over them. And he asks, shall we think that
God will forsake his works? When men produce some beautiful
object, how they love the work of their own hands. It's cost
them much. They delight in it. And so says
the Puritan, we are right and proper to believe that God himself
will think of his own works and not forsake any of his works. At the time of the Babylonian
captivity, when God was dealing with his ancient people in the
way of judgment, visiting the punishment of their sins upon
them. How they are brought to plead
with Him. And how do they approach Him
at that time? Well, they speak to Him in a
way wherein they have to plead as those who recognize that God
is their Maker. It was God who at first had brought
them out of the bondage of Egypt had taken them to Mount Sinai,
had entered into a covenant with them, had made them a nation,
had made them His own peculiar people above all the other nations
on the face of the earth. It was God who had led them through
the wilderness for 40 years. It was God who had then made
a way and brought them through the River Jordan into the Promised
Lands and had He not given those things to them that he had promised
to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. And now God is judging
them. And they come and they plead
with him, and they plead, as I say, in terms of the fact that
they are his own work. We see it in the language of
the Prophet Isaiah, there in Isaiah chapter 64. Isaiah chapter 64 and There at the end of the chapter,
verse 8, here is the prayer, But now, O Lord, Thou art our
Father, We are the clay, Thou our potter, We are all the work
of Thy hand. Be not wrath, very sore, O Lord,
Neither remember iniquity forever. Behold, see, we beseech Thee,
We are all Thy people, Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion
is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house
where our fathers praised thee is burned up with fire, and all
our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself
of these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace and
afflict us very sore?" What are they doing? They're pleading
with God concerning the works of His own hands. They are the
works of His hands and they do not want God to forsake them,
so they are emboldened to plead with Him in such terms. All we
see are that God's works are such good works and God's works
can never be aborted. The work that God begins, God
accomplishes. Nothing is able to frustrate
Him. He says, shall I bring to the
birth and not cause to bring forth? Shall I cause to bring
forth and shut up the womb, saith the Lord? No, that's not the
way of God. His work is ever and always that
work that is so perfect. And so the Apostle can say to
the Philippians, being confident of this very thing, confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. God's works. David then He is so confident
in his faith here, the Lord will perfect that which concerns me.
God's work is not going to be overturned. God will not forsake
the works of his own hands. He'll take such a delight in
these works. And so too his children are to
delight in all those works of God. What do we delight in the
works of God? Do we behold His dealings with
us, His providences, the way wherein He leads us? Do we ever
stop and reflect over God's hand upon us through life, the situations
He's brought us into, the situations He's brought us through? God's
work is perfect, not only with regards to His providences, of
course, but that work of grace. What a remarkable thing that
God should take account of such sinners as we are, you and I,
or with those who have sinned against Him, and yet He comes
and He takes account of us and He works in our hearts. Lord,
do we seek to observe these things? The psalmist says later, all
thy works shall praise, thy saints shall bless. Or are we those
who are truly the saints of God? Do we praise God for all His
works? Now, here in this statement that
David is making, this confession that we have at the beginning
of our text, I want to mention two particular grounds for David's
confidence. The Lord's He says, will perfect
that which concerneth me. The first ground of his confidence
surely must be the purpose of God. It is the purpose of God. It's God's eternal counsel. It's
God's covenant that David is trusting in. See how he speaks
of the divine sovereignty, the Lord will. Oh, there's no doubt,
there's no if, or buts, or maybe, or possibility, or probability.
It is the language of assurance. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Fidel, his confidence is in the
sovereignty of the God of grace. Because in this text we observe
the Divine Name. Oh, it is that blessed Name,
it's the Great I Am. It's Lord, as we have it in our
authorised version. In capital letters you know the
significance of that. It's the Name Jehovah. It's that
that is derived from what God says to Moses at the burning
bush, I am that I am, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. But it's not just the Divine
Name. What does He say here? Thy mercy,
Thy mercy, O Lord, appeareth forever. And the word that we
have, mercy, is one of the great words that we have in the Old
Testament. And it's a Hebrew word, of course,
Old Testament Scripture. It's a word in which really there's
no English word that is adequate to bring out the full significance.
It's not always translated as Mersin. It appears in a variety
of contexts, so sometimes it's a different rendering. Here it
is Mersin. But it's also used earlier in
the psalm, but there it's spoken of not
so much in terms of the mercy of God but the loving kindness
of God. Look at the second verse. I will
worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy name for thy loving
kindness and for thy truth. Now, it is really the same words. Loving kindness, mercy. And it
is a word that is so bound up with God's covenant. It has the
idea of God's faithfulness. His covenant faithfulness. And
so we have it there you see. In that second verse it is His
covenant faithfulness and His truth. How God is true to Himself.
How God is true to His promise. How God is the one who will always
keep His covenant. Well, we see this. We see this
in Scripture, we see it in so many parts of the Word of God.
Going back into the books of Moses, there in Deuteronomy,
in the 7th chapter, and there at verse 9, "...know therefore
that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God which keepeth
covenant and mercy." There it is again. He keepeth covenant
and mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments,
it says, to a thousand generations. Verse 12, Wherefore, it shall
come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and
do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant
and the mercy which ye swear unto thy fathers. And David is
conscious of all of these things. David is aware of the Scriptures.
Is he not the man who has hidden God's word in his heart? Oh,
David then speaks of that God of the covenant and all his faithfulness
when he comes to die and that's where he rests his head and his
heart upon his dying bed. He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, he says, ordered in all things and sure. This is
all my salvation. and all my desire." Oh, it's
that purpose of God, that revealing of the eternal covenant of God,
the covenant of God's grace. Or the prophet Micah says, "...thou
wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which
thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old." Here is
the source of David's confidence. It is the Gospel really. It is
the Gospel. As Isaac Watts says, the Gospel
bears my spirit up. A faithful and unchanging God
lays the foundation of my hope in oaths and promises and blood. Oh, what a God is this. What confidence in David can
have when he speaks of the Lord, when he speaks to the Lord. It
is the gods of that covenant that is ordered in all things
and sure. Look again at the language that
we have previously in the 105th Psalm. Verse 8, He has remembered
His covenant forever. The word which He commanded to
a thousand generations, which covenant He made with Abraham
and his oath unto Isaac, and confirm the same unto Jacob for
a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. Oh, how the psalmist
here is speaking, you see, of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
and the God of the covenant. This is where David's trust is. David himself, he is so weak
of himself, so troubled in his own heart. He says at verse 7,
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive them. Thou shalt stretch forth thine
hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall
save for the Lord's. Will perfect that which concerns
me. What matters it of my troubles?
He's able to look beyond his present situation, the circumstances
of his poor mortal life, and he looks to God and the eternal
purpose of God. And he looks to that covenant
that he's ordered in all things and sure. This is all he can
do. He must look, and he must look to the Lord alone. That's
what we come to then, here at the end of the psalm. or when everything else is fighting
Him. His confidence and His faith
is only in the Lord, His God. But then I said two things are
the grounds of what He is saying here in this opening clause of
the verse. It's not only the purpose of
God, there's also the promise, the promise of God. All what
God has purposed in eternity, what God has covenanted in that
council between the persons of the Godhead, the eternal covenant
of grace, all of this is proclaimed for us in His Word. We have His words. We have the
revelation of His covenant. We have our Bible and we have
an Old Testament and a New Testament. And you know that the word Testament
really is interchangeable with the word covenant. There has
been a revelation of these things. That's the wonder of what God
has done. And that Word of God, look at what He says at the end of verse 2, Thou hast
magnified Thy Word above all Thy name. God's Word. The promise of the Gospel revealed
to us in Holy Scripture. God has magnified it above all
His name. God has confirmed that promise
that he has given and he has confirmed it with an oath as
we are told there in Hebrews chapter 6 for when God made promise
unto Abraham because he could swear by no greater he swear
by himself saying blessing I will bless thee and so forth he swear
by himself he took an oath his very being He's committed to
the performance of His promise. His promise fails, God fails. God is no more if His word fails.
Oh, He is magnified. His word. Above all, His name. His name is who He is. He's God. But all His words. And He's not
only confirmed it with that promise, that oath, but He has also sealed
the hole with blood, and with the blood of the testator, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Messenger and Mediator of the
Covenant has come, and He has sealed all these promises of
God by the shedding of His precious blood. How Paul spells it out
there in Hebrews 9, Hebrews 9 verse 14, how much
more he says, shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal
Spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God. For this cause he
is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there
must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a
testament is of force after men are dead, otherwise it is of
no strength at all while the testator liveth. And he goes
on, whereupon neither the First Testament was dedicated without
blood. All this blood, you see, the
death of the testator. There's the Lord Jesus Christ,
He comes, He sheds His precious blood, He pours out His soul
unto death. And without that shedding of
blood there is no remission of sins. All the Lord Jesus is that
One, who by His dying is sealed. the promise that we have here
in the Word of God. And God is so in this manner
magnified His Word, is magnified His Word above all is now Ebenezer Erskine, one of those
great Scots ministers, says of God, he has a greater regard
for the words of his mouth than for the works of his hands. Oh
yes, God's works, you see, are perfect. and God delights in
His works, but how God delights in His words. This is our comfort,
is it not, when we come together in this fashion and we open the
Word of God and we consider what God is saying to us here in Holy
Scripture. It is that revelation that God
has given, the revelation of His promise, the promise confirmed
with oath, the promise sealed with blood. It is the Old Testament. It is the New Testament. It is
the lively oracles of heaven that we have in our hands. The Lord Jesus himself says,
Verily, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall
in no wise pass from the Lord. till all be fulfilled, all the
jots and the tittles the references you know is to the very letters
of the ancient Hebrew alphabets that was employed when God gave
his word not just the words, the very letters that make up
the words and the bits and pieces of those letters sometimes non
can Pass away till everything is
fulfilled, all must have its accomplishment. The Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me, says David. All the work which is goodness
began, the arm of his strength will complete. His promise is
yea and amen and never was forfeited yet, says there, top later, being
confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Here
we have it then friends, this wonderful opening statements
of our text, David's great confession the expression of his faith,
his confidence in God, the Lord will perfect that which concerneth
mine. But then turning in the second
place to what follows is now he turns from talking of God
and talks to God. Thy mercy, O Lord, Endureth forever,
forsake not the works of thine own hands. You see the significance of the
development here. It's those views that he has
of God. It's what he's saying about God in the opening clause
that leads on to his praying to God. if we only had right,
proper, biblical views of God all what men and women of prayer
we would be if only I really understood something of the greatness
and the goodness and the grace of God how I would pray no one
fears at times that one hardly ever prays at all because we
have such low views of God but David doesn't have a low view
of God And it is his right view that David has that causes him
to pray. And this is God's appointment.
This is God's appointment. The Lord Jesus himself has said
men ought always to pray and not to faint. How many praying
men and women are there? Even amongst those who profess
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Or do I ever pry? Think of the
words of the children's hymn. Do I ever pry? Sometimes we examine ourselves
and we feel that we fail and that we fall so far short. But David, you see, so different,
he has such a view of his God. He is rightly spoken of as the
man after God's own heart, sinner that he was, great sinner that
he was, but how this man knew the grace of God. And so we see
him praying. Observe then here the, with regards
to the prayer of David, the place, the place of prayer. Here we
see his confidence again. And his confidence is so much
in the sovereignty of God. It's that word will. The Lord's will, perfect that
which concerneth me, is the assertion that he makes. And that is an
expression of his trust in a God who is God, a God who is sovereign
in all His ways, in all His dealings, the wills of Holy Scripture, the shalls,
the wills of the everlasting covenant, all those promises
of God, are they not Yah and Amen? in the Lord Jesus Christ
all we have those words scattered throughout
the scriptures think of the language of the Lord the simple words
that he speaks in the course of his earthly ministry even
with regards to our praying we often quote the words they trot
off our tongue so easily the Lord says ask shall be given
you, seek He shall find, knock, it shall be opened unto you.
Everyone that asketh receiveth, he that seeketh knocketh. He
that seeketh findeth, to him that knocketh it shall be opened. It's all so sure, so certain,
it shall, it will. This is the way of our God and
this is David's confidence. And this trust in the sovereignty
of God interestingly, doesn't silence his prayers. There are
some people who seem to reason in a rather perverted way. They
say, well, if you believe that God is sovereign, if you believe
that God has ordained all things, and that nothing is outside of
his decree, and he is the one who knows the end from the beginning,
what's the point of prayer? You see they equate a belief
in God's sovereignty with fatalism. The fatalism of the Mohammedan
who speaks of the will of Allah. That's not what David is about. His confidence in God's sovereignty
doesn't silence prayer but rather encourages prayer. And that's
what we see in this text. because he can say the Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me so he can go on to speak to
God and plead with God that he will do that very thing thy mercy
O Lord endureth forever forsake not the works of thine own hands. God has given his promise and
he will have us to come to him and plead the very thing that
He has promised in His Word. Remember the language that we
have there at the end of Ezekiel 36, I will yet for this be inquired
of, He says. What is that being inquired of?
It's prayer. I will yet for this be inquired
of by the house of Israel to do it for them. God has said
He will do it. But His people are to pray to
Him. I will increase them, he says, with men as a flock. In
the context there, at the end of that 36th chapter, in the
historical context, it's the restoration from the Babylonian
exile that's being spoken of. Because in the next chapter,
chapter 37, we have the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. And
it is Israel languishing in Babylon. But now the Prophet is commanded
to prophesy unto the bones. And he prophesies and bone comes
to bone and they're covered in sinews and in flesh. And then
he is to prophesy to the four winds. The prophesying is pray,
come thou four winds, blow upon these bones. And now life is
brought into the bones. And Israel becomes a mighty army.
Oh, this is the context, you see. God will restore His people. But are they to pray and we see
it. We have it illustrated, as you know, in the book of Daniel. We have that remarkable 9th chapter
there, and the prayer. The prayer that Daniel prays
when he understands. He's reading. He's reading in
the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. In the first year of his reign,
that is in the reign of Darius, son of Ahasuerus, in the first
year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number
of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah
the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of
Jerusalem. And he reads the word of God.
There is a promise of God and it moves him to pray. I set my
face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with
fasting and sackcloth and ashes and I prayed unto the Lord my
God and made my confession. And then we have his prayer.
And he says this, O my God, incline thine ear and hear open thine
eyes and behold our desolations and the city which is called
by thy name for we do not present our supplications before thee
for our righteousnesses but for thy great mercies." Oh, he is
pleading again that word, you see, mercy. The covenant faithfulness,
the loving kindness of God, just like David. He pleads the words
of God. Behold the throne of grace. The promise calls us near. Oh,
every time we gather on those thirsty evenings for prayer at
the throne of grace, He calls us near. We're to come, we're
to put out our hearts, we're to pray, we're to call, we're
to cry. Shall not God avenge His own
elect which cry day and night unto Him? though he bare lung
with all God does hear the cry of his people and it's for us
to come and to come and to remind him of his words the old Puritan
said that what we need to do is to thicken our prayers with
the promises of God's word to familiarize ourselves with all
those things that God has said what we said just now concerning
the captivity and what we read at the end of Ezekiel 36 where
God will be inquired of by the house of Israel. He'll do it
for them and though as I said in the historical context it's
that God will restore them from the Babylonian exile but there's
a wider application. Doesn't it all belong to God's
spiritual Israel? Doesn't it belong to the church?
It's for us to pray and to plead that God would increase us with
men as a flock or that God would pour out His Spirit. That vision
of the valley of dry bones. Or we see death all about us.
We see men and women dead in trespasses and sins. What hope
is there? We have to pride that the Lord
will yet come and call out a people. Call out a people to His prize.
poured out of His Spirit, even in the days wherein we're living. He does hear the prayer of His
people, shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day
and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? Oh, He bears
long. We have to wait upon the Lord. We have to wait and wait
and wait, but that's not something passive. we don't become fatalistic
and say oh well there's nothing to do we just wait maybe the
Lord will come maybe he won't no we have to know all that blessed
activity in our own souls to wait and to wait in faith and
in hope and in expectation this is David you see the Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me there's no doubt about it
that's his confidence the Lord will do it But what does David
do? He turns it into a prayer. Thy
mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hand. Here then we have the plea of
his prayer. And where does that plea centre? It centres not in himself. It centres in the Lord his God. It's the
work of thine own hands, Lord. It's God's works. It's God's
works. And don't we plead God's works
when we plead the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are we not
pleading all that Christ is and all that Christ has done? We're
not pleading anything of ourselves? As dear John Newton says, I can
no denial take when I plead for Jesus' sake. Oh God, God will
not, God cannot deny those who plead the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Again, look at the language that
we have in that 36th chapter of Isaiah. Verse 22, Therefore say unto
the house of Israel, Thou saith the Lord God, I do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake,
which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great
name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned
in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes." And then again, Verse 32, Not for
your sake do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you,
be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Not for your sake, God said.
It is for my sake. It is truly the honour and the
glory of God's name. That's what we are to pray. What
is prayer if we are not constantly invoking the name of the Lord
Jesus, and all that that name declares, His person, His work, His life, His death, His blood,
His righteousness, that's our prayer. Or when the Lord teaches
us that pattern prayer, we are to say, are we not, Thine is
the kingdom, Thine is the power, Thine is the glory, that's our
plan. That's our plan, for of Him and through Him and to Him
are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. And this is what David is doing,
you see, he knows. He knows the God that he is dealing
with. He knows that the Lord will perfect
that which concerns Him, that work that God has begun. He knows
that God has magnified His Word above all His name. Here is His
trust, His faith, His confidence and it is this that moves Him
to pride. Oh, He is well persuaded concerning
God's eternal purpose, concerning the great covenant of the grace
of God and the promise that God has given and confirmed in his
words, confirmed by oath, sealed with blood. And so we can make
this prayer. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. Oh, friends, let us be those
who would endeavor to make David's prayers our prayers also. to be those who are looking to
Him who is David's greatest son, even our Lord Jesus Christ, casting
all our cares upon Him, knowing that He careth for us. Oh, the Lord be pleased then
to come and to bless His word to us tonight. Amen.