Turn with me to Psalm 138. Last Wednesday night, we were
here in Psalm 138. Verse eight, it was my intention
to begin with verse eight and then to go through the whole
psalm. But as I studied it and as I
started writing out my notes, I never made it out of verse
eight. So this morning I thought we
could look at the rest of the psalm, the whole psalm. Little
did I realize we wouldn't make it past verse two. Let's begin where we began last
Wednesday night in verse eight, because this is the verse that
brought me to this psalm in the first place. Psalm 138, verse
eight says, the Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Now, I do not know if this feels
like a Wednesday night message or a Bible study. I don't know
what this feels like to me. But there's something I want
us to get a hold of, and there's something I wanna say, and then
we're gonna be done. And the first thing I want us
to get a hold of is this. If a person ever really comes
to understand and believe that statement, what we just read.
I read it twice. Let's read it again. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. If a person ever really gets
a hold of that statement, ever really comes to understand and
truly believe that statement and only that statement, if that statement right there
becomes a sinner's true hope before God, and I mean only hope,
before God, then that is the evidence that salvation has come. That's the evidence that salvation
has come. An understanding and a belief
on and a hope in that statement is the evidence that spiritual
life has been given. A spiritual quickening has taken
place. Flesh and blood cannot. I believe there was a time in
my life when I thought it could. I honestly do believe that. You've
heard me say many times that for a long time I had a fear
of giving people a false hope. I didn't want anybody to believe
God's promise without being chosen and redeemed and, you know. I am persuaded, I am convinced
now. Flesh and blood cannot reveal the truth of this statement
to the point that it is clung to as an only hope of acceptance
before God. I mean an only hope of acceptance. I mean only, only, only. Hope of acceptance before God. Flesh and blood cannot reveal
this statement. I can't reveal it. Flesh and
blood cannot understand this statement. Now, not really. Mine says, well, I understand
that. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. I mean only
that statement. flesh and blood cannot understand
and believe and cling to that statement to the degree I'm talking
about. It takes the power of God to
make that happen. It takes the power of God. So
that's why if this is truly believed alone, That's the evidence that a quickening
to Christ has taken place. The Lord will perfect that which
concerns me. Everybody thinks they have a
responsibility in perfecting themselves. Everybody thinks
that. That's hard to get rid of. It
takes the power of God to get rid of that. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. The Lord has to strip us and
strip us and strip us and strip, strip, strip, lower, lower, humble,
humble, down, down, until we get to the place where we realize
I can't perfect that which concerns me. There was a time when I thought
I could. But he has to do it. The Lord
must perfect that which concerneth me. It's not me that will perfect
that which concerns me because I can't perfect that which concerns
me. I am a completely ruined, vile,
wretched, totally depraved sinner. And that's hard for some people
to understand. Some people will hear that and say, then what
are you doing in a pulpit? And what am I doing listening
to you? Well, that's all of us by nature.
We're all in the same boat. It's just until the power of
God and the spirit of God reveals this and causes us to understand
this and to really believe this, We'll never truly hold to the
fact that the Lord must perfect that which concerns me. It's
not me and the Lord that will perfect that which concerns me. Together, in this cooperation
together, the Lord, alone, by himself, without me, in spite
of me, must. perfect everything that needs
to be perfected. And thank God, the good news
is, he will. For all of his people, every
soul he reveals this to, every soul he quickens and causes them
to see this, he will perfect everything that needs to be perfected
concerning his people. All right, now that's where we
started Wednesday night, and I was gonna move on from there,
but I never got away from that. That is the reason why David
said in verse 1. All right, now let's go to verse
1. That's the very reason why David said in verse 1, I will praise thee with my whole
heart. Before the gods will I sing praise. unto thee. I will praise thee
with my whole heart. That's the title of this message.
Praise with my whole heart. And that's the subject matter.
That's all I want us to get a hold of is we're praising Him. Him alone. It's all unto Him. All the glory goes to Him. All
the work is of Him. All the praise goes to Him. I will praise thee with my whole
heart. You know, the scripture says,
out of the heart are the issues of life. Some people think it's
out of the mind. You got to get your doctrine right. You got
to get this right. You got to get, you know, your mind, your
mind. We're going to study this. We're going to go to college
and, and learn salvation and learn. No. Out of the heart are
the issues of life. Out of the heart are the issues
of salvation. When God deals with a soul, he
deals with that soul hard. He pierces the heart. His word is sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing, dividing soul and spirit. He deals with
the inner being of a man. In this issue of my salvation,
in this issue of me being made perfect before God, David said,
all of my praise in all of my heart goes to you. It goes to you. I'm sure you have said, I'm sure
you have said, or you've at least heard somebody say, concerning
some person or some place or some thing, he, she, or it holds a very special
place in my heart. You ever said that, thought that,
heard that? Holds a very special place in
my heart, meaning there's one portion of my heart that is reserved
or set aside for that person, place, or thing. Everything else
can have the rest of my heart, but that spot, that portion has
already been given away to whatever. Well, concerning the salvation
and the perfecting of God's people, all of their heart. This is so. All of their heart. All of the
praise of all of their heart is given to the one and only
one to whom it's due. They don't reserve any of it
for themselves. They don't reserve any of it
for someone else who did something, you know, because of that I'm
saved. All of our praise in all of our
heart goes to Jesus Christ. It is all unto Jesus Christ. I know that most of you have
heard the story of the man who had six or seven idols lined
up on his mantel. He had idols lined up on a shelf
and his family worshiped all of those idols. But one day the man's son heard
and came to a knowledge of the true and living God who is not
being preached in religion today. But this man's son heard of the
true and living God. The one who actually lives and
reigns. The one who does what he wants
with whom he wants. That's what God does. What he
wants with whom he wants. He heard about the God who kills. Have you heard about that God?
Not many people have. The God who kills and makes alive. The God who wounds and heals. I the Lord do all these things.
The only true God that there is, Jesus Christ. Now that's a shocker. This man's son had Christ revealed
to him. Christ, the Christ. had Christ revealed to him according
to the truth of who Christ really is, not who he's made out to
be, who he really is. It's all right here. And this young man told his dad,
we have not been worshiping God at all. We've not been worshiping
God at all. These idols are nothing. And I'm just gonna tell you that
there are idols everywhere. Number one idol is right here. You know what man worships by
nature? Right here, right here, right
here. Idol, idol worship, this is idol
worship. And this young man told his dad,
we've been worshiping idols. We're not worshiping God at all.
And it infuriated his father and he would not hear it. So
one day while his father was at work, the boy got a hammer
and he smashed all the idols except for one. And he laid the
hammer in front of that one idol. And then that evening, his dad
came home, and as soon as he saw that, he looked at his son. And that boy said, he did it!
And pointed to that one idol left standing. And his father
said, boy, you know he couldn't do that! And he said, that's what I've
been trying to tell you, dad. You're worshipping gods that
cannot save. You're worshipping gods that
cannot save. And that's what the world is
doing right now. And I wish the world could hear
this and understand this and believe this. Man is worshipping
gods that cannot save all through this land right now. All through
Kingsport, Tennessee right now, and I am becoming less and less
popular for saying this. All through Kingsport, Tennessee
right now, little lowercase g gods are being preached who cannot
save. I don't say this to be arrogant
or to be prideful. I say it because my heart is
breaking for Kingsport, Tennessee. I love Kingsport, Tennessee. I do. I love this place. I enjoy
living here. I enjoy these people. These are
souls walking around. Well, don't you think everybody
saved? No, I don't. Not according to the God they're
worshiping. Right now in Kingsport, little
G gods are being preached who cannot save. They cannot save
unless you let them. They cannot save unless you help
them. They cannot save unless you allow
them. They cannot save unless you accept
them. They cannot, they cannot, they
want to, but they can't. Those little G gods are idols,
made up gods, made up by the figment of man's imagination. That's not this god. Those little G gods are idols
and they're worthless. A god like that is worthless.
If you have to help, if you have to let, if you have to allow,
if you have to do, you're God. Save yourself. Whoever's got all the power in
their hand is God. And those idols are worthless.
They're not doing anybody any good. They are worthless and
there cannot be. And in God's people, there is
not one molecule of space in our hearts devoted to those idols.
Those of you who came at a false religion, is there any space
in your heart still? Well, now that was given to the
Jesus I used to worship, and I'm just going to keep that reserved
for him. No. No. It's the Lord God Almighty alone. It's the Lord Jesus Christ only. And when I say the Lord God Almighty
and Lord Jesus Christ, I'm talking about the same person, talking
about the same person. It's him alone. That eunuch in
Acts chapter eight. He said, what does hinder me
from being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
with all your heart. All of it. All of it. If all of your heart is looking
to Christ. Well, I'm looking to Christ and
to myself. No. If all of your hope is in Christ. He said, you may. All your heart. All your heart. Well, how is
it possible? Okay, you just told me that men
are dead and vile and ruined and sinful. Let's just start
with dead, okay? How is it possible for a dead
man to praise the Lord and worship the Lord and believe on the Lord
with all his heart? How's that even possible? If in my nature, And this is
what the scripture says about man. If in my nature I'm only
evil continually. Scripture says there's none good
but God. There's none good, no not one.
What about me? No. All right, so if I'm only evil continually, if
I have no way on my own of perfecting that, I can't perfect that which
concerns me. How can a living spirit of praise
even come out of my heart for Christ in the first place? How's
that even possible? Turn with me over to Ezekiel
36. Ezekiel 36, verse 16, it says, Moreover, the word of the Lord
came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel
dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way,
and by their doings Their way was before me as the uncleanness
of a removed woman, defiled, unclean, ruined. Look at verse 21. But I had pity. You want to know
where salvation comes from? That right there. God Almighty said, But I had
pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned
among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the
house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your
sakes, O house of Israel. But for mine holy name's sake,
which you have profaned among the heathen, whither you went."
He said, I'm going to do something for you, but I'm not going to
do it for yourself. I'm not going to do it because of you. Why
will God save me? Because I'm worthy, because I've
earned it, because I'm good. No, I'm not doing this because
of you. You're the opposite. I'm going to do this for my holy
name's sake. Verse 24, for I will take you
from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and
will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean
water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness
and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also
will I give you. He's going to make this old heart
better? No. You know, people say, won't
you give him your heart? Brother David Edmondson loves
to say he doesn't want that old, dead, sinful, vile, wretched
thing. He's going to throw that away.
He gives his people his heart. That's not how it works. Give
him your heart. That's not how it works. He has
to reach in and take it out. We don't want to give that up.
He has to take it from us and throw that away and then he puts
his heart in his people. Verse 26, a new heart also will
I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart
of life, flesh. I'll put life in you, verse 27,
and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in
my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. How
is a dead, sinful, vile, ruined human being going to walk pleasing
to God? Here's how it's going to happen.
God's going to put Christ in that person, and Christ is going
to do the walking for that person, and it's going to be counted
to that person for righteousness. That's what happens. The Lord will perfect that which
concerns us. Verse 28, he said, and you shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and you shall
be my people. I will be your God. I will, you
shall. That's how it's going to happen.
That's how it's going to happen. I'll do this for you. I will
take out your dead stony heart. I will give you a living heart
of my spirit. and my spirit in you will cause
you to look to me. If any soul looks to Christ,
that's Christ doing it for the soul. It really is. Looking to Christ is not the
cause of salvation, it's the effect of salvation. Believing
on Christ is not the cause of salvation, it's the evidence
of salvation. Coming to Christ is not the cause
of salvation, it's the proof of salvation. I'm going to cause you to look
to me. I'm going to cause you to glorify me. If anybody glorifies
him, you know why? God made that soul glorify him. I'm going to cause you to praise
me for everything I have done. If there's ever a fleeting moment
of praise in our hearts, God did that. He gets the praise
for that. Turn with me to Philippians chapter
3. Verse 1 says, Finally, my brethren,
rejoice in the Lord. That's where all of our rejoicing
should be, and with the new heart of Christ, that's where all of
our rejoicing is. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to me, indeed, is not grievous, but for you, It's safe. For me to preach Psalm 138 to
you on a Wednesday night and then Psalm 138 to you again on
a Sunday morning, that's not grievous to me because it's so
safe. It's just so safe. Christ alone,
Christ alone, Christ alone, Christ alone. Verse two, he said, beware of
false preachers who preach man's works, trying to divide and separate
people from the truth of God's word. That's what verse two is
saying. I don't have time to show you
that and prove that to you. I've done it before. I'll do
it again, just not right now, but that's what that's saying.
Verse two, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
concision. For we are the circumcision,
we are God's people. We're the ones that he made a
covenant to save. We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit. Everybody says God, but everybody's
not worshiping God. We are the circumcision which
worship God. I mean God, God, God. We worship God in the spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus. That's where our rejoicing stops.
Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. We worship God alone. We don't
worship idols. By his grace, All of the praise of our heart
goes to Jesus Christ by His grace. And by His grace, we have absolutely
no confidence in the flesh. Some houses of idolatry have
great confidence in the flesh. Some houses of idolatry have
half and half confidence in the flesh. Some houses of idolatry,
I will admit, have a little bit of confidence in the flesh. But
a little leaven will still leaven the whole lump. We are the circumcision which
have no confidence in the flesh. Not our own flesh, not anybody
else's flesh. Look at verse 8 right here. Yea,
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I've suffered
the loss of all things. What is he talking about when
he says all things? If we were to read all the other verses,
he was talking about his religion. That's what he's talking about,
religion. I've suffered the loss of all of it. He goes on to say
in verse eight, and to count it all dung. I count my religion
dung. that I may win Christ and be
found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God, performed by God, given by God. the righteousness
which is of God by faith, that I may know Him and the power
of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being made
conformable unto His death, if by any means I might attain unto
the resurrection of the dead. All the praise of all of our
heart goes to Him. Now, that was verse one. And I'm supposed to be starting
verse 2. And I'm not sure, but it could
be as long. So I'm not going to do it. I'm going to stop right there.
That's enough. We wouldn't retain it. Just let
me close with this. Go back to Psalm 138. I've been my allotted time. And
I'll show you in Psalm 138 Verse two, he said, I'll worship
toward thy holy temple, and I'll praise thy name for thy loving
kindness. That means for your mercy and
your grace. Where's mercy? In the blood of
Jesus Christ. Christ is the mercy, Christ is
the grace, and for thy truth. Christ is the truth. Because
you've magnified your word above all thy name. I'm not gonna save it. Let me
close with this, okay? I've really wanted to show you
this, just in case the Lord calls me home between now and next
Sunday, or you home between now and next Sunday. Let me just
end with this. Here's my punchline. Here's the
part I couldn't wait to get to. Turn with me to Numbers 23. Numbers 23, He's magnified His
word above His name. How glorious is His name? He's
been given a name that's above every name. Go through everything
that is His name. It's our salvation, His name,
Savior, God with us. All right, now watch this. He's magnified His word above
His name. This right here will make a sinner
praise God with his whole heart. This right here will make a sinner
praise God with his whole heart, her whole heart. Look at Numbers
23 verse 19. God is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Change his
mind. Hath he said and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment
to bless, and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob. Why? He beheld Jacob's iniquity
in Christ. I wish y'all would give me about
four hours to talk about what happened on the cross. He hath not beheld, did Jacob
have iniquity? You better believe him. All of
his iniquity was laid on Christ. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. Is that not good news
to you? Is there perverseness in us? You better believe it. The Lord his God is with him,
and the shout of a king is among them. That'll make a sinner praise
God. By the sacrifice of himself, he redeemed his people, and he
said, I'll never go back on it. I'll never go back on it. For
my name's sake, I'll never go back on my word. I will praise
thee with my whole heart before all these gods that are out there.
I'll sing praise to thee. Amen.